Dare to be great!

Day 38: I was up late last night and needed the sleep... so I slept in this morning... Got home from work and ran a mile or so with my son Spencer and my wife around the neighborhood.  Need to get my kids more active, planning on an "unplugged" week next week. 

Day 39: Ran on the dirt from Bishop's to Poverty. Some mellow hills but not too bad. AP 8:24 I was hoping for fresher legs after taking it easy the last couple days.

Day 40!!! Conservation Corps trail, really good run this morning. Felt pretty strong with not a lot of niggles bothering me. Kept it consistent and easy on the way up, there is 1850'of climbing in the first few miles. Turned around at 10, glad it was cold last night as I could tell it would be a muddy mess up there in a few hours, had to watch the ruts in the trail. Felt good coming down so I decided to go for the course record on the last segment down.  Averaged 5:42 mile pace the last 1.2 miles and got the record.  It was fun flying down the trail helter skelter.  Now to continue the streak...

On the roads this morning, went from the house up to the Sierra Vista Road. I felt pretty stiff from the get go this morning so I didn't want to push it. Hoping to get a long run in this afternoon.  AP 8:11

PM: Went a mile with my son Spencer, he said he wants to run a mile every other day.  Then went out and did .9 with my wife.  Good to spend some time running with them.

Wanted an easy trail run this morning. Slept in an started running around 7:30. Headed off the trail through the sage and cactus until I hit the foothills. A bunch of deer were heading up the mountain. I ran around then up and got above them.  A few nice bucks were in the group including one with a missing back leg.  Headed on some ridgelines until I got back to the mouth of the canyon.  Then added some trail miles along the base of the mountain until I got back to my car.  Had fun this morning just taking it easy and enjoying the morning.  Hoping for a long run tomorrow morning.

Ran along the paved path from Joseph up the canyon to Big Rock Candy Mountain and back.  Averaged 8:25 going up the canyon with the headwind, averaged 7:39 for the last 10 miles.  Felt good the last few miles which is a very good sign.  Had a goo and some gatoraide the last ten, first time this year I have used anything but water during a run. 

Started the run this morning feeling very stiff so I took it very easy and just did a recovery run around the hood.  Hopefully I loosen up quickly..

Just getting in the miles this morning. Still felt like the legs weren't fully recovered. Just took it easy on the dirt roads heading towards Poverty Flats. Didn't push the pace but still got some decent mileage in hopefully burning off some fat. AP 8:40

Ran the Sierra Vista Road this morning, could tell it was colder this morning. Legs are starting to feel much better, tried to keep a good pace without overdoing anything to be able to possibly get one workout in tomorrow.  AP 7:58  I have been really tired in the afternoons lately, need to get more sleep or my work will suffer.  I pretty much just want to go home and take a nap after lunch.  My weight has been coming down, not as much as I wanted but slowly losing.  I hope to be in the 150's by my race next week, I was 161 after my run this morning.  

Good run this morning on the dirt road heading toward Poverty Flats. Wanted to get one good workout in this week and my legs were feeling decent. Took it easy on the first five miles as it climbs about 900 ft and was into a headwind. Had fun on the way back down as the grade allows you to get some good turnover without pounding you to death. averaged below 7 min. miles on the way back without going into the red.  And as an added bonus weighed in at 159.8 after the run.  I'm sure my dog ran three times as far as me chasing the rabbits through the sage.

Day 48: Lovely Friday morning, slept in a bit then did some exploring around Monroe Canyon. Went off trail just looking around on ridge lines seeing if I could find some deer antler sheds. No luck but saw some new country lots of deer and some elk.  Slow going although it was some good climbing and scrambling down in places.  Weaved my way back through the bottoms over the rocks and around the cactus.  I wanted to take it easy and rest the legs for a longer run tommorow morning.  Legs felt pretty good today.

Started the morning off with a long trial run on the Pavhant.  I was going to go 10 then refuel at the car and go on another trail for 10.  I was feeling good and thought I had enough fluids to keep going up the canyon so I did 17.4 for the first push.  Just wanted to keep exploring the trail.  Tried to find a sustainable pace for my 50K coming up.  Got back to my car and filled up on more fluids and did an extra four miles on another trail. 3,669' of elevation gain I was able to run every step of the way although it was not very fast at times.

Got home and T.J. my 8 year old was waiting at the door with his running shoes.  He said the other day I want to go on a long run like you, I guess he remembered, so went back out and did four extra miles with him.  He did great! 

Hike about with family and neighbor kids looking for some indian ruins by town.  We didn't find the ruins but had a great time and found some deer sheds.  Finished with a nice soak in the hot springs.

My lower back was a bit tight, most likely my posture was wacky on the climbs on Saturday. Decided to just take it easy and do some flatter dirt roads at an easy pace. Legs are feeling pretty good considering.

Fun little run this morning.  Started on the dirt road from the rodeo grounds, headed up to the foothills then looped back around off trail through the hills back to the truck.  Found one little spike deer antler shed.  You had to stay alert up there as there is a lot of cactus and had to have fast feet at times.  Only got stuck twice...

Day 53: Another good day here in Monroe, legs were feeling pretty good. Went up the Thompson Basin dirt road then off the trail through the sage and cactus bobbin and weaving my way around exploring new areas.  I was enjoying the morning and got some good climbing in on the hills.  I looped back in and ran back down the dirt road to where I parked, legs felt like they could have run fast today if the terrain would have permitted.  It's been a good recovery week...

Went up past the hot springs then went off trail up the mountain.  Followed elk trails up the mountain, saw quite a few deer and elk and enjoyed the weather and the views.  Just went wherever my legs wanted to take me.  Ended up with eight miles total.  I hope to crank up the training next week and get some turnover going then two weeks after that is my 50K so tapering time.  It's been a good recovery week with some good climbs in there, a little over 2200' of climbing in the first few miles this morning.

Got a quick run in this morning before the kid's wrestling tournament.  AP 8:04

Went out this morning and did the Sierra Vista road. All on pavement, got a little slippery around miles 4-5 and on the way back as there was a skiff of snow on the road as it is higher elevation there. Felt pretty good during the run, tried to stay relaxed and comfortable, with a moderate push the last few miles. AP 7:44

Still working on turnover this week, flatter runs, not so technical.  Went to the dirt roads leading from the Bishop's over into poverty flats only about 500 ft of climbing for the run, Legs felt refreshed this morning.  Got some good miles in and would have gone further if I didn't have to cover the office this morning.  AP 7:45

Day 58: Ran from my house up to the mouth of the canyon then on the trail along the foothills until I got to the hotsprings which was right around 5 miles, then back home the same way. Still kept a good effort even though there was more climbing and technical trail compared to the dirt road. Legs were starting to get tired the last few miles. AP 8:33 with 818' of climbing, tried to keep the effort level about the same.

Ran along dirt country roads again this morning.  Relatively mile with a gentle climb the first 5 miles.  Got a good push on the way back and felt on a roll there for a while.  AP: 7:46

We are going to a wrestling tournament tomorrow morning in Price so I decided to get my long run in today. I have been wanting to run into work so today was the day. Took the back roads and tried to keep the pace easier. I am planning on also running home this afternoon. Hopefully it will simulate the last half of an ultra as I will mentally have to keep going.  I really hate to run in the afternoons after sitting all day. This week will be a test as I have had a cold all week and with my runs in the morning by afternoon I am so tired at work being sick and physically tired.  I still seem to be able to run ok in the mornings.  AP 8:06

PM: Commute run home - 12.5 miles got it done and the legs performed better than expected.  AP: 7:51 It was good to train the legs to run tired and on zero calories, only water.  I should sleep like a baby tonight.

Quick shakeout to keep the streak alive.  Once I started the legs started to feel better.  Ran around the high school track across the street from my house then played football with the kids afterwards on the field.  AP 8:03

This was a really good training week for me, I wanted to get some miles and get some turnover back as I was hitting the trails and hills pretty hard the last few weeks average pace for the 70.2 miles this week 7:57.  Feeling pretty comfortable with the 8 min pace...