2:02:13.  Ahhhh ... nice run from the hotel to the convention center and then over to Stanley Park.  The only bummer was that most of the run was on pavement ... ouch.  I did find some trails in the park, about 40 mins in to my run,  and I just meandered around for 40 mins in the park and then ran 40 mins back to the hotel.  Pretty nice running through the rain forest (it was humid but the temps were pretty low so it was extremely pleasant).  Now I need to get ready for the first of many meetings ... dinner meeting for the executive committee for the Biometrics Section and then the opening mixer.  Tomorrow morning I am chairing a session and then I have a conference call in the afternoon, a Google reception in the evening (they have a big statistics contingent) and dinner with some colleagues ... more of the same on Tuesday ... fun, but busy and sometimes tedious.  Hopefully I can make it to some talks too!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

AM: (9 miles, 1:16:23).  Easy run with 5 x 200m very hard w/400 recovery.  I did not have a track nearby so I just ran :50 hard and 2` easy.  Very tired.  Conferencing is hard work.  Meetings, meetings, meetings all day and the very long nights visiting with friends and colleagues.  Luckily, this conference is only once per year!

PM:(4 miles easy -- most likely on the treadmill and probably too fast as I won't have much time).  

Happy week bloggers!!

1:04:24 (probably a bit longer than 7 miles, but who cares?).  LOVE:LY run!!!  I actually found out that I had gone the wrong route on Sunday -- the other side of Stanley Park is so much better -- I found miles of nice trails, they were hilly, they ran through rain forests and next to some lagoons, it was very nice.  It was away from the water, hence why I did not really see them before, I was following the seaside (like everyone else - the other good thing about this route is that there were very few people).  

SOOOOO sad to be leaving.  It is so nice here, home to our Sno, Auntie, Sean, Sno Ridge Runner, and possibly a few more.  SUCH a beautiful place.  

Travel today and back to my usual work tomorrow!

Have a good hump day everyone.

AM:(10 miles, 1:27:38).  30:42 wu (+ strides)/27:28cd.  4 mile Steady State run, splits: 7:29, 7:22, 7:20, 7:14.  I wasn't sure what to expect today, it was 79F at 5AM when the alarm went off and about 83F and sunny when I started, about 89F when I finished.   I haven't done anything this fast (except 200m pushes) for 5 weeks and I haven't been running in this kind of heat for a while either; not to mention I have been traveling, which always costs a little in "feeling fresh".  Greg had said I would "feel like a million bucks" by today (after being at 7000ft for a month) - well, I don't know about that, but I was happy that despite everything I was able to run pretty fast off of just easy base running.  Yea.  And, I am in better shape than this time last year, so I am starting to look forward to some training again (but not for a month or so).  

PM: (easy 4, my first 105F day in a long time).

I hope you are doing well, I will be posting on your blogs sometime soon, I have a pretty full day today but I hope to find a few mins to say hi.  I have been keeping track of you all, just haven't had time to write.  Happy Thursday, run happy! 

1:01:13.  I got out before 7AM, and it was not quite 90F yet -- happily, it is a little cloudy today so it was not too uncomfortable.  No live snakes seen ... a couple dead ones and a poisonous frog (dogs get high off of them - they are covered in a slimy neurotoxin and come out after a good monsoon rain).  

Still not caught up from the conference in terms of work or sleep (or unpacking two sets of suitcases!).  I have high hopes for the weekend in terms of cleaning house, doing mounds of laundry and hopefully finishing up the last of my grants for a while.  

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!!

AM: (8 miles, 1:12:33).  Beautiful morning today -- man o man it is NEVER this nice in August!!  it was about 85F at 8AM and cloudy!!!  yipppeee ... so nice.  Today was Saturday, so I brought along some baby carrots -- every Saturday (when I am home) I bring a treat for some horses that I run by.  This is really quite something, as I HATE to carry anything when I run, no water, no cell phone, nothing ... but, these are really cute horses.  So, I wrap up baby carrots (or once I brought a tiny apple) and stick it in the back of my shorts and tie it up.  Anyway, today the horses were getting new shoes, I learned their names, Big Boy and CoCo (or Cocoa?).  Big Boy is in fact very big.  Today I got to get in the horse yard with them ... it was fun!

 I felt really good today on my run ... I can't believe how much faster I am running my routes these days, I can't wait until it is cool again...
 

PM: (4 miles easy).  

2:01:23.  1:02:26/58:57 (8:54/8:25 AP).  Was an uncomfortable run.  I got a late start, because wunderground said it was going to be cooler today than yesterday ... in a way it was, the temps were lower but because of the storms it was humid (58%) and there were no clouds so the sun was hot hot hot.  RealFeel said 99 when I finished, I don't think I believe it, it was only 89F.  It was mainly the sun.  But anyway, I felt pretty good after the first 5 miles.  The first 5 miles were tough, my legs felt like lead (they felt pretty bad last night too) ... I might need to take more vitamins, I am feeling "not quite right", even though my pace is ok - I just don't feel very good lately.  B12 or iron most likely culprits (both things I struggle with, even though I try to eat a lot of spinach for iron, I have had problems with getting enough of both in my diet).  

Anyway -- it was still a good day!  And I forgot to mention yesterday how exciting it was that Tyson Gay beat Bolt!! YEA!!  The mens 800 was messed up Khadivis Robinson did a horrible job pacing and he did not get out of the way fast enough and cost both Kaki and Wheating the race -- although the Polish guy who won was certainly on a tear, with Kaki's latest races as a gauge it would have been an awesome race if he wouldn't have been impeded by Robinson (I doubt he will be asked back to rabbit). 

Have a wonderful Sunday bloggers!

AM: (9.5 miles, 1:17:11).  33:53wu + 5 x 100m strides/30:53cd.  5 x 200 w/400 recovery (47,48, 47, 48, 45/2:20, 2:13, 2:15, 2:09, 2:22).  It was not bad today, weather-wise only 88F (and sunny -- that is what makes it hard).  So, I had a big back-and-forth with my devil-runner-Bonnie and my angel-runner-Bonnie today.  My devil-runner thought that 5 x 200 was not enough and I could do 8 or even 10.  My angel-runner-Bonnie knows that at the very least, Greg knows what he is doing and that I have never done as well when I second guess his workouts as when I follow them; and at the very most, I knew why Greg has me doing these and 8-10.  So, after a mile or two reflection on training and timing in training (e.g., not peaking early) I did what the coach said to do.  Then, on the way home I thought about this even more and remembered a conversation that we (Greg and I and Dean) had at dinner one night.  Some of his elite runners have had some remarkable times lately off of base training (Stephanie ran a 31:43 6 miler - approx 32:30 10K) off of base training (2 workouts/week, mainly focusing on leg turnover and stamina -- short intervals with long recovery and steady state runs, which are ~ 1/2 marathon to 1/2 marathon + 15 secs/mile) and he told me this summer that he can tell his athletes are ready for international competition when they can continue to race well on shorter actual "race specific" training (usually the last 8-12 weeks before a key race).  Food for thought.  It certainly is true that the more you broaden your running paces (meaning you have several "gears" to work from) you definitely better room for adapting to racing situations (weather or surging, etc).  Anyway -- the main thing is that I can wear my halo for today ;-) ... AND, I don't feel like I ran 9 miles, I feel pretty good, despite a long, hot, uphill cool-down home!

PM: (4 miles).

 Whew, what a busy week!  I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far bloggers!  Run far and run fast!

Just for fun, here is a photo shoot from some of Greg's elite athletes doing a steady state run at Buffalo Park (I blogged about this place when I was in Flagstaff last month, ahhhh, I miss it).

59:57 ... hmmmm.  Faster than last Friday when I ran the same route, I think I need to make this route a little longer to make sure my "Bonnie miles" stay the same.  Both of these times have been faster than a month ago when I measured the route ... so either I was super slow then or I am running it faster now ... either way it is throwing my 9:00 pace estimate out of wack and must stop!

It is going to be very very hot this week, what else is new ;-).

I hope you have a great day bloggers!

AM: (10 miles, 1:25:18). 24:51wu/22:45cd. 5 mile Steady State run, 7:32, 7:26, 7:25, 7:25, 7:20. I got out the door almost an hour earlier than last week - by 7AM. It was still 85F and sunny. Greg had said to do 4-6 miles, but last week he told me to "be careful". My ribs still hurt really bad (still only *after* I run, and I still can't lie on my right side, ever, and if I forget it hurts enough that I have to lie on my back for a few minutes until I stop hyperventilating) and it is hot. So, anyway, I told myself, run slower than you think you should, shoot for 5, if you feel great then run 6. I had a really hard time finding pace, my first 800 was about 8 secs too fast, and then when I tried to back off I slowed down too much. I felt a lot better at 7:20 pace, but I thought it would have taken more effort than I was supposed to put into it to keep it up for one more mile (I am super duper careful with SS pace, it is NOT supposed to be hard, more like the pace you could maintain for an hour "comfortably hard" - so barely breathing hard, when I start breathing hard I know I am working harder than I am supposed to). Anyway. I am still happy that I can run pretty hard for 35+ mins in the heat and am trying to feel confident that once November (and cooler temps) role around I will be feeling much better. If I get up a 1/2 hour earlier next week I should be able to do 6 miles!

PM: (4 easy).

I hope you all have a very nice day.

On a non-running note, I did not sleep last night.  First, I am stressed at work (what else is new, but this is even more than usual), and second, we have ANOTHER mouse that has fallen inside of our wall and can't get out.  It is sad actually, they try and try to get out.  Last night I kept thinking about cutting a hole in the drywall so it could get out, but then I thought it would just be worse because then Titus-the-cat would get it.  I am still not sure I won't cut out the wall today (or beg Dean to do it, although he is still not over me making him make a "bridge" for the opossum to get off the roof in Nashville).

1:04:37.  Ahhh that is more like it, I added on to my route to make sure I ran at least 63 mins (which gives me 7 Bonnie miles).  It was hot, what else is new?  

Busy busy day today -- so except for the fact that my legs are dead, I don't have much to report - except work stuff which would bore the heck out of most of you.  

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Good times, good running!

AM: (8 miles, 1:13:45).  Had to get up really early to get my run in so we could drive to Phoenix to see John.  My leg has been hurting like crazy all week.   It still hurts, but now it hurts because of the treatment, hopefully it will feel better tomorrow (tonight I know my legs will feel dead because of the treatment, but it will likely be about 104 so my legs will be the least of my worries ;-).  Fed Big Boy some carrots (Big Boy the horse, not Big Boy the Dean ;-)) this morning, CoCo wasn't around.

PM:(4 miles hot and easy).

Have a great Saturday.  Congratulations to all of you that had spectacular races today (allie and Lily were impressive!)

2:02:48 (1:05:29/57:18 - I can get splits for the last 6 miles of this run (because there are mile markers: 8:23 for 2 miles, 8:15, 8:11, 7:53, 7:25).  I took an accidental detour on the way out (I turned the wrong way on one of the trails -- not paying attention, so it was probably longer than 7 miles, I was averaging about 9:00-9:05 the first 3 miles).  I was pretty happy to see my "unintentional progression run" - it was very hot today, temps were 82F/75% -and very sunny - at the start at 6:45 and when I finished it was 91F - thankfully with much lower humidity 49%).  I wasn't trying to run fast on the way back, I mainly just wanted to keep a solid effort and not "slog" -- I was happy to see no slogging.  Two more months and this same effort will likely produce much faster results (it won't be cooling down for at least 8 more weeks -- sigh).  ANYWAY.  I  was right about my legs, I had much less pain, but they were just not responsive, it took forever (well, 4 miles) to warm up.  Once I did warm up I felt oh so much better "leg-wise".

I hope you are all having a wonderful relaxing, enjoyable Sunday with your families!

I think I got into the Houston marathon, I have not received the official confirmation (they were supposed to let us know by the 17th) but they charged my credit card today ... hmmm.  I guess I see some high miles in my future again.

AM: (9 miles, 1:18:46) 31:56wu +strides/33:19cd.  5 x 200 w/400 recovery.  Dean said I did not run these hard enough last week, so this week I pushed it a little more, 47, 48, 46, 46, 46.  It was 87F (31%), but it was partly cloudy which makes a big difference.  

PM: (4 miles easy).  My last week of being able to run these in the light, school starts next week so I will be back to 60 hour weeks, which means lots of late nights ... 

I received my official confirmation yesterday, I AM IN for the Houston marathon, January 30, 2011.  It is going to be a challenge to get the training in since Fall is super hard at work, but I am hoping it won't be as tough this time around (training-wise) as I am in better shape.  Only time will tell!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!!

1:05:45.  Probably a little longer than 7, I went a little further than last Friday.  This is not an out-and-back but sort of an out-and-loop - so I can't actually run a fixed distance and then run back the same amount of time - I have my *major* climbs during the last 2.5 miles, but the majority of the first part are just minor hills - there are no flat parts to this run, it is either up or down.  Good training.  I am hurting bad though.  I don't know what is wrong with my lower leg - John fixed it on Saturday, Sunday was great, but I am a limping mess the first mile of my runs, and today I felt it the whole time (though it was slightly better on the uphills).   Best case it is a Soleus muscle strain, worse case it is a tibial stress fracture (or stress reaction).  I am doing some exercises (on top of the ones John gave me last week) -- and have a massage tomorrow, so I am keeping my fingers crossed on the muscle strain.  

I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far!! 

AM: (11 miles, 1:27:45).  26:23wu +strides/22:30cd.  5 x 5` @ 10K effort w/3` recovery.  Since I did these on the track I could get 800m splits, and I was at 7:05/7:04/7:06/7:05/7:10 mile pace.  It was 89.6F when I finished, hot and sunny.  I felt like crud.  I hope that the heat was worth about 3-4 seconds/mile.  I would expect to be 4-6 secs/mile off pace with no speedwork (I generally get about 4 secs/mile faster each month of specific 5-10K workouts) -- but 10 secs is a lot off.  But ~90F (easily felt like mid-90s with the sun).  Oh well, that is why today was training and not a race.  I am just not used to running at this pace.  I should be grateful that my legs remembered how to do it at all ;-) (since I am losing more and more of my long term memory every day). 

PM: (4 miles easy).

I am very sure what is wrong with my leg is not a stress fracture (or stress reaction) ... it is not the bone ... it is the medial aspect of my calf (not shins, but more the belly of my calf - probably Soleus - is just super super sore ...).  

Back to the salt mines ... have  great day!! 

1:04:59.  It really doesn't happen very often, but today was one of those days when I really had to push myself out the door.  It was because of many things ... my leg hurts, I am tired (from lack of sleep), and my body is tired from yesterday ... all topped off with the fact that it was 82F at 5AM!!!  by the time I headed out it was 90F and I just felt horrible.  I think I got a little bit of heat exhaustion yesterday, I have been sick to my stomach, and feeling like I have low blood sugar since yesterday morning (I actually drank a Gatorade yesterday -- and it tasted great, usually it makes me sick because it is so sweet).  So anyway, I negotiated with myself and got started, and it was not "fun", nor did it feel "good", but it did not last too long and I did not feel nearly as bad as I did on my cool-down yesterday.  So ... all is well and angel-runner-Bonnie won again.  My leg doesn't feel worse when I run, it just hurts pretty much all the time, so I will continue to run (and stretch, and do exercises).

Happy Friday everyone, Fridays are my "meetings" day, and I still need to finish my lectures for next week, so it is going to be a long long day, and weekend.  BUT, it is Friday nonetheless! 

AM:(8 miles, 1:13:44). Very nice run, it was hot but the clouds were out and that makes ALL the difference! I saw Big Boy and CoCo (I had carrots today) and then had to hurry home. Off to new student orientation to meet and greet our incoming students ... luckily we only have 3 new PhD students ... then I need to spend about 5 hours finishing the answer key for the first homework set, sigh.

PM: (4 miles easy)

I hope you are all having great adventures and having fun!

I am loving the new Nike Free HyperTRs ... probably the best Free shoe yet!!

2:01:30 (1:04:28/57:02) 9:12/8:08 AP. So, I accidently overslept today, I did not get started until nearly 8AM. As you can guess I was not happy with myself (although technically I do understand since I worked as many hours a I ran miles this week, probably around 68 hours, and I was tired). Anyway, not only was it hot today, but it was in the dangerous zone, 90F (51%) and hot hot sun. So, I took it really really easy going out, and held back after the turn-around too, because my primary goal was run strong, not die (figuratively) and not get heat exhaustion. Yea, I was successful in all three ;-). I felt strong at the end, and even though my shorts looked like I had just stepped out of a pool after about 4 miles, I actually did not over-heat much. I wish I could have reapplied my sunscreen after an hour, but I put a whole bunch on before I left the house so I did not burn - I can't tell you how hot the sun gets here, it is really remarkable how different it feels from anywhere I have ever lived. Anyway -- it was awesome and I was glad I wasn't doing speedwork (like on Thursday when I felt like I might throw-up because I was so hot). In about 3 weeks it will still be over 100 in the day, but mornings will drop down in the 70s again, and that will make ALL the difference.

It was so awesome to read about the GREAT races from yesterday!! Some of the bloggers just ran such inspiring races. WHOOT WHOOT!

I hope you all have a wonderful day with your family today, and I hope it is a good start of a great week for you all!!

HOLY COW, no AR for Lagat, but a new world record in the 800 !!!!!!!!1:41:09!!!!!!!!  WOW!

AM: (9 miles, 1:17:09). 32:43wu+strides/27:12cd.  6 x 200m w/400 recovery.  Hit every single one of these at :46 (recovery was between 2:09-2:17).  This sort of took me by surprise.  Not only was it as hot as ever, but my leg really hurt this morning (I literally limped the first 1/4 mile of my warm-up).  Plus the womens soccer team was practicing on the infield (usually  it is the men), that was fine, but they left their backpacks all in lanes 1 and part of 2 near the start line!!   Pretty self-centered if you ask me ... there were some of these (ones with the tail wind) that I am pretty sure I would have gotten :45 if I didn't have to run out in lane 2.  Anyway, it sort of made me mad, but hey, I have enough to worry about than to let it stew all day ;-).  

PM: (4 miles easy).

There was a road runner sitting outside on the ledge outside of our living room window this morning!!  He left before I could get the camera, pretty brazen if you ask me, all three of our domestic animals would love to chase him around.  Did you know that road runners eat rattlesnakes?  it is true.  They are studs (and they are supposedly smarter than coyotes ;-)).

have a great day bloggers! 

NEWS: jshad just reported that fellow blogger Kory Wheatley was hit by a car while running this morning,  he has suffered serious injuries and is in the hospital.   More information will be given on the FastRunningBlog Discussion Board.  

1:04:15.  YIPPPEEE, it was only 79F this morning -- I LOVE MONSOONS!  we had a huge monsoon storm yesterday afternoon/evening.  It was so nice this morning and will only get up to 100F today!! YIPPEEE!

I did not actually have to run earlier than usual, but I had to make sure I got out on time because I had a meeting this morning with a senior staffer for Congressman Grijalva.  As part of the American Statistical Association (ASA), I was tasked to introduce the Congressman to a statistical literacy bill that will be introduced to the House this fall; as well as represent the ASA on its new grassroots foray into public policy.  Pretty interesting.  I was accompanied by a government relations person from the University (I think to make sure I was not lobbying on behalf of the University - since if I was they would have to formally put the activity into their Legislative record).  I  have learned a lot about politics this week because of this meeting.  It was sort of anticlimatic after all the work I put into getting the meeting and getting my thoughts organized ... it is a no-brainer bill from the Congressman's perspective (one that he would have a hard time not supporting).  Anyway, it was fun to wear a different hat from the one I normally wear (anti-social geek professor).

I hope you are all having a good day today ... happy trails!

AM: (11 miles, 1:29:27.  27:44wu/25:43cd.  5 x 5` @10K pace w/3` recovery.  Much better than last week, I decided to do these on the road instead of the track, rolling hills, nothing too steep.  I actually messed up the first 3 since I had set the "interval" setting on my watch to beep at 5` and then at 3` ... well, I meant to set it at 3`, I actually set it at 2`.  I thought it seemed that the first couple recoveries felt "short" -- so after the third one I actually checked, yup, it was set at 2`!!  I am sure I was running the right effort, first, based on my odometer in my car I sort-of know where .25, .5, .8 and 1.0 mile is on this loop (it is a 1.2 mile loop partially dirt and partially asphalt).  But mainly I knew it was the right effort because on the 4th one I felt like I might throw-up the last 1` (it was uphill).  It was cooler today, only 83F and partly cloudy ... very nice.  

PM: (4 miles).  

I hope you are all having a wonderful day, and a happy rest of the week!! 

1:02:23.  Things are back to normal, high 80s, low 90s and sunny.  Felt ok today but my leg is still killing me.  I hope John can fix it tomorrow.

Have to run, department retreat today (it is definitely not as fun as it sounds).

Happy Friday everyone!

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:23).  Sunny, warm, but still cooler than the height of summer, so I found myself a little faster at all my landmarks.  I fed my horse friends and then scooted home to go up to Phoenix to see John.  He is buying a new building and expanding his practice - so he has a new partner.  They BOTH worked on me today -- I spent about an hour in pain, they basically tag-teamed me.  But, they worked on my calf/ankle (the one that has been giving me so much trouble the past two weeks), my hips (that are always bad) and my back (which is probably the root of most of my problems).  My lower leg was very bad, John hardly ever says this to me but he said, "that is really bad".  I think it will take a few more visits to "heal" - but tonight was the first time I was not limping on my run in a long long time.  

PM: 4 miles.

 First off, CONGRATULATIONS to all you studette (and studly) runners, especially Scott, Paul, Michelle and Kelly!!  AMAZING runs!

Second, Fasil Bizuneh won the USATF 10 mile championship today, a national champion 6 weeks from Chicago!  Yea Team USA Arizona (and the McMillan group!).  I won a t-shirt from USATF (autographed by Joan Benoit) for correctly predicting him for the win!

2:04:16 (1:04:54/59:22); 8:52 (9:16/8:28).  My leg(s) hurt so bad today.  Different kind of hurt from the originally "injury" (I had two huge knots in two muscles of my calf) but really sore nonetheless.    I really expected to run this whole run super slow, but somehow I still ended up speeding up the second half.  I did not look at my watch at all, so have no idea how fast last miles were, but I am pretty sure it was the only the last 2 miles or so that got into the high 7s and brought the overall pace down.  It was hot, what else is new, but it is cooling down some -- it was only 87F when I finished.  The usually dry river bed was full of water, torrents in some places ... very good to see. This means that two of the rivers are flowing well (there is one by my house that is as well) -- and that the rainfall is much better than last year, important for us in the desert, we rely on getting most of our water in about 3 months of the year.

I need to get to work on my class for tomorrow ... I am behind since I did not work yesterday (unfortunately, I did not get to nap either!).  I forgot to tell you yesterday that we saw Kyle Acorn (US steepler) at John's office, he looks much taller (and younger) in person!  Today is the Rieti trackmeet -- it is being televised this afternoon - ANOTHER world record in the 800 (after the one last Sunday) and a new American record in the 3000m by Lagat!!  Summer track is so fun!!

AM: (10 miles, 1:19:45).  25:19wu/24:14cd.  20 x :30 w/1` recovery.  Ran on a dirt road, some slight little "dips" but pretty flat overall.  Warmish, but not hot (85F) and sunny (which made it feel warmer).  I am excited as the lows this week should be in the 75F range ... yea!!

PM: 4 miles easy.

Busy.  I am behind in my class, I am behind in my work, I am just plain ole behind.  We are heading to SLC for a wedding this weekend, should be fun ... I can't wait to run in cooler weather again (despite the oxygen debt I will be in). 

Have a great day bloggers!