Hit the Dusty Trail

Had the second training run for the Antelope Island Buffalo Run today.  About 16 showed up to run in the snow.  My legs were tired and I was kind of dreading the run, but once I got going, the going was pretty easy.  The miles seemed to fly by.  It's always fun to run when it's snowing.

Wimped out of going outside.  Too cold and windy.  Did the mileage on the treadmill in two separate workouts.  Did 6 miles in the morning, then went to breakfast and Christmas shopping with the wife (gotta do those important things), then bottled my latest batch of homebrew, then did the other 9 miles in the evening.  All in all a pretty good day.

Was going to run at lunch, but I'm coming down with a head cold, so I decided to just do an easy run on the treadmill at home.  I actually felt better after the run for awhile.

Ran on the treadmill at home.  Managed to catch a  head cold and it hit full force Tuesday, so I took the day off from running.  And I was on a roll with my training too.  Several weeks of 60+ miles, feeling good, etc.  Somewhat screwed up now.  Hopefully I can get around 50 for this week.  One more week of full training then I start tapering for my next race.

Ran into work this morning.  Actually felt pretty good, not quite fully recovered from my cold, but weel on the way and good enough to resume the training plan.  The time in was around the usual time, 1:29 

The evening run home was kind of wet, but not cold.  I actually felt pretty good and pushed the pace.  Ended up tying my best time for a run home at 1:22.  If I could have seen better (it was dark and rainy) I would have pushed harder and maybe gone below 1:20. 

Ran easy on the treadmill after work.  Got off from work a little early.  I rpobably should have gone a few more miles, but just didn't feel like it.  Maybe it's residual effects from my cold.  Anyway, this is my first sub 50 mile week in quite awhile.  Maybe I needed the break.  The plan is to hit it hard next week, then start my taper.  35 miles on Sunday.  We'll see how it goes.

Well, I did it.  35 miles on the treadmill.  Total time 6:05.  Not as bad as I thought, but TV land is a wasteland on Sunday's.  I set up a little aid station next to the treadmill with my drinks and a few snacks.  My wife checked on me occasionally, would just shake her head and go back upstairs.  She just doesn't understand, but maybe neither do I.  Here's the numbers:  120 oz of fluid, 80 oz of it was Heed.  Calorie intake, around 600-700 total.  I watched some show on the Titanic on the History channel, a 2 hour Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (pretty good, I'm going to record it next time) concert, a Red Bull winter surfing contest in Nova Scotia, and part of Kill Bill, Part 1.  I actually don't feel too bad.  A little tired and chafed, but I imagine I'll sleep pretty well tonight.  This is my last really long run before my race on New Year's Eve.  Next week I go 25 miles for the long run.

Wimped out and ran on the treadmill again instead of going outside.  Man, I just really dislike cold weather running.  I think I'm going to retire to Hawaii.  I have no idea how I've been able to keep up the running to work thing twice a week when it's in the 20's outside.  I think the thing I hate most about running outside in the cold is being sweaty with clothes on, then getting chilled.  It's usually not too bad on a shorter run, but for long runs it really sucks.  The other thing about cold weather is that I'm chronicall cold in the winter, especially my hands and feet.  I was going to run into work this morning, but I could hear the wind just blowing outside and I didn't want to deal with it, so I'll do my miles this evening on the treadmill again.  My work schedule is a little weird this week.  As an Engineer, I occasionally have to oversee some aaspect of production and sometimes that's in the middle of the night, so for three nights this week, I'll work some during the day, but then come back to work from 8pm to midnight.  Kind of screws up the running schedule but I'll survive. 

Anyway, about my run, I was kind of wondering how well I would feel after my little run yesterday.  My legs were still tired, but not sore.  I ran the first couple of miles at a nice easy pace (10:00), then bumped the pace up to sub 8:30 just to see how it went.  I did just fine for the next couple of miles, then started to get a little tired.  I dropped the pace back down and took it easy for the rest of the run. 

Well, now I am certifiable.  I had to work an 8pm-12am shift tonight, so i decided to run into work at 6pm, then run home after midnight.  A lot quieter on the streets after midnight.  The run actually felt pretty good.  Time in was about normal at 1:28. The run home was nice and quiet.  Not too many cars out at that time.  No breeze, so I didn't get cold at all.  Time was a little slower than normal for a run home, 1:30.  I attribute that to just being tired adn having to watch my step a little in the dark.  I do carry a flashlight, but depth perception with it is somewhat lacking.

Planned on running 5-6 miles on the treadmill and quit after just 2.  I just didn't Have it in me to go the distance.  My legs weren't sore or dead,but i was just tired all over.  A little bit later I realized that I needed food.  I wasn't particularly hungry, but I've got to remember that when I pile on the miles I need to pile on the fuel as well.  Hopefully things will go better on Thursday.

Got off from work a little early and ran on the treadmill for a few.  Felt pretty good, pushed the pace some for the last mile or  so.

Ran into work this morning.  I felt really good adn the run felt like I was floating it was so easy.  I actually set a new PR for the run in at 1:21.  Now i wish i had pushed harder to try and get below 1:20, but I purposely chose not to watch my watch and just go with how I felt.  The run home was great.  I felt just as good adn pushed fairly hard.  Set a new PR for the run home and finally went below 1:20.  Now the goal becomes 1:15.

Ran part of the Mountain View trail with my friend Meghan.  We did plan on running the entire length of the trail, but the cold wind kind of got to us and we tanked the run half way thru.  Good thing we parked at the halfway point.  Our time shows that we actually ran fairly well although it sure didn't feel like it.  We were definitely glad to be done and out of the wind.

After I got home and logged the trail miles, I noticed that I was just shy of 100 miles for the week.  Since I've never done a 100 mile training week, I hit the treadmill for the remaining 3.8 miles.  Another milestone I've always wanted to reach.

Took the last couple of days off to start resting and tapering for my race over New Year's.  The run today felt pretty good.  I was planning on running yesterday, but took the day off without any guilt.

Went running for just the second time this week.  Weather and relatives home for the hlidays conspired to keep me form running more, but big deal, I'm on a taper and supposed to be resting.  Anyway, the run went well.  I took it fairly easy but still managed to go sub 9 for the distance, including waiting for stopllights.

Tomorrow we leave for So Cal for Christmas.  the weather looks to be sunny and in the 60's for the entire time we're there.  It'll be nice to run in shorts for a few days.

Finally ran in some warm weather.  We're in So Cal for Christmas and I got the chance to run some trails near where we're staying.  Kind of nice to run in 60 deg. weather.  Still tapering for the Across the Years 24 hour.  So far I feel pretty good.

Had to get out of the house and run.  My wife and sister in law got tired of watching me pace around the house and told me to go run.  They didn't have to tell me twice.  Ran some of the same trails as the other day, but farther.  Perfect day, nothing like 65 deg. on Christmas day.  Beautiful.

Ran a few miles with my brother.  Wore his butt out.  It was nice to do a little running in Tucson in semi-warm weather while it was snowing back in Utah.

Well, my last day before the race.  If anyone is interested in following my progress, you can go to www.acrosstheyears.com for complete race info.  You can even send me a message thru the website.  They actually will deliver the message to me as I run around the track.  When I ran the race 2 years ago, I got around 35 messages.  I would love to get way more than that, so if you're bored on New Year's Eve, I'll be running from 9am on the 31st to 9am on New Year's day.  You can also check out everyone's progress, see pictures of the race in progress, etc.   Send me a note, tell me a really bad joke, tell me to get off my lazy butt and get running.  It's easy to do and very nice to get messages.  Let me know you're from the fast running blog.  Pass the word around.  I'd love to hear from a bunch of fellow bloggers.