Cheesey bottom crust

River trail. Slow going but I made it home in one piece.

Middleton. Really nice day for a run. One of these days I'll get over this sickness/tiredness and be able to enjoy running again.

Dixie Center/Bloomington trail. Ran with Dave, Bill, Steve and a new guy (forgot his name). Good to run with some of the group again.

Grapevine. Another beautiful day for being outside. Run was ok but Im wondering why its so hard to get the legs moving. I feel like i have to fight for every step after about 3 miles of running. Maybe its still to soon after the marathon to be feeling really good. Who knows.

Not to bad a race today. Wasnt planning on anything super fast I just wanted to beat my previous times on this course. I wasnt going to have to try to hard as I think my fastest on this course was 40 something a few years back. Didnt see any super fast runners at first and thought I might get a win in a slow field but then I saw Nick and a couple other guys and knew that wasnt going to happen. Fell into 6th place by 1/2 a mile and stayed there until mile 3. Caught up with Nicks little bro (Camron i think) and ran behind him for the rest of the race. I knew we where slowing in miles 4-5 and if I could get around him i might be able to move up on number 3 but I just couldnt get any speed going. I was starting to get frustrated with it but finally got my mind/body to relax and enjoy where I was at. Tried to speed up the last mile and pull away but he stuck right with me and was able to sprint off the last .2. Had a good time and Im glad I ran.

1 -5:51

2 - 5:52

3 - 6:02

4 - 6:27

5 - 6:20

6 - 6:04

.2 -  :48 (5:30 pace)

Evening treadmill run. Felt ok except for the foot that I set the treadmill on while moving it around. That stupid thing is heavy.

Fields. I was feeling really good and after a couple of miles I told myself that I'd throw in some tempo miles mid run just for fun. Saw Dave and the high school kids burning down the road and then decided to kick it into gear. I got about a quarter mile in and wham its bathroom time. I guess im pretty lucky cause Ive made it through my whole running life and never had that happen before. I slowed back down to normal pace and hoped it would go away. Not so much. I knew there was a park with a rest room coming up so I just held on as best I could. That was the longest 2 miles of my life. I was running all wierd trying to keep from having an accident and just barely made it to the jon. Thankfully that pitstop took care of the issue and the run back was uneventful. Ended up being faster than most of my 10-14 mile runs pace wise so all in all a good run.

Greensprings up to the tortise fence and then to the Middleton park and home. Not to bad a run. The overcast skys and cooler temps where enjoyable. Legs where a little sore from yesterday but considering my lack of consistant training and low miles the last month they are coming along well.

6 - Grapevine. Aside from the wind it was a great morning run. Legs where tight at first but loosened up after a mile or so. Had to push coming down the hill because the wind was trying to send me back to the top.

7 - Club run. River trail with Bloomington loop. Really nice evening with the overcast skys and a slight breeze. Legs felt good and we let Bill take off and just chased after him the whole run.

Mustang Pass. Did the route a little different today. Instead of doing the whole loop I turned around at the top just before it starts the decent out of the pass and came back. The desert was beautiful after last nights rain and the sand was easy to run on. The legs are wiped out from the sudden incease in milage/intensity but they will just have to deal with it cause its time to get preparing for Feb.

Club run up grapevine onto the prospector trail towards Silver Reef. The tunnel under the freeway got pretty dark and sketchy. Luckily nobody went down because that would have started a massive train wreck. The rains made the trail perfect and the crisp air was great. I had to cut back early so who knows what adventures I missed out on but it was fun while it lasted.

Old Highway 91 out past the distribution center. Its always nice to get out on Monday. Because of the weekend rest the legs are much more responsive. I can do this same run towards the end of the week and end up 30-40 seconds per mile avg slower than on a Monday.

Grapvine. Ran while Gabe rode his bike. I started to get a little frustrated at the slow pace and had to remind myself that he's only 5 yrs and there is a lot of hill and off road on this route. Had fun once I relaxed. Dropped him of at home and then went around dogtown. Ran 2 at MP and wasnt going to get much more so I slowed just a touch and called it a slow tempo run. Ran into the boys on their bikes on the way home and we had a race down the street. Felt good to go all out even if it was only a few hundred yards.

Greensprings. Nice and easy with a little extension up in the hills above greensprings. Legs where kind of tired but ended up with a good pace overall.

Bloomington Hills river loop with the club. Kind of chilly down by the river but it was a good run. The shins are starting to object to the sudden mileage increase.

3 on the treadmill while the little one took a nap. Took a little nap myself then headed out and did the Middleton route up into the industrial park for another 10. The treadmill miles felt sluggish and hard but once I got out on the road everything felt really good. Didnt take the garmin and couldnt read the clock as I left so no idea on pace but it felt good.

Landfill. Nice easy evening run. Felt good except the hill coming out of the river. That thing makes me wonder if I have any quads on my stick legs. Another decent week. Need to start getting a decent long run in every week from here on out.

Fields. I was planning on doing several tempo miles in the middle of this run but after a couple mile warm up decided to do the rest of the run at 6:30 pace. Didnt look at the garmin and just ran by feel. Felt really good and enjoyed the run a lot. Slowed on the last two coming up out of the fields but thats always the case even on an easy run. Ended up doing the whole run at 6:40 pace so I was right on my goal factoring in the warmup and slower end miles.

River trail towards the Dixie Center and back. Took it easy.

Grapevine. Ran back and forth from the gas station to the base of the hill to add some miles. I didnt feel like running through traffic and wanted to be away from people without having to run up hill the whole time. Took it slow and easy. It feels like every pair of shoes Ive got are on their last leg. Maybe Santa will bring me a couple pairs of new shoes early this year.

Went out to Santa Clara and ran an informal Turkey Day race with Logan, Steve, Collins, Cam, Scott and several others. Steve brought the clock to help "motivate" everyones pace. It was really relaxed and low key. We were all standing around talking when Kendra shouts out "GO" so we filed through the gate and started up the trail. Steve and Logan took off with a couple others in hot pursuit. I hung back a bit to get warmed up and then picked up the pace after about .5.  Got around everyone but Logan and just tried to not let him get to far away. Lots of uphill and quick turns made it hard to get any steady pace but it was a great run and the area is beautiful. Cheered everyone in at the finish and then ran back into Santa Clara and towards St.George to get a few more miles.

Missed running yesterday because of work. Trying to install a SBS 2008 server into and existing SBS 2003 domain. If you want to know what hell is like, try it. Anywho, I brought my running gear in with me today knowing I'd have a lot of down time waiting for the machines to do their thing. Ran out to the Snow Canyon Parkway and into Ivins and then out into Kayenta and back. The wind was doing that thing where no matter which direction your running its always coming at you today. Not a bad run but I can tell that I havent gone this far in a while. Ran the last 2 at tempo pace just to see if I could go when the legs are shot. Thankfully the wind had finally gotten behind me and it help push me in.

City Wells w/Grapevine extension. The legs felt a bit tired and I kept wondering how the pace was but I told myself to not worry about it and just run. Ended up not being as bad as I thought once I finished.