Dare to be great!

Woke up at 5 this morning to go run. Saw it storming outside and decided to run later. My right achilles was hurting towards the end of my run yesterday and felt tight the rest of the day. I started the run today and felt pain right away. Backed off the speed work plan and just jogged around the wood chips for 3 miles. I was hoping it would start to feel better but pretty much hurt the whole time. Not very happy about that, probably overuse and the hills yesterday. Hopefully it will go away soon.

2.5 miles with my 2 oldest to the park to watch my youngest's soccer game.  Ran home by myself, still some pain in my achilles tendon.  Just took it easy and tried not to aggravate anything.  On a positive note it did not hurt as much as yesterday so hopefully I will be all healed in a couple days. 

Lunch:

Went with the guys from work to run around Liberty Park. Stayed in the wood chips the first lap AP 8:26. Didn't feel too bad on the achilles the first lap, 2nd lap 7:37 average. Jogged another .5 back in with the guys.  I really really want to run faster/longer but the achilles started hurting more the second lap.  I am still hopefull it will be better in time for Ogden, it has been feeling better everyday, and I ice stretch it as much as I can.  I will try to get a few more miles this afternoon. We'll see how it goes for this weekend.

PM:

Decided to get a few more miles in this afternoon.  1st mile 8:25, didn't feel too bad, 2nd mile 8:11 started to feel my achilles more this mile, I just kept hoping it would ease up, 3rd mile 8:57 pain not going away, last .5 9:33 pace, kept hurting more an more, ended up just walking the last bit back to the house.  I am trying to keep my spirits up but I am very discouraged right now. 

Went to the gym this morning and spent an hour on the eliptical machine then a half hour on the bike.  Just trying to rest my foot some more, wish I had more time but I slept in and had to go let the kid's run in the Provo City Kid's Marathon.  As a parent I was dissapointed in the organization of the run.  It was very disorganized but it was for the kids and they did not seem to notice too much.  Spencer ended up winning so I was proud of him.  I ran with Trenton and he came in 5th. 

Went to the gym again this morning. Did 55 minutes on the eliptical then 20 minutes on the bike. Still waiting on running, it is very tempting to try a few miles but I resisted, the marathon is less than 2 weeks away and if I am going to be able to run I need to have this achilles thing all better. I tried to push it on the machines this morning so hopefully I don't lose too much fitness.

I couldn't take it any more and decided to test the foot out on a run this afternoon.  My foot actually felt really good so I am very encouraged by this.  I still did not push it very much so I don't know how it will respond to more mileage but for now I am happy.  1st mile 8:41, testing it out, 2nd mile 8:14, still good, 3rd mile 7:36 still feeling good.  I was very tempted to keep cranking out some quality miles but with the Ogden Marathon so close I will play it smart for now.  Got back to the house and pumped up the tires on the mountain bike and went back out for a 30 minute ride.  If I am not getting the mileage in at least I am getting in the time my workouts call for.  I've got to keep the faith my past workouts will carry me through.  It was nice a toasty outside this afternoon, felt good to sweat a bit.

Nice run around the hood AP 8:07, foot felt great, I am tempted to extend my mileage tomorrow to see how it feels.  My back is still pretty tight and gives me some pain.  Geez I sound like a huge whiner the last couple weeks.  It was actually pretty nice run this afternoon but did not want to push my luck.

Had a pretty good run this morning.  Went to the canal trail by the house. 1 mile warm up 8:47, then 3 miles at tempo pace to see how the legs felt, 7:04,7:13,7:07, 1.2 miles back to the house 8:20.  The first mile of the tempo was hard, I have to get used to running harder again, 2nd mile I eased off a little and tried to get into a groove, 3rd mile started to feel good.  I still don't want to overdo anything.  I will try to get some extra miles in later.

Lunch:Went with Blake, Terry, and Jason to Liberty Park during our lunch. Felt really good this afternoon. First 1.5 7:26 pace, second 1.5 7:07 pace.  jogged back to finish with the rest of the guys.  Everything felt pretty smooth this afternoon, good times.

Went out with Spencer and a neighbor Casey this morning. It was nice to run with Spencer before he went to school. It also kept my pace honest as today is a recovery day for me. Spencer (9) did great, however he said Casey was "huffing and puffing like a choo-choo train." It will hopefully motivate him to get out more so a 9 yr. old doesn't tease him anymore.

Went to the JRP for the last longer run before the marathon next Sat.  I didn't want to push it, just wanted to keep it nice and relaxed and test this old body out.  Didn't feel too bad, didn't feel excellent but not too bad.  AP 7:58  Went south from the iron bridge, to the end of the trail then still south into Saratoga.  Turned around and came home.  I am glad my achiles did not give me any problems.  I had some phantom pains around but it is most likely all in my head, just felt out of synch past 8 miles.  Did the last mile in 7:36 and didn't feel bad.  Lungs were fine the whole time. Time to get a game plan together for next weekend. 

5 miles easy cheesy around the hood.  AP around 8:45. 

Oh yea, I drew out for the St. George marathon this year.  I am so excited, first time to run it.  I plan on trying to qualify for Boston there.  3:09:59 here I come.

Went to Liberty Park with the guys from work, 1 mile warm up, then 1.25 around 7 pace, 90 sec active recovery, then 1 mile around 6:30 pace, 90 sec recovery, then about .25 fast, then jogged in with the rest of the guys about .75 miles.  No garmin just went on feel and my watch.  Felt pretty good today, I just stayed in the wood chips to give my legs some extra cushion.  Countdown to Ogden....

Went to Liberty Park with Blake for our last run before the Ogden Marathon on Saturday.  It was a pretty good run.  Didn't push it at all, AP for the run 7:48.  Not much more to do now but wait and see on Sat. how it goes.  Got the day off tomorrow so hopefully I get some good sleep tonight and rest my legs tomorrow.  Good luck to all the other racers.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising up every time we fall - Confucius

This race has been a long road for me.  It was my second marathon.  I ran the Ogden Marathon last year and gained a whole new level of respect for marathoners.  I thought I had trained hard and set the goal to finish in 3:30.  I gave it my all and basically collapsed at the finish line finishing in 3:40:58

Although in extreme pain, I determined afterwards on doing what it took the following year to redeem myself.  So a year later and many early mornings and late nights putting in the miles, I felt prepared for this years marathon.  My main goal was to finish happy, and standing up.  I also wanted to break 3:30. 

Went with Chet to his brother's house and slept on the floor the night before the race.  We rode the buses to the start.  It was chilly there but the weather seemed perfect for a race.  I was planning on going out with the 3:25 pace group.  I hit the potty, then decided to try again as my stomach is usually terrible on race day.  By the time I got out of the potty the race was about to begin.  Stripped down and couldn't find Chet, went to go put my drop bag in the truck and the race began before I got to the road.  Oh well.  I had to weave past all the runners to get to some open road.  I ran on the shoulder of the road most of the first mile trying  not to turn an ankle.  7:59, probably good to start out slower. Then 7:49,7:40,7:40, I kept trying to catch up to the 3:25 pace group but they were gone. 7:48, 7:50,7:55,7:49,7:55,7:49,8:01,7:54,Hit the half at1:43:06, I was wanting to run conservatively the first half with my last marathon fresh in my mind, and if I still had some pop negative split the second half.7:50, 8:00,8:15bigger hill,8:02,7:57,7:51, oh no... hit the downhill and my quads were already feeling done.  I starting having flashbacks of last year.  I was actually really enjoying the run,  lungs felt great, I was chatting with other runners, and enjoying the scenery.  7:59,alright no more games 6 miles left you can do this,7:37, quads still in pain but not getting much worse,  got some words of encouragement from other runners and decided to go for it, 7:22,7:19,7:18, I was feeling great here, definetly on a runner's high, 7:42,7:32, last .28 (my garmin measured 26.28)6:38.  I was trying to pump up the crowd much of the last few miles, it felt so good to finish strong, and I was quite overcome with emotion during the run and afterwards. My garmin said 7:24:11 however it shut off when we went under the tunnels, so I am pretty confident with the 3:24:24, on the prelimary results.    I was happy to negative split the race and I will again regroup and plan on the next one.  I drew out for St. George this year so I will take what I learned and attempt to BQ there  3:09:59 is what I need.  It was a very very good day for me. 

Still haven't made it out on a run.  I did mow the lawn this afternoon, it had been seriously neglected.  Legs feel ok, just sore if I go into a deep squat.  I also have what feels like a knot in my left hamstring.  Hopefully a little shake out run will get rid of it.  Sunday and Monday were pretty rough with all the stairs in the house.  I told myself this would be my off week.  After the marathon I went to smash burger and got the biggest greasy burger and fries I could find after months of watching what I ate.  It was better dreaming about before the race than it was after I ate it.  Hopefully I will get back into it soon.  I was planning on running at work but did not get a break all day, pesky criminals won't take a day off so I can't either.

1st run post-marathon.  Been taking it easy the past week.  Still had a pain in my left hamstring, hopefully it goes away soon.  Other than that my legs just felt really heavy like after a big training week.  Went with my wife as we are running ragnar together in a few weeks.  I don't know if I want to go on the father and son's campout tonight with the wind and rain predicted.  I will try to get a few more easy runs in before I test the leg out, don't want to do anything stupid and ruin the rest of the year.

Went for a windy run with Spencer (9), we are signed up as a family to run a 10k in American Fork on Monday.  Well me and Spencer are doing the 10k, my wife and Trenton (7) are running the 5k, and TJ (5) is running the mile.  My hamstring is doing ok, still can feel it but felt much improved from yesterdays run so I am hopefull it will continue to loosen up and is not too injured.  This week has been a week of glutony and laziness. 

Today we went as a family to American Fork to run the free race put on by the 26.2 running company.  Thanks guys, it was a great time.  My wife and 7 year old ran the 5K, my 5 yr old ran the mile run with my sister, and I ran the 10K with Spencer (9).  It was a great race, I didn't know how he would do as the farthest we had ran together was 4 miles.  I knew it was pretty hilly the first couple miles so I made sure he went out easy and stayed relaxed 9:01, 8:57, 9:43, I let him go the last few miles and it was a blast for me.  He kept pushing the pace and passing people left and right, 8:24,8:02,7:27, last .2 6:06 pace.  Finish time 52:39  It was a great experience for me to run with him and do the race together.  I am a proud papa.   My legs are about ready to start training again after the marathon last week.

Went with the guys from work to run around Liberty Park during our lunch break. 1st lap 11:18/7:32 pace, 2nd lap 10:34/7:02 pace. Finished with .5 running in with the rest of the guys. My legs felt pretty good, I could tell my hamstring was tight when I was stretching but when I was running I could not feel it.  I woke up this morning to run but my allergies are in full effect.  I left the window open last night and I was all congested with a sore throat.  I took an allergy pill and it wore off soon as we were done with the run.  I was sneezing the whole way back to work.  It felt good to push the pace a little on the second lap, just stayed in the wood chips. 

Beautiful morning for a run in the mountains this morning. Started at the coyote hollow trailhead near the Draper Temple, headed up to Clarks, ran up and around to Ghost Falls then dropped back down and around. I wanted to get an hour of running in so ran on various different trails for the last 25 minutes or so. It was so much fun, I need to do this at least once a week. Didn't push the pace all that hard just kept cruising along and tried to not turn any ankles. Very refreshing for the soul.

Went out for a stroll at liberty park for lunch. 2 laps around the park in the wood chips.  Kept the pace easy 7:35 AP.  Good training for Ragnar coming up with the 2 a days with hills/trails in the morning.