Go slow to go fast.

Todays run - 6.5 miles - 54:26 - (8:23) - 287 Feet ascent/descent - Really easy relaxed run this morning around countryside.  

On the last 2 miles toward home I was running into the arc of an incredible and huge full double rainbow as the sun was rising behind me.  It was pretty spectacular.  Then it started raining pretty steady the last half mile which was cold but kind of refreshing. 

Oh and it looks like we're going to move to South Boulder (near Table Mesa) in the next few weeks...odd turn of events that is kind of exciting (and somewhat daunting) to think about.  I can't help but feeling a little giddy at the thought of my doorstep being 1/4 mile from the trail start to skunk canyon that connects to all the Boulder mountain parks trails.

Beautiful morning - albeit a little chilly at first...winter is on its way it seems.

8.55 Miles - 1:09 (8:05/mile) - 139 HR avg

Ran around Standley Lake on the single track by the lake and back...nice, enjoyable, fairly easy base miles.

busy week this week...leading to all I'm doing for workout is running each day and not getting my core workouts in.  Feel like I'm getting weaker, but it feels good to run every day at least.

6 miles - up simms hill and back - 45:30 (7:35) - HR: 146 - 550 feet ascent.  Took it pretty slow on the way out, and then after the 2:45 half mile coming down simms hill it kicked me into a slightly faster gear the rest of the way home.

Such a gorgeous sunny afternoon, felt really good to get out and run after missing this morning because of sleeping in because of being up working until nearly 4.  was going to do a long run today...not happening on that little of sleep.  maybe saturday.

5 miles - 37:02 (7:24) - HR 139 -  250 feet ascent

Really easy 7:24 effort down the hill for 2.5, then increased the effort a little to get back up the hill in the same pace. 

What an incredibly beautiful morning. I've been continually astounded for the past month and a half at how perfect the running weather has been. And today was as good as it gets.

Got started my run at 6:05 with a clear sky full of stars. 50 or so degrees and I was really comfortable in shorts and a tshirt Wore my nathan pack forthe first time in a while and was reminded how much I like that thing. All except for the sticky hard to open mouth piece. I have been itching for a long run lately and today I finally found the time.

But I needed to be back by 8:30 to take Abe to his last soccer game. So I planned to run out on the dry creek trail for 1:15 minutes easy, and then come back a little harder paced because its uphill on the way back. The first 4 miles were super easy with HR in 120's at 8:30 pace. Then the next 4 were in the 130's for HRwith about 7:45 pace.

Then a guy named Brett randomly joined the trail and we were running a low 7 min. pace together and chatting for 3-4 miles and I kind of lost track of the time chatting with him. I looked at my watch and realized it had been 1:20 so I bid Brett farewell and turned around for home, curious if I would make it back in 1:10 what took me 1:20 on the way out and downhill.

For a couple miles I was in the 140 HR range running 7-7:15 pace. Then I picked up the pace a bit in order to try to get home on time. The next 4-5 miles were in the 150 HR range running between 6:30-6:45 pace and just feeling really good. I was kind of holding myself back a bit all run so far and this section the sun was out and I was fully warmed up and ready to roll. Plus I knew I needed to get home faster than I went out.

The last 2 miles go up hill pretty steadily. My hips and core started getting tired at this point, and I started having a tougher time pushing below 7 min. pace. Probably the slight incline plus the legs getting tired. Then once it started going uphill steeper though I was digging that and was able to push the HR up into the 160's for the last mile and keep the pace around 7:20 which felt great.

I saw a guy about a third of a mile away up the hill, and I ended up just blowing by him at about 7 min. pace a few minutes later. And as I turned onto my street the clock ticked over to 2:30. Perfect! I paced it perfectly, got a nice solid 2 miles of tough pushing to finish a fantastic run on the morning and actually made it home on time with more miles than I anticipated.

19.5 miles - 2:30 - 7:44/mile - 141 avg Heart Rate. - 550' ascent/descent - good times. It was nice to finally get out for a longer run after a 45 day hiatus from longer than 2 hour stuff.