On the road to BOSTON!

leg 3 of my 5 marathon distance runs in 5 consecutive weeks. I started at Diamond Valley turn off and ran to just short ot eh top of Veyo hill. Turned and ran back to the car.....got a drink and off down the marathon course to the Dixie Center then to home in Bloomington. I decided to take it slow, which wasn't that hard to do with the first 10 miles being up hill and the rollers of Dammeron. I was just wanting to have a good run, not trying for any particular time. I got to within 6 miles of home and noticed that I was running very close to my BQ pace. I was getting tired but ended up missing the BQ by 2 minutes......Had I been looking at that time a bit earlier I could have done it. I needed this positive run after the Salt Lake mess 2 weeks ago.

My secret weapon for nutrition this morning was a 12 oz. pepsi at mile 15....did it ever taste good. I only used one gu at mile 19.

Feet were doing pretty good. The left foot was giving me some trouble around mile 8 for 4-5 miles. Right foot did good. My left calf was still very tight, has been for 2 weeks...need to spend more time stretching and massaging this next few weeks to get it loose...it worked itself out pretty good once I got going on the downhill portion of the run.

My car broke down in town last night so I am without wheels today. I ran over to St. George Ford to make arrangments to get my car over there and fixed. Got a lift back home then 1 1/2 hours later I decided to run over there and see what is going on. I got half way there and they called and can't get the part till afternoon...I continued running to the bridge at I-15 crossed over past Flying J and then home. Total of 8 miles @ 8:16 pace. Left calf is still tight and was starting to quiver a bit while running up hill. I stopped and slapped the crap out of it to get the blood flowing and it did great the rest of the way..

This afternoon I went for a fast paced walk to get my car, 4 miles in the afternoon...starting to get hot!

Late morning run Bloomington Drive clockwise....8:23 pace

Started at the Ledges overpass and ran to the top of Snow Canyon then turned around and ran down the hwy to the Dixie Center, then onto the trail and home. Ran into Clyde just past the DC and chatted.....good to see you Clyde! Nothing special today 17.1 miles @ (8:23 pace), heading to gooseberry mesa in a few hours to chill for the weekend with a Father and Son outing. I will try to get in some biking and some trail running for fun.

I got up to Gooseberry Mesa 4 hours before anyone else arrived. So I jogeed a little bit then got on my bike and did some riding...pretty easy stuff, then I went and did some technical riding around the rim...that was awesome. I also strained the knees on some of the ledges pumping to get over them....my bike doesn't have suspension so it got pretty rugged at times. I ended up with 16 miles of biking and 2 miles of jogging. I should have stayed on the hammock all afternoon. My knees both are pretty hammered.... I am logging in 5 miles for my biking because it was slow pace technical riding and then I would go out and pump as hard as I could up any of the hills..working the hams.

Took it easy all day at the campout.....trying to rest the legs. Need to get feeling fresh before Ogden!

I went out late morning to run and got 1/4 mile down the road and turned around...too hot and the legs just didn't feel right....I am a wuss, I know.

Late rin the afternoon when it was even hotter I went out for a bike ride. I pushed it pretty hard for 10.5 miles. Coming back it was a major fight with the wind...good workout. I am letting the foot heal as much as possible. The knees were sore when I first started but they worked themselves out.

I am hoping to be feeling a little more fresh in the morning, need to get out early.

Nice and easy Bloomington Drive loop. Still have a tight left calf. I had to stop and massage it after a mile then it did pretty good. It is amazing how much better I feel running when that thing is loose, I have got to figure that thing out. 3.52 miles (8:13 pace)My quads felt heavy and non responsive this morning, hopefully just from the bike riding yesterday. I have got to get my mental energy up for this race on Saturday, just not feeling it!

Added on some bike miles this evening wanting get the legs moving. Went out and tried to keep 15-20 miles per hour for 4.5 miles.

On my way up to Ogden I syopped to see a construction site in Midway. I ran 1/2 mile up, very steep rough dirt road and then back down. This was at 6800 feet elevation.

I will write more about this Sunday. I just got back to St. George. Descent race, had issues with shooting pain in my toes of the left foot for the last approx. 4 miles. They cleared up the last 1/4 mile.......They could have waited to hurt til the last mile and I could have slugges through it. I missed my BQ in the last 5 miles of the race....got a bit tired at mile 20 but still did okay, a little slower than I had planned but I had done better on the first half and those minutes offset the slower miles in the canyon. With  5 to go all I needed to do was keep a 8 minute pace for BQ and then the toes went off.......... beautiful day!

Monday: Finally felt like looking at my splits:

8:13/ 7:53/ 7:39/ 8:11/ 7:34/ 7:50/ 7:42/ 7:59---59 seconds ahead of my plan, feeling great!

7:58/ 8:13/ 8:13/ 8:24/ 8:25---- 2:31 ahead of my goal at this point, feeling good, getting a bit tired but I should half way through a marathon.

8:43/ 9:28/ 8:30/ 9:06/ 8:32/ 8:51/ 8:59--- This section was not what I had expected. After the hill at 14 it seemed like it was continuous hills really slowing me down. Even with that I was still 7 seconds ahead of my plan. So all is great because I have the down hill section....

Top of the damn, damn: 8:51/ 8:59/ 9:37/ 8:13/ 8:09/ 9:38--- I am 1:51 ahead of my plan at the top of the damn.....getting excitied.... tried to let the legs go, hoping to have 7:45 for the next few miles. Legs just didn't have anything left. A couple of miles that were okay but I did a lot of walking in this stretch. I was so looking forward to this section to have some good splits. I got to the bottom of the canyon and I am now 2:53 behind schedule, knowing the BQ is not happening today. For the last couple of miles my left foot atarted having sharp pains, electrical shocks each time I planted.

9:38/ 10:06/ 9:54/ 8:09--- I finally decided to do some walking and try to finish respectfully. Then they really hurt, but my mind was not strong enough to push through the last 3 miles.

One day I will figure things out and have a great marathon where the body says "today is the day let's do this thing".

The longer I sat in church the stiffer I became. I decided to get on my bike and ride a little bit to stretch things out. I ended up riding the Bloomington Drive loop (4.50 miles) plus some in the 99 degree heat. That sure lossened my up...actuallt felt real good. The left knee is pretty stiff and somewhat sore but the rest of my body feels great.

I just completed a 22.08 mile bike ride. Felt really good to get the legs pumping. I am going to put more biking into my training. Tried to keep the legs pumping most of the time.

Another bike ride today. Waiting til friday or saturday to run. I did 25 miles on the bike going along the bike path to washington, through the industrial park out to the fields then to Bloomington Hills to the park then back on the trail to the post office then on the trail back to home.

I got a bit too ambitious this morning. I went out and ran up Snow Canyon then decided to make the loop. I got about 3/4 mile down the hwy and turned around to go back down Snow Canyon because my leg wasn't feeling too good. Told myself quit being a wuss, turned back around and did the rest of the loop. Felt like crap. heavy legs, sore feet, ended up walking the last 3 miles.......should have stayed in bed!

Today was variety. We started the day off with a 6 mile hike in Snow Canyon. My daughter Hilary and I ran down the road for 1.50 miles. After going home and chillin I took off on a bike ride. I ended up with a 30 mile ride...great fun!

Today I went out for a nice easy 40 mile bike ride.....I took off down the biuke trails into Washington then out on Washington Damn Dam road. Cruising down the road a big dog put a chase to me. Had to pump it up to 30 mph to get away....then I come to dirt. I have never been down this road before and now I know why. I really didn't want to go back past the dog so I kept going, mile after mile of dirt, sand ruts and up hills. Finally I came out onto to paved road and it was like they oiled garvel, almost as bad as the dirt road. Then out to the hwy and up the long hills. Turned and went down Telegraph Road and made a stop for a double double with cheese, fries and a lemonaide...that hit the spot. Then on to home 42.80 miles in all. I am beat!

I am hoping to get a small run in tomorrow and see how the feet are doing....I know my legs are trashed!

I spent some time stretching this morning and then got on the treadmill and pounded out 4.75 miles. I stopped a few time to stretch.

My big focus now is to stretch and get the hammy's feeling loose. The tight hams are causing problems with my calf's and feet.

Bloomington Drive Loop. SLOW Finally decided to get on the road again. IT is hurting a bit on the left side. I have never had a problem with this until after the Ogden Marathon, hopfully it goes away soon. Need to do more stretching...feet felt ok today but no real test with only 3.5 miles.