Darren's Blog

We ran in West Valley around 2100 south.  It was a good run and my time was 1:22:35.  I really took it easy, but it still felt great and I could have gone more.

Gold's was closed on July 24, so I ran around my block and finished 4 miles under 40 minutes which is pretty good for me.

This actually really wasn't a run.  I try and do the stairs at Gold's twice a week (which really REALLY helps in my endurance).  I did the stairs on level 7 for about an hour and ended up doing about 4.5 miles.  It felt great, especially when I weighed myself afterwards and hit the 25 pound lost category!  I was at 226 only about 2 months ago and now only 201.  It's amazing how much running gets and keeps you in shape!  YEA!

On my training schedule for my 1/2 marathon this week I was supposed to run a 10k race. Instead I just ran it on the treadmill this morning in 59:25, just 35 seconds shy of the max time a treadmill will go into "slow down" pace. Yea!

I tried making this 4 mile run my fastest ever.  I did it!  I ran it in just over 37 minutes which is really good for me, and it felt great!

I'm also lifting weights a couple times a week.  I wonder if this has much impact on my running?

I have a new personal record for a 5k!  My new best time (as of today) is 27:05.  This beats my old record by over 45 seconds!  It felt great!  I started off fast and ended kind of slow... but still slammed my old record!

I decided to run 4-5 miles today.  I almost quit at 3.5 out of being tired, but I endured and ran 5 miles.  I am exhausted!  I think I am going to rest on Saturday and Sunday and then do a 9 mile run on Monday!  My body desperately needs rest.  I hope this isn't bad.

We ran our second to last big run today- 9 miles.  My time was 1:35:30, which is quite a bit slower than last year.  But, to be brutally honest, it felt really good and I have no complaints.  Just about two months ago I weighed 226, the most I'ver ever weighed.  And now I am running 9 miles!

I am a little sore all around, which I think is normal?  My left knee and right ankle both were really hurting around mile 7-8, but I endured the run and now they feel fine.

I was planning on running at least 4 miles today. However, at about 3.25 miles my knee kind of went out for a split second so I stopped at 3.5 just to play it safe.

This whole knee thing is frustrating.

Just another run.  The knee still bugs me a little bit, but I am going to continue running through it until at least my half marathon in exactly two weeks!

My left knee killed!  Someone please help!

I only ran just over 2 miles tonight.  Tomorrow morning I plan on running around 4 miles.  That's why I took it pretty easy tonight only running two.

Another good run.

Quick run.  My knee killed.

Today I ran the Top of Utah Half Marathon.  This was quite an accomplishment for me.  Especially considering my wife miscarried this week and the whole week I have been an emotional wreck... just ask my wife.  However, I still ran it in 2:14:11.  I know this time isn't very good.  I attribute this to a couple of things:

1) I only ran 3 miles this week.  It was a hard week.

2) I have IT Band Syndrome, so my left knee kille about 5 miles into the run.  I actually ran about 8:50-9:00 miles the first half of the race, but the second half really did me in.

3) I was an emotional wreck.

Anyways, I am glad that I finished the race, and it was really nice to have a lot of family cheering me on at the end of the race.

This time around I plan on keeping running up.  However, for the time being, I will probably take a 1-2 week rest and really work on stretching and healing my IT Band.  I don't know exaclty what to do to do this, but I do have a foam roller and know a lot of stretches.  I figure that instead of runnning, I can replace that time and stretch at least 20-30 minutes each day. 

Any suggestions are appreciated!

Today was my first run since my 1/2 marathon 16 days ago.

These past two weeks I have really missed running.  But I felt it necessary to treat my IT Band, which killed for days after the 1/2.  I bought a roller and every night for 30 minutes have been rolling and stretching the left side of my leg.

Unfortunately, things aren't 100% better.  I will continue to run semi-short runs while doing major stretching and lifting weights.  The two mile run felt great, but the leg started to hurt which made me concerned.

Obviously I haven't been doing everything right.  If this persists much longer, I think I will try and go to a physical therapist to get real treatment.

This sucks, I just wanna run!

Today I decided to do the stairs at Gold's Gym.  They actually ended up being great!  I felt absoultely no pain on my knee.  I think I might be doing these stairs for a few weeks as I continue to roll me IT Band on my left leg.

In the meatime, I am really trying to watch what I eat more than I have been.  I am back up (down) to 207, from 209 earlier this week, and from about 204 when I ran the half marathon 3 weeks ago.

It felt good to get back to running except my IT Band still hurts.  This sucks!

My knee still hurts but I stretched it pretty good right after the run which actually took down the pain from where it was pretty quickly.

My knee was hurting and I was nauscious and stopped at 2 miles to walk, but then I felt better at 2.1 and decided to go more and ended up running 3.25 miles.  It felt great except my stupid knee still hurts.  This sucks!

Stairs, stairs, stairs!