El Burro Blanco

11.20 miles in the morning.

9 miles in the afternoon.

I was a little sore this morning so I did a slow recovery jog at 7:24/mile pace.  I moved up the pace just a little this afternoon to 7:18/mile.  Today was a nice recovery day.  Happy to get in another 20 mile day.  Not to much to report.

10.55 miles in the morning.

10 miles in the evening.

I got 2 miles in at Acceleration.  I was walking backward on the treadmill and then running forward on it with an incline.  I did some core exercises and felt good after all of it was done.  I met up with James and ran along the canal trail, Bonneville Shoreline trail, up to Green Canyon, back down by Lundstrom Park, and then ended at Pineview Apartments where James lives.  It was not a fast pace but it was nice to talk with him about school and the upcoming St. George Marathon.  It was nice and cool and was a fun run with someone to talk to.  We ended up doing 8.55 miles together.  I wanted to push the pace on my evening run because I don't know how much running I will be getting in Dallas.  I did 8 miles at 6:00/mile pace and then cooled down with 2 miles at 7:18/mile pace.  It felt fine keeping the pace at 6:00/mile but I had to stop twice to use the restroom.  My stomach bothered me a bit.  I survived though.

7 miles in Dallas.

I am really glad that I got most of my mileage in during the first part of the week.  Katey and I left very early this morning to get on the flight to go too Dallas.  We came to Dallas because my wife served her mission here and wanted to see some of the people she served around.  One of the young girls that went on exchanges with her got baptized and is going on her mission soon.  Katey really wanted to see her.  We stepped off the plane and the humidity nearly killed me!  I immediately started sweating.  I went out this afternoon and managed to get a 7 mile run in.  I had no idea where to go but I just went out and tried to survive.  It was 95 degrees outside and 41% humidity.  It felt really muggy.  I haven't sweat that bad in a long time.  I ran from our hotel to a place much like the BDO in Ogden.  I turned right on a road and ended up getting on a major highway.  It was fun to go out and explore the area a bit.  I got back to the hotel and could not stop dripping due to all of the sweat.  I am grateful to live in Utah where the humidity is not bad at all.  Hopefully I can run tomorrow.  My wife has some activities planned and this is her vacation so we shall see.

I was still in Dallas today.  With all of the activities Katey had planned I was not able to go out for a run.  We met up with her brother and sister-in-law for a soccer game.  I wasn't feeling very well today so I don't feel too bad not going out on a run. 

We got stuck in Dallas and the flight got delayed quite a bit.  I still wasn't feeling that great and was not able to go and run.  We were stuck in the airport for over 5 hours.  We got home at midnight and I thought about doing a couple miles but went straight to bed instead.

10.20 miles in the morning.

11.33 miles in the evening.

I woke up feeling much better.   The vacation in Dallas was nice but I will not miss the humidity.  I missed the mountains and the wonderful dry heat.  I did 6 miles at 7:24/mile pace and then did 4 miles at 6:35/mile pace.  I cooled down the last .20 miles.  The weather felt great.  I had one of my better workouts in a long time tonight.  I ran up alongside the mountain going towards North Ogden.  Their are 5 hills going out and back with spots where it is a slight uphill for half a mile or so.  I was feeling good so I decided to see how I could do on the hills.  I felt great and didn't feel like I was over doing it.  I averaged 6:16/mile for the entire run and pushed the last 3 miles at 5:56, 5:51, 5:44.  I was thrilled to hit those at the end of the run.  I think I will run this route twice a week leading up to St. George.  It has the hills and some downhill which will hopefully help with the wear and tear on the legs.

10.05 miles in the morning.

10 miles in the afternoon.

My legs were a touch sore from last night so I did not want to push it that much.  I went over by the BDO and had to alter my route due to the Weber County Fair.  I did 6:59/mile average for the entire run.  The wind was blowing just enough to make it not too hot.  My legs were still quite sore so I did another 10 miles at 7:24/mile pace.  Nothing to exciting to report.  Glad to get another 20 mile day.

7.5 miles in the morning.

11 miles in the afternoon.

I woke up around 4 AM and was not tired so I did not go back to bed.  I was up in Logan for Acceleration this morning and decided to go out for 40 or so minutes.  I did not worry about my pace but ended up doing 5.5 miles on the road.  It was nice and cool with no traffic or crazy dogs out.  I saw 3 shooting stars and I hope some of the wishes come true!  I then went to Acceleration and did a couple more miles.  I did some more core exercises with running on the treadmill forward and backward.  I was happy to get some miles in this early in the morning.  I went too a teacher orientation meeting for most of the day and when it was over I came home and took an hour and a half long nap.  My body really needed that.  I felt good and did the same 11 mile run that I did on Tuesday up towards North Ogden.  The pace was about 7:00/mile on the hills and then on the way back I did three quarter to half mile bursts of speed.  I was down in the 5:20-5:30/mile range when I was doing this.  I also pushed it up the hills to really test the legs when they were a little fatigued.  I averaged 6:30/mile pace for the entire run.  It was not as fast as yesterday but a decent workout nonetheless.  I will take it.

10.17 miles in the morning.

8 miles in the evening.

I woke up and was out the door by 5 AM this morning.  I have to get back in the routine of waking up early since school is starting up.  Today is the first day back from the summer.  Bummer!  I am excited for school to start though.  I went out and planned on doing an easy 10 mile run but ended up having to push the last 3 miles to get back in time for work.  I loved the cool weather but got stuck waiting for a train for a bit.  I averaged 7:01/mile pace for the entire run.  I did another 8 miles this evening at a 7:30/mile pace.  I am heading up to Logan with Paul and Cody so I did not want to push it that much.

I woke up early and drove to Logan to run a 20 miler with Paul and Cody.  I got pulled over coming out of Sardine Canyon and was ticked off.  I thought I was going to get a speeding ticket but I guess my front headlight was out and I just got a fix-it ticket.  The cop was cool so the morning didn't start out to bad.  Paul, Cody, and I drove up to Hollow Road and headed up Blacksmith Fork Canyon.  This is all pretty much uphill.  The headwind was really bad the first 4 miles or so and we were hitting about 7:15/mile pace.  We sped up a little bit and were really pushing to get 7:00/miles.  We made it up 10 miles at a 7:15/mile pace.  On the way down we started pushing it a little more.  We were hitting 6:10-6:15/miles.  It felt nice and relaxed.  The little bit of tailwind helped out.  I got a little antsy the last 4 miles.  Paul and I took off and did 5:57, 5:52, 5:23, and 5:09 miles for the last 4.  Their was no tailwind here and it felt nice to really get going with Paul.  It was nice and controlled and it didn't feel like I was really pushing myself past the point of getting out of control.  It was nice and a great way to finish off the run.  We ended up averaging 6:38/mile for the entire run.  The whole run took just under 2 hours and 13 minutes.  The weather was great and it was nice to run with Paul and Cody.  I am happy with the mileage this week considering I wasn't able to run on Monday.

8.07 miles in the morning.

9.07 miles in the afternoon.

It was a nice run this morning with the weather.  I was really happy to be running in cool weather and not hot weather.  I happened to avoid the train this morning which was nice.  I went out towards the fairgrounds again and did not push the pace at all.  I did the entire run at a 6:54/mile pace.  I got home from work and went out in the afternoon when it was still pretty hot.  I went out towards Farr West today.  I really wasn't planning it by I did the first 6 miles as a tempo run at a 5:55/mile pace.  It felt pretty good.  I "slowed" down a bit for the last 3 or so miles at a 6:06/mile pace.  I averaged right at 6:00/mile pace for the entire run.  It was a nice start to the week. 

7.40 miles in the morning.

10 miles at the track.

I woke up a touch late this morning and went out without the Garmin.  It was a nice relaxed run.  The cooler temperature in the early morning really makes it worth getting up early.  I came home from work and took another hour nap.  This seems to help when I go out for my second run.  I went up too Weber High and did some interval work.  The track was packed tonight with lots of people running.  Luckily their are 8 lanes so I was alright.  I did a 3 mile warm-up to get the legs loose and then did 7 x 1000m with 30 sec. or 200m recovery jogs.  Here they go as follows:

1- 3:06

2- 3:09

3- 3:09

4- 3:10

5- 3:11

6- 3:11

7- 3:12

I was really surprised with the first one but happy nonetheless.  I did all of them under 5:00/mile pace which surprised me alot.  I had to stop for just a second after the 4th one because I about threw up.  Luckily I didn't have any food in me.  I got a drink of water and was set to go for the rest of them.  I finished with a nice 1.75 mile cool down.  I did this type of interval workout with Paul last time.  I am glad that he showed me it.  I think it is helping out a ton.

8.15 miles in the morning.

8.36 miles in the evening.

I did a nice and easy run this morning.  I went over by the fairgrounds and did the entire run at a 7:03/mile pace.  I nearly got attacked by a huge pitbull this morning as well.  It saw me and started sprinting after me.  I don't know if it was loose or someone let it outside to use the bathroom but I was scared to death.  I guess I am here to talk about it so I am doing alright.  I went with the YM/YW to the Ogden Raptors baseball game and did not get my run in until late tonight.  It was late but I got a little over 8 miles in at 7:18/mile pace.  What a day!

8.07 miles in the morning.

10.08 miles in the evening.

This morning's run was just a bit hazy.  I don't remember much of it since I was pretty tired.  Once I got out and started running I felt much better.  It seems to be that way most of the time.  I went towards Fremont High and then came back.  The weather was cool and I did the entire run at 6:51/mile pace.  I will need a nap after work today before my run this evening.  I didn't get the nap in because I was fixing a headlight that went out and then packing because we are moving into a house within a week or so.  I wasn't too tired which was nice so I went for my run.  I did the first 6 miles at 6:30/mile pace and then finished up with 4 or so miles at 6:00/mile pace.  I didn't feel to bad afterwards which was nice.  I ended up doing more packing later in the night.  Ugh!

9 miles in the morning.

8.25 miles in the early evening.

I didn't feel like getting up this morning but I kicked myself out and everything was okay.  I did my run at 7:24/mile pace.  Not to exciting.  I got my ticket taken care of.  A little old lady signed my ticket and got me cleared up.  She was a real cop!  Thankfully she didn't have a gun.  I got up too Logan in the early evening and ran from my in-laws to the Hyde Park cemetery and back.  I did the first 4.12 miles at a 6:26/mile pace.  On the way back I pushed it and hit the last 2 miles at 5:45/mile pace and 5:32/mile pace.  Their were some big hills so I was pleased with the pace.  I averaged 6:20/mile pace for the entire run.  I am glad to be up here for a family reunion.  It will be nice to run with some of the Logan guys again.

I got up and was a touch late meeting Dan, Jon, Cody, and James but luckily they hadn't left yet when I met up with them.  We went out too Newton and ran with Jon's running club from work.  We did a big loop going out to Clarkston and then coming back into Newton.  They had a lady go every 3 miles and put water and Gatorade down.  It was nice.  The first 11 miles were between 7:00-7:30/mile pace.  Their were a lot of rolling hills and lots of farm land.  It was a nice change of scenery for a run.  The only traffic on the roads were a couple cops.  We saw about 4 of them!  Must be a lot of trouble in those small Cache Valley towns.  We pushed the pace right under 6:00/mile for the next 7 miles.  We did another 2 miles in order to get to 20 miles for the run.  When we got back too Newton the lady brought bagels and some more drinks.  Can't beat that.  It was another good workout.  I had to hurry afterwards because of a family reunion in Bear Lake.  The water was pretty cold but it felt great on the legs.  I swam to a buoy and back.  Swimming tired me out.  It was a good time had by all.  I hit 106 miles for the week.  This is a new all-time high for me so I stopped and got a famous raspberry shake in Garden City.  Yummy!  I am excited to see what happens in the half-marathon next week.

7.15 miles in the morning.

9.35 miles in the late evening.

I woke up a touch late this morning so I wasn't able to go longer than 7 miles.  I had another early meeting at work.  I ran this morning at a 7:18/mile pace.  I am really excited for the half this weekend.  I was at the school all day due to getting ready for school starting on Wednesday.  We also had Back to School night until 7:30.  I finally got home about 8:15 or so and then chatted with Katey for a bit.  I finally got my run in after a long day.  I did a warm up of 1 mile and then did the next 5 miles at 6:30/mile pace.  I finished the last 3 miles with a 6:15/mile pace.  At the end of my run I did a light cool down.  I was glad to have this run over with.  I was tired!

7.05 miles in the morning.

8.70 miles in the evening.

I woke up and did the same run as yesterday morning at about the same pace.  On my evening run I decided to a little bit of tempo.  I warmed up with 2 miles at 7:18/mile pace and then did 5 miles at 6:00/mile pace.  I finished up the run with 1.5 miles at a 5:42/mile pace.  Nothing to exciting and didn't feel like I pushed it to much.  Hopefully everything goes well Saturday.

6.5 miles in the morning.

9 miles in the early evening. 

I was up trying to get everything ready for school starting today. I don't feel to ready. It is weird to think the kids are already back. The pace was right around 7:20/mile this morning. Another nice, relaxed run.  I got home from the first day of school at around 5:30 and went out for my run.  Yes, I survived the first day!  I did my run up along the mountain going towards North Ogden.  The black clouds were coming but it wasn't to bad at first.  I wasn't pushing the pace by any means but did average 6:36/mile pace for the first 4.5 miles.  As soon as I turned around I had to really kick it into gear.  I did not want to go very fast today but that changed quick.  I heard thunder and saw lightning.  I also got drenched with huge balls of rain.  It almost felt like hail.  I did the last 4 miles at 5:41, 5:37, 5:29, and 5:27/mile pace.  I am sure people driving in their cars looked at me and thought what a idiot.  You gotta run no matter what the weather is like!  The lightning did make me a little nervous though. 

5 miles in the morning.

6 miles in the evening.

I did an easy 5 mile run this morning at 7:24/mile pace.  I will do a few more miles tonight and then run once tomorrow to get ready for hopefully a fast TOU/half.  I did another easy 6 miles this evening.  Nothing to serious but just kept the legs moving.  Katey biked alongside me. 

After work I did an easy 6 miles just to keep the legs loose for tomorrow.  I hope all goes well.  We will see.

Today was a very interesting day for me running.  I felt great when I woke up and was excited for the race today.  I got up to the starting area and did a short .30 mile warm-up.  I then went to the starting line and saw everybody there.  Jon, Paul, James, Cody, Walter, and a couple USU runners were also running today.  The temperature was about 45 degrees at the starting line.  It was a perfect day to run.  I talked with Paul and he said that he was going to try and hit 5:20/mile pace down the canyon.  I decided to stick with him for a bit and then see what happens after the canyon ended.  The race started and I was about 5 to 10 yards behind Paul up until mile 4.  He slowed down a little bit and said that I should go for it.  It was a nice push for the first 4 miles.  I was feeling good and ready to roll after this.  I was in the lead for the rest of the race until about mile 11.5.  I missed the correct turn going back into Providence and went about 3 blocks to far east.  They didn't have anyone there to tell me when to turn.  I stopped twice and tried to find my way back to the course.  I went back down and saw Walter and Jon so I finally turned down the correct road and eventually caught back up with them.  I went by them and came in 2nd place overall.  Half-marathons are usually just 13.1 miles long but I ended up doing just over 14 miles when I crossed the finish line!  Paul ended up coming back and running the last quarter of a mile with me.  He knew that I didn't make the right turn.  I crossed the finish line and one of the race directors realized that they didn't have anyone out on the course where I missed the turn.  She said that they missed me by about 45 seconds.  Oh well!  Things like this happen.  I need to get me a "I'm with stupid" shirt and have the arrow pointing straight at me.  I ended up runing 1:13:42 according to my Garmin.  5:16/mile pace overall.  This included 2 stops and going 14 miles!  Here are my splits:

1- 5:18

2- 5:19

3- 5:17

4- 5:13

5- 5:08

6- 5:06

7- 5:04

8- 5:09

9- 5:14

10- 5:11

11- 5:18

12- 5:41 = going uphill on the wrong route and stopping twice, doooh!

13- 5:19

14- 5:13

14.1- :12

I am a little disappointed because I would have PR'd by about a minute if I made the correct turn.  I was at 1:08:17 at my mile 13.  This course was much slower than Bryce Canyon and it was ideal race conditions.  Despite my blunder, I am really stoked about St. George.  I am ready and need to keep pushing myself for the next month.  The Logan running guys represented well.  Cody and Jon both got PR's.  Paul won the race on a training run and James ran a good race despite a week of not running much due to his trip.  Congrats to all of them.  I did 2.85 mile cooldown with the Logan guys.  What a day!

6.07 miles in the morning.

10.88 miles in the evening.

We moved into our new house most of the weekend so I was just happy to get out the door and get some miles in.  Their are some nice hills going up and down that we help with this last month before St. George.  I did the run at a 6:44/mile pace.  The legs aren't too sore from Saturday which is a nice thing.  I got home from work a touch late and did a lot of unpacking.  I lost track of time and didn't get out of the house until after 9 PM.  I once again ran up towards North Ogden along the mountain.  The temperature was a little cool with the wind blowing just a touch.  It was absolutely perfect.  I kept the pace at about 7:00/mile for most of the run but did 5 miles at a mini tempo pace (6:00-6:15/mile pace).  I finished the run at a 6:18/mile overall pace.  I got back home and did some more unpacking.  The joys of the first official house! 

6.05 miles in the morning.

11 miles in the evening.

I woke up and was really tired.  I got moving along and felt fine after about the first mile.  I didn't push it at all this morning.  I had a little run in with a car.  I crossed the street in plenty of time and they thought I was "cutting" them off.  He honked at me and proceeded to go on his run.  He should know that runners own the roads!  Also, when I got back to the house the door was locked.  I had to punch out a screen and jump through the small window to get in.  I'm glad no one called the cops for someone breaking and entering!  It is Ogden.  I did the run at a 7:18/mile pace.  It was quite the morning to say the least.  I came home and took an hour and a half power nap.  It sure helped.  I went out on the same route as last night but took it a touch slower.  I did the entire run at 6:30/mile pace.  It was not to bad of a push.

4 miles in the morning.

12.50 miles in the evening.

I was dead tired this morning so I did an easy 4 without worrying about the pace.  I am planning on running with James this evening.  I met up with James in Perry this evening and went for a nice run.  We went up along the canal trail along the mountain and then ran into Brigham City.  We somehow ended up on the highway going towards Logan so we turned around and came back.  I didn't see any animals with him which was a huge relief!  Their were a couple really big hills but it was nice to work the legs out a bit.  8 or so miles of the run was on trails so we were working fairly hard.  We averaged 7:07/mile pace for the entire run.  We got back too his in-laws and ate a couple peaches to refresh the body.  They were yummy!

15 miles this evening. 

I went out and did a quick 4 miles before James showed up.  I did it in 24:30.  It was a nice push for the start of running tonight.  James got to my house around 6 and we headed up along Harrison and went up towards North Ogden.  We had a few big hills and a gradual uphill climb for the first 5.5 miles.  We were hovering around the 7:00/mile guy.  On the way back we dropped to around about 6:30/mile pace.  It was a nice 11 mile run with James.  I am glad that we were able to survive all of the dang cars on the road! 

15 miles in the afternoon.

I got home from work and went out at about 4:30 or so.  Katey wasn't sleeping to well last night and didn't feel that great so I was busy with her and didn't get out this morning.  I am happy to report that she is feeling better.  I went down towards the old apartment and went out past the BDO and then through the fairgrounds.  The wind was blowing a little bit but of course it decided to stop so it was pretty stinking hot.  I didn't want to push it to much considering the big run planned tomorrow with the Logan guys.  I did the entire run at a 6:49/mile pace.  My singlet was really salty after this run.  Lots of water afterwards!  I am glad their are 31 days in August because it allowed me to hit 400 miles in a month for the first time ever.  I would have never thought of hitting that many miles in a single month when I first started running a couple of years ago.  I have enjoyed increasing the mileage and am feeling much better overall.