Ensign

There are some pretty good articles in the Ensign this month.

Current Fitness Level

My fitness level seems to be coming along good at this point. I've been running twice a day for the last several weeks and am starting to see some results. I had to go on my afternoon run early today because Derrinda had to go do some serious canning. Dry canning at that. So I ran at about 2:30 this afternoon. I decided to run the 4 miles at a brisk pace, and my goal for the run was to average 6:30 per mile. The weather was beautiful and I started out at a decent clip. I hit the first mile in 6:20 and was surprised how easy it felt, so I decided to take it up a notch to the turnaround. My breathing felt relaxed despite the quicker pace and I hit the turnaround at 12:21. A 6:01 second mile. I was happy with that. On the way back I noticed that just like yesterday, there was a pretty stiff headwind going back. I figured the wind was slowing me down, so I just tried to relax and maintain my pace. 18:26 at 3 miles; this was even more encouraging to me hitting a 6:05 into the wind. I was however beginning to feel a bit tired, so I just tried to maintain that pace. I picked it up a little over the last 3/4 mile and finished in 24:19. A 5:53 last mile! I am very happy with this run because I am just under 180 lbs., and have another 10-15 lbs. to lose. Very encouraging.

Columbia Tower

I had a gig last night in downtown Seattle at the top level of the Columbia Tower, which was the tallest building West of the Mississippi River when it was built. There have since been taller buildings built, but it is still 4th tallest west of the Mississippi. It was a launch party for Microsoft and we put on a good show and everybody there seemed to have a good time. The view was pretty cool, but being from Utah and being used to going up into the mountains and the view from that perspective, it wasn't as cool as that. The coolest thing about being up there was watching the big planes fly into SeaTac and being below you. I am pretty tired now though because I was up at 6:30 Friday morning and ran 9 miles in a downpour, and didn't get back from the gig until about 2 a.m. And we all know how sleeping in in the mornings goes with 4 little boys...not too good Al.

Chilly Afternoon Run

It was pretty cold today. I wore my sweatshirt pretty much all day. We got a lot accomplished at BSS today. I busted up an entertainment center that someone left in their unit when they moved out, and I also took the rug that sits in the office by the couches out and shampooed it, scrubbed it with a brush, and then pressure washed it. It's still hanging on the fence drying.

I ran 6 miles with Juliet this morning. It's always fun running with her. I ran again by myself this afternoon. I ran another 6 miles and pushed it a little bit, but not too much because I usually only go 4 in the afternoons. I was 20:27 at the turn and finished the 6 miles in 39:40. It works out to be an average of about 6:37 per mile. Pretty good run, I felt good the whole way. It was quite cold and I was wishing I had remembered my gloves, and it started raining lightly just as I was finishing, but it was a really good run. My fitness is coming along as I continue with my base mileage and I am looking forward to starting track workouts in another month or two so that I can be somewhat prepared for the track meets. I just hope that I can stay healthy.