Recovering From Microfracture Surgery

Jasper, AR before we hit the road for a 14 hour drive to Albuquerque. Legs still sore and tired from all the hills. Finished ahead of the 7:30 guy buy about 2 minutes.

Ran 5 easy miles after driving 23 hours the last two days. Legs and body are tired from traveling. Meeting Sasha at 5:30am and hoping he takes it easy on me!

Back from vacation and on the standard 10.04 Provo River Run with Sasha. We ran 69:00 flat but had to run 33 on second five to do so. Trail is mostly clear now but it is suppossed to snow a bunch more tomorrow so we will see how things turn out. My legs are still sore from all of the hills in Arkansas last week so this morning was not much fun. My new years resolution is to stop drinking carbonated drinks and deep fried foods. Try to eat healthier overall but I figure if I can cut hose two out all together that is a good start and will help get me back in racing shape. I am alos going to try and ride my bike to and from work at least 3 days a week as well.

Ran Provo River route with Sasha and did 8x400 hard 400 rest. 400 hard was between 1:25-30 and 400 rest was at 1:45-1:50. Overall under 70 minutes but was not an easy day.

Rode bike to work and home 4.2 miles. To work is downhill so an easy ride. Home is uphill 2.1 miles and today it was uphill and in the snow. Roads had about 1-2 inches on them on the way home so it made the hill even tougher. My quads are going to get a good workout riding home up the hill if I do that everyday.

Shoveled 5 inches of snow from driveway and then joined Shasha fo our 10 mile run. Wind was blowing and it made it very cold and the trail was very slick again. We met another runner at about 6 miles and ended up slowing down to run with him. Found out he is dating Doug Padilla's daughter. Overall worked out well as it gave us an easy day for once and my legs needed it. Averaged about 7:40 pace for the run.

13.4 today with Sasha on Provo River Trail. Very cold 12' weather and wind chill said it felt like 2' Brrrr! Did 2.5 mile out-n-back four times. Was not feeling very good from the start and to top it off the trail was about as bad as it can get. Sasha and I both almost fell several times on the ice and I felt me feet sleeping almost every step of the way. Ran overall 65:00 with splits as follows: 6:31, 6:34, 6:26, 6:23, 6:31, 6:35, 6:28, 6:32, 6:37, 6:17 according to GPS. Noy bad for the conditions I guess. I just hope come the spring these workouts translate to faster times.

Ran from BYU at 4:45AM and met Sasha on the trail. School is back in so I am back to the very early morning starts again as I have to supervise a class at 6:00AM Mon-Thu. Felt ok until about 7 miles and then started feeling quads again. I dont know why but my quads have been very tired and sore for the last couple of weeks. Even on good days I still start to feel them by 7-8 miles into a run. First 10 miles was at 7:00 pace overall and then during class I ran 2.4 more easy miles with cadets.

Rode bike to work so I will get 4.2 miles on bike today as well. Also did 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups.

Ran the standard Provo River 10 from Sasha's at 4:45am. We did 6x400 and then 4x800. 400's were all in 1:25-28 with a 400 rest between in 1:46-51. 800's were 2:50-55 with 800 rest in 3:35-39. Felt ok but still not good. Right quad felt tigh and heavy at about 8 mile mark today. Still have not had a day recently where the legs felt normal. Overall 10.04 in 67:45 with about 4 miles at sub 6:00 pace.

Ran 10 from BYU at 4:45 and met Sasha on the trail. Easy day today at about 7:00-7:20 pace most of the way. Then did 2.2 more with cadets that included 15x15 second strides.

Also did 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups.

Rode bike to work so will end up with 4.2 on the bike as well.

Ok, Sasha has made an update. Now we can play with font, etc...

Well, today was another 10 miles on the Provo River and we slept in and ran at 5:30am! Lately my legs have felt pretty tired and I think my body is telling me that it is still adjusting to the new early am schedule, the increased mileage, and the additional bike rides to and from work. Sasha wanted to do 2.5 miles of tempo work and when we started at 6:00 pace the first quarter my body was not very happy so Sasha took off and I backed off. However, I gradually picked the pace up and got it down under 6:00 pace the lsat half mile. It was not hard but the legs and body in general just didn't feel like pushing any more. The lst half was in 2:55 but actually felt easier than the first quarter at 1:31. I think I could have gone faster but I did not have the motivation or desire to do so. Hopefully the body adjusts and responds over the next few weeks. I am only at about 70 miles per week on six days doing singles but the body feels worse than when I was doing 120 miles per week on seven days with doubles. I figure if I just keep up the work and stay consistent I will push through it and get the strength back eventually. Once the strength returns then maybe I can start working on the speed as well.

I do not recommend to anyone to not run for a year and a half. The work it takes too return to ones previous fitness is a long and difficult road. There are still many miles that my feet must carry me to reach my goals. But each step I take at 4:45am will be well worth it in the end. Some say it is the journey that counts so I guess I just have an epic of a journey to enjoy!

Easy run at 4:45am, if there is such a thing at that time in the morning. Met Sasha along the trail. Was very slow going as there was about 2-3 inches of snow on the path with occasional ice patches underneath which made things fun. Averaged just under 7:40 pace. Also added a little with cadets to include some line drill sprints. Then did my 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups.

The snow kind of forced an easier pace and I think it will be good for my legs. Went home and shoveled six inches of snow from my driveway. That is always a good upper body, especially lower back workout in and of itself! The snow piles along the side of the driveway are now about four feet deep. My kids have actually dug tunnels from the driveway to the yard through the snow piles. Tomorrow should be nice as I am not meeting Sasha until 7:00am for our run. I think we will do 13-14 miles.
 

Easy run with Sasha at 7:30am. Did not push it today, I want to let legs rest. Was going to run more this afternoon to get to 70 miles this week but again felt the legs need the rest so I will wait and try and hit 70 next week. It was very cold this morning, 9' F and is getting colder the next couple of mornings. 

Went sleding with the kids so got some good walks up steep hills in as well. 

No run today but I was truly inspired by Ryan Hall's 1/2 marathon performance today. The 7th fastest man ever at the 1/2 marathon is now an American. What is most impressive is that he ran by himself from start to finish. He beat Meb by over 2 minutes and beat the American Record by over a minute. This breakthrough race for him should show all that American's can run with the African runner's. And to think he has never raced a 10K. He has always been a mile and 5K runner until recently when he set the American record in the 20K at his debut for a race longer than 5K. And then today he goes out and shatters the 1/2 marathon record. Along the way he also ran splits for 15K, 10 miles and 20K that were all faster than the current American Records.

Todd Williams - 15K=42:22 in 1995 / Ryan Hall split = 42:21

Greg Meyer - 10M=46:13 in 1983 / Ryan Hall split = 45:33

Ryan Hall - 20K=57:54 in 2006 / Ryan Hall split = 56:36

Mark Curp - 1/2M=1:00:55 in 1985 / Ryan Hall New American Record = 59:43

Only runners to ever have run faster in a 1/2 Marathon are: (None Aided Course)

Paul Kosgei (KEN) 59:07

Zer. Tadesse (ERI) 59:15

Sam. Wanjiru (KEN) 59:15

Paul Tergat (KEN) 59:17

Robert Kipchumba (KEN) 59:27

Evans Cheryuiot (KEN) 59:29

Ryan Hall (USA) 59:43!!!!

Even if you add in aided course times he is still the 13th fastest man ever over a half marathon! Overall there have only been 17 men in the world that have ever run under an hour on a certified course. Before today every one of them had been an African born athlete. What an awesome run by an American runner who is only 24 and has never raced at this distance before.

Ran an easy 10.04 on the Provo River Trail with Sasha at 7:15am. It is noce to have a day off and be avle to sleep in until 6:30am. It was very cold and therfore I wore three layers. When I left my house my temperature probes read -6.5'F and -5.8'F. The Provo airport officially recorded -5.8'F at 7:15am and then at 8:15am it recorded a drop to -7.6'F. At 8:45am, just after we finished, the airport reported it had climbed back up to a whopping -4.0'F. The coldest morning of the year so far but at least the wind was not blowing. I was actually on the warm side in my three layers but that is ok. The only down side is that the three layers of clothes is sort of cumbersome to run in and adds a lot of weight. We took it easy and did not chase the 7 minute guy but still averaged about 7:10 pace overall.

I keep telling myself that running through the bitter cold days and not so good snow and ice conditions is excellent training. I think it toughens one up both mentally and physically. In fact it was after a very cold couple of winter months in Kansas that I ran my marathon PR.

I was shooting for 70 miles last week but came up short a little at the end of the week but I needed a small break anyway. Maybe this week I can get to 70. We will see how the legs feel. I turn 38 this week so one year closer to being able to race as a master. It is kind of strange but unlike most people I am looking forward to turning forty and the chance to race as a master.

Ok, another cold day today at 4:45am this time. Official temperature from airport for our run recorded -2.2'F. So actually much warmer than yesterday. Today we did somewhat of a tempo run for 2.5 miles on the noraml spot on the Provo River Trail during our 10 mile out-nback course. Sasha once again pushed out at about 6:00 pace and my body did not immediately respond so well. However, I was able to gradually speed up and get things going. My first mile was 6:16 then second mile was 6:09 and finally the last half was 2:56. 15:21 for the 2.5 mile section, not bad conisdering the trail is still covered in snow and ice and -2.2'F is not the best running conditions, I had three layers of clothes on so I had to be caring quite a bit of extra weight as well. The last half actually felt a lot easier and smoother than the first mile. I am starting to think that my body has a hard time at 4:45am jumping from 7:30 pace straight to 6:00 pace. It seems that I do better with a more gradual acceleration. Once I get going then 6:00 pace seems much more reasonable. Overall legs felt a little better today than they have for awhile. I think if I can keep the easy days truly easy then my legs will feel better for the harder days. Not sure if I will make my goal of 70 miles this week as I am off to a slow start the first couple days.

Ran from BYU at 4:45am and met Sasha on the trail. Flet ok today and therfore caught ended up just under 7:00 pace overall for the run. After running 10 with Sasha then ran 1.1 miles on the BYU indoor track with cadets. I really do not like the indoor track so much as the air is very dry and bothers my throat. I actually prefer running outdoors even when it is -2.2'F as it was for our run today. So 11.1 miles on my 38th birthday and took my first fall of the winter as well. The funny part was that I did not slip on ice but actually tripped on it. It was too dark to see very well and I hit a chunk of ice that had fallen off of a car in a parking lot but was frozen to the ground so it was like hitting a block of cement. The fall was not bad as I caught myself with hands and just slid on all fours for a few feet and popped right back up. Also did 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups. Actually feels like I may be coming down with a slight cold. Hopefully that is all it is. Today makes five days in a row of negative temperatures and we actually tied or beat a record low for Provo for five days as well. You know its bad when our high was 17'F today and I actually thought it felt warm. It sure will be nice when the lows are back in the double digits again. No bike ride today as it was still below freezing when I had to leave for work. I have a no ride rule for myself when it is single digits. I can run in any weather but the bike is another story. My hands and feet do not do so well riding a bike when it gets that cold. Something to do with the wind chill factor on the bike. 

Our late morning day, started at 5:30am. Did normal Provo River run with Sasha. Trail is getting better but legs were tired today and I definetley have a cold as I am congested. Sasha did tempo run for 2.5 miles but I just was not up to going fast. With Sasha's advice we went slow so I could let the body rest and recover. Ended up just over 75 minutes. It was yet again another day in the negatives. The Provo airport reports show that the low for the day was at 5:35am at -2.2'F. Most of the run shows it was actually only -0.4'F. Either way it was almost out of the negatives today!. Maybe we will get lucky tomorrow and have a run not in the negative temperatures. Planning on an easy day tomorrow and hopefully I will feel good enough to do a 10 mile tempo on saturday. We will see. Looks like I will end up with about 65 miles this week instead of 70. I wanted to be higher by now but am still willing to just take it day by day right now. Weighed myself recently and I have lost 10 of the 20 pounds I gained while in Iraq. I expect most of the rest should come off over the next six months and as it does the times will hopefully come down as well.

Easy 10 miles at 4:45am with Sasha. Sasha did a mile pick-up but I kept it easy. I am trying to get over a cold and probably need to make sure I do not overdue it. Official airport temp readings had us at -0.4'F at 5:35am but the majority of the run it was actually 1.4'F. That makes every run this week with at least part of the run in negative temperatures. I sure hope this is not typical for Utah! Hopefully I feel good enough to do a 10 mile tempo tomorrow. Plan is to get 13 with a 10 mile tempo in the middle with Sasha tomorrow. Oh yeah, did 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups as well.

Ok, made it through a nice long run with a 10 mile tempo this morning at 7:15am with Sasha. Well I was only with Sasha for a little while on the tempo. It was 1.4'F when we started the run so finally not im the negatives for once. It was up to 6'F at the end of the run and I actually felt like I overdressed as the three layers was a bit much during the tempo. I felt ok for the first 3 miles but things were not as good after that. Between being a little sick and the cold weather I did not runa s fast as I think I can right now. Splits for 2.5 mile sections were 15:31, 16:04, 16:31, and 16:14 for 10 miles in 64:20. Overall I am glad that I managed to average under 6:30 pace but I really think I should be running no slower than 6:15 pace on long tempo runs right now. Not feeling so good right now, stomach hurts a bit. That may have had something to do with it. I just hope it does not last as I wanted to go ride my mountain bike for a few hours later today.

Did an Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) with cadets this morning. I did 76 push-ups in 2 minutes and 83 sit-ups in 2 minutes followed by a 11:30 2 mile run. Beat all of the cadets on the run. Run felt ok. Then hit the trail and met Sasha for 8 more easy miles. Once again official temps were -2.2'F at 6:15am and warmed up to a whopping 1.4'F by the finish. So it looks like we are in for another week of negatives and low single digits. I sure hope this is not the normal for Utah!

Easy 10 miles along Provo River with Sasha at 4:45am. Temperature was 3.2'F when we started but 1.4'F by the end. Ran relaxed and time was just over 71 minutes. Still feeling under the weather with this cold. I have been waking up congested and my throat has been a bit sore. More cold in the forecast! I just keep telling myself to keep putting in the effort and it will all come around eventually. Slow and steady I guess.

 This afternoon I went for a 14 mile mountain bike ride. Worked hard on the hills and could feel the burn in the quads. Only I learned a lesson today as I underestimate the cold weather and the wind chill effect when riding the bike. My hands starting really getting cold and painful about halfway through the ride. At this point it was too late to do anything as we were doing an out and back course. The pain started to subside on the way back but I knew this was not a good sign as my hands were frozen enough that it became difficult to even shift gears. When I finished the hands were pretty much frozen. A couple of minutes after getting inside and taking the gloves off the hands began to thaw and the pain was one of the most intense sharp pains I have ever felt in my fingers. The pain finally subsided about five minutes later but it was pretty bad. I think I finally have full movement back and it has been about an hour. The fingers still feel funny but I think they will be ok. There is a saying in some units that there is a "fine line between hard and retard" and I think I crossed it today! In the future I need to invest in a good pair of cold weather biking gloves or not bike in the cold. I also wore biking shoes that clip in to the pedals for the first time today. It made riding alot easier overall. However, I had not practiced unlocking from the pedal and when I came to a stop at the end of the ride I underestimated the motion required to unclip. Therfore I fell over. Besides being embarassed I dont think I hurt anything. I hit my knee but it feels ok.

I am sure my legs will be a little tired in the morning but right now they feel ok. We will see how tomorrow goes. I have never done much biking in the past but hopefully it will add some strength training to my routine.
 

From BYU at 4:45am and met Sasha on trail. Considering yesterdays 10 miles and 14 mile mountain bike ride my legs were better than I thought they would be. My hands are still not 100% recovered from the freezing episode on the bike but to make sure they were not cold this morning I put some hand warmers in my gloves and kept them toasty warm. Offical temp during run was 6.8"F today but it dropped to 3.8'F at the end of the run. So one of the warmer days in quite awhile! Easy day today averaging just under 7:20 pace. Did 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups routine as well.

6.8'F!!! Starting to get warm! Well, I still had about 2-3 layers on but did feel a little warmer finally. Ran with Sasha and he wanted to do  the 2.5 mile tempo. My legs (quads) were tired from the 14 mile mountain bike ride a couple nights ago so I was not to excited about it but figured I would just try and relax and gradually get things going. As I took off I was not to sure how things would turn out but decieded to not look at the watch and just run. Hit the end of 2.5 miles and watch read 14:48. Splits afterward show that I did 6:04, 5:56 and then 2:48 for last half. So I was able to gradually speed things up the whole way. It felt pretty comfortable and did not feel like I was pushing too hard. I did pick it up a little the last 1/2 as Sasha had stopped to go potty and he was in hot pursuit. He caught me right before the end but he had to put in a 1:18 400m to do so. I am pretty happy overall as I really did not expect much with the 10 mile run and 14 mile mountain bike the other day.

Very easy 10.04 today with Sasha. Left BYU at 4:45am and met on the trail as usual. Today for some reason I took note of how quite and peaceful it can be at 4:45am on the trail. Ran easy and chatted the whole way. Averaged just under 7:30 pace. Also did 125 push-ups and 100 sit-ups and played ultimate frisbee with the cadets for 30 minutes. So some short fast sprints off and on for 30 minutes. Temperature was 8.6'F at the start but had dropped to 6.8'F by the finish. It dropped even further after the run to a low of 3.2'F for the day. Unfortunately it looks like we will remain in the low single digits for another week or so for low temps.

Woke up not feeling so well. My throat was scrathy and I had a bit of a cough. On top of that my hip flexors were pretty sore from playing ultimate frisbee yesterday. Needless to say I almost called Sasha to tell him I did not want to run. However, I forced myself out the door and met Sasha at 7:15am. Official temperature when we started was 14'F but I told Sasha shortly after we started that it felt like it got colder. Sure enough the airport reported that it dropped to 12.2'F for the majority of our run. Still the warmest run in quite a while! Anyway, I knew Sasha would want to do the 10 mile tempo run. I did not feel like I would be up to running very fast so we decieded to have Sasha give me a one minute lead and then I expected him to catch me by about 2 miles or so into the run. Things went much better than I would have ever guessed for me. I did not pay much attention to my times until the first  turn at 2.5 miles. Sasha had not caught me and when I looked at my watch it said 14:35 for 2.5 miles. I did not feel like I was running that fast or pushing the pace but I knew I better slow down if I wanted to finish the 10 mile tempo. I kept an ok pace from there to the finish and Sasha ended up catching me just about 8.5 miles into the run. Of coures he had a bathroomn break as well. I ran 61:48 for the 10 mile course with the following splits: 5:55, 5:53, (14:35 for 2.5 = 2:47-800m) 6:02, 6:12, 6:15, 6:20, 6:15, 6:15, 6:20, 6:20. Overall I am very pleased considering how I felt going in and the conditions of the trail were still pretty icy and slippery.

Easy run with Sasha. Left BYU at 4:45am as usual and met Sasha on the trail. Easy run averaging just under 7:15 pace overall. 6.8'F and still fighting a bit of congestion in my upper chest and throat. This inversion is not helping matters. Also did 125 push-ups and 125 sit-ups.

Met at Sasha's house at 4:45am. Still feeling pretty sick. Very congested and have a bit of a cough in the morning spitting up nice yellow stuff. Needless to say I was not looking forward to the run especially since I knew Sasha would ask the question "so are you up for a tempo?" I did not feel up to it but conceded to give it a shot anyway for at least the normal 2.5 mile course. Did not feel great but tried to relax and keep a decent rythem going. I felt worse than on Saturday physically but the trail conditions were slightly better. Still ice and snow for the whole first mile but after that it is only patches of snow every couple hundred meters or so. Temperature today was a nice and warm 12.2'F! The first run in the double digits for over two weeks. Did not really pay attention to splits but knew first mile was under 6:00 pace. I was thinking I would end up around 14:30 or so similiar to Saturday's first 2.5 miles but ended up with 14:13. Sasha stopped for a nature stop and then passed me as I stopped for a nature stop so ran most of the tempo on my own. Splits were 5:48, 5:42, and 2:43 for the last 800. Surprised considering how I have been feeling lately. This was my best time on this 2.5 mile course by 22 seconds and it was run with 2.5 layers of clothes at 5:00am with ice and snow at 12'F. I can't wait for some warmer weather to see waht kind of difference it makes. One of these days I need to run our tempo workout in the afternoon to see the difference as well. I seem to run better in the afternoon for some reason but I just don't get the opportunity to do so very often. Sasha wanted to do the 2.5 tempo on the way back as well but my mind and body were not willing to participate. Sasha took off and I just ran at about 6:30-45 pace. Overall 10 miles was just under 7:00 pace average.

The last day of January is upon us. Met Sasha on the trail again after a 4:45am start from BYU as usual. Ran the Provo River Trail route. Easy run today average just under 7:30 pace. Felt ok but still dragging a little from this cough and cold. It was warmer today, 19'F, but snowing again. So much for the trail starting to clear up. It seems as if every time the trail conditions just start to get somewhat better it snows again. Hopefully the snow will clear out some of the smog from the inversion. Although the forecast is for the cold to return and the invresion to stick around for at least another week or so as well. Did not expect this bad of air quality in Utah! When one thinks of Utah they usuallly think of a more fresh mountain air scenario. That's about all for today.