To the summit

Met Riley, Bryant and Albert at the 21st St. Pond to head out on a long/tempo run. From the start I felt a lot better than two weeks ago when I attempted this same run. My watched died on the third mile, so I was not able to take home the exact miles on this. As soon as we started the tempo I tried to place myself right next to Riley to make sure I locked into the pace. At the turn around Riley told me the mile split (5:37 ish), I was pretty surprised, I have never worked like this on a training run. Felt like I was working but not overworking. I was able to hold on for 11 miles averaging about 5:41, I could have stretched it to 12, but that would be the extent. 11 miles is still a mile further than I made it two weeks ago, so I am building on the past. I need to sign up for a race so I can add more meaning this great training I am getting. Thanks to all the guys out for the positive atmosphere to make it happen. 

Just an easy run out Pleasant View Dr. onto 89 and back. Gradual climb on the way back. Calves felt a little sore from Saturday so it was good to work that out.

Met up with Riley, Bret and Bryant for a run on the Riverdale parkway trail. Pretty slick in some parts but was able to keep a pretty good pace. 

Met with Bryant and Bret at Lee's marketplace. Went about 7:00 minute pace up Pleasant View Dr. then up to the canal road. Bret's calf has been giving him problems and it started to cramp up again on him. He slowed to a walk and Bryant and I kept going. Then about a mile away from Lee's I stepped on a branch that made me twist my ankle. It was the same ankle that I usually twist, but this time it was really painful. I was able to make it back to the cars. It was really sore at night. Iced it once for about 20 mins. it seemed to just get more stiff.

Met up with Bryant at my house. It is pretty nice to run from my own house once in a while without having to go straight up or downhill. Ran up to the canal road and ran toward Brigham City. It was pretty slow pace with my ankle and I was pretty cautious with not knowing exactly where the larger rocks were. The run seemed to help with the stiffness in the ankle though. Bryant had some stomach issues and ended about 50 mins. It felt good enough to finish with an hour though. Iced the ankle twice today. Still pretty sore but I am glad I was able to run with little pain, just stiffness.

Met up with Bryant again today from my house. Bret's calf is still bothering him enough to sit this one out. Ran east on Warrior way till we got to the canal road and out onto Mountain road till we turned around. Still felt the ankle but I can tell the stiffness is definitely going away. Focused more on staying on the road for a flat surface and it really helped. I am able to get full Range of motion with my toes now. Freakin cold outside!

Met in South Weber with Riley, Ben, Bryant and Ken. Planned on going 2h30 mins. I felt pretty good through 2 hrs. and then my body started catching up to me. Cardio wise I felt great, my legs were pretty tired. The last 20 mins. I was ready for the run to be over. It was funny looking at the overall time and distance after. I would have easily beat my marathon PR if I have gone just over 3 more miles and it would probably be around 4-10 mins faster. Especially with the course that we took today, it definitely wasn't your downhill course. We were all over the place, quite a bit of elevation gain and loss. I was glad to be out running. Running close to a marathon PR in training was a great bonus!

Met up with Bryant and did a new out and back route toward Plain City. Rainy.

Midnight run with Ben, weather and traffic was incredible. I kept my eye out for Santa, but never got a glimpse. I think it should be a tradition now to go on midnight Christmas run. Ran up to the canal road, little bit of snow but not too much. Running on cold medicine, I felt great. Later on in the day though after all of the excitement was over, I crashed hard. I slept from about 6pm till 11am the next morning. I am lucky to have an understanding boss who gave me the day off. I hope that taking totally resting will allow me to recovery from whatever I have quicker.

I don't know if my weight reflects being sick or if that is close to normal, but I will pay closer attention from now on. I felt safer up on the canal road, so made my up there and the snow was calf deep. It was good to get my lungs working and work some of the crap out. 

Met up with Bryant this morning at Lee's. Pretty snowy and tried to avoid getting run over by the snowplows. Not too bad of a run though, not many cars out today, maybe a lot of people are sleeping in. Feel like I am 90% over the cold I had this week and am ready to get some faster miles in.

Met up with Bryant and Riley at Smith and Edwards. It was somewhere different and it was flat. 12 degrees for the start this morning. Half hour into it and Bryant's eyelashes and hair was frosted, made for a pretty good pic. Riley commented he looked like the queen lady off of Narnia, it was pretty funny. We all weren't sure how this run was going to go today, but once we got rolling we just fell into a good pace. I was able to hold about 5:47 for 12, I say about 5:47 because Riley's watch is somehow always 2 seconds faster than mine. It was definitely a good feeling after a week of being sick. Ran out around Plain City and right through Blossom, you wouldn't know you were in Blossom without the tiny little sign. Population about 10 people.... On the way back to Smith and Edwards it definitely felt a lot colder. There was quite a bit of fog the last 5 or so miles. 

Average overall pace 6:12 

Met up with Bryant, Bret and Riley for an easy run at 21st St. Pond. The trail was pretty frozen and wasn't very easy to run on so we made our way out onto the roads and those weren't the easiest either. It was a different route than normal so all in all not too bad!