Training for Top of Utah 2011

Went trick or treating last night with Sam and Larry Shaw and the Gibson boys.  Had a few too many chico sticks. (YUMM!)

Trail run planned this morning but high winds prohibit running in amongst the trees. I've heard trees falling when running at Cougar Mtn. before with not much wind at all. I don't like running the hills of Snoqualmie either in heavy wind.

Bruce called at 6:50 to say let's bag it. Was going to sleep in then I remembered that only 13 miles run this week so it's off to the treadmill for 10. First 5 easy in 40 minutes then did strides for one tenth of a mile on each of the last 5 miles.

The Brooks Radius shoes have got to be my favorite shoe ever. Slightly heavy but oh so comfy. Used them before the marathon to run from Snoqualmie Pass to North bend on the John Wayne trail for 22 miles and my feet hardly felt it. Should have worn them on the marathon too. Live and learn.

This is what the treadmill readout said upon completion today.

Carbs burnt  167

Calories burnt 967

Time  80:02

Miles 10:25

Coming from the garage and into the kitchen I am now smelling a cinnamon sugar walnut pullapart.

48 Degrees some wind which seemed to be against me no matter where I was running. Some showers but not bad. Dressed a little too warm to keep the rain off if it came.

Since last week was a pretty low mileage week, decided to start this one off better.

2.75 easy then One mile hill then 2.25 easy. OK nothing was that easy but I'm still trying to make my goal of 8:54 pace. The hill knocked that possibility out  but I got close and would have made it if the last .5 mile was not uphill and wind against me.

Pace  8:56

HR Avg.  154 (That's from keeping good form and some speed up the hill) I seemed to be running high from the beginning though.

Pushups, Core and Weights today for about 45 minutes.

Rain coming down pretty hard out there. As much as I used to like playing football in the rain, don't really enjoy running in the rain.

Heidi is predicting baby's arrival today. I'm thinking next week. She knows more than I do so we shall see.

38 degrees, not much wind and very clear and crisp. It felt great! The lovely hills of Snoqualmie Ridge are starting to feel easier.

3.25 miles easy @ 8:50 pace

1 Hill Mile @ 8:00 pace That was pretty tough the last little bit.

2.75 miles easy @ 8:46 pace

Avg. HR 154 High HR 180(that's kinda high)

Heidi had to take Tori into the Orthodontist so I ended up running the treadmill. Not a bad option today with the crappy weather. Windy and Rainy. Temp is 48 so 1 out of 3 ain't bad.

.3 mile walking warmup, then 7 miles easy with 3 .1 mile strides in the middle and .2 cool down walk.

Readout says Carbs burnt : 118  

Avg. HR : 127

For some reason the pace I can keep on a treadmill is way easier than in real life running. I really have to crank up the incline to get my HR(70-75%) where it normally is on an easy run.

Pushups and Core exercises. Another day of heavy rain and possibly flooding.

A few years ago we had to go sandbag some friends places. Hopefully not this year.

Made some awesome chili verde last night and let it cook overnight. Not going to eat it for breakfast but I was tempted. Throw a little sour cream on top along with some M. Jack cheese and toasted tortillas and we've got dinner tonight.

mid 50's temp. some rain and light wind.

Today was a pretty intense trail run session. We started up clay pit road for about .5 mile then onto the trails. We hit the backside for the hard 1 mile up then steep 1 mile down then another 1 mile up.

Bruce was feeling it and I had a little left so I went tot the top of clay pit road then booked it down .95 miles in 6:11. 

Last night I had 2 servings of the chili verde that I made two nights ago and it was fantastic! Not nearly as spicy as I normally make it. Even Heidi could handle it. After roasting the chilis this time I stripped the seeds and ribs out which probably took most of the heat out.

Avg HR 146 high 176

avg. pace 12:07

48 degrees, some wind with gusts at times. Showery rains at times as well blowing sideways and soaking my glasses. My shoes and socks were soaked when I got home.

Saw Mark the postman and chatted with him after the run. I invited him to run the 5k on Sat. but he will be gone.

Had 3 good size tacos last night and then chocolate ice cream and added some pb to it. Not bad.

 Saw some cool looking mushroom chains growing in the lawn over on the industrial side of the parkway.

  Felt good today and was able to get my pace of 8:53.

Avg. HR  149 hi 163

Treadmill action today.

.5 mile walk to warm up calf

1 mile 9:22 pace

.5 mile 8:20 pace

5 miles 7:24 pace with .1 mile sprints every .5 miles

first 3 strides @ 6:11 pace

2nd 3 @ 5:18 pace

3rd 3 @ 4:26 pace

then .5 slow jog and then walk. really boring running the tread

Got about 2 or 3 hours of sleep last night. Yesterday, Heidi called to say she was going to the dr. office to check on contractions. Got a call and she said " going to the hospital to have water broken". This happened at 2:30. I got to the hospital 20 minutes later. 

At 4:28 Nova Grace was born. Pix are available on grandmas blog http://dickandmlnews.blogspot.com/

That will be the final of 4 for me and my wife and it really made me emotional as I saw her coming into this world. What an amazing thing to witness. What great sacrifices women make to bring children into this world! I appreciate my wife at a whole new level every time we go through this.

I was really hoping to get in a run sometime today. Heidi needed some sleep in the am after being up with Nova quite a bit during the night. Then, planning to run when home from work but that didn't work either. So hopefully something tomorrow morning. Not sure if I will be able to run the 5k on Sat. if Heidi doesn't get some sleep. Babies are so great but they do require time...

OK, another day without a run and definitely not enough sleep. Going to try to run the Snoqualmie Turkey Trot (5k) tomorrow morning. Hopefully the baby will sleep a little better tonight and allow me and Heidi the same privilege. 

No race for me this morning- Amazing Grace, Nova that is decided to wake up multiple times and then I had baby duty from 3 am on (so Heidi could get some sleep) and was wiped out. Had tons to do around the house and for business so never finished until 5pm.  Have to get some kind of run in I thought. I decided to run a simulated 5k race but didn't want to be dodging cars in the dark so it became a treadmill sim.

1.5 mile warm-up @ 9:22 pace Then stretched Quads, Hams, calves and hips

2.5 miles at 6:00 pace (Felt quite doable from the start)

At 2.5 upped the pace a notch each .1 mile then 4:26 pace last .1.

Finished somewhere under 18 minutes.

1 mile cool down @ 7:24 pace

.9 Mile cool down @ 8:20 pace

.5 mile cool down @ 9:22 pace

.2 mile walk

For some reason I can run a treadmill faster than real life. Probably because it helps you move and you don't have to carry the extra weight around. Definitely had some juice left. I only ran Mon. and Tuesday this week and then baby showed up Tues. afternoon. My lungs and muscles felt pretty good. I was able to rest from running this week but not sleep much. Look forward to running a real 5k sometime.

OK I feel a little foolish. It looks like my treadmill is set for metric rather than standard measurements. When I have been thinking all along that I am killing it on this machine, actually it's been killing me. There is no way that the pace I was running on it today was 11 minute and change pace per mile. From now on when I run the TM have to gauge by feel. Felt I was doing about a 9 minute per mile pace today on it.

Not enough sleep and ran the tread just in case Heidi needed me for something. Hope to get back on the road here this week.

Nothin'

Did a 2.5 mile hill tempo, then 2.5 speed tempo. 

HR max 172

Hard Hard workout and was sweating like crazy. Felt great!

Hopefully tomorrow is the last TM workout, then Sat. back on the trails.

Wore my adidas supernova that I had given to Tori to run at school. She didn't like them so brought them back home. These are not my favorite shoes but I like to rotate them all.

Didn't feel sore at all today even though yesterdays workout was a tough one. Not sure why no soreness or stiffness though.

TM workout again. Too much wind outside today. Lost my glasses one time when it was really windy and don't want to get new ones again.

I figured out how to switch from metric to english measurement on the tm. It's hard to go by what this machine says. Running at an 11 minute/mile pace was where my normal 9 min. pace is for my HR when running outside. Readout said I went a little over 5 miles but I count it as 6 due to hr and time running. Also walked 3 minutes before and after the run.

I'm liking the fact that my weight is slowly coming down. It's easier to run packing less fat I know that. Core and pushups today. Resting up for a hard trail run tomorrow. Nova is sleeping longer throughout the night which really helps me feel better. Looking forward to the "Holy War"(BYU VS. Utah) tomorrowl! Not so much the apple cup. 2 dogs fighting for the last scrap of fatty meat.

 

Trail run with Bruce. Cold and slight wind. Bruce was having sinus issues but he hung in there.

Ups and downs but not killer ones as Bruce only had one other day this week to work out.

Pace 11:30

HR 136. That's pretty low for one of these trail runs. I like to see it coming down along with my weight.

Cold and a little windy.

HR 142 avg.

Cold with some wind.

2 miles of hard hills with fartlek action mixed in after the hill work.

We do our Thanksgiving day feast on Wed. evening. I will be doing core and pushups tomorrow morning.

Thursday is Turkey bowl football. Am going to do a 1.5 mile warmup run to the park and then I'm going to keep my garmin turned on during the game to see how far I run. Then jog back home for lots of family time, games etc.

Played football for about an hour and a half then jogged 2.5 home. Not sure if these #'s are right but it's probably close. Computer said it was 34 degrees but it felt much warmer. Windy and cloudy with some sunbreaks.

It was a good time by most. Got myself beat up a bit trying to break up a pass and split up my lip. It's going to be canker sore city for a week or so. I hate those.

Supernova shoes. Should probably get these on the shoe log.

50 minutes running with about 5 of that a warmup walk. 3 minute walk cooldown. TM run to loosen the legs from Turkey bowl football yesterday. There are muscles that I don't use very often that during football get tweaked. I'm sore!

For Thanksgiving dinner one of my nephews(10 yrs. old) proposed a "toast" of our water glasses. Most of us said to"family" which of course is what life is all about to me. My mother in law was however tempted to say "Dishwasher" because they recently had theirs replaced.

I was reading this and it touched me because of the Thanksgiving season.

 From Thomas S. Monson "A Sanctuary from the World".

When we are tired or ill or discouraged, how sweet the comfort of being able to turn homeward. We are blessed to belong and to have a place in the family circle.

At times we may become bored or irritated with home and family and familiar surroundings. Such may seem less than glamorous, with a sense of sameness, and other places may sometimes seem more exciting. But when we have sampled much and have wandered far and have seen how fleeting and sometimes superficial a lot of the world is, our GRATITUDE grows for the privilege of being part of something we can count on--home and family and the loyalty of loved ones. We come to know what it means to be bound together by duty, by respect, by belonging. We learn that nothing can fully take the place of the blessed relationship of family life.

All of us remember the home of our childhood. For most of us, our thoughts do not dwell on whether the house was large or small, the neighborhood fashionable or downtrodden. Rather, we delight in the experiences we shared as a family.

Cougar Mtn. trail run. After Thursdays football and jogging and yesterdays TM run my legs are kind of sore. It took about a mile to get into the run then it was a great one.

Misty with a little rain. The trails were sloggy in places. My pants were so muddy when I finished that I just tossed them, not just because they were muddy but they were getting holes and old as well.

Pace ended up being between 11:20 and 11:25.

HR ended up at 141 avg.

I have eaten way too much rich food this weekend and my weight shows it. Going to take it easy today and try to not get over 175. Now let's go see if there are any good football games on and do some stretching.