A Balance, Redefined

Wow what you can accomplish in 24hrs when you only sleep ~4 of those hrs. I finished my second abstract, the talk, and started the final revisions on a manuscript. Then in the morning presented the poster and the talk followed by one round of edits on each of the two abstracts. Home about normal time for dinner and then a walk with the family before the storm started to role in. The wind was crazy but the run was fun. Maybe a little delirious from the lack of sleep. Avg. 7:09 HR 154

The speech my sister wrote for me for my graduation says it all, "life is a roller coaster". Those ups and downs can sure mess with your head though. Sleep is still in scarce supply but what can you do?
The review is now officially out of my hands as our two new abstracts for the AHA meeting in Nov. My poster for next week is complete and my talk for Sun only needs edits on two slides. So of the 5 things I wanted done by June 5th, four are completely done and the 5th is more or less done. This month I have 3 additional work goals and we shall move on from there. So those are the ups.
Now the down. Back in Jan I submitted two grants. I heard back about the first this evening. They funded 4 of the 28 they received. I was not one of the 4... However, congrats are in order for Eric on the blog as he smashed his group. For his grant they funded 52 of the 232 they received and he was most likely one of the top 5 by his score. (I hope you don't mind me turning the spot light on your great accomplishment...).
I'm still waiting to hear back on the second grant (any day now) but it was the more competitive of the two so...
On to running. After the thunderstorm rolled through I did the home loop in the post-rain cool. It was still super breezy but felt good to just get out and run. One of these days I'll be able to focus on running again, maybe.
Avg. Naked

Wow. That tells you what sleep deprivation will do. I thought I had put down an entry last night... Things are continuing to move forward. Just fixing up loose ends for the meeting now. The run was fine. I MG loop via the ramp return from work. Avg. 8:12 HR 159

Good start to the day. Up normal time by my alarm. Then during the run ran into Chad and had a good conversation with him. Now on to it. Random course N of work. Avg. 8:07 HR 152

It is amazing what a little extra sleep can do. Yesterday turned out to be pretty frustrating with everything getting in the way. But it is over and today is only a half day. As I'm going home early to spend some family time before leaving for the meeting. The run was good. I did my weekly trail run up Dry Creek. It was fun as I passed 5 cyclists on my way up. There were also a number of runners out today. Avg. 8:36 HR 154

I always forget how easy I had it in the Midwest, flat, oxygen in the air. I felt like I was dragging and looked down to at least a minute per mile faster than what I thought. The outskirts of the convention area are a little depressing but the run was fine. Now off to learn. Avg. 7:02 HR 160

So the day finally came. I raced again. It was more of a time trial but I took it as a race, with normal morning ritual and warm-up. I’ve now done 4 of these large meeting races and the competition is very hit or miss. Sometimes random ringers will show up and the winner could be in the low 16s or it could be a different mix and the winner could be in the low 19s. Today was a bit more of the later.

I managed a full 6hr of sleep by going to sleep right after my dinner out. I woke up exactly 3min before my alarm so that was good. Then headed over to Jackson Square. I ran the mile from my hotel and then some of the course, did a bunch of striders and then lined up. There were a couple of guys that looked like they could go but I didn’t see that low-16 guy from two yrs ago. It was already pretty warm (70) and humid at the 6:30am start, but not too bad for New Orleans in June.

I actually false started a step so I went back let a couple people pass and then started. I took it out a bit quick and was in the lead by 100m. I stayed there from this point. For about the first half mile there was a guy about 10 steps behind. I let up a little to see if he would catch up so we could run together but he kept his distance the same so I decided I was on my own and just pushed on.

Mile 1 – 5:26 HR 185

Mile 2 – 5:40 HR 190

Mile 3 – 5:45 HR 191

Change – 0:49 HR 194

I forgot to stop my watch until the end of the shoot. My Garmin 17:40 Distance 3.15 Avg. 5:36 HR 189. Official 17:37. I ran back to some of the people that had come with to the meeting and walked them in. It was their first 5K experience. One ended up running most of the way and the other walked it. But it is a start. The one who ran in really seemed to have fun with it and I think we may have a convert. After the post race video interview I ran with the 3^rd place guy back toward the convention center and then the rest of the way to the hotel. In all 3+ warm up and 3+ cool down.

It was nice to be in the running mindset again. Obviously from HR info I was pushing but from pace info I still have a way to go before I’m fully back.  The best news is that my knee is no worse for the wear. Now I’m going to work on my next manuscript for a couple hours before heading back to the conference center for the afternoon sessions.

Late night last night. Went to dinner with a lab from Japan and it was fun traversing the language barrier. Didn't get in until almost 1am then up at 6:30am for a run before a full day of meeting. This time I ran the other direction and it totally made the difference. It was very scenic much cleaner and a ton of fun. Except when I fell :(... I was going around a garbage can and there was a bed frame that clipped my toe. I mostly just hurt my pride but it had to have been a good spill, I was going about 7:00 pace at the time and two cars stopped to ask me if I was ok. Luckily there was a gas station there for me to wash out the wounds and get some bandaids. My right arm took most of it and my knees were protected so it was good. Made it to the zoo from the convention center and there is a really nice park there. Lots of squirrels and parrots around. Also, at my turn around I stopped to watch some of the water fowel along the shore. The meeting is now over for me. Today was useful, a number of interesting talks and one very good networking conversation with the person who discovered one of the proteins I study. Avg. 7:20 HR 154

Recovery day. I was pushing a little too hard. I tried to go to sleep early but it didn't work and then I was up before my alarm (3am mountain). I don't really sleep in vehicles so just tried to do a little work on the plane. Then after getting home and playing with the girls for a little I crashed for two hours. 

Kristen was just too excited to have her daddy back and would not go to sleep. When finally down she woke up two additional times. Fortunately I went to sleep extra early so still managed a good cumulative sleep. The day was a little foggy, Mondays are always that way and after returning from a trip usually slightly worse. Good news is I was just training a new student I got to help me out. Tomorrow I will really get back "to it". The run was City Creek. I felt like a social butterfly as I saw both Robin M and Chad D on the run. I was very sore from the days before though and just shuffled along. I didn't really take into account all the extra walking the last few days. I would say there were at a minimum 5-6 extra miles of walking each day at the meeting. Avg. 8:52 HR 132

Getting back to it. Ok sleep. Up three times but each was very brief for me thanks to my wife. Out for the run before 6am now on to a full day. Just the Memory Grove loop from work. Avg. 8:53 HR 132

A good start to the end of the week. The weather was perfect this

morning. I took the road over to City Creek 3.5 mi then up and back via the first three miles of the Steeplechase course and then down Dry Creek. The course was well marked on the section I ran. However, be careful out there tomorrow Jon as it was pretty sloppy with all the rain. A number of spots with standing water. The mountain is just so beautiful this time of the year though with all the green and flowers. It is hard to believe that in a month it will all be dead and dry. Avg. 9:32 HR 135

Thought about doing another 5K this morning also thought I would like to be at the Steeplechase. However, I don't want to push my luck. Really it has only been a couple weeks without knee pain and I'm just happy to be in the 60s again. I opted for a workout. This is the same home loop that I often do. Last time I pushed it was as a time trial on April 28th in a 17:38, though last weekend was a 17:37 this is a much faster course and the effort last weekend would easily put me under 17. My plan was to run 2x5K at just under 18 each so "relatively easy". The loop is 6.2 and on the 2nd loop I added some around SugarHouse and random neighborhood to get my mileage goal for the week. Here's the breakdown.
1mi warmup, still half asleep
First 5K
5:56 dwn Sunnyside
5:54 dwn 13th E to 15th S
5:48 dwn 13th E to 21st S
0:39 up 21st S
TOTAL 18:17 a little slow but not bad (3.11 mi)
~3mi recovery
Second 5K, slightly different start a little up b/f the dwn
5:59 a little on Foothill first
5:45
5:58
0:41 still on 13th, should have been faster
TOTAL 18:13 consistent but I obviously have not been working on speed (3.11 mi).
Remaining cooldown except for one surge in SugarHouse. I came up on a guy and said hi as I was about to pass him. Instead of saying hi back he started to surge to pull ahead of me again. Well my competitive nature took over and I threw in a 200 m surge by the time I turned around he was gone.
Avg. 7:19 HR 156

First time on the first page of the mileage board since Aug '08 on a Sat evening, not sure if it will hold after all the Sat runs are updated but it is nice to see progress in the recovery...

Rather typical Sunday. Slept in to get a full 8hr though I did get up every 1/2 hr starting at 5am... Silly head. After church played in the backyard some with my daughter before lunch as it was finally sunny. Then after lunch went to City Creek for a run. The clouds had moved in by then and it drizzled a little on us but the stroller has a rain cover and it didn't rain that hard. It is much harder running up City Creek pushing a stroller. We started in Memory Grove and just went up 5 mi. The way back was MUCH easier. Avg.  7:48 HR 147

Sorry about the delay. Things have been busy at work. I found out today that one of my competitors published a manuscript very similar to what I’ve been working on. This is bad; it is like showing up to the race in time to congratulate the finisher… Oh well, we will figure out some way to publish what I’ve already done. The run was just the Chad/Memory Grove/Work Loop. Avg. 8:29 HR 140

Partly to deal with work stress, partly to put my feet where my mouth is I ran the home loop 5K “similar” to the New Orleans race to prove the point of the easier course. No special warm-up and the run was late. My wife had an activity and I was on daddy duty until about 8:30pm. One mice to Sunnyside and then the same 5K as on Saturday.

Mile 1 5:16.02 HR 174
Mile 2 5:22.94 HR 184
Mile 3 5:35.53 HR 187
0.11 0:37.83    HR 188
Total 16:52.32
Overall happy with the effort and the stress relief. Also, glad to see my estimate on my fitness and the course being sub-17 for the relative effort of the 17:37 in New Orleans was spot on. Avg. 7:13 HR 160

Still hitting the work hard. Another evening run. Just an easy Suicide Rock/Dog Park loop. Avg. 8:16 HR 137

When it rains it pours or so the saying goes. The good news is that the more adversity one has in their life the more I think they can learn to deal with. Sleep was hit-or-miss last night. I ended up resetting my alarm clock at 4am for an extra hour past the 5:33am I was initially going to wake up and that helped some. However, when I got into lab it was to a wet floor as someone had left the door to our freezer agar when they left last night. Of course there are four freezers in the lab and the one left open had my samples in it. Good news is that it had only warmed to about 4C so things weren’t completely thawed but instead of getting my run in at 7am as planned I didn’t get out until 11am. At least I got out, that is one of the main perks of academia. We may work 60-80hr weeks but we make our own schedules, more or less… Avg. 7:56 HR 150

I had a relatively good start to the day. How couldn’t it be when the weather is so perfect. Slept in a little extra, I was in work until 11pm last night (after coming home for dinner with the family). Then set two things up in lab and went out for an 8 mile trail run. Decided to continue on and enjoy the weather. It was more or less the reverse of the run from last Friday. I saw two very beautiful birds. The first had an orange collar and a bright blue head. The second was ~90% turquoise. Spoke to my boss a little about my future and came out knowing what I already knew but with a little more steam in the engine. Avg. 9:20 HR 142.

Took last night off. Stayed up late watching Seven Pounds with my wife. Interesting movie. It was well done, not sure if I agree with his decision but the cause and how one deals with guilt and depression is interesting. My hip and knee were a little tight this morning so I slugged through my run. The good news is that I got in the miles. The highlight of the run was running into Chad one mile into the run and speaking with him briefly. Avg. 8:39 HR 130

Busy day. In work in the AM before breakfast with the family and church. Then after church ran errands with my older daughter until lunch. After lunch the two of us then went for a run to SugarHouse to feed the seagulls. Some soccer in the backyard while dinner cooked now back at work... Knee still pretty tight but my hip wasn't as bad.

AM: With the hectic schedule and sore knee I'm thinking doubles this week. It is easier on the body and time to get in the miles that way... I ended up working until 11pm then up for a commute run in. Nothing special very easy and relaxing. Avg. 9:47 HR 145

PM: The day was ok. Knee felt better this evening. Going to go to sleep early tonight and catch up a little on the sleep... Avg. 7:48 HR 143 (2 min per mi faster about the same HR...)

Big fat goose egg...

Well yesterday can be written up to the brain dead. I'm not sure what was going on. I worked like crazy and really felt like I didn't get a single thing done. Just upset and missed my run. Today was slightly better and as soon as we were done with the bedtime routine I went out the door. I still have about another hour I want to get taken care of before sleep so we'll see. The body weight was post run. Not proud to say that is my lowest weight in my limited memory. I need to take a better care of myself when work starts to get crazy. I'm not sure what it is about this year. I know I'm normally a workaholic it comes with the career choice. In any case the run tonight was well deserved and well worth it. I did a big south loop down 33rd. I met the new Westminster CC coach and ran with him for a couple of the miles. He seems like a good guy. I told him about the blog. See if he stops by. Avg. 7:30 HR 162 

AM: T.O.F, but I got out. Just to the City Creek overlook and back from lab. Day is going well so far. Lot to get done before lab meeting on Monday but so be it… Avg. 9:29 HR 142

Thank you to those who are still showing up to check on my training. I’m sorry about not being good about checking in on others. Right now I have to focus on family and work and until I get the two manuscripts I’m sitting on out the door it will be not much “free” time for checking on all the other blogs I would like to know about.

PM: Stress release mile. Trying to sneak in a couple 2-a-days. It is easier scheduling family and experiment time around 2X45min breaks than 1X1.5 hr break. Also, from last year I really think the 2/d approach is healthier and produces better results. Whatever was going on with my weight is now fixed (Sat, as I type this.). I think it was a combination of a bad day, dehydration and a PM weighing vs. my usual Mon/AM. In any case tonight was rough so I went to do my FireHouse mile and blow off some steam. For those of you who don’t know this is a nice gradual downhill mile that I run hard from time to time. I’ve run a 4:51 on it last year. It is a 2-mi wu to the mile then a nice grade down to the Memory Grove overlook. Tonight I hit it in a 5:01!, HR 184. I was happy with that. The course a ran was the same as in the morning just with this mile hard. Avg. 7:33 HR 157

Came home a little early from work and did a SugarHouse run with Kaitlyn. Feeling a little better overall. Had a good conversation with my grandpa after the run. Avg. 7:59 HR 142

AM: Met with Eric at the Jordan River Trail. It was great running with him again. The conversation is always stimulating. Fun to run  alone the water and see all the animal (mostly bird) life. Now in lab for a little getting ready for my Mon meeting. Avg. 7:40 HR 134

PM: My new pair of shoes arrived from St. George Running Center yesterday (Thanks Steve.). After dinner I had to run to the store so I literally ran to the store. Also, I took my youngest for her first run ever. She did fine until the last two blocks and then get a little whiney. 

AM: Hike with a friend from work. Since the day I moved here I've wanted to hike up to the Beacons. About 6wk ago John and I planned to do just that. Even though the last couple weeks have been crazy busy I decided to keep to plan and go on this hike anyway. We met at 6am at Red Butte and headed toward This is the Place. Then up and over the rollers to the trail to between the Beacons to the fire watch tower. Climbed up that and enjoyed the view. Total climb was just under 2100 ft in 2.5 mi. With stopping to enjoy the views and flowers (still out in June!), we made it up in just under an hour and the round trip 5.3 mi took us just over 2hr. We came back the other side. Good and relaxing start to the day,  I wish they could all be like this...

PM: Continuing the perfect day theme. Problem is I will have to pay for it the rest of tonight... After working most of the day there was a 5K/Party at SugarHouse. This was in memory of Heather Gross who died in an avalanche this winter, and daughter of members of our church . Her parents are amazing and actually brought us a meal after our daugher was born just 1-2 wk after their's had died. The race was only friends/family and other members of our church. I pushed Kaitlyn to victory but just stayed with the next fastest guy there (~23 min guy). I think he has more talent and really he worked hard in the ~90F temps. The course was not marked and we just did 2 laps of the road (2.75). After Kaitlyn "broke the tape" we continued on for an extra loop...

Well as predicted I was up late, 1am. Then two baby wake-ups before my 5:33am alarm so... I did a direct commute run to lab and then tweaked my presentation a little more, I was happy with it. However, throughout the day my boss tripled my work for this week. He has a grant submission due on the 14th so it is crunch time for that data... After getting home early and doing family time I did the home loop.

AM: 2.5mi Avg. 9:44 HR none
PM: 8 mi Avg. 6:58 HR 160, not too bad on less than 4.5hr of sleep...

Today was sluggish but long, mostly from yesterday. I'm still in lab at the moment but about to leave. I did get to go home in the morning to have a picnic with my girls while Sandra ran an errand. Then I did my run right after work. I had to push it despite the 90F+ temps as Sandra had a second event today. Just the exact same course as yesterday. Then back to work after the girls were down and Sandra was back. Avg. 6:42 HR 170