Every Race is an Adventure!

The kids were out of school today so I didn't have to be home at 7:00am for the normal school morning routine. I decided to go play basketball in the morning with my old buddies. I've been playing with some of those guys for over 15 years, but since I got serious about running again I only make it there occasionally now. My 21 year old son has been playing with them for a number of years, too. He's the regular and I'm the visitor now.

There were only 7 this morning, but three of them (plus me) were old timers and it was really good to see them again. One was Greg. He and I have been playing basketball together since high school. All this basketball probably isn't good for my Achilles tendon, but I sure had a lot of fun this morning.

I had a church basketball game this morning at 7:00am. We didn't win, but played respectably against a good team. Both teams showed great sportsmanship and we all had a good time. Late in the game some of the players on the other team (one of which was Rich, who I shared a house with before we both ran Boston last year) more or less left me open and dared me to shoot a 3-pointer. I took my time and swished it from the corner. It felt good.

After the game, I drove my sons home, changed into some fresh running clothes, and Larry and I went for a run. We didn't go far or fast, but it's always good getting out with Larry.

I only went 3 easy miles on the treadmill today. I was planning on more but felt a minor twinge in my Achilles and decided to not risk it. It was probably nothing, but I'm concerned that I've kind of pushed the limits on my Achilles the last week with increasing my mileage a little and playing basketball three times. Still, it didn't bother me after any of those activities. I helped push a couple of cars out of deep snow on Sunday, and I actually think that may have had more of a negative impact on the Achilles than the running and jumping.

After finally boosting my mileage last week back to nearly 40 miles, I only ran about 10 miles this week. I know it doesn't make any sense to anyone but me, but I decided to use my Achilles tendonitis (not too serious) as an excuse to not run this week as a sort of protest against frigid temperatures and frozen sidewalks and roads. The weather finally warmed up a little yesterday and today, so maybe my protest worked.

Of course, then today I allowed Larry to talk me into running up the water tank road and a few miles beyond. Actually, the dirt road was plowed and most of it wasn't too bad. The air was very clear and the views were awesome. We even saw a herd of about 50 or so elk hanging out on a hilltop down below us. Wayne is just getting back to running after his pneumonia so we took it pretty easy. Even so I slipped a few times on the way back down the water tank hills, including a sort of half fall backwards where I caught myself on one arm and did a sort of three-point slide for about 10 feet. All in all it was quite an enjoyable run.

I ran a modified Eagles View with Will at noon today. Instead of going up the steep hill we continued north for a while before turning back. I didn't have my Garmin, but Will's showed a distance of around 5.75 miles and an average pace of 8:06. This included two long waits at traffic lights. Subtracting that time the pace was around 7:52.

The temperature was finally above 40. I wore shorts and no ear covering and it felt great. There were still a few icy spots in the shadows on the overpasses, but overall the roads were mostly dry. If we can string a number of these above freezing days together running conditions should improve considerably.

I ran solo this morning, easy 6.1 miles, average pace 8:42. It seems that building up my mileage while not aggravating the Achilles and PF is going to be a little tricky. The Achilles felt fine this morning, but the PF that hasn't bothered me for a while was back a little this morning. I'm icing it now  I really think new shoes will help, too. I went to buy some last week at MVP Sports in SF but my size was out of stock on the two styles I was interested in. If I have time at lunch today I may go to Runner's Corner and try out a few different styles.

Warning...potty talk ahead.

I took my 18 year old son in early this morning for a colonoscopy. He's complained of stomach pains for years and was recently diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). This morning's procedure was basically just to rule out what isn't the cause, and his colon was normal and healthy.

Those of you familiar with the process know he had to fast yesterday, take some pills, and drink some awful tasting stuff to clean out his colon. Not too surprisingly, he was hungry on the way home. Although I don't think he had fully recovered from the anesthesia yet, he was conscious enough to say he wanted to stop at the Daylight Donuts shop we passed. I was a cook at a Daylight Donuts shop nearly 30 years ago, so we made a nostalgic stop.

I know none of you other runners eat donuts, but if you know a friend of a friend that eats donuts, I highly recommend Daylight Donuts. I was leaving for work a little late and hadn't had breakfast so I had donuts for breakfast. I was weak. They were really good. I can't remember if I had 3 or 4 as we talked before I left.

I paid for my indulgence, however, with a little IBS of my own during my noon run (pun intended). I could sense something was a bit off before the run so I ran around the back streets of East Bay so I wouldn't be too far from a restroom. I've already shared too much information, but I'll just say that this strategy paid off.

On a different note, today's run was also the maiden voyage of my new Saucony Trigons. It was only an easy run, 5.6 miles @ avg. 8:16/mi, but they felt really good. I wanted to keep running, but we have a church basketball game tonight so I chose not to overdo it.

This is an update after the basketball game...We only had 5 players show up, Austin, Jeff, my sons Andrew and Adam, and me, so we got plenty of playing time. The other team started with 10 players, then had an 11th show up at half time. We won the first half 35-34, but ran out of gas in the second half. I had a good night shooting, maybe a career high. I think I hit 3 for 3 from the 3-point line, and added a few other baskets. I actually don't remember missing a shot, but I might have. I had some pretty decent assists, too, but they were balanced out with a number of turnovers. I even remember getting a rebound...not too common for an old 5'7" guy that avoids the dangers of entering the key as much as possible. All in all, it was a whole lot of fun.

Fortunately, Karen said not to worry about Valentine's Day this year, because as of late last night I had no plans. Still, I like to surprise her with a little something so I was racking my brain to figure out what might really show my affection...that could be done at the last minute. I prayed for a little help, and got it I think.

My nephew has a type of skin cancer where he periodically has to have spots removed, mostly from his head. He and his wife have four small children, so sometimes Karen and the girls will babysit on the days he goes in. They live in Kearns but he comes to Utah Valley for the procedure. Today is one of those days. Karen's sister Leanne (from Arizona), the grandmother of these kids, also happens to be staying with us this week.

Anyway, as we were going to bed last night Karen commented that she felt uncomfortable with the small kids coming because the house was a little out of control. So I got up at 5:00am, but instead of running I spent 1.5 hours cleaning up the kitchen and main floor. She would have been content with that, but I had time before 7:00am so I ran to Macey's. They always have a good selection of Valentine's stuff for the last minute man. I kept my tradition of buying Karen a small plant. We both like to see how long we can keep it alive before it dies. The one last year lasted quite a while. I also spied some strawberries dipped in white chocolate. I got home just in time to put the plant and strawberries on the clean kitchen counter before I had to go wake up the kids. Karen was very appreciative. Every once in a while I get it right.

As for running, I only went 4 miles on the treadmill at work at noon. I started feeling a hot spot on my left foot, likely a remnant from last night's basketball game, so I decided to stop early rather than have to fight a blister.

It was interesting to read Terry's blog for yesterday.

http://oldbean.fastrunningblog.com/blog--Noon-run-Sunny-Temp-35-I-gave-/02-14-2008.html

He mentions foot pain from his new shoes, and his hopes that he won't have to take a sick day from running. I started wearing a new pair of Saucony Trigons this week. Yesterday afternoon I got up from my desk to go to a 3:30pm meeting and I felt a sharp pain in my left foot. I was limping so badly that a coworker asked if I had sprained my ankle. The pain comes and goes. This morning it felt much better, but I've decided to take "a sick day from running" and see how tomorrow's run goes.

On the first two outside runs the shoes felt great, with no side effects. As I think back to the treadmill run yesterday, I remember thinking that the left shoe felt like maybe I'd tied it a little too tight. I'll blame that for now and see how things go tomorrow.

I used to think that the "endurance" in being an endurance runner referred to hanging in there during a long hard run. I'm becoming convinced that maybe it refers more to hanging in there through all the training setbacks. There seems to be no limit to the things that can go wrong. I guess, as with the rest of life, the secret is to hang in there, focus on the positive, try not to make the same mistake too many times, and appreciate the good things and the good times. I think both Tom and Kim have made similar comments about focusing on the positive in recent blogs.

It also helps to put concerns in perspective. My sister-in-law is out of work. My nephew has to have skin cancer spots removed on a regular basis, and one of his young sons has already had to have some removed as well. Someone just confided in me this morning that his wife is divorcing him and trying to have him forcibly removed from his home. Suddenly a little foot pain seems pretty minor.

Enjoy the sun. Spring is just around the corner.

I woke up this morning undecided on whether I was going to run or not. I wasn't sure if Larry and Wayne would be running. Sometimes they head to St. George on long weekends, and we hadn't discussed our Saturday running plans like we normally do. When I checked the temperature and it was 10 degrees, and I waffled even more. I even discussed it with Karen, and we both agreed that it would be better to wait and run later when it was supposed to be warmer.

About 9:30am I happened to look out the window and saw Larry and Wayne walking by...cooling down after their run! I missed the camaraderie of running with them, but they looked pretty cold.

I ran some errands, including a trip to Home Depot and also to Sports Authority to buy some new compression shorts and a new running hat (identical to the Nike one I have and really like, but I needed another one to keep at work). I then returned home and (finally) strapped down our water heater, replaced a broken light fixture, and fixed a broken sink stopper in the bathroom.

When I finally got my errands and projects done it was about 3:30pm, sunny, and above freezing. Karen and her sister were at Costco so I decided it was a good time to run. I decided to run the 8 mile loop down to Costco and back, thinking I might see Karen on her way home along the way. A little over 3 miles into the run she passed me as I was heading south and she was heading north on 400 East.

I asked Karen later if it looked like I was running well. Like the good wife she is she said 'yes'. Actually, I felt pretty good the whole run. I ran it at around marathon pace effort, a good steady forward-moving pace but not pushing too hard. I ended up averaging 8:02/mi for 8.75 miles. Mile splits were: 8:10, 8:09, 7:57, 7:54, 8:11*, 8:01, 8:12*, 7:53, 0.75 miles in 5:48 (7:45/mi). The 8:11 was mostly all slight upgrade, the 8:12 mile included a long wait at a traffic light. I felt like I held a good pace the entire run, and could have kept going for a while. It was pretty encouraging. I could still feel the PF and Achilles lurking in the wings, but they stayed away, as did the sharp foot pain from Thursday. I iced my foot immediately after the run.

One day at a time.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself tomorrow. The stake president is out of town so we are not having our normal meetings. I'll be able to attend my home ward, and nothing else. That will be nice. Of course, the next Sunday we have PEC, presidency meeting, and two ward conferences so I'll be going all day starting at 6:30am. At least it pays well (spiritually).

Tomorrow, apparently to cosmically balance my reduction in Sunday meetings, some of Karen's family are coming over in the evening for dinner and, since it's a holiday on Monday, will probably stay late into the night talking and playing games. Actually, it should fun...for as long as I am able stay awake.

I chose to go with the afternoon run again today, and once again I actually got it in. I decided to run up to what I've decided to call "The Fountain of Youth". It's the fountain (near Timpanogos Park on the Provo River Parkway) that runs continuously. The cool water is especially refreshing on hot summer days, but I found it refreshing today as well, as it served as my turn around point on my 9.2 mile run.

Similar to Saturday, I tried to run a steady press-forward kind of pace without pushing it too hard. This course was slightly longer and had more ups and downs, but I still managed to average about 8:07/mi and felt pretty good at the end, running the last 0.6 miles (gradual downhill) at a 7:21 pace. I'm cautiously optimistic about putting my injuries behind me (knock on wood).

I ditched Larry and Wayne on Saturday, so I guess they ditched me this morning. Actually, I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. I wasn't sure they were running Saturday morning, and because of Saturday Larry probably wasn't sure if I was going to be running this morning. Fortunately, this sort of problem is easily fixed with a phone call, email, or text.

After pushing the pace and distance a little on Saturday and yesterday, I decided to just take it at an easy pace this morning. I ended up running 6.9 miles at an average 9:37/mi pace. No foot pain again today (knock on wood again), but I'm icing the Achilles and PF areas anyway.

I've also been wearing a small neoprene ankle support since Saturday that I feel has been helping.  I was at Sports Authority on Saturday and noticed they had a wide selection of ankle supports. I've sprained my ankles many times so they caught my eye. They had Level I, I+, II, and III supports. The I+ support is a simple neoprene cup with a Velcro closure across the top. Because of the foot pain I felt on Thursday, and because it was less than $10, I decided to give it a try.

It feels so good that the only time I've taken it off is to run (my shoes provide support and cushioning) and to shower. It even fit well in my Sunday shoe. Besides the mild support it gives, it also retains heat. It almost feels like I'm wearing a little heat pad exactly where I need it, on my Achilles tendon, the plantar fascia near my heel, and across my ankle. The neoprene even provides a little cushioning in those same areas. It might all be in my head, but I've learned that can help as much as anything else. Time will tell.

I ran about 0.35 miles around the parking lot trying to keep warm while waiting for Will (there was a bit of a breeze), then we ran the 6.2 mile extended Lake View course. We averaged about 8:05/mi. The snow on the freeway bridge and on the dirt road was a bit of a nuisance, but overall it was a nice run.

Well, I talked to Larry and it seems he and Wayne have been going out at 8:00am instead of 5:45am. I can't say as I blame them. We plan to hook up again Saturday morning, but today was a solo run. I went 6.2 miles around local streets at an average pace of 8:38/mi.

I enjoyed a nice run with Tom at lunch time. He considered it an easy run. It was a lot easier for him than for me, but it wasn't too bad. I really enjoyed running and talking with him again. We looped over Eagle View way, up toward Seven Peaks until we got to 900 E and Center, worked our way south a little as we headed west to University Avenue, then looped around the back side of East Bay back to Novell. We averaged 8:49/mi for the 7.75 miles.

If feels good to be getting my mileage back up again. I plan to continue to gradually increase the mileage over the next few weeks, as long as the pain stays away. So far so good. I don't plan on any fast tempo runs until I get my base mileage up to at least 40+ for a few weeks.

We had our last church basketball game of the season this morning. We only had 5 players again, same 5 as last week. The other team had 7, one of whom was about 6'8". They are a good team and I thought we were going to lose by 20 or 30. We were down by 8 or 9 at half time, and by 10-15 points most of the second half. Then suddenly with 1 or 2 minutes to go we tied it up. We ended up losing by 4, 89 to 93 I think. This was a pretty high scoring game for church ball. We did win the second half, and felt pretty good about our performance. I knew my good shooting last week was an aberration. I kind of stunk it up this week. The other four, including my two sons, did rather well. Adam had an especially good game. I think he hit three 3 pointers along with several other baskets. Andrew always plays well and had something like 25 points and at least 6 steals. It was a lot of fun, but I was pretty tired afterward.

I got home from the game about 8:10am, drank a bunch of water and ate a couple of slices of bread, changed my clothes, then met Larry and Kevin to run at 8:30am (Wayne's in St. George). We ran an old 6 mile route through Lindon that we haven't run for a long time. We only averaged about 9:12/mi, but for me it felt a little like the last 6 miles of a marathon. My legs were dead. I think it was a combination of boosting my mileage this week and having just played a fast paced basketball game with no subs.

It's been a good training week, and I'm optimistic there are better weeks ahead.

I ran what we call the Tri-City route solo this morning. It loops through Lindon, into Pleasant Grove, and back through Lindon to Orem. It's a 6 mile loop but I added an extra mile on the end. I ran an easy pace and averaged 8:49/mi., a little slower on the hilly miles, faster on the flatter miles. I felt like I held a pretty steady effort throughout and ran the last (flat) mile in 8:17. It's encouraging to see my pace for easy runs gradually getting faster. I think the improving weather has a lot to do with that.

I have a couple of difficult decisions to make on my running calendar this year.

I'm registered for the Spectrum 10K in St. George on March 15, but now I've found out that Karen can't make it and I'd have to make the trip alone. I started doing the St. George Runners Series when it started a couple of years ago to 1) get the guaranteed entry into the St. George marathon, and 2) so Karen and I could have some weekend getaways.

If I don't do the Spectrum 10K I could still try to do the Run 4 Kids 10K on April 12, or the Hurricane 1/2 Marathon on May 3. They are both Runners Series qualifiers.

Our wedding anniversary is on May 4, so that might be a good weekend for a getaway to St. George and get in the Hurricane Half while we're there. Karen's making this difficult by saying that she is okay with whatever I decide, and this time I really think she means it. I don't think it's one of those husband tests (you husbands out there know what I mean...and I think so do you wives). Since I'm already registered for the Spectrum 10K, I may not decide until the day before the race whether I'm going. If I don't go, I'll plan on the Hurricane 1/2 on May 3.

I'm not really considering the Run 4 Kids 10K on April12 because I've kind of decided in the last day or two that I want to support the 1st Annual Utah Valley Marathon that is on that same day. I've been considering doing the Striders 1/2 on May 3, and maybe even the Ogden Marathon on May 17, but I think I'm going to pass on those and insert the Utah Valley Marathon into my running calendar instead. You don't get too many opportunities for a "1st Annual" marathon right in your own backyard. I won't be in any sort of fast marathon condition by then, but I think I'll be able to finish okay.

I ran the Tri-City route again this morning, but added a mile or so at the beginning instead of at the end like yesterday. This was another base-building easy run at around a 9:00/mi pace average.

I enjoyed a nice run in the sun with Tom and Nathan at noon. We started out towards Eagles View but  we kept going north instead of turning and going up the steep hill. Tom's current fitness level is well documented. Nathan is also in great shape as he prepares for Boston in April. I think he said he ran 18 miles at an average 7:50 pace Saturday, or something like that. I could tell the 8:20 pace we averaged today was much easier for them than it was for me. I'm just grateful to be feeling good as I start building my mileage base again.

I ran a modified Tri-City route this morning. I added some distance at the beginning and inserted the long climb up State Street from the Lindon City Park. I averaged around 8:55/mi for the 7.4 miles.

I left early and took my church keys with me so I could stop on the way home and do some work I needed to do at the church this morning. The plan worked well, except that it was sure hard getting my legs moving to run that last 1/4 mile home after sitting at the church computer for 20 minutes. I still made it home with 2 minutes to spare.

I saw a dog that looked like Larry's dog Ozzie so I called him when I got to the church, but Ozzie was at home. Larry and Wayne were planning to head out at 7:00am. It felt good to already be done.

The weather is probably going to be awesome again for a run at noon, but I've got a lot of work to do so I decided to get the run in this morning so I can work through lunch. Life is sure full of a lot of choices. It seems life is all about learning to make good choices and find a balance among the seemingly endless ways we can choose to spend our time and energy. I feel blessed to have such good things to choose between, and the freedom to choose.

I plan to go a little longer and easier tomorrow so I decided to go a little shorter and quicker today. I ran down to Orem Center street and back trying to maintain a steady marathon pace effort. I averaged 7:52/mi for 5.45 miles. Mile splits were 8:16, 7:54, 7:53, 7:55, 7:35, 0.45 mi in 3:22 (7:28/mi). The first mile included warm up. The last mile finally had some slight downhill and tailwind at the same time. I feel pretty good about the run, like I'm finally beginning to get back on track.

Also, I went ahead and registered for the Utah Valley Marathon on April 12. I don't have much time to get ready for it. I'll be lucky to work up to one 20 miler before then. I'm looking forward to it anyway.