track fan

AM: (8 miles, 1:11:36).  Even though it is not "cool" yet, it was only 85F, which feels pretty darn cool to me!  

PM: easy 4.

So, we are going to have house guests tonight, one of the McMillan Elite athletes and her family (husband and son) are coming down to race a local 8K here tomorrow -- the McMillan group like this race because they are almost assured of winning the $$ (the locals, while fast, are not Olympic-hopeful fast ;-)).  And then, tomorrow, we are having dinner with montelepsy 

 SO happy for all the bloggers who ran St. George today, it looks like everyone had a great day!!  (special congrats to seeaprilrun for breaking the 3 hour barrier!!  YEA).

1:59:32.  I ran out in the mountains today -- I decided that I need to start running my long runs in the hills every-other-week.  Even though I run hilly runs pretty much every day, there is something about the stimulus of running hilly long runs that really helps (especially for the marathon). So, I ran ~3 miles (25:43 -- it was uphill out and downhill back, I ran 13:30 and then turned around) and then did two loops of the hilly course (5.5 miles). I have talked about this course before ... suffice to say there is nothing but uphill climbs for the first 2.5 or so miles, then there is a nice 2.5 mile downhill portion (with small rollers) and then another .5  uphill.  I did my first loop in 48:50 and the second in 44:58.  The fastest I have ever done a loop before was 46 something.  I was stunned.  I ran the first one very conservative because I was thinking about how I planned to use this as a fitness marker, and as my marathon training continues, I would like to do a 22 miler out here - which would be 4 loops.  So, I am pretty happy.

Speaking of happy!!  The McMillan Elite group had some spectacular races today!!  Kellyn (who stayed at our house last night) blew away the competition today (including NCAA All-American Maggie Callahan), with her 13th overall, and first woman win of a 28:18 8K.  Brett Gotcher was 3rd in the USATF 10 mile championship and Jordon Horn (miler and 5K specialist) with his OT qualifier of 1:03:xx for the 1/2 marathon.  But the day belongs to Emily Harrison who placed a 10 minute PR at the Twin Cities marathon -- with her 3rd place 2:32:55 finish!!!  YEA!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday, and enjoy general conference!! 

AM: (8.5 miles, 1:08:23).  10 x 45" w/2` recovery.  I am not sure how far this was, but I am pretty sure it was not 9 miles, and I know it was more than 8 ... so here you go, 8.5 ;-).  Was in a hurry -- had a meeting very early across town.  On my way back from the meeting I stopped at Whole Foods for a salad for lunch, and ... just our little secret ... I also snuck in a little shopping for a way too expensive pair of jeans that I could not resist - I do admit that I now own 3 pairs of designer jeans (one dress and two casual), they fit so well I really can't help myself, luckily, I don't wear jeans much so these 3 pair should last for a very long time.

PM: Easy 4.

I hope you are all doing well.   

1:11:12.

Crazy day. Suffice to say it was another 12 hour day with no breaks ... and still no time to finish up writing my paper -- I HAVE to get this paper submitted by the end of the month.  I HAVE to!!

I hope you are all doing well.

AM: (11 miles, 1:31:26).  The first time Tucson has dropped below 70F since April!!  YIPPPEE.  Downside was 18mph winds ... ouch.  Did 6 x 800 w/400 recovery.  Can't really look at the pace of these, it was so hard.  Every time I hit the back stretch of the track I felt like I was going backwards.  I tried to just concentrate on running the same "effort" and not get discouraged by the pace - just like races, sometimes I just have to adjust expectations for the conditions.  Actually, I was supposed to run between 5K < 10K (6:40-7:00/mile) and I guess I was able to do that, so it is all good.  I push through much harder on the last 2 800s, because I knew I was almost done.  31:35wu + strides/28:46cd  (3:25, 3:28, 3:26, 3:27, 3:23, 3:24).  Ran 3 miles uphill home ....

PM: easy 4.

Have a wonderful day bloggers! 

 ... am not sure of how long this was, I ran with a group of people at 5:30AM!  Most of the 9 people ran with the Tucson Grinders, a local running club that is coached by a former elite runner in town and her husband (who was the past World Masters Marathon Champion after running a 2:16).  They are VERY fun!!  It sure did make the time go by quickly.  Although, I was woefully unprepared -- I did not have a headlamp on and it was DARK.

In case you had not seen this article - Kathryn Martin was named athlete of the week last week (USATF) after her record setting 19:04 5K -- in the 60-64 year old age group!!

Have a great Friday bloggers! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:12:13).  Beautiful day -- I got to sleep in until 7AM and it was still only 70F when I went on my run!  

PM: easy 4.

This is such a great weekend for racing:  Chicago Marathon, Tufts 10K (womens USA Championships), and Boston 1/2 marathon, Long Beach 1/2 (GO ANDREA)!!!

Also, today is the Kona Ironman Championships (Go Kim Loeffler!!  She placed 2nd in the Ironman Canada in August and is on pace for a spectacular race this year!)

Have a wonderful weekend bloggers! 

1:59:00 (how cool is that?!)  (1:02:45/56:15) AP: 8:30 (8:57/8:02).  Last 3-4  miles were at ~7:20-7:40 pace.  What a difference 20 degrees makes ...

What great racing this weekend (Tufts women's 10K tomorrow).  Congratulations runners!!

Have a wonderful Sunday bloggers! 

AM: (11 miles, 1:30:01). 24:17wu/23:50cd  15 x 45" w/2` recovery (fartlek version of 15 x 200 meters w/full recovery).  These look easy, but with full recovery the "200's" are pretty fast ... it is not a stamina workout, but pure neuromuscular!  Hopefully, it will work, my speed is not all it could be right now!

PM: easy 4.

 We are heading up to Flagstaff this weekend, it should be fun -- especially since highs here are back in the 90s this week (but the lows are a beautiful 50F, so I won't complain ;-) ).

Happy Tuesday bloggers, run fast, run fun! 

We

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:45). Ran up the Upper Oldham Trail ... up is the operative word here.  It only climbed about 3-4 miles, but it was steep and rocky, then I ran down Mt. Elden Lookout road to Schultz Creek Canyon and ran on a little trail there until I hit the turn-around, and came back.  This mountain biker talks a little about the area that I was running (Day 4 Mount Elden).  I did not get up to 9,000ft, but I am pretty sure I was up at 7500 - 8000.  I took it pretty easy - mainly because I am still banged up from my fall yesterday - and I did not want to fall again.  The trails are just so pretty (and right out the back door) I couldn't bear to run on the roads.

PM: easy 4.

Tonight we are going to dinner with Greg and Tracy (McMillan) for Dean's birthday!  Tomorrow I have to get my long run in early so we can stop by and see my Dad on my way back to Tucson.  Today I am working ... but looking forward to a nice night out.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! 

2:00:07.  Whew, this was much harder than the splits may look.  I ran from the house to Buffalo Park (~2 miles) and then ran 5 x 2 mile loops in the park.  It only gains 59ft, but when you start at 7100 (and are not used to it) you feel every foot ;-).  

I started off slow and somehow (not on purpose) just got faster with every lap.  18:49, 18:19, 17:39, 16:56, 16:03.  

8:00 min pace does not look that fast, but it felt like 7 min pace!  

Then, I got in a car and had to deal with severe hamstring pain the entire trip home ... we got stuck in yet another traffic jam - luckily we did make it home, but the 4 hour trip took us well over 6 hours.  Not a lucky trip this time ;-).

Happy Week bloggers! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:08:59). ~70 min run with the last 10` fast -- over big hills. Felt good, not nearly as difficult as Sunday, since I am back at 2500 ft!

PM: easy 4.

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

probably a little longer than 7, 1:04:34. Slow and easy, even though I was in a hurry -- busy day today!

Have a wonderful hump day bloggers!

AM: (8.5 miles, 1:11:12). 10 short hill repeats up a steep hill (~40-45"). Interestingly, my legs felt better after doing this than before ... we'll see if it lasts through the day!

PM: easy 4.

It is homecoming today, not very easy to park and get to work, and likely even harder to get out this evening!!

Have a great day bloggers!

Easy run after my very early morning conference call ... nice day, glutes a little sore from yesterdays hill repeats, I think this is a good thing ;-)

For those of  you that did not see this last night ... craziness at last nights Arizona v. UCLA game.  Kind of ruined the excellent win, in my opinion.  I kind of thought it was funnier until I realized that someone really could have gotten hurt in the resulting melee.  I was going to say that I was glad that runners don't act this way, but then I remembered Monaco -- although the two skinny  milers are less likely to cause as much damage as a 200-300lb football player ;-)

Happy Friday bloggers! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:25).  Felt a little warmer than yesterday ... I won't complain because it is cooler than the middle of summer, but just a little whine, it is averaging about 15 degrees warmer than usual -- still highs in the 90s.  It was about 87F by the time I got out the door, because I got engrossed finishing a simulation for a talk I am giving on Wednesday ... well, and you know how that goes ;-).

PM: easy 4.

Happy Saturday bloggers!! 

1:57:43.  I ran on a new path that is closer to my house than the Rillito  trail -- it follows the Santa Cruz wash.  It is cool that we now have 23 miles (from one end to the other) of dedicated bike/pedestrian path.  I had heard that most of the 23 miles has a dirt path beside the asphalt path so I thought I would check out the portion of this closer to my house.  I did notice on the map that there wasn't much water - but there was a park about 4 miles up, and I thought I could run on the Rillito for a while and hit a fountain there (supposedly at about mile 6-7).  I also thought, it is fall, water is not really that big of deal.  Hurumph.  It was 91F when I finished, and hot, it actually was sort-of a big deal.  First, I parked near the freeway and started running on the East side of the wash/river, not a great idea, as it went about 1.75 miles and then ended.  Whoops.  Well, there was my first ~3.5 miles (33 mins out and back).  Then I ran on the "right" (West) side of the trail and hit the drinking fountain at about 1:02 into the run (not bad, except it was in the high 80s already -- and hot because wherever the dirt path is, it is not on this section of the trails - so the asphalt sucked up the sun even more, and there is not one iota of shade, not one).  Anyway, it wasn't horrible, it just wasn't "comfortable" at all.  I wasn't in any fear of heat stroke or dehydration, just wishing I had a little more water, and wishing super hard that it was 70, or even 80, and not 90 degrees ;-).   There was a cyclist who I saw going "out" who said, "hey, you are on the wrong side of town" (I guess he had seen me on the other trail a lot).  Later, we saw each other again after the turn-around and he said, "so, I guess you are a distance runner," and he slowed down and talked to me for a while.  

All and all, not bad, but I am not sure how often I will do long runs here -- I am looking forward to some cooling trends so the snakes will go to bed for the winter and I can have "my" trails back!  This was pretty much my last "easy" long run anyway, Greg is ratcheting up the marathon training.  Not miles, yet, just training.  We had a long discussion last weekend in Flag and he has changed some of his training based on how his elite athletes have been training (Brett Gotcher, Stephanie Rothstein, Emily Harrison, Jordon Horn, Nick Arciniaga, and Fasil Bizuneh are all training for the Olympic Trials in the marathon).   So, I have fewer weeks of long (20+ mile) runs, but more "faster" longish runs inter-dispersed  - it is interesting, because my friend Merry (who is also getting ready for Houston) is coached by a different person, and they have been doing 20-milers for weeks now.  Merry is faster than me (I have only beaten her at two races since moving here, and one she was recovering from the flu and one was a cross-country race -- one of my favorites).  She has a much faster marathon PR than me (3:17 versus 3:30) -- so we are not really in direct competition, so it is easier for me to just enjoy the "it will be interesting to see how both of us do with respect to our goals at Houston". 

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday! 

AM: (8.5 miles, 1:11:34)  warmed up for ~30 mins did 15x1`w/1`recovery.   I wanted to cool down for 30 mins too, which would have given me somewhere between 9 and 10 miles ... but I had to get to a meeting so I cut my cool-down short.

PM: easy 4.

As you can tell, another busy week! 

Greg is changing up my schedule a little -- "are you ready for some marathon training?" so on Wednesday and Friday I will be running between 60-65 mins ... so that is somewhere between 7 and 7.5 Bonnie miles.  So, I basically just added on about 3 mins (out-and-back ~6 mins) to my usual "7" mile loop.

 Happy humpday everyone!!

AM: (9 miles, 1:17:23).  10 x ~75" up a moderate (6%) hill.  26:15wu/~25cd (my watch stopped??  so I have no idea for sure).  It was hard, but I felt surprisingly good on the cd portion (I think because once I got out of the hills and back on the flat it felt super easy!).

PM: easy 4 

1:03:02.  I can't believe I ran this route this fast ... I think I must be speeding up with the cooler weather.  Despite the workout yesterday, my legs feel pretty good today - this is a good sign!

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!  I stayed up waaaay to late (darn you World Series -- what an AWESOME game!!!!) 

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:17).  What a difference a few degrees makes!   Wonderful 81F degrees (and cloudy).  ahhh ... hit my first landmark 40 secs faster, and my legs felt good the whole way today.

PM: 4 miles easy.

Not many miles tomorrow, but a good workout, 3rds progression run ~12 miles.  I am kind of looking forward to it ... more runs at steady state over the next couple of weeks.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. 

1:34:12.  (49:51/44:21) 3rds progression run, approximately 8:57/7:58 AP/5.5 mile loop (1 mile uphill, 2 + miles downhill, and 2.5+ uphill) . I ran this last year right after coming back from my injury in 53:56/51:43 -- but I wasn't doing a progression run.  Anyway, Greg wanted me to run 30' easy, 30` moderately easy and the last 30` at 1/2 marathon - marathon pace effort.  Since this run was super hilly, and I don't have a garmin, I knew this was going to be more by effort than pace ... I think I ran first loop a little fast, so it made the last 2.5 miles uphill a little harder than it should have been. BUT, all and all it felt really good.  

I kept thinking about what the workout was supposed to do - it is about building stamina.  For me, I think less about my pace and more about how I feel and how long I have to go ... just like in races, where I am consistently evaluating how I feel, can I run any faster, and how much more do I have to run .... I just hope that it is also corresponding to a faster pace.  We'll see when I get back to the track, and my first 1/2 marathon in over a year next month!!!

Happy Sunday bloggers!