Dare to be great!

Before work run up Monroe Canyon this morning, 3 up 3 down.  Stayed on the road, didn't hit the trails.  Ran with the light until I got to the top then it was light enough not to use it.  Kept a moderate pace on the way down, hopefully without overdoing it, felt in the 10K/Half effort range.  6:12,6:26:6:28 on the way down.  Tried to focus on breathing and remaning relaxed.

Had both sets of running clothes set out last night. Woke up to three inches of snow and still coming down, so I scrubbed the trail run and did my first treadmill run in a long time. I believe I have been needing to work on my flat running, downhill and uphill from the trails feel ok.  Warmed up one mile then kept upping the speed every mile .2.  Ended the last mile at 8.2 or about 7:19 pace.  It felt hard today and I was planning on cooling down for another two miles but was feeling a bit "woozy" and couldn't stand to be in there on the treadmill any longer.  It was hot in there with no fans and I worked up a good sweat.  Maybe I will take the kids on a run tonight to get the extra miles in.

Ran the red rock course again this morning. I like the loop, pushed the pace this morning, but not into race mode, just out of the comfortable box. Got 9.58 miles on the GPS, this morning.  Miles for my future reference :7:51,7:53,7:41,7:41,7:38,7:46,7:44,8:48 climb to water towers, 8:04,last .58 7:34  AP 7:53 total time 1:15:28

Since I like round numbers finished up until I hit 10 as a cool down.  Love running on the trails when the sun is out in the morning.

Tuesday six up Monroe Canyon, beautiful morning with Laci the dog. Once again ran up to the turn off to Monrovian park 3 miles, stretched then ran a tempo run/speed work back down.  5:57,6:14,6:06 total 18:17 AP 6:06.

It hurt like it should have, trying to get more comfortable at faster paces, trying to control my form and breathing.  Fun running down through the cliffs along the stream, nobody else around but deer and rabbits.

Ran the dirt road/pavement loop south of town today. My left hip area has been bothering me after my speed workouts the past several weeks. I usually feels better in a day or two and I have been using the roller on it. Wanted to keep it easy today to not aggravate whatever it is but still get a workout.  I have also been having a sore throat at night the past few days so I slept in longer than usual this morning.  AP 8:05 averaged around 8:20 on the dirt road and 7:45 on the road.

If I am feeling good tomorrow I will hit the trails in the morning... going camping with the scouts tomorrow night so I will not have much time for a workout this afternoon.

Went up Monroe Mountain this morning.  Attempted to run up as far as a could, gave up about 3 miles in and enjoyed power hiking/jogging the rest of the way up.  In the pines there was snow on the trail which was quite icy in spots making for some slow going up and down.  I love the smell of pine trees and fresh mountain air.  I wanted to keep going and going once I got up near the top however I only had water on this run and was feeling low on fuel so turned around after 5.4 miles.  Just cruised on the way down, steady yet in control.  Me and the dog will both sleep well tonight.

Hit the red hills this morning. I was planning on doing the full 10 with a tempo in between but my hip was acting up and my chest from a four wheeler incident last weekend so I took it easy and ran recovery pace and hopefully save it for another day. Hit he Flying J road and cut it short not to aggravate anything. AP 8:43

Day off for spring break, did a new loop from my house this morning.  Beautiful loop on pavement around the green fields some rolling hills in the run to keep it interesting.  I have been noticing this loop for a while and did not know how far it was, I was guessing farther but I was ok with it this morning.  I was hoping to do some progressive miles if everything felt ok.  AP 7:29 - 7:31,7:42,7:52,7:43,7:44,7:24,7:16,7:10, 6:53

Felt pretty good, now how to taper for next week if every week for the past year has basically been a taper week...

5 miles down the dirt road south of town.  No GPS, kept the pace right around 8 min.  Still trying to heal up my chest and lungs.

Decided to do 5 miles in the red hills this morning.  Did the first 2.5 of the race on Sat. then went back on the same way.  Tried to take it somewhat easy to save the legs but ran some spurts faster to test the lungs out.  It feels they are clearing up, probably had a bit of a cold over the weekend along with my rib/chest pain.  Should be ready to give it a go this weekend.  Ap 7:58

First trail race this moring, small local race in Richfield, Utah.  I was hoping for a better time, but it is what it is...  It was raining the whole time with a headwind for much of the race.  The clay on the course got pretty slippery the last couple miles.  It kept sticking to my shoes and made it hard to go up hill and downhill without doing serious damage.  Started strong and ran with the eventual winner for the first couple miles, could tell it was going to be a long day after about the first mile.  He made a move about 2.5 miles in and I just let him go.  I have ran this course in training runs faster than the race today, and it was hard mentally to stick with it all my myself.  I tried to guess the course in training but it had a lot more uphill and cut offs from the main trail that I didn't expect.  Miles were as follows for my records:  6:59,8:06,7:41,7:11,7:34,7:50,8:04,7:50,10:17,9:16,last .33 7:33

Well got to start somewhere, at least I won a $75 dollar gift certificate for taking second, does that mean I'm pro...ha ha.  Time to keep training and plan for what's next.. whatever that is...hmmm

I have been having a muscle pain in my left hamstring following the race so I have been taking it easy the last few days.  It was feeling a lot better coming up and down the stairs last night so I decided to hit the hills this morning.  Didn't want to aggravate it with a run so I went hiking up the side of the mountain this morning.  Had a great time, saw lots of deer and some chukars.  Ran where I could but I was following game trails most of the time with lots of cactus and loose rocks.