Winning Back What I Lost

9 slow, easy miles at 8pm (75 degrees).   A couple of pickups @ 7:15 pace toward the end.  Nothing special, just building base. Avg HR= 153 bpm

AM: 5.02 slow miles at 6AM; very humid this morning w/ overcast skies; it felt like a continuation of last night's run.  Avg HR = 146

AM:  5.5 easy miles; still pretty humid; developing soreness behind my left knee; I'll have to ice it and keep an eye on it.

Afternoon: 6M during lunch; planned on doing a speed workout but I scrapped it in the middle of my second speed mile; I felt really nauseous and came really close to throwing up; my mouth starting to water and I could tell that it was a matter of moments before I would hurl; jogged the rest of the way; probably a combo of higher than normal humidity, lack of proper hydration, and poor diet; I'll try again tomorrow.

Afternoon:  Short speed workout in the heat (mid 80's)- 1M warmup, 1M @ 7:10, .5M jog; 1M @ 7:05, .5M jog; .5M @ 6:50, .55M cool. 

Early AM run before heading to the Owyhee River for some fishing w/ Dad and my brother.  5 easy miles w/ quarter mile pickups every mile @ 7:00 pace. 

Early AM long run.  It was supposed to be at a relaxed pace but, due to time constraints and low DTI, I had to hurry things up a bit which wasn't easy in the rain (intermittent drizzle and light rain).  Finished w/ an 8:15 pace (MP - 5 seconds).  Took a route clear out to Deer Flat Rd and back w/ a lot of rollers and small but steep climbs. 

AM:  5.45 easy, slow miles before work.  I was attacked by a goose defending his/her chicks while running down a dirt path next to the canal by my house.  There was really no way to go around them so I just turned around and tried another route.  I looked around to see if there were any witnesses/people laughing at what a big p@#*y I am to get bullied by a bird. 

Lunch:  4.61 easy miles at lunch.  Ran by Bronco Stadium and saw the players getting their summer "workouts" in.  The NCAA doesn't allow the coaches to participate in these "voluntary" workouts and it didn't look very organized to me.  Maybe I just caught them at a bad time though?

AM:  5 easy miles this morning; no crazed, homicidal geese to report. 

Lunch: 6.18 easy miles @ lunch.

AM: 1M warmup; 4.6M Tempo Run @ 7:47/mi pace; .75M cooldown. I was supposed to go 5M but I had to stop to puke.  Luckily, I had nothing in my stomach to expel as I didn't eat anything prior to the workout.  Four or five dry heaves and it was over.  That's the first time I've puked while running since high school football. :) 

Lunch: 3.72 easy miles to get my 10M for the day. 

Easy mid-evening run; arms and legs are a bit sore from dodgeball last night; I think that right there is the very definition of "oldness." (is that even a word?) 

Lunch: Slow, easy run in nice conditions (high 60's, mostly cloudy, light wind).  Passed BSU Coach Peterson going the other way on the GB near Warm Springs GC.  He had his shirt off and the dude is cut up.  Man crush????    

Slow, easy early morning run.  I really struggled to finish this one off.  Legs were heavy and my motivation was severely lacking. 

AM: 4M slow and easy; 1.2M fast miles after it started raining.

PM: 5M progressive run w/ the following splits: 8:07, 7:44, 7:34, 7:39 (oops), and 7:29.  It felt good to stretch the legs a little and get the HR up. 

AM: 4.3M easy recovery run this morning.  Beautiful sunshine for the first time in quite a while. 

PM: 5.65M easy w/ some 1/4 mi pickups. 

Not sleeping very well so I didn't get up this morning for my quick 5M run before work.  My wife didn't get home until 10pm tonight so I was running really late.  8M easy w/ some faster pickups and MP miles mixed in.  Temp was still in the mid 70's and a little muggy.  I felt pretty strong though and even got in a 1/4M pickup @ 5:45 pace midway through mile 5.

Lunch: easy 6.71M at MP + :20 sec's; bright sunshine and temp in low 70's w/ a good tailwind on the way out and in my face on the way back.

PM: 3.45 easy, slow miles late in the evening. 

AM: 3.75M slow and easy before work.  Legs were really tired which is not too surprising since it was only 7 hours in between last night and this morning's run.

Lunch: 6.42M, pushed it at the beginning w/ some fast (for me) miles (7:50/mi x 2) and then I got dehydrated and limped home the rest of the way.  I've got a Boy Scout campout tonight through tomorrow afternoon at Tripod Res. so I don't know if/when tomorrow's long run will take place.  I'm on pace to increase my mileage up to 60 after a slow 3 week build-up.  I'm hoping to go in the late evening when I return but we'll see. 

PM: I was able to get my long run in after all and push my weekly mileage over 61 mi.  MP + :12 sec/mi overall.  I returned home from a Boy Scout campout around 5pm.  Spent a couple of hours helping my daughter to learn to ride a bike w/o training wheels.  She faces a lot of challenges stemming from her MR and mild autism and it is hard for her to keep her balance.  She kept at it though and this became one of the most special days for her and us.  I was so tickled to see her eyes light up when it finally clicked and see how proud she was of herself.    

Lunch:  6M at MP on a great day; temp in the high 60's w/ sunshine and light winds.

PM: Played w/ the kids at the park adjacent to Mountain View HS then wife took then home; .5M warmup then a little bit of speedwork (2 x 1600 @ 7:10/mi pace) on the MVHS track w/ 800 cooldown in between and 2.33M at comfortable pace to get home.

PM: Late evening slow run.  Legs felt a little sore from last night's workout.  I'm developing a little soreness in my left heel.  Not sure if that's due to the increased mileage or that I'm heel striking more.  Swallowed a bug tonight and it made me hurl during the run and when I got home and started to reflect on it again.  Just noticed that I'm up over 1k miles so far this year. 

AM:  Easy, early morning run.  I'm listening to "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougal.  The author is a frustrated, oft-injured rec runner who seeks out and ultimately finds a reclusive tribe of super-human long-distance runners from Mexico's Copper Canyons, the Tarahumara.  It is so good that I find myself recommending it to all my friends, runners and non-runners.  The book is more of a study in social science/dynamics than sport. 

PM: Late evening run at slightly above easy pace; picked it up the last two miles around current MP.  Legs bounced back from this morning and I feel pretty good.  Need to get more sleep though especially when I do these back to back early morning and late evening runs.

AM:  Early morning easy 4.26M run.  Been averaging about 5 hours of sleep the past couple of weeks its really wearing on me.  Ran into the same group of mad, hissing geese again.  I can't wait until these a-holes fly south or something. 

AM: 8M progressive run.  Started off real easy.  Didn't run last night because I've been so tired and figured that a really good night's sleep is worth more than 5 easy miles. 

PM: 6.15 easy miles; finished strong w/ the last 1.5M @ MP - :10/mi.  Took my girls fishing today.  They weren't all that interested in the fishing but they loved playing in the water & turning over rocks to find rock caddis.

No long run today. In SLC, UT for my wife's family reunion and squeezed in 3 worthless miles on a horrible treadmilll inside a fitness room that was slightly cooler than the surface of the sun.  Been a LONG time since I logged some TM miles and its not too hard to remember why.  Still made 53 miles for the week which ain't too bad but well below my goal of 63-65 for the week.

Late evening run w/ my son accompanying on his bike; temp was still in the lower 80's after 1030pm; I stretched it a little further than usual because I didn't sleep much last night and didn't get up for my early run.  Easy slow pace w/ a couple of pickups and 2 miles at MP mixed in. 

AM: This morning came early after last night's 9 miler.  I felt surprisingly strong this morning.  After a slow warmup mile I eased into a nice sub 8 min pace the rest of the way.  Signed up for the Fit for Life 1/2 Marathon.  I promised my kids I'd take them camping near Lowman that weekend, 7/11, so it looks like it will be an early morning race, 730am, and then off to the mountains to soak in a cool stream. 

PM: 6.58 slow, easy miles at 930pm.  Temp still in the upper 80's.  No escaping the heat even well after the sun goes down.  I've been concentrating on my form and more particularly my posture.  I tend to bend over too much and hunch my shoulders but when I stand straight and run from the gut I breathe much easier.  Running is easier when you can breathe. :)