running for my mind

16.5 - 7:11 - 163 - 619ft

Ran several miles solo around Liberty before meeting JP at 8am. We ran downtown through Gateway, around West High, and up Memory Grove to the City Creek gate before heading back to Liberty. Fun run and arguably the best November 1st weather this morning in Utah ever! There wasn't even a breeze rustling the leaves.

50 minute walk around the neighborhood with Grey

5 - 7:53

Easy on the parkway. My right calf was slightly tight the entire run. Considering running a 5k on Saturday. I have not run 5k pace in a while so I am going to test the legs a bit tomorrow and see how they respond.

10 - 7:14

Had a little fartlek workout planned to test out the calf and see how it responded to some faster turnover. Decent effort at 30sec, 1 min, 2 min, 1, 30, 30, 1, 2. My right calf has seemed a little tight the last couple of runs. It was about the same today and didn't seem to be any worse with the faster turnover. 

Calf tightened up and was a little sore after the session for about 2 miles easy. Then I tossed in 6 strides of 80 steps and then one easy mile to finish at 10. Calf didn't hurt during the strides and maybe even loosend up a little bit from this quick turnover. 

Overall, I felt slow(er) and don't know about the 5k on Saturday. It has been 7 weeks since I have done a quick workout so I know I am slower than I was when I was running 3 miles sub-6 once a week with Josh and Adam.

7 - 7:43

I have some odd niggles right now that I have never experienced nor have I a clue on how to remedy. 

I guess I will just keep on keeping on.

10 - 7:11

Met JP and Scott at HHS and ran up through the U over to the Avenues and back.

Light pain with every step, but nothing impeding. Odd.

1 mile in and I pulled the plug. It is more difficult to know that you should stop and actually listen to your body. Going to take a couple days off and see if I can get to the bottom of this. Looking like it could be a little overuse injury that can be caused by a few different factors.

There are these shoes called Altras (a gift) that I am blaming at least part of it on. ;)

PT stretching and ice.

Feeling a lot less tender in the peroneal tendon. Still sore, but much better than yesterday.

Might contemplate testing a mile or two on Monday.

Morning heat and stretching session. The foam roller session from last night served its purpose I reckon.

Mid afternoon hot tub and massage with the jets. Two days ago my left peroneal tendon was tender to the touch. Today, I massaged it with the jets and it was sore but not painful. Good sign.

1 hour walk on the trails behind my parents house in Summit County.

I have never been good at stretching. I am recommitting to my PT and stretching.

5 easy

A little sore, but feeling pretty good. Strething and then ice pack on my drive to work. 

PM - stretching / yoga / compression / sleep

AM - heat / massage / stretching / compression / ice

7 more weeks of my long winter's nap...aka 7 weeks to get feeling 100%

6.2 / stretching / ice

How many of you out there, if there is anyone that reads this, incorporate some sort of cross-training? I have not really done any in the last 2.5 years and am thinking some time on a bike or something might be beneficial. I don't want to do anything in place of running, but perhaps to compliment it. Thoughts?

4 - no watch

alone. with my thoughts and light falling snow. almost perfect.

PM - hour of pt / yoga / stretching

6.5 - 7:30

Ailments are feeling a lot better. Going to hold off and enjoy my winter's nap for a while still. The PT and little strengthening / stretching / e/t/c seems to be paying off.

AM - 11 - 7:34

Met Scott and Tyler at Liberty and did a fun downtown to avenues loop. Casual pace. Had my watch under my jacket sleeve and simply enjoyed the conversation. 

PM - 9 

Headed to the BAM training facility to watch the NBC presentation of Kona. Always fun to watch, especially on a treadmill. 

5.3 - 7:27

first of many frosty beards this winter

heat / stretching / ice

I started listening to the audiobook "Unbroken" yesterday in anticipation of the movie that will be released next month. If anyone wants a copy to listen to, just let me know. For those that don't know, it is the story of Louis Zamperini, "a former Olympic track star who survived a plane crash in the Pacific theater, spent 47 days drifting on a raft, and then survived more than two and a half years as a prisoner of war."

Also, for those of us in Utah, I thought this was an interesting article. I never considered altitude as a contributor to depression, anxiety, and suicide.

PM - 45 min on spin bike / stretching

6.5 - easy / parkway

if i released an album right now it would be titled "easy on the parkway."

10 - 7:02 - 880ft.

Met Fritz and JP in Sugarhouse and followed them on a loop up 13th S to Wasatch, across Wasatch and over to Tanner Park, and back to Sugarhouse.

It was a good run for me with a decent amount of elevation. Legs held up well and I only felt a little soreness where I have been having issues during the last .5 mile. I was pleasantly surprised because usually the hills are what have upset it. Great base building run for me.

5.5 - leg did not hurt at all on the run. the pain that once was in the side has migrated to the foot. felt a little uncomfortable upon waking, but ceased prior to running.

Contemplating a 5k on Thanksgiving. Millcreek has one that seems pretty hilly. There is also one in Park City that my sister invited me to join her on. Looks like one will be 18 degrees at the start and the other 12. Decisions. Decisions.

Has anyone seen this video about Kayla Montgomery? Pretty amazing.

15 - solo on the parkway. quite gusty on the return. had to start at 6 because of a busy morning. hope to nap later.

5 to warm the legs before a solid stretch / foam roll session. 

First run in the new Triumph ISO and I think I am going to like them a lot. 

7.5 - 7:35 - 7ft

10 - 7:06 - 323ft.

Ran with Fritz and JP through Fritz's old neighborhood.

Get to spend the better part of the day at a local detention facility watching surveillance footage. One of the many things they don't teach you in law school. 

5 - 7:06

2 miles at a moderate pace in the middle. Still don't know about a race in the morning. Might just go out and do a few pickups or maybe my own 5k on the parkway instead. No reason to race and cause injury. I am feeling like everything is on the mend and I don't want to take two steps backward.

So, last night a few things came to my mind that made me decide to essentially "buck up" and run a 5k this morning. I had decided I wasn't going to run, but I am grateful that I did. 

A while ago, Rob Murphy wrote a list and 2 things came to me last night: 1 - Don't be afraid to race when you are not 100% ready. It's good for you.; 2 - Sometimes you have to be satisfied with being 80% fit. Next, Josh told me a while ago that I needed to race more. He once said, "Practice makes perfect, and training is not practice." Finally, I remembered my own goal to race more to become more comfortable with racing.

I showed up at the rec center and ran the course once as a warm up. I had not seen it previously and it turned out to have a little more elevation than I had expected. The first mile and a bit is a very slight downhill going north. A right turn sends you east up a gradual incline that is about 1/3 a mile. Another right turn sends you back south up a long gradual incline until about 2.9 where you turn back west down a slight downhill and into the finishing chute.

After previewing the course, I determined I would shoot for 6:00 for the first mile and then likely slow on the climb and give a kick the last .2. I had low expectations and figured I would be happy with anything close to 20 minutes. I have not run near the 6:00 pace since September and have just run easy since St. George as I have been dealing with a few nags and niggles. I felt good after my run on Tuesday, but didn't want to push my luck.

I led down for the first .1 and then had a pack of high school kids pass me. I knew some were running the 10k but would have to wait until the mile mark to see how many peeled away when the 5k and 10k courses split. First mile came in at 5:52 and there were 5 of the high schoolers in front of me. Just before the first turn, one of the kids cramped up in the calf and stopped. I started up the first hill with 2 other high schoolers next to me. One faded and the other pulled ahead of me by 5 feet. I eased off the pace but held the effort.

Right after the turn back south I caught up and was side-by-side with the one high schooler that pulled away a little on the hill. I had talked to him before the race and he had told me that he would like to run somewhere between 18:30 and 19:00. Half a mile later I was feeling pretty good and I decided to pull away from him. I glanced at my watch once on that stretch and saw 6:15, about what I had expected. I decided to keep pushing seeing I was feeling surprisingly well. 

I managed to clip off 2 more youngsters up the final climb and kicked to finish. I had not looked at my watch in almost a mile and had no idea where I was. I came in at 18:39 and surprised myself. 3rd was good enough for a 20lb frozen turkey. 

Lessons learned - Rob and Josh are smart. Listen to them. Also, listen to yourself, go out and race and have fun. I got tired and was ready to be done, but it was the best I have felt in a 5k and it was a respectable time, especially considering my recent training. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

10.25 around the U and up through research park with Fritz and JP. Legs felt a little heavy on the hills but overall not too sore from yesterday. Didn't even think about it until after today's run, but my calves didn't hurt at all during or after the race yesterday and are not sore today. Perhaps, I am solving that issue. 

16 and .05