Go slow to go fast.

Easy 10.5-11 miles on the trails.  Skunk, Koehler, Mesa, etc. 1700' vert.  1:52

Ran into Caballo blanco in Skunk Canyon and ran with him for about an hour or so.  Had an enjoyable conversation, and slow easy running.  Then I realized I should get moving because I was supposed to be home at 8, so I ran a more steady pace the last 20-25 minutes.

Was going to be out for 90 minutes, but it ended up being almost 2 hours with the leisurely hour plus in the middle.  Did 8 x 8 second hill sprints up the steepest part of the mesa in the middle. 

Nan had surgery on her hip tonight in Vail.  She had a torn labrum.  We were fortunate to have Marc Phillipon, one of the most experienced surgeons with that specific injury in the world, call her last night and offer to operate today after he diagnosed her.  He is confident he’ll have her healed and back to running in 7-8 weeks.  For Nan, after 3 months of discouraging non-improvement in her hip, this was very welcome news.

Since we had to get up at 5 AM and drive to Vail, I didn’t get a chance to run until after getting the kids to bed at 8:30 tonight.

My goal for the day was a session of 10 X 400 at 70 second pace.

Despite only 5 hours of sleep, and a full and exhausting day, oddly I felt like going after the track workout still rather than delaying it.  Probably because I have no idea when I’ll have time to hit the track again since I’ll be in Vail the rest of the week supporting Nan as she is recovering from Surgery and doing rehab.

It was pretty cool running on the track at night actually.  The surrounding street lights around Fairview offer just enough light to see the lines.  It was a unique experience flying around the track without being able to see the ground other than two white lines to keep me on track.

I quickly found myself in a mental battle however.  Thoughts of my thick, soft, mattress waiting for me at home lured me into settling for 5 x 400.  But I beat down those thoughts as I pounded out the repeats.

After 8 of them though, I was feeling queezy, and I had to visit port-0-johnny – Relieving as that was, I was done with speed work after sitting down like that.  I jogged over to lehigh and home for another 3.5 miles to round out 10 for the evening.

My splits for the 400′s:  69, 71, 72, 70, 71, 72, 72, 73

Active recovery splits 200M: 65, 70, 75, 78, 2:43 (400), 79, 84

Felt good about the work.  I wish I would have nailed 10 of them at 69 seconds.  But I’m not there yet obviously.  And its no use trying to force it.  Then again, if it were the morning and I were rested and fresh, my result may have been better.  But tonight, judging from my recovery times and my splits starting to fade at the end, its probably good I stopped at 8.  I’d rather do an amount that lets me recover after 2 or 3 days and get after it again.  Rather than overdoing it and requiring a week like last tuesdays 200′s did to me.

Not sure how I'm still functioning, since my nightly sleep average this week is at or below 5 and I'm pretty accustomed to closer to 7.5-8.  Maybe I would just get a lot more done in a day if I just slept less?  hmmmm....naah.  I'll pass.  I like sleep.

I ran up the berry picker trail to close to about 9700' from Vail Village in the afternoon.  Great trail.  Pretty steep in parts.  Really fun to be running on new trails.  Vail is a beautiful place.  Nan getting surgery here is a nice excuse to spend time here...surely wouldn't have done that this year otherwise.

6 miles - ~1800' vertical - 1:02.

Yesterday was my first day as a full-time Dad/Nurse/Business owner.  And I found that the business owner role only received about 10 minutes of half-attention all day.  Busy day!  Nan is on crutches and needs assistance with basically everything for the moment.  So to get a run in, I'm feeling pretty lucky actually.  I need to head out now in fact, while there is still an hour left on 'Ant Bully'.  I have to time my runs just right this week, because Nan can't do much to help the kids if they need anything.  Fortunately my kids are pretty amazingly well-behaved and independent.  I am thoroughly impressed by them in this circumstance actually.  It could be way harder if they weren't so helpful.

Easy hour cruise down the gore valley trail toward the west end of Vail Valley and back.

 What a gorgeous area that is!  Really cool bike/running path just rolling along down the river forever. 

What a fantastic run that was.  I turned on Megamind for the kids and headed out the door to take advantage of as many minutes of running as possible between pressing kid and husband duties.

I jogged up to the top of Vail and back down, via the berry picker trail to the Eagle's nest, then up the ridge to Wildwood at 11,000' via the great escape trail.  Really gorgeous conditions, sunny and light breeze.  I should have worn sun screen though because after 2 hours exposed my back got a bit parched.  I normally always wear sunscreen, but I couldn't find it on my way out the door.  It wasn't that bad of a burn, but I find getting sunburned at all to be pointless and annoying.

11 miles - 1:59:20 - ~3200' vertical

Got back just in time to feed the kids lunch and take Nan to her next rehab appointment.

The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming with the kids.  Then making a big breakfast for dinner in the condo.  Then taking the girls on an unforgettable date strolling through Vail Village, eating ice cream, playing at the pirate park, etc.   Due to the circumstances I didn't quite get my normal 35 hours of work done this week.  Bummer.  OK, I'm over it.

Apparently I like the Altra instincts...since that's the only shoe I have run in now in over a week.  They just feel good to run in, what can I say?  And they seem to handle just fine on roads, tracks, and mountains so far.  I'm a fan.

AM: Last run in Vail before packing it in.  Ran up the Vail valley this time past the golf course and on toward east vail and then back.

7 miles - 1:02 - slow and easy jogging, not a ton of vert, 4-500 hundred feet tops.

PM:  4.25 miles around buffalo ranch after dark and getting the kids to bed.  Another nice evening cruise.