Snow in June?

Well, starting from the old post date... ran the 6.5 mile loop on Wednesday, May 18... then on Thursday... LAKE POWELL TRIP!!  Yeah, baby!  The weather was a little cold on Thursday, Friday a little better, but Saturday was great.  Side story... on Friday, we (went with the Dave Massey family) were wakeboarding in the morning/early afternoon hour... decided to go fill up boat with gas and go to the Bullfrog marina.  Literally, right when we were pulling in, it started to rain softly... right after we pulled into a covered open boat doc (you know, a spot that people pay to keep their house boats in) and it just poured... I'm talking hail and heavy rain pouring... it was so loud hitting off of the aluminum/steel roof structure... it was just crazy how well we had timed that.  It would have been ugly if we would have been stuck in the open water.  Anyway, came home on Sunday with sun and rain both making their presence known.

Monday Rich and I ran our 6.5 trail course (I was tired... from no sleep to the workout that wakeboarding does to your legs).  Deer count 12.

Tuesday, we lifted.  Wednesday we ran our 6.5 miles... found out Rich will not be running Squaw Peak 50 with me... it will be weird running it alone since we've spent the last 5-6 months doing ALL of our training & runs together... but I don't blame him.  He's got his priorities correct.  Deer count: 10

Thursday- had a meeting in Salt Lake most of the day, so didn't do anything...  Friday, we ran our 6.5 course... deer count... I forget.  The grass along our course is getting taller... so our shoes get soaked with dew/rain remains.  We stayed down at the Massey's home really late/early... got home at 3 am... I didn't/couldn't sleep until about 4 a.m.  That will help explain why I didn't run on Saturday.

Saturday... was supposed to run.  Didn't.  Crap.  But I did do a nice job doing a speed lawn mowing job... it did provide some exercise ;)  For anyone who knows my backyard.. you know it's big with a lot of grass and some hills to push the mower up... so it is a workout to an extent.  Suzette and I went to Source Code at 9:45... I fell asleep right at the end for about the last 10 minutes, oops!
Sunday- church.  Taught the last lesson for 4 of the 18 yr old young men that will be moving on... best wishes for their future.

Monday, May 30.  Memorial Day.  Holiday!! No work!!  Woke up to see snow remnants in the green grass stalks this morning and also on some cars left outside.  That's crazy that it snowed... almost into June!  It's been raining off and on the past 2 days. While I ran the 6.5 miles along (no Rich), it started raining and even a little snow for a bit.  My shoes were soaked when I got home.  Deer count: 0

While on the 6.5 run, I  saw the race director for this Saturday's Squaw Peak 50 run... he mentioned that parts of the original course (he had to change the course) probably got another 15-20 inches of new snow over the past couple of days. Glad he changed it- but also a little let down...would have just added to the challenge but there's parts with safety ropes during the 'normal' years... can't imagine how it would be trying to summit some of those mountains with the ton of snow there is. Don't worry, he said the new course for this year has more elevation change than the original course and he expects a higher runner drop rate since the locations will be more accessible/convenient for runners to drop out at. Hope I'm not one of them.

 This week will be light running.. maybe like an easy 5 on Wednesday with lifting on Tuesday and nothing Thursday and Friday... gotta tapper for the 50.

Lace 'em up!  Chainsaw

Beach running & 30 miler

Sunday- This first week of May found us in Cali.  We drove straight through and got to our condo (which just happened to be right on the beach... don't know how that happened).  I did a lot of walking all week long at Disneyland.  I did a morning run of 6 miles on Tuesday and then a 8-9 miler on Friday.  On the 6 miler, I ran half on the sidewalk that went along the coast and then did the final half on the harder sand by the ocean.  I did all of the 8-9 miles along the water on the harder packed sand.  It was great!! Wish I could run along the coast everyday- loved the calm waves and cool breeze.  Pretty good week away from some of the madness called life.

The following week... ran Monday and Wednesday; and lifted on Tuesday & Thursday with 30 miles scheduled for Saturday.  Okay, that was the plan.  We ended up running 6.5 on Monday, lifted Tuesday and Wednesday, and then ran 30 on Thursday (Rich couldn't run on Saturday).  I was really dreading the 30 since the last long run I had I.T. problems and hadn't ran tons since then. Rich and I ended up starting at 4:15 and got done at 11:15.  Gotta say, I was excited... we both ran strong and at the end we both could have kept going... If Squaw Peak 50 miler was that day, we could have done it.  Big confidence booster for me in myself, but also for Rich believing in me. Had a little dehydration that hit us (my fault... ran out of water on loop part from mile 10 to 20... Rich sacrificed some of his water to get me through but he ran out too), but the weather was perfect.  Deer count around 10.  We ran/fast hiked/walked the last 10 in the dark.

Friday- Felt good with just a little soreness but stomach not really happy.  Was up about every hour Thursday night...heartburn, etc.  We didn't do anything but try and recover.

Saturday- I got a free spot in the Walk to Run Charity 5k...so I did it.  Honestly, I was more sore on Saturday morning than Friday.  My leg muscles just screamed at me the whole 3 miles!  I didn't push it too hard... ended up running it in 26 minutes with a 8:30 per mile (going from memory).  Then I went down to Utah Lake to take a few Wake Boarding runs to get ready for Lake Powell trip.  Water was cold, but I was warm in my wetsuit.  The legs were still very sore, so I didn't go too long or push it too much.

Monday, May 16, 2011- lifted.  Tuesday- we were supposed to run, but got up and was raining and very cold.  Looks like there's going to be tons of snow still for Squaw Peak 50... probably about 10-12 miles, yikes.
The plan is to run tomorrow... we'll see.

Lace 'em up! Chainsaw

Can you say "I.T. Band"?

We ended up doing a 23 mile run on Saturday.. I'll make it short just to say the weather was great but my I.T. Band wasn't.  About mile 14-15 it really started to hurt.  At one of the cars with 6 miles left to go, Rich asked me if I wanted to stop and cut it short... should've said yes.  Had to walk, power walk and do a shuffle run to finish.  But I DID finish!  The best part was that it didn't knock me on my butt later like I thought it would... thought stairs, etc. would be bad the next few days.  Honestly, iced my knees well, rolled them out, took a shower, more ice, and Advil did the trick.

Monday- lifted at gym
Tuesday-lifted at gym

Wednesday- got up at 5:15 a.m. and did our 6.5 mile run... deer were everywhere.  Maybe now that it's lighter on our runs, I'm just able to see more.  Deer count: 45ish

Thursday lifted at gym
Friday- plan for the weekend was to run 10 on Friday night and then 15 on Saturday.  We ended up doing a different trail to avoid the pavement... Didn't have GPS so we estimated we ended up running 8-9 miles.  But it was a tough 8-9 with some very steep hills/sections.  Deer everywhere again!  Deer count: 30

Saturday (today)- woke up to tons of snow... we decided not to go slush through mud, so we went to gym and lifted.  It was a tough/longer sessions, but good.  Feeling strong!  This will help during the long runs ahead.

Lace 'em up!  Chainsaw

YESSSSS!!! Week off

Well, after the 7 miles on Friday and 10 on Saturday from a almost 2 weeks ago... here's what I've done since.

Monday thru Friday-  I didn't do jack crap and loved it.  Rich was out of town for spring break.  I'd like to think of this time as planned tappering.

Saturday (April 16)- we did a 17 mile run along most of our regular long course route.  The weather was great!  Started at 5:30 and finished around 9:00ish.  I felt good during the run and recovered fairly well.  Deer count: 8

Monday- did leg, core, and upper body work.  We did a sushi lunch at Harmon's Grocery Store... was actually good, but Rich said it's probably only a C.  I've got to go to a place sometime with an A rating... can't wait!

Tuesday- I bailed on the early morning run... tired and looked like it was raining.  I might have to just run in the rain sometime... but I'll wait for it to get warmer first.

Wednesday- leg, core, and upper body work again (pull ups, sit ups on inclined bench, etc.).  We did an interesting exercise.  I put my feet in the TRX straps about a foot off the ground in push up position...however, then I walked back on my hands slowly with my feet going up into the air until I am  close to being vertical standing on my hands (can't get completely vertical or would probably fall over) and then doing push ups in that position... again, like a hand stand and then bending arms so head is close to ground and then pushing body back up.  It was very tough and balancing is a bit tricky.... it was cool to be able to do it 3 times for my first try.  Not too shabby.

Thursday (today)- got up to run at 5:15... started around 5:30 though, compliments of Rich being late... we did our hill course of 6 1/2 miles.  Only having to run the first 30 minutes in the dark, which is nice.  Weather was still a little chilly, but good for a run.  Felt okay, but legs were still a little tired from the leg workout from yesterday.  Deer count: 4

The plan is to take tomorrow off (Rich can't meet in the day due to an event at UVU) and we were thinking of either doing 10 miles Friday night followed by 15 miles on Saturday morning... but my parents are doing an Easter Egg hunt on Friday night, so we are going to try and run 25 miles on Saturday (if we don't run out of time).  This will be a good test of our endurance and nutrition level and our energy replacement while we run.

Lace 'em up!  Chainsaw

snow, snow, snow

Thursday- our schedules just didn't work out so we bagged our lifting day.

Weekend plan- planned on running 10 miles on Friday night, starting at 7:30 followed by 20 miles Saturday morning starting at 5:00 to help us get used to running on tired legs.

Well, we did our regular 6-7 miles route, but started it backwards.  It snowed the whole time... it really got bad when it was dark, so visibility was already bad, but then with the snow hitting us in our faces, we decided to cut the run short at 7 miles... also, the trails were very muddy with puddles so our feet were soaked which caused us to get a little cold.  Deer count: 4

Saturday- everything started well... until we stepped out of our car.  The plan was to do the same route as last week... so started at Water Tower.  But just like Friday night... it snowed the whole time.  Since the first 4-5 miles is on pavement, no problem.  But once we got on the trails, it again got muddy and tough to run when avoiding puddles.  There were some nice spots where the trail/road was gravel, which didn't cause mud...also, some nice spots when just running in fresh layer of snow.  We could have mustered up the strength to continue, but we were both feeling pretty fatigued and just decided to stop at 10.  No complaints from me.
Deer count: 7  oh, add 2 more... saw 2 in my backyard around 11:00.

Lace 'em up!  Chainsaw

Crap

Man I am crappy at this blogging thing.  Here's the quick catch up from last week...
Wednesday- core/weight lifting work
Thursday- Run at 5:15.. did regular run in foothills doing  6 1/2
Friday- we bagged it... scheduling between the two just wasn't working

Saturday-  We ran 20 miles... started at 5a.m. so I'd be done at 10:00 for Suzie to go into work.  It was a tough run... very cold and dark at first... warmed up just enough where it was a perfect temp by the end (after taking off a shirt layer at mile 14 at the water tower/car parking lot-  we loaded up on food and drink!!).  I ran out of water and perpetuem early (started sipping slowly around mile 7 to make it last but ran out around mile 10), so I was feeling just a tad dehydrated.  After getting new fluids at car... kind of got bloated and tough to run for the first 3 miles...plus it being more uphill than down didn't help. Course we did: ran 12 miles loop...started at water tower, ran down on payment for the first 5ish miles to Mt. Timp park and then up the fire roads over to Gizzly hill.... down and back up Grizzly was brutal and just hiked back up... footing is very loose rocks.  Went through blue rock valley (ran past 4 sleeping bags just laying in the open next to the trail- they must have been cold with the frost coming down on them in the morning... I was talking really loud before seeing them, so I probably woke them up... I'm sure they were thinking, who the crap was up on the trails running this early!?!?!).  Recovery: actually felt overall pretty good on the run... muscles a little sore after (Suzy made a comment of how stiff I looked when I was walking down the stairs), but overall muscle recovery was okay... that's why I love trail running.  I was pretty nauseous and had heart burn for the rest of the day... but this always happens after a long run, so pretty normal.  Deer count: around 20

Monday- no rest for the wicked... we got up at 5:15 and ran 6 1/2 in hills.
Tuesday- did bodywork during my lunch hours
Wednesday- raining hard (plus cold) outside, so did 70 minutes on the treadmill at Elevate doing the 5 min walk at 10 incline at 3 speed and alternated with 0 incline, 6 speed run.  Rich and I both commented that this was tough to do... running inside on treadmill, after so much time running outside.  I did use my Ipod though, which was nice just to zone out to good tunes.

Lace 'em up!  Chainsaw

Forgetting (to post that is)

Last post was a week ago... yikes.  I don't even know for sure what I did as far as workouts go... Pretty sure last Wednesday we ran 7.5, Thursday lifted, and Friday ran 7.5.

Saturday... Rich was out of town for the weekend, so I planned on taking it a little easy and do an 8 mile run alone.  The run was very enjoyable Started around 8:45 I think... it's nice running alone every once in awhile so I can just listen to my Ipod and zone out mentally (no jokes with that one please).  I ran from home up to the Canyon Glen bridge up Provo Canyon.  It was very cold and the wind really was hitting me in the face up until the turnaround.  The last mile to the turnaround (plus the mile coming back) the bike trail was very icy and slippery but I managed.  At one point my body felt really good and could have just run forever.  This lasted for a bit and then my body started not liking it... I think it was the pounding of the asphalt that I'm just not too used to anymore.  I started thinking 'Man, this is a tough 8 mile run'.  Well, the next day at church, I was speaking with Craig Perry who asked how far I ran and where.  When I explained where I ran, he said "that's not 8 miles... that is more like 11 miles).  After thinking about it, he was right... I don't know what I was thinking.  No wonder it seemed like a tough 8 miler.  Deer count: about 4 two-legged dear's that were running on the trail.

Monday- went during lunch and did core workout with Rich and Dave Runnells.  Found out my brother is coming into town on Thursday... will be good to see him and his family...conference weekend- so we know the bad weather is coming.

Tuesday- got up at 5:15 (was butt freezing cold) and did our 7.5 mile run in the hills.  Felt pretty good... other than having 4 hours of meetings in the afternoon, so was pretty tired (just glad I didn't snore out loud).  Found out this morning my co-worker turned her notice in... so I am going to be a very busy guy handling the workload until a replacement is hired.  Deer count: only 2

Lace 'em up!  Chainsaw