Chasing my Dreams

Today I was committed to controling my effort and making it a true easy day. I actually did a pretty good job, other than the last two miles were a little faster than they should have been. 7 flat average pace. My left hip was feeling pretty tight/sore this morning, and I felt it the majority of the run. About 9.5 miles in my left ball of the foot/toes started to hurt a little, but I think it's just lingering stuff from the old shoes and nothing to worry about.

More than anything I couldn't get my legs to work this morning. It was a struggle just to run the pace I was running. My life burdens may be influencing my recovery and may have also been that they were sluggish after yesterday's run. My right ankle and left foot bothered me slightly during the first mile, but felt great after that. They should go away here in a comple of days. 6:48 average.

Yesterday my legs apparently really were tired, as my quads especially were feeling it today. All of the uphills on todays route certainly didn't help that in any way. It did make me wonder if my legs don't respond well to foam rolling though. I ran by feel today (turned off the mile splits on my watch) and just tried to get in a good effort based on what my legs were giving me. Not an awful effort, 6:26 average, but the second half was actually decent. From miles 10-12 my left ball/toes area was hurting and it had me concerned, but I'm thinking the hills must aggravate it more than the flats, because it kind of went away after that. 

I wanted to take today easy just so that my body could gain the benefits of recovering. I would have hit up some dirt, but my headlight isn't very bright right now. My hips and quads were a little tight, but for the most part I felt good. 6:59 average.

I woke up feeling surprisingly rested and energetic for the day, which was nice. The weather was probably my favorite kind of running weather -- low to mid thirties. I hit up the Hyde Park Canal and then on my way back did a little bit on the Lundstrom Park trail. Changing things up with the dirt was fun, and my legs felt amazing after the first couple of miles. 6:38 average, but the last half was all sub 6:30s. 

The bowels weren't in cooperation initially this morning, so I got out the door later than I would have liked. I felt a little tired the first couple miles, but then I was able to pick it up. I also picked it up because I knew I didn't have a ton of time. Stopped at the 7 mile porta potty. 6:33 average. 

I was a little slow getting out the door with pooping, but felt fine once out the door. I probably ran the first mile a little harder than I should have, but I felt like I was running pretty easy the whole time. 6:53 average. Around mile 10 or 10.5 I felt my left ball/toes slightly, which is the first time I've felt it all week. Planning on another nice and easy run tomorrow.

It was an easy effort day today. I could feel my foot when I woke up, but after half a mile I felt fine. I hit up the Lundstrom Park trail and there were tons of deer out on the golf course. I felt great, but then at about 8.5 miles my foot started to hurt out of nowhere. I'll have to try and ice a lot today, because I think it's probably some inflamation more than anything. 7:03 average

Hit up Mantua for a number of reasons. The biggest was because it was on my way home, but the dirt and being at 5200 feet were some nice bonuses. The first 8 miles I unintentionally did as a progression down to 5:45, but then I didn't think I could keep that pace going, so I backed off and did the next 8 miles as a steady state around 6-6:10 pace. I felt much better in that zone, but by the end my legs were still getting tired. My left foot started hurting around 7.5 miles, but it never got really bad. I'm thinking I should probably have a lower mileage week and some cross training next week to try and get it back to 100 percent. The first half of this run was also really challenging mentally. 6:10 overall average, the last mile was a cooldown. 

Did some exploring in some efforts to find more soft surfaces to run on. It wasn't completely successful, but it was a fun way to mix things up. I did see three different bucks right in the middle of North Logan though, so that was pretty fun. I didn't feel my foot bother me, which is good news. Hopefully this down week will knock out those aches and what not. 6:46 average

Took it easy today, but it felt kind of hard aerobically. Hit up the Lundstrom Park trail and actually ran that twice so that I could have more soft surface time. During the last mile my left toes almost felt like there were small needles in them, but it wasn't the normal pain, which was kind of weird, but still nothing major. 8 miles feels like an extremely short run.. 6:52 average.

Took longer than I wanted to get out the door. Last night my foot was hurting, but not in the place it used to be. I iced it and slept in wool socks to get some added warmth and compression. My foot felt extremely good when I woke up. I was for some reason nervous throughout the whole run, but I didn't feel my foot at all. Nice and slow, 6:56 average. It's crazy that an 8 mile run now feels short. I've still been plenty tired this week, even though my mileage is down. Either way, this week will hopefully be a good break for the mind and hopefully get rid of the tendonitis for good.

It was snowing for basically the whole run, but that helped me to just relax and enjoy the run. During the first mile my left foot went in a crack in the road and it put some pressure where I've been trying to heal, and that made me a bit paranoid. It felt fine for the most part though. There was some very minor pain around 6 miles, but nothing like I was experiencing in previous weeks. 6:58 average. 

It was actually cold this morning for the first time in a while. That slowed my first mile down quite a bit. Hit up the Lundstrom Park trail twice and then just kind of ran around to get the distance. Still haven't had any major pain in my foot, which is good. Hopefully come Monday I'll be feeling 100% and be able to grind things out. 6:49 average. It felt good to run a little faster today.

I was really hopeful that I would feel 100 percent today, and I was really excited to have a solid run. I ran the Hyde Park Canal trail because I thought the softer surface would be good, but in all reality, it's pretty uneven and probably put a good amount of stress on my foot. I also think (and based on what I've read) the uphill running influences it as well. I honestly felt good until about 11 miles, when I was running on the USU cross country course. I obviously just haven't been running far enough or hard enough to aggravate it. I'm hoping a couple days off and then some easy running will get rid of it. 6:29 average.

Rest day, just a little core and strength.

Ran to the fieldhouse, spent 50 minutes trying to grind on the ellipticial. By the end I was fairly tired, I'm hoping that doesn't put the same amount of strain on my foot that running does. Then ran back home.

I've been able to fine point the little bit of tendonitis remaining in my middle toe, so I decided long term I would not run today to try and give it some good rest and hopefully be good to go next week. I really was hoping to run today though. 

Lots of rest again, but woke up with a sore throat. I think I've come down with a cold, which stinks.

I wanted to test things out today, but it still only felt like 90 percent when I woke up. The good thing is that my lungs weren't slowing me down at all, but I felt my legs were struggling. 6:55 average. I was going to do 8, but 3.5 miles in I felt it slightly and I decided to play it on the safe side. I also felt it at the very end when making a turn.. I'm thinking two more days off and then try again come Thursday.