AM: (10 miles, 1:24:55) Wow! I am so very excited. We got into Flagstaff at about midnight last night. Dean got up early to go on the Bagel Run (all the elite athletes who are in town, and even some regular folk local runners) meet every Thursday and from Biff Bagels. Dean caught a ride and ran the run with Greg McMillan. Normally, I would have gone on the bagel run too (even though it would have meant running pretty much by myself, since I would have been the slowest one there ;-) -- they usually start pretty slowly, so I can run with them the first mile, maybe 2 ;-) ). Anyway - I wanted to run a 5 x 2 run at Buffalo Park, and since it was my birthday - I got to do whatever I wanted!! The run. It is always a challenge to start a run at 7,000ft (especially when you live at 2,000ft), I know I need to go slowly, but it takes me a while to figure out how slowly. Especially this run, because it is a loop course that is not flat, and, for me, if I go into oxygen deficient - because of the altitude, there is no recovery (kind of like heat stroke/exhaustion). Also, I have no idea how fast I have been running lately. I have not done anything on the track in months (since the now infamous Wedding Bells 5K) - all I know is that I have been running my usual routes faster this month than the previous month - and that my mileage is back to normal. SO, I was a little disappointed in my first 2 mile split, so I decided NOT to look at my watch for the rest of the run (even though they have 1/4s marked on the trail). Here it is: 18:39 (9:20/mile), 16:27 (8:10), 16:51 (8:26), 17:01 (8:31), 15:55 (7:58). Not bad, I was not working hard, I was talking to a couple of other runners who were out there (except for the 1-2 mins up the hill, especially the last time I hit it!) so I was very surprised when I finished the run and looked at my watch - I would have totally be happy with 9 min pace. Greg usually gives ~ 11-20 sec/mile for 7,000 ft (especially the first day at this altitude) - so I ended up with 8 miles at a little (20 sec/mile) slower than threshold pace. The best part? It felt pretty easy - I had to concentrate on not jogging like I usually do - but I wasn't breathing hard until the last bout up the hill. YEA! PM: easy 4. I met with Greg yesterday - we sketched out a plan for my upcoming training cycle. I am getting excited. It is interesting - Greg has actually moved from 12-16 week training plans, in general. Instead, I won't really be doing any real "marathon" workouts, until about 8 weeks out. Until then, I will be working primarily on leg turnover and stamina building in the form of unstructured fartleks. This is particularly good for me right now, because I can modify fartleks based on my work/sleep/life schedule -- and I seem to be responding pretty well to them so far. This is all pumping me up!! I have to say, bloggers, I really had entirely expected never to train for a race again -- my recovery has just been so slow. But, now, I am thinking that maybe, just maybe, it is possible that I can pop out a couple more good races!!! I hope you are all doing well! Thank you so much, all of you on Facebook, for the birthday wishes, it was a great day!!! GOOD LUCK St. GEORGE RUNNERS!! I will be thinking energetic thoughts for you tomorrow!!!
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