Big Man Runnin'

Again, I had to hit the treadmill because my only time to run on Monday or Wednesday is between classes, LAME!!!! anyways, I warmed up for a 1/2 mile then went pretty hard.  I mixed in sprints and hills, and then cooled down with another 1/2 mile. I ran for a total time of 1 hr 3 min.

 Overall it went pretty good.  I was happy to get in 8 miles in about an hour! Gotta keep pushing and improving though! 

Had a good quick run today.  First run outside all week, and it felt great! I got into my groove pretty quickly and maintained just under an 8 min pace.  In all I would say that it was a very successful run, especially considering it was after a long day!

x-training, played basketball.  Good times with former St. George Marathon Champion Ed Murrel (1979)!!

Today was my longest run of the new year.  I was out for 1hr 10min 59 sec.!!! I was able to run about 8.4 miles for an average pace of 8:27.  I really didn't start hitting my groove until about mile 5, and I wish the GPS on my watch wouldn't have stopped working so I knew what my exact splits were! I did challenge myself this run with about 1.5 miles up a fairly steep slope. I HATE HILLS!!! but I know they will help me get to where I want to be!

 I would say that overall this has been a very good week of training, and as always I feel blessed to be healthy and happy! 

This mornings workout was a great way to start the week, especially after eating way too much on super-bowl Sunday!!  It is almost funny to think that I almost didn't get out of bed!

I started off at a nice easy pace, just getting a feel for my heart-rate and breathing.  I then dialed it up, and pushed pretty hard the rest of my run! I was out for 1:01.13.  My average pace was 8:10.  My endurance is really picking up, and I am really starting to feel good a lot faster during my runs!

In all reality my miles weren't too slow this morning, but I felt really slow.  It probably had something to do with the fact that I didn't feel very good today.  My back started hurting a bit going down hill, and then out of nowhere so did my knee! I still stuck through it for a bit, and almost made 5 miles.  my average pace today was 8:21.

 Here's to hoping that tomorrow goes a lot better!! 

I HATE TREADMILLS!!! :) I really had a tough time sticking with my run today because not only was I hating the treadmill, but because there were some pretty annoying people around me at the gym, AHHHHHH!

Anyways, if you consider everything that was annoying me I did pretty well.  I didn't run as long as I wanted to, but I still got a fairly good distance in.  I averaged about a 7:45 pace for 40 minutes, so I guess you could call it a "tempo run". 

 Tomorrow I am making sure I will be running outside, and I plan on running for about an hour. 

I really pushed it hard today.  I think it was my hardest run in quite a while.  I felt pretty good from the start, and so I pushed up hill passed the elementary school.  I got to 5600 and went straight up it all the way to 4700.  It was just over 2 miles up-hill.  I was a bit slow, but considering how up-hill runs usually go for me I felt good about it.  Then I looped home and finished the last 2.5 up a gradual climb.  It kicked my butt, but through the whole run I was able to maintain an 8:34 pace.  Overall I would say it was a successful and productive run.

A little bit of basketball for x-training this morning, felt good and it was a lot of fun!

Today I did a down hill training run, well at least the most downhill run I could make up in West Valley!  My reasoning for the down hill run is because both of the next two marathons that I have signed up for are typical Utah down hill runs, and I don't want my legs to die like they did at Top of Utah.

 Anyways, So I started off at a pretty good pace, and decided to really open it up from the start. So I just kept pushing, and pushing and was able to push a pretty good pace the whole run.  The hardest part was the last 1.5 miles that were up-hill and today it was straight into the wind and it really made the last little bit a struggle.  

 As far as time goes I finished in 1hr 22min 40sec for an average pace of 7:55.  If I am able to keep up this training I am definitely going to achieve my goal, and maybe even get close to a 3:30 Marathon if I have a good day!

 It's runs like today that make me excited to keep on truckin'!! 

Had a pretty good run this morning, and if it wasn't for all the stupid dogs running around scaring me it would have been even better!  

The best part about today is that I had a running partner!! I was able to get my beautiful wife, Katie, to get out of bed and run with me! It was pretty awesome.  We ran about 4 miles together at her pace, which today was about a 9:40, so I was still able to get my heart pumping.

After we finished her part of the run I went back out planning on doing another couple of miles, but there were two big German Shepherds running around (that had already thrown our route off earlier) so being the wuss that I am I turned around and sprinted home, after getting a little less than an additional mile in. 

All in all I would say it was a pretty good Monday run, and the best part was having my beautiful wife at my side.

1st run in my Ghost 4's, and it went pretty good! No dogs out to get me today, so I was able to run in peace!!

It was kind of a funny run because of a couple of reasons . . . first off because I was a little off on all of my mile splits, and so I thought I was running slower than I was, and it made my pace pretty fast.  The second reason it was a bit funny is because when I went to hit the split button for mile 6 I stopped my watch instead, and didn't realize it for a couple of minutes.

So my time guess isn't exact, but overall I was able to maintain about a 7:55 pace with about 2.5 of those miles up hill, so I feel pretty good about my run today! 

Today sucked . . . . . I didn't want to be out there, and my wife decided not to run.  It was rough, and every mile was a grind, but I just kept telling myself that every mile today means a better Marathon on May 19th! That is what really kept me going, even though it was pretty slow.  In fact I think it was the slowest average pace I have ran by myself this year, but at least I got some miles in.

Today was a pretty productive exercise day.  We did our normal Friday morning basketball today because there is no school tomorrow.  So we played for an hour and I got my heart going pretty good.  

This Afternoon I went out for a short 35 min run.  Pretty slow pace, but the body felt good, and I feel ready for a couple good runs this weekend!  My fitness level is definitely improving! 

Ran at the Jordan River Parkway this morning.  Started my run at 3300 S and ran on the trail past 5400 S until I hit about the 5 mile mark and turned around.  I tried to go the same route back, but I took a few turns differently and that's how I ended up running over 10 miles.

As for the run,  I started off slow then found my groove and just went nice and easy, but my nice and easy turned out to be pretty fast for me.  My average pace was about an 8:07 mile, but I'm sure a few were much faster.  I will start to get a better idea of my mile splits when I get my watch back from Garmin.  Anyways, looking forward to getting back out tomorrow and having another good run.

Good long Saturday run.  It was my longest of the year so far, and it felt really good.  I ran it on the Legacy Trail and went 6.5 out and then turned around and came back.  I couldn't be happier with how I felt and how my body reacted.  I am really happy with how my fitness level is improving so rapidly.

Overall a great run to end a very productive week of running for this Big Man Runnin'! 

Good President's day run! I went out planning on just doing 10 easy miles but I felt good and took a wrong turn on the Jordan Riv. Pkwy. so I ended up doing 11 1/4, but like I said it was a nice easy pace.  Overall my average pace was an 8:30, so I was pretty happy to know that it had been so easy for me.

 I started the run at 3300 so. and decided to go north today, so I ran all the way to the peace gardens and then turned around.  Like I said, I took a wrong turn so my out was a little bit longer than my back.  It was definitely a good way to start my week.  I am getting really excited to see what I can accomplish by my next race! 

AM: Nice easy recovery run this morning with my wife.  We planned on 5, but ended up having to cut it short because we both had stomach issues.  At least we learned that jambalaya is not something you want to eat the night before a run ;)

I am looking forward to doing something more this evening . . . . 

PM: A little bit of basketball, I feel like it is good "speed" work :) played for about an hour and a half. 

Good run this morning.  It is truly amazing to me how much I have improved this month.  My fitness level is up and as a result I am feeling better and better each day.  I never would have thought that a simple blog like this one would motivate me so much to push myself each and every day.

 As far as the actual run goes, things went really well.  I went out nice and easy, knowing that the first stretch was going to be the hardest.  It was a good mile up hill, and then another 2.5 up a gradual climb.  The rest of the run was fairly easy and problem free.  The only other issue I had was an emergency bathroom stop at McDonald's, talk about weird looks from people . . . . it was kind of amusing to watch their faces as I walked in all sweaty and gross.

Anyways, my average pace was an 8:21.  I should be getting my Garmin back this week from the factory so I will be able to keep better track of my splits! That's it for today! 

It was a pretty good recovery run today.  Katie ran with me, so that obviously helped me have some great company, and it helped me slow my pace!  The best part was that Katie is finally starting to like running.  Today marked her longest run since the Halloween Half.

Looking forward to finishing the week strong! 

Basketball and some light jogging this morning.  Kind of took it easy, getting ready for a good run tomorrow.

So the last couple of days my knee has been bothering me a little bit, and today I had the pain again.  So, I kind of listened to my body and didn't do near as many miles as I wanted to today.  However, knowing that I wasn't going to hit the mile mark I wanted I decided to crank up the speed.  So I actually ran it pretty fast, at least for me.  I ran the four miles in just under 28 min.  

Anyways, going into next week I am going to get the miles back up, and I am hoping that dropping the miles the last couple of days will help my knee recover going into my Monday run. 

Pretty good run today, especially for a Monday!  I finally got my Garmin back, so it was much easier to keep track of everything.  I ran the first 6 miles by myself, and I kept it at marathon pace, so right at 8 min.  I went out a little fast, and got a bit tired, but was able to level off and get a good steady pace going.  Then I picked up Katie and we ran 4 easy miles.  It was great to get out and run, and to get Katie out with me.

 The knee felt good, and all I need now is a good-night's sleep and I'll be ready to pound out some good miles again tomorrow morning! 

Pretty slow paced run, but for some reason I felt like I was working really hard all the way through.  The strong winds may have had something to do with it, but I'm not sure.  My body feels pretty good today, but it was just discouraging how hard I was working for such a slow pace.  I also think it may have something to do with the ginormous diet mountain dew from yesterday.  NO MORE OF THAT STUFF FOR ME!!! 

I encountered a new enemy in the world of running today . . . . A REALLY STRONG HEADWIND!!  It made my life pretty miserable when I was running into it, but I just kept pushing along and in the end it made me a much better runner.

first 3.5 miles were nice and easy, then I opened it up for the next 3.5 averaging a 7:25 pace.  After really pushing it I cooled down for the next 3 miles.  It was a pretty good run, and really quite enjoyable, at least after I got over the strong headwinds. My overall average pace was an 8:21.