track fan

First run of 2013!  Yippee!

AM: (10 miles, 1:26:26).  28:38wu/25:21cd (whoops a little faster cd since it was out and back!) 15 x 1` w/1` recovery. 

PM: easy 4

Running news: not only is Lauren Fleshman pregnant -- but she has teamed up with Oiselle Running!!   Since I love Lauren, and Oiselle products, this is a wonderful sight to behold!

HAPPY NEW YEAR bloggers!! 

chilly, hurried run -- getting used to my new work hours ;-).

1:42:27.  22:47wu/36:53cd  5 x 5` w/3` recovery (sort of like 5 x 1000 w/600 recovery).  I was super late getting out the door (because I worked all morning and got caught up in stuff) - so, it was nearly 1PM before I even started this workout (btw, I had not eaten yet! yikes) - since it was going to be late when I finished, I just decided to do my AM and PM run at the same time.  Different stimulus, but better than missing the PM run all together I suppose!

Happy Thursday bloggers, for a short week, it has felt like a really long week.  There was a HR snafu, so I am still only getting paid for 1/2 time, even though I have two huge deadlines (including getting ready for a presentation at a conference in San Francisco in two weeks) so I am working full time ... hmmm, and I thought this job was going to be less hassle ;-).

Easy run ... hilly run, the old faithful "radiation run".

Hope you are all doing well, happy Friday!! 

AM: (8.5, 1:15:11).  Slow, hilly, unmemorable (except that I was happy to be running - and thinking about breakfast a lot), run.

PM: easy 4.

Love Tucson in the winter.  I am sorry you Utah bloggers are having such a cold winter - you are always welcome at our house.  We have room, internet access (to update your blog), dogs who will eat your unwanted plastic/electronic items, and plenty of sunshine - we will cure what ails you!

Happy Saturday! 

A little shorter than last week, but a much much more difficult run (terrain-wise) and I did speed up a little the second half of today's run (1:29:32).  

So, on my way out I notice there was water running through one of the washes (and across the street).  Given that there hasn't been any rain in the past couple of days I wanted to make sure it wasn't coming from one of the houses up the hill.  I followed the trail and saw that it was coming from under the ground.  So, I hiked the dirt road up to the closest house, and showed the owner. When I ran back past the house 1:17 mins later (I looked) there was already a Tucson City truck there ... and then after I did my mountain loop (2:29 mins later) I saw a huge truck carrying a back hoe up the hill (city truck) -- so it took only 2 1/2 hours for them to get a back hoe out ... I thought that was pretty good for a Sunday.   But, it is the desert - we care about our water!!

Happy Sunday bloggers! 

AM: (10 miles, ~1:30:xx), I accidentally hit my pause button mid-run, and did not notice it until there was only about 35 mins left ... oh well, it was an easy run.

PM: easy 4.

First running on the track in nearly a year on Thursday - nervous? who me? (you bet I am am ;-) ).

Happy Tuesday bloggers! 

1:07:32.  Easy run.

Busy busy busy, but I can't complain, well, I can complain very well, but I won't ;-)

Happy Hump Day bloggers! 

AM: (13 miles, 1:40:49).  28:32wu/28:47cd.  Cruise interval workout:  6 x 1000 w/2:30 recovery + 3 x 200 w/200 recovery.  Targets, based on my last race which was a whole year ago now, were 4:12-4:18/1000 (approximately 6:45 - 6:53 mile pace).  

Actual splits: 4:21, 4:15, 4:17, 4:14, 4:15, 4:15 (200s were a mind blowing, slow, 48 secs)

I was both disappointed, and relieved.  My pacing was all over the map, and I felt it was harder than it was supposed to be; but I got the first track workout out of the way, and I guess it wasn't horrible.  So, the targets for this workout were based on Greg's calculator last year (basically they were the paces I was doing in preparation for last year's unrun marathon).  After I finished the workout I went to the "new" calculator - and found out that the updated calculator had my target paces as 4:07-4:15 -- yowser, I don't think I could have done these, even if I had known before I hit the track.  Even adjusting for the wind (which was not insignificant since a storm is blowing in - weather underground has the wind at 10-13 mph) and my lack of speed work, I don't think a 4:07 would be in the cards for me right now.   hmmmm.  

Last year, about a week from my 1/2 marathon that the current workout was based (e.g., my PR) I ran this workout in: 4:19, 4:18, 4:19, 4:17, 4:16, 4:17 (recovery average: 1:20) + 3 x 200 at 46secs with 1:17 average recovery. 

Based on the newest calculator, and assuming I am in as good of shape as I was last year (or will be), Greg predicts a high 3:18, almost 3:19 marathon for me.  I am a little skeptical that I can do that ... but, man, I would love to run under 3:20. 

PM: easy 4.

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

I don't know exactly how far this was, I tried a new route and my watch got turned off I don't know how ... I was gone for a little over an hour, so I am calling it 7 miles.  A little on the sore side today, but not as bad as I feared.

Happy Friday bloggers!!! 

AM: (8.5 miles, 1:15:20).  Probably a little longer than 8.5 miles - it was 5 mins or so longer than what I usually call 8 ... but it really doesn't matter.

PM: easy 4.

whew.  A progression run tomorrow and then a rest day.  Between my work and getting back into training again I am super exhausted right now!  Not complaining,  just saying ;-)

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, it is Spring weather by most of your standards here (28F low, 45F high), but chilly for us ;-) 

1:36:57.  90 min thirds progression run - same hilly course as just before Christmas (splits then were 52:xx and 45:xx).  Today I ran the first loop 51:28; second loop 43:29!! Interesting.  It was still hard :-)  

Next weekend? The marathon long runs begin! 

Congrats to all of the bloggers who raced this weekend (big shout out to slowjoe who pr'd at the Houston half)!!! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:05:23).  15 x 1` w/1` recovery on the hills.

PM: easy 4.

This week is insanely busy for me ... many "balls in the air" at work!  I am getting ready to fly to San Francisco next week for the GI cancer conference, I am presenting some work that I have been doing at my new job to some collaborators from Australia and the Mayo Clinic! wow, how cool is that?  And, this Friday I am giving a web seminar to a different set of people in Zurich!  As you can imagine, I am going to be working on both of these talks up until the last minute, because that is how I roll ;-).  I love this part of my new job (because it looks just like my old job) ... the "other part" -- the manager stuff -- is hard.  too many meetings, and I am feeling pretty overwhelmed at the "directing the work of a bunch of other people".  

But, grateful to be running, have my health, and be living the dream! 

In a hurry ;-). 

I forgot to tell you -- so, it has been in the 17F in the AM this week, and highs in the 40Fs.  Apparently, this is a record -- since the 1890s when they started collecting records.  The doggy water bowls that are outside, have been frozen since last Saturday and yesterday I was driving and hit a patch of ice and slid down the street.  It freaked me out, because I did not see the ice, and certainly was not expecting it (I live in the freaking desert! ;-) ).

That said, it is all good, there is no snow, this freak weather pattern is an anomaly, and I like it much much better than 116F.  

Hope you are all doing well!! 

AM: (13.5 miles, 1:51:40).  27:54wu/23:48cd.  4 x 2000 w/2:30 recovery + 3 x 200 w/200 recovery.  Wind was gusting at 17 mph -- it was so hard, really hard.  

Target (based again on "new and improved" calculator) were 8:41/2000 -- actual: 8:47, 8:36, 8:46, 8:48 (200s were :49s).  This hurt bad, the 8:36 really wasn't smart - I was fighting the wind for about 200 meters every lap, and so this took waaaay too much out of me, and it shows in the final 2 k's.  The last one was probably the effort I should have been running all of them, yes, slower than "target" but actually the right effort for these.  I am not sure how I feel, they are what they are, and it isn't horrible ... but it was a little painful (I wanted to quit so bad 1/2 way through the 3rd one -- I guess the fact that I didn't is good ;-) ).  

Either the new calculator is too fast for me, or I am not in as good of shape as I was last year.   

PM: easy 4. 

Back to work .... yikes the day is almost over and I have so much to do!!

happy trails, bloggers! 

After working in the morning I took 4 hours paid time off and went up to Phoenix to see John Ball.  Both running, and surgery/radiation, issues are still problematic.  

it was quite a day for "famous runners" at John's -- two Olympians, Desi Davila (2012 Olympics, marathon) and David McNeill  (2010 NCAA 5K champion, 2012 Olympics, 5K), plus there were two very fit looking triathletes there (I assume they were triathletes, because they were skinny like runners, but with slightly larger upper bodies).  John is on an upper body exercise kick now, so all of us runners were doing some variety of the same upper body strength and flexibility exercises ... it was painfully obvious that all the distance runners had horrible upper back problems too, especially compared with some  of the other athletes that were there.  

Anyway, nice bonding drive with Dean, my hip felt much better on the ride home, and my shoulder was "unfrozen" again after some painful ART ...

AM: easy 8

PM: easy 4

First 18 mile run in a long time on the schedule for tomorrow!  looking forward to it!

Happy Saturday bloggers! 

2:42:02 ... Well, only 8 more miles and about 1min30secs/mile faster and I will be "ready" for my marathon :-) 

Very hilly run, not fast, but not hard either ... So, pretty happy.

Happy Sunday bloggers! 

AM: 7 miles (1:02:32).

PM: easy 4.

So, today was a workout day, but I had an incredibly busy day at work and I am getting ready to go out of town for a conference tomorrow, so I had to rework my schedule.  In addition to a presentation I had to give this morning, and two meetings for two really big projects that are starting, I had to fit in a little "happy hour" outing that was a kick-off for one of the projects.  It was hard not to snack on the happy hour treats -- and leave by 5PM in order to get my run in before it got too dark, but hopefully it is a sacrifice that will pay dividends in March ;-).  I know I have told you all about this before, but it is DARK here when the sun is not up.  We have a huge telescope outside of town (Kitt Peak National Observatory - we are nicknamed "optics valley" because of all the optic research here) so Tucson is a  low light city.  We have few street lights, and the ones we have are low light emitting, and out where we live there are no street lights - and no "city light" it is so much darker than other cities of its size.  Out where we live there are no sidewalks - but there are nice dirt/rock shoulders) -- anyway, even at 6AM it was so dark that I couldn't see a thing ... not a darn thing.  Same thing is true in the evening, by 5:45 it is so dark ...I  feel I am always at the mercy of the sun ;-).  And yes, I could use a headlamp, but I am such a minimalist runner, I think garmins are too heavy, let alone some bit ole' thing wrapped around my head ;-) -- I would rather "complain"  he he.

Happy Tuesday bloggers. 

1:30:41 

I am so stressed out about work that I haven't slept in a couple of days ... yikes.  Anyway, I dreaded this workout, I really don't like 800s!

8 x 800 w/3:20 recovery  (almost Yasso 800s, but 8 instead of 10, both because of time constraints - plane to catch - and because I am building up to 10).  

Did not know what to expect, hoping for 3:20s

21:18wu/19:18cd

3:21, 3:21, 3:21, 3:18, 3:18, 3:20, 3;21, 3:20  (average recovery 3:18).

meh.  ok.  wasn't super hard, but wasn't easy.  If I hadn't been distracted by my time constraints I might have been able to run a tiniest bit harder, but I think it was a good effort.  Also, this workout is always a challenge for me.  

I hope you are doing well.  I will be running around Fishermans Wharf tomorrow and Friday, sounds like fun, but city running is sort of a pain -- to many people to dodge - well, and too many cars ;-).

My big big boss will be at this meeting - most importantly at my presentation -- holy cow, I better go work on it!!  Happy trails bloggers! 

AM: 7 miles, on a foggy, humid, but surprisingly warm, San Fran morning.  It was a pretty ok run, the waterfront part was nice - although I am not a fan of sidewalks - the city run (~16 mins total) was downright deadly -- dodging cars and people.  I guess I need to get out earlier tomorrow, I am sure it was better at 6AM ;-)

 Last minute prep for my talk tonight.

PM: easy 3-4 on the treadmill in the hotel.  I am calling it 3 miles, but my plan is 30 mins, which is closer to 3.5    couldn't do my second run ... work calls. Normally, I do everything I can not to miss runs ... but sometimes, things just get in the way -- today, work is just one of those things.  Off to give my talk!  Can't give you the exact title -- but it has to do with colon cancer, cancer biology, diagnostic biomarkers, predictive modeling ;-)  (doesn't it sound exciting?)

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

1:39:55.  Maybe a little longer than 11, but I was trying to run pretty easy -- I have a 20 miler on Sunday.  The usual dodging through traffic and people downtown -- I ran from about 1/2 mi from the financial district to the Golden Gate Bridge ... also ran around a park (Crissy Fields) - had a nice dirt/sand trail, which was a really nice break from sidewalk ... Weather was spectacular (50F and sunny).

Have to go to work the conference, and then catch a flight home late this PM.

Run safe, have fun, bloggers! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:02).  Hilly run, after very little sleep (my flights were delayed last night and I ended up not arriving into Tucson until midnight). Felt great despite all the travel, and being calorie deficient (I don't eat much when I travel, because I am pretty picky about what I eat).  Happy with how I am feeling right now ... We'll see how the 20 miler (first one in a very very long time) goes tomorrow!

PM: easy 4.

Ick I have to clean house and do laundry today ... 

BTW ... My talk went well! I am going to try not to work today!  It actually takes a bit of work to check my work email (I have to go through a bit of a process to get on to the corporate website), so it is sort of "easy" to not do it if I am busy doing other things.  Unfortunately, this is all going to change on Monday ... The bosses finally realized that I didn't have a company cell phone/blackberry ... And now I have one waiting for me ... Yuck, constant connectivity.

Not really "easy" ... But not bad either.  Very , very, hilly.  I felt sort of worried with an hour to go, but somehow rallied and ran the last 2+ miles uphill at 8 min pace ... who knows where that came from! 

Happiest of Sundays bloggers! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:16:42).  15 x 1` w/1` recovery, on hills (not hill repeat hills, just run-of-the-mill hilly route).  It was chilly this morning (35F) - especially after the beautiful 65F of last week.  It rained yesterday (snowed in the mountains) and the temps came down.  Still beautiful - just a little chilly and windy.  No complaints, truly (other than the wind, and dead legs).

PM: easy 4.  I want to ask if my co-worker wants to run with me after work, but I have to say, he is a half-stepper (always is a 1/2 step in front of me) - and he runs a little faster than I like to run my afternoon runs.  Oh, what to do? what to do?  It will be a moot point if he sees me dressed for a run, it would hurt his feelings not to say something.  sigh.

I hope you are all doing well bloggers! 

1:06:43.  Radiation run, I felt a little tired, but it was much better than this summer (both because of the weather and my fitness level right now).

Happy trails bloggers! 

AM: (11.x miles, 1:31:19)  28:28wu/27:05cd + 5 mile tempo run.  Greg said I should be able to do these between 6:49 and 7:05.  Again, I thought maybe this would be a little over-estimating my fitness -- and (as MichelleL will tell you) I actually do a lot better in workouts and races if I ease into pace.  I kept telling myself that it would me better overall if I ended up with a slower pace and finished the workout than to go out too fast and not get be able to finish.  So, the idea was to start out ~ 10 secs/mile slower than target and adapt by how it felt.  So, I just kept evaluating and adusting ... I was pretty happy with the result overall

7:19 (a little slower than I had anticipated, but I did not panic), 7:13, 7:08, 7:05, 6:57

Then, I ran the 2.5 miles uphill home!

PM: very easy 4.

I guess the idea is that my marathon pace during my 20 miler this weekend should feel "easy" ??  I am feeling a little tiniest bit more confident I can run 26 miles in 5 weeks, but it still seems a little far fetched!

Happy Thursday bloggers!