Winning Back What I Lost

6AM: Easy run. Getting back into the groove. I think the trail running and hiking on Saturday aggravated my left piriformis again. I just can't seem to get rid of it. It's like herpes, always lying in wait.  

1230PM: Easy run on the Bethine Church Trail at lunch. Very warm, near 80.  

615AM: Easy + speed: 1600M @ 6:35; 1200 @ 5:03; 800 @ 3:20; & 400M @ 1:35. I just sort of fell into this workout. The gates weren't locked at the track and I hadn't done any speed workouts since the 10k on June 23rd. Didn't really put out an honest effort. I was more focused on breaking up the monotony of easy running. Mission accomplished.

830AM: Easy run. Got to sleep in on this our nation's pretend b-day (Declaration wasn't signed until August 2nd). Felt great to run in the sunshine and not have to go to work right after. Now it's time for some artery clogging sustenance and later on we'll blow a bunch of stuff up. Go America!

615AM: Easy run. Extremely fatigued this morning. Had a late night of fireworks and slept horribly.  

NOON: Hill Workout. Military Reserve Trails. Same trail as last week, only I was feeling a lot more lethargic. Worked through a stiff wind that seemed to turn around and hit me in the face on the way out and back. The trend seems to be a lot more wind this year than most years.

630AM: Easy run. Very warm this morning, 70+ degrees. Temps climbing into the triple digits this weekend and into next week should make tomorrow's long run interesting. Still better than running in the dark and cold during the winter.

930PM: Easy Medium Long Run. High today of 100. Temp in the upper 80's but didn't feel that hot once the sun went down. Been a while since I've run in the evening. Got a nice long nap this afternoon so my legs felt very energetic and springy.

930PM: Easy late night run. Dropped the truck off at the mechanic so they could get started early on fixing my AC. I've gone 1 1/2 summers w/o it and this week's forecast finally forced my hand.

930PM: HOT! Record high of 108 today, 97 when I left the house. Didn't feel that bad once the sun went below the horizon. Still, I'm gonna try to get back to running early mornings again. I like getting at least one run in before work to minimize the risk of my "habit" being derailed at some point during the day.

630AM: 2M warm; 5M @ slow MP. Fires/smoke to the east provided "cloud cover" and made the sunrise rather eerie. Very warm for this early, mid 70s. Today's audiobook tidbit from 'Running with the Kenyans': In 1975, US runners ran 34 sub 2:20 marathons. In 2005, with all the benefit of better training and nutrition as well as increased monetary incentives, US runners ran 22 sub 2:20 marathons. The US isn't treading water in distance running, it's going backwards. 

615AM: Another smoky morning w/ the fires still burning to the east. While this makes for a very cool sunrise it is not conducive to breathing. Something that I find to be an indispensable part of running and, more generally, life. Easy pace w/ 10 x 20 sec strides over the last 2.5M. 

I have been confronted by a rogue gaggle of geese lately. Yesterday, 3 or 4 of them tried to force me off the canal path- charging at me w/ heads lowered and hissing. I thought I might teach them a lesson this morning but instead I chose another route. I'm a coward.   

615AM: Barely made it out of bed. I'm working on very little sleep these days. HR never got above 130. Left hamstring is very tight. It's been cranky for awhile now so I decided to forego the Fit 4 Life Half that I had planned for Saturday. Better to build up my base mileage and get healthy. 

No running. Left hamstring and glute very sore. Actually hurts to sit. Time to start doing my phys therapy exercises again.

6AM: Easy run. Took Fri-Sun off to rest and strengthen my left hammie. Tried to fish on Saturday but the wind and rain blew us off the water.

Hammie/glute felt better than it did last week but still not 100%. As if that weren't enough, I developed my recurring vertigo symptoms over the weekend. Not enough where I can't drive, but just enough where I feel nauseous most of the time. I may have to forego any speedwork and focus exclusively on base building for a while unless things change. I don't have any races planned between now and SGM. I had it in my mind to do 40 miles on my 40th birthday, August 1st, but I'm probably not in a position to do that now. Running that far would probably be reckless, which is to say that it might be something that I'll attempt to pull off. 

930PM: 3M Easy to return Redbox DVD.

615AM: Easy 6.85M. Vertigo has dissipated but now my PF is back in my left heel. Don't know why I obsess about these things. Maybe its to leave a record of excuses for my posterity to ponder over and study?

NOON: Hill workout: 3+ miles on the Mil. Reserve Trails. Very hot, mid-80s w/ no breeze. Struggled a bit on the downhill w/ my weak left ankle. Still not very good running fast downhill. The uphill was a great workout. 500' vertical.   

615AM: Easy. Work has been crazy and I've been just as busy at home. Fit a run in this morning just to feel normal. Feels so good to be actively working on my fitness. Another example of not fully appreciating something until it goes away. 

Noon: Easy lunchtime run from Muni Park through Bethine Church Trail. Very hot w/ no breeze. Extended this run a bit because I didn't get out of bed this morning. 

6AM: Easy run. Took the weekend off again to float/fish the S Fork of the Boise w/ my boys and dad. Didn't sleep very well but got a good nap yesterday which helped.  I've had some down time and now I need to start focusing again by incorporating some speed/tempo. Probably start w/ that tomorrow or Wednesday.

630AM: Progression run. 1M warmup then steadily pushed the pace. Mile 6 at MP and last .5M at HMP. Finally, some non-easy running. Time to start picking things up and get in some specific/targeted workouts. 

NOON: 75 degrees w/ slight breeze. Hill Workout on Military Reserve Trails. Ran the usual route in reverse. It felt more challenging than the other direction even though its the same elevation gain (429ft over 1.5M). Much steeper at the very top.  

6AM: After years of cyber conversations and a brief "hey" at Pocatello as I ran by him at the starting line of last year's Half Marathon, I finally got to meet and run w/ the Mr. Jeff Shadley. We met at Tuscany Park where his brother lives and Jeff was kind enough to let me set the pace. We had a great conversation about a host of topics. More accurately, I pretty much just spat out short 3-word sentences in between gasps for air. I warmed up for a mile+ over to the Park from my house. From there we ran around the neighborhood on my usual MVHS loop. I even took him through the canal to confront the killer geese that haunt my dreams. I cowered behind him as we approached and sure enough, nothing happened. I think its part of their plan to slowly drive me insane. I guarantee that if I go back there tomorrow I will be attacked and most likely forced to commit a goose homicide.

Anyway, it was a really fun run. I learned a lot just watching and listening to Jeff. The pace probably felt super slow to him but I was going about 45 secs per mile faster (7:30-7:40/mi) than my usual easy pace. Not a tempo, but definitely not easy. That's OK. I need to stop being so lazy and start stretching out the legs and running strong.     

630AM: Easy run. Feeling very lethargic and sleep deprived these days. Alarm went off at 530AM and I didn't roll out of bed until after 6. Dozing off at the cpu at work as I write this. More rowing and fishing this afternoon/evening so not much chance that I'll get to bed at a decent hour tonight. 

NOON: 88 degrees, partly cloudy. Progression Run- Out & Back from Muni Park through BC Trail. Mile 7 @ 7:18. Ran strong and felt great. 

9PM: Easy run. Waited til near sundown but it was still ridiculously hot, mid 90's. Kept it slow and stopped once for bathroom and once for a Gatorade. Decent week of training. Hopefully I can build on it. SGM is only 10 wks away.

9PM: Mid-90's temp makes even the easiest runs not so easy. Motivation to get up early in the morning.

6AM: 66 degrees. That's more like it. Easy run. Legs were very heavy but it felt good to run in relatively "cool" weather. Just found out that my wife wants to go to Lake Powell after work tomorrow. My in-laws have a houseboat we'll be staying on. Not sure how much time I'll be able to steal on shore for a run so I better get some good mileage in today and tomorrow. Seems like I get some momentum in my training and then something come along to set me back. Oh well, I can think of worse reasons to miss a few days of workouts.

620AM: Temp mid 60's. I must be coming down w/ something because I feel like I've given two pints of blood for 7 days straight. Trudged and slogged through 7 very slow miles. I need sleep but unfortunately its probably not going to happen anytime soon. Headed out after work on a long drive to Lake Powell, UT for a family reunion. I'm bringing my shoes and hoping to squeeze in a few miles here and there.