run, run, run

Boise, ID 6:30am

Pace: 8:11

First run back after the marathon. I was going to get out yesterday, but I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep.

Felt pretty good. No worse for the wear. My glutes were a little sore, but I mainly just felt like I hadn't run in a week.

Boise, ID 8:00 am

Pace: 8:58

Happy 4th of July.

Really dragging this morning. I guess I wasn't as recovered from last week as I thought I was. I'd toyed with the idea of going to Melba to run in a 10k this morning, but decided not to. Much as I love Melba, it was probably a good thing because I would have sucked it up.

It was a nice morning for a run. Kind of warm, but not bad. I ran past two church pancake breakfasts along the way -- kind of made me hungry. If I didn't stink so bad, I might have crashed one. I'll take Sunday off and see how I do in Utah next week.

iPod song of the day "City Of New Orleans" -- Arlo Guthrie ("Good morning America, how are you?")

Spanish Fork, UT 6:30 am

Pace: 8:40

Working in Utah this week, so I ran to the office. It was really windy starting out (in Spanish Fork, go figure) but calmed down by the time I got into Mapleton. Felt pretty good, a little stiff in the hamstring. Then at about the 9 mile mark I started feeling a sharp pain in my right hamstring. That is where a smart person would stop running and put some ice on it. But, since I'm not a smart person I kept running another mile or so. Luckily it worked itself out and feels fine now.

When I got to work my wife wasn't there yet. Apparently she didn't have the snooze feature on her cell phone figured out. So I waited on the lawn and watched ducks for a half hour. Can't complain about that.

On the way out this morning, my aim was a little off on the iPod, so instead of clicking on the "Running" playlist, I clicked down to the "Slow" playlist. So, today's surprise song of the day is ...

iPod song of the day: "You've Got A Friend" -- Carol King

Spanish Fork, UT 7:00 am

Pace: 8:37

I went to work in a different direction this morning. I went to Main Street in Spanish and crossed under the freeway and kept going up Main behind the Nuways Castle and up the frontage road to Springville and crossed back over the freeway.

My hamstring was still feeling kind of funny, so I tried to step gingerly. By the end of the run it was feeling good again -- or maybe my leg was just numb.

iPod song of the day: "The Man Comes Around" -- Johnny Cash

Spanish Fork, UT 6:30 am

Pace: 8:47

Pretty much the same run as Monday. Up to Main Street Mapleton into Springville and down the hill to work. The leg felt great and the Springville Stink wasn't as bad as it sometimes is, so it must have been a good run this morning.

iPod song of the day: "Hey, You Get Off Of My Cloud" -- Rolling Stones

Spanish Fork, UT 7:00 am

Pace: 8:31

This was kind of like an off day. I just ran into work the most direct route possible. Didn't push myself, took it easy. Weather was great. When I'm running in New Brunswick in December I'll need to remember days like today.

 I thought I'd missed the Springville Stink, but the wind must have shifted a bit because it hit me about a quarter mile down the road from where I expected it.

iPod song of the day: I'm Alright (Theme From "Caddyshack") -- Kenny Logins

Spanish Fork, UT 6:30 am

Pace: 8:45

This hasn't been a good morning so far. I missed a turn and kept running down the road towards Utah Lake. It only added a little over a mile to my run, but I didn't really want to run an extra mile today. The weather was great again and I passed up a bunch of my coworkers who were stuck in their cars waiting out an accident on the overpass that goes over the tracks near the office. But then when I got to work I opened my bag and discovered that I forgot my underwear -- and my belt. Oops. So I had to drive back to Spanish.

Things can only get better today, right?

iPod song of the day -- "Rock 'n' Roll High School" -- The Ramones

Spanish Fork, UT 7:00 am

Pace: 8:40

An easy morning run to finish up the week. Lots to do today, so I didn't go very far, but it was nice to get out before starting the day. Windy again.

Boise, ID 8:00 pm

Pace: 8:26

I have a busy kid week this week (and next) so I'm getting up early in the morning and working, so I have to get my running in at night. This wasn't a bad one. I took my regular MWF course, ran it in reverse and added a couple of more miles. There are a lot more people out running in the evening (at least this one because it wasn't as hot) so I would try to push myself a bit by passing other runners.

iPod song of the day "I Feel Good" -- James Brown

Meridian, ID 9:00 pm

Pace: 8:39

Got the kids to bed and went out a little later than I'd hoped. The weather was still pretty warm when I started out, but about half-way I stopped off at my sister's house for a minute. Then we started yackin' and I ended up staying for about a half-hour. So it was dark by the time I got out to continue my run. The second half was kind of weird. I haven't run in the dark in a while and, while the cool temperatures felt great, I was kind of in a fog. Maybe it's from running later than I'm used to, maybe it was that hot dog I had for dinner (the kids had a pool party). Probably the hot dog. But I ran through it, since I was 5 miles from home I didn't have a choice.

This might have been my last run with the Nike+ on my foot. I ordered a Garmin and it is supposed to come today. After 3 years and 5,430 miles with the thing, it will be quite a lifestyle change to stop using it, but I think I've outgrown its usefulness. I need to start using something that will allow me to customize my workouts more and focus on more than just chugging out miles. I think this will be a good thing.

iPod song of the day: "Gonna Fly Now" --DeEtta Little

Boise, ID 9:15 pm

Pace: 8:49 Avg HR: 150

My first run with the Garmin 305. The thing is cool. I'm really going to like it. But, last night's run was a rough one. Maybe it was the heat (88 degrees when I left the house) or just the fact that I'm not used to running at night. Whatever the reason, I was feeling kind of sick when I got home. I need to get more sleep.

Boise, ID 10:30 pm

Pace: 9:36 Avg. HR: 136

Pathetic. I've done a lot of dumb things in my life and this is one of them. I really had no business running today. I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep in almost a week. I was exhausted all day and didn't have a free minute to run until 10:30pm. So I thought if I took a nap for an hour before going out that would make it all ok. It didn't. I wanted to get 50 miles in this week, but the only way that is going to work is if I run late again on Friday and then get up early on Saturday. That it isn't going to happen. I'll take Friday off and see what I can get in Saturday morning.

This run was really weak. I started out slow and got slower. When I stopped at the light at Fairview and Mitchell my legs were shaking and I was feeling dizzy. But, I kept running because I couldn't think of anything else to do. Things got a bit better after mile 5. But not much. I hate it when real life gets in the way of running.

iPod song of the day: "Stonehenge" -- Spinal Tap

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 8:22 Avg HR: 153

If going out running on Thursday night was dumb, this morning's run was brilliant. After a week of grinding through hot, late-night runs it felt great to get out in the cool morning air. I started out the first few miles right around 8:30 and picked up the pace some in the second half, finishing strong and feeling great.

I went up to Maple Grove to Chinden and up Mitchell. I forgot to take a turn I needed to get to 10 miles so I altered my course a bit and got lost in a subdivision once. I hid my water bottle in a tree at McMillian and Shamrock and then had to backtrack to get it because I had changed the course. Even still, a great way to start a Saturday.

iPod song of the day: "Golden Years" -- David Bowie

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 8:14 Avg. HR: 149

A pretty easy run this morning. There were three of us running this morning. Nice to have someone new. Randy and I aren't all that chatty, so it is nice to let someone else talk for  a while.

Weather was nice and cool and the run was great. I wanted to push it a little harder than we did, but it was a nice pace with good splits. Not sure what I'm going to do about tomorrow. Camping tonight. Maybe I'll have to do a really hot one in the afternoon.

Boise, ID 2:00 pm

Pace: 7:55 Avg. HR: 164

So I took the kids camping and got back about noon. Then I got this crazy idea that maybe I could go running. So I did. It was 95 degrees when I left. Hot. I brought along a bottle, but didn't think to put ice in it, so by the time my run was half over I was drinking hot Gatorade. Yum.

But, it turned out to be a really good run. After starting out with an 8:13 pace in the first mile, I picked things up a bit and stayed under 8 the rest of the way. I felt a little funny afterward, but I lived.

iPod song of the day: "Car Wash" -- Rose Royce

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 7:56

Pushed it pretty good again this morning. Back to the standard MWF seven miler. I told Randy that I was under 8 yesterday, so I think he decided that if I did it yesterday I could do it again. Not much conversation this morning, just me trying to keep up. Felt really good though.

Meridian, ID 6:00 am

Pace: 8:10 Avg. HR: 153

Really two runs today. I went out at 6 am and did seven miles. I kept my pace between 8:00and 8:30 for the first six miles and then kept it under 8 for the last mile. When I got home, the plan was to run three more with my daughter riding her bike beside me. But when I got there, she hadn't gotten up and wasn't really interested in getting up, so I took off on my own again, doing the same thing -- 8:15ish for three miles and 7:48 for the last mile.

iPod song of the day: "Comfortably Numb" -- Pink Floyd

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 8:08

 Didn't stay under 8:00 this morning, but put in a good workout with the splits getting faster as I went along and was able to push the final mile to 7:40.

Boise, Garden City, Eagle, ID 7:00 am

Pace: 8:31

Not a bad long run on a beautiful Saturday morning. I tried to keep it steady, under 8:30. I held that pace until mile 11 when I started to fade into the 8:30s and 8:40s then gave it a final push to 8:12 in the final mile.

I ran from home down to the Greenbelt, along the river to Eagle and up Eagle Road. At Chinden, I had planned on cutting across towards Cloverdale and down through the neighborhoods I run on my MWF runs, but when I got to the Stinker station at Chinden I was already past 12 miles and only planned on going 15. So, since the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, I just kept running down Eagle towards home. It really wasn't too bad. It is a busy street, but has wide sholders and sidewalks.

iPod song of the day: "Take Me To The River" -- The Talking Heads

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 8:09 Avg. HR: 147

Started out slow and easy but picked up the pace each mile. By the end we were at a 7:37 pace. Otherwise pretty uneventful. Weather in the mornings this time of year is awesome. Mid 60's with lots of shade. Very nice.

Boise, ID 6:00 am

Pace: 8:28 Avg. HR: 142

A good steady run this morning. Started out slow, but was able to pick up the pace and finished with a 7:36 mile at the end. I ran up Cloverdale to Victory and over to Five Mile. When I got to the freeway I discovered that the Five Mile overpass was being repaved and closed to traffic. The construction guys didn't really want me to go through, but I really didn't want to turn around and add another mile or two to my workout, so I cut through and made sure I stayed clear of the bulldozer.

iPod song of the day: Not So Far Away -- "Glen Burtnick"

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 8:01 Avg HR: 149

The usual MWF seven miler. A third guy joined us for the middle half of the run. That slowed us down slightly on mile four, but the company was nice to have. Able to get it back below 8:00 for miles six and seven. Still enjoying the summer morning weather.

Meridian, ID 6:00 am

Pace: 8:27 Avg Hr: 142

A pretty easy 10 miler this morning. Kept it at an easy pace until the last mile or so. Probably should have taken that one easy too because my left hamstring started hurting a bit. Otherwise kind of uneventful, except that I had to stop to pee twice and saw a gnarly dead cat at the side of the road. Guts hanging out and everything.

iPod song of the day: "Throwing Stones" - The Grateful Dead

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 9:18 Avg HR: 132

My hamstring was kind of bugging me all day yesterday. I iced it last night and would have taken today off, but I was meeting Scott about a mile and a half away and didn't want to leave him standing there, so I took it slow and easy. I think that worked out. I only felt a slight pain once. Kept things really comfortable. Tomorrow's 20-miler is off.

iPod song of the day: "Peace Train" -- Cat Stevens