track fan

1:07:43.  Might be a little closer to 7.5, but who knows, so I am rounding down.  Very very pleasant run ... 35F and sunny.  I wore my orthotic this whole run, yea!  The last time I had worn it for 50 mins of a run (a couple Sunday's ago) I got a huge blister.  Now the blister is more of a callus so it was actually comfortable.  Not only that, and maybe it is in my head, but I think my legs are less fatigued with them than without.  I am having some PF problems, but I can tolerate it (so far) and I am hoping it goes away.

I am so very busy today.  I am teaching my class (and we are at an extremely difficult section of material - it is a challenge for the students, and for me) and then I am also doing a guest lecture in another class (not as difficult material but very long) so I will be in class for almost 6 hours today --- plus this mornings 3 hours of prep (because I did not get finished last night - even though I did not run until 8PM).  Oh well, next week is the last week of classes YIPPPEEE!

 Then I have almost 6 weeks to get two papers submitted ... yikes.

Have a wonderful day bloggers!!!

Scott left a very funny YouTube video link on my blog yesterday -- so I am giving you all one here -- it is funny particularly to me, because I work with many people like the "blond guy":

Have a laugh.

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:04).  Nice hilly run + feeding my horse friends some carrots.  Beautiful morning!!!

PM: (easy 4).  

Almost two days straight with my orthotics -- no more blisters.  I am in a quandary though ... I bought some boots the other day and they are about a 1/2 size too big ... John says he wants me to wear my orthotics all day (not just when running) but most of my shoes that fit won't also fit my orthotic, so I haven't been wearing my orthotics except when I am running.  Because these new boots are larger than my usual size I can actually fit my orthotic in them, but I am not sure I want to *have* to wear my orthotic when wearing them ... but if I keep this size then the only time I will be able to wear them is when I am wearing my orthotic ... what to do???   

I wish that were my only problem ;-).

Have a wonderful day bloggers! 

1:02:28.  24:35 wu + 10 x :30 w/1` recovery + 22:53 cd.

Neuromuscular workout ... I am hoping these will help with my pathetic 3K pace ;-).

I am so so tired this morning.  I stayed up very late watching the U of A versus ASU (game for the territorial cup -- the oldest rivalry in the NCAA) game.  It went into double overtime and U of A lost by a freaken field goal.   Not only did it mean that ASU gets the cup (for the 3rd year in a row), but U of A lost their chance for a bowl game after starting off with a strong season and at one point I think they were ranked 8th.  I am not really a football fan, but I have watched quite a few U of A games this year, and was really into the game last night.  Dean said he is glad college football is over, otherwise he might have had to plan an intervention ;-).

Happy Friday bloggers! 

AM: (6 miles, 54:24).  Up the mountain on "my trail", however, I had forgotten how crowded "my trail" can get when the weather is beautiful.  Too late for wild life, but I did see the cutest thing.  There were these two little girls somewhere between 2-3 years old riding their "mountain bikes" -- they were little wooden "bikes" with two mountain bike-like tires but with no pedals.  They had on their helmets and riding gloves and they *loved* going over the rocks (they were on the very first part of the trail, which is really not very steep or technical)  SOOOOO adorable!  And very cool of their Dad, what cool gifts and what a great way to introduce kids to the joys of nature!!  The "bikes" were so tiny that the Dad could carry one in each had when the girls got a little tired of riding (which appeared to be every 10 ft or so ;-) ).

PM: (4 easy).

I have a very good friend visiting me next weekend, so I have to clean my house .... oh yea, and I have to write a final exam ... yuck, the only thing worse than taking this exam is writing it ;-).

Happy Weekend bloggers!  GO allie!!!! 

1:45:48 (8:27).  Ran on the flat, marked, Rillito trail.  Ended up running a somewhat unintentional progression run.  Ran the first 3 miles at 9 min pace, the next 3 at 8:45 pace average, and then turned around.  Ran the next 3 miles at 8:30 pace and the last 3 miles at 8:15, 7:50 and 7:27.  My goal was to run the first 10 miles easy and then try to get under 8 min pace for the last 2 ... but I it kind of felt good to run just under "hard" for a longer while. All and all ... felt good today ... yea!

I actually got started late because I was tracking allie during her marathon ... I was so excited for her that I could not get out until she finished ... it was worth the wait ;-)

Happy Sunday bloggers! 

AM: (9.5 miles, 1:24:51).  32:34wu/34:09cd  + 10 x :30 w/1` recovery.

Beautiful morning for a run - 46F and sunny.  I sped up a little at the end after running into Abdi - I am sure (;-)) he recognized me as a Facebook friend!

PM: (easy 4).

I am running in my orthotics all the time now - I don't know if they are helping, I guess we will see when I get back up to my former mileage and fitness level.  I am just grateful to be running again!

Gotta run, need to finish writing my final exam and I have a whole mess of things "due" this week.

Have a wonderful day bloggers! 

1:05:23.  Ran to the top of the mountain today!  My first time since last spring.  Ahhhhhh, I did not realize how much I had missed it.  It is SO beautiful from up there.  

I hope you are all having a wonderful week, happy hump day! 

AM: (10 miles, 1:30:04).  Last 10` at 1/2 to marathon pace.  Probably a little longer than 10, but not quite 10.5.

PM: not sure, either 1 hour pool run with  my friend who is coming into town for the weekend or 4 miles easy.   Jeremy (the 11 year old) wasn't really interested in going to the pool -- so I went for an easy jog by myself instead of water jogging with his Mom ...

Have a great day bloggers! 

1:06:23 ... up the mountain!  (I had to make a pit stop and forgot to stop my watch so it looks a little longer than usual).  I was tired this morning, but grateful to be out on such a beautiful day!

My friend from DC is visiting for the weekend, it is so much fun having her and Jeremy around.  I am going to try to sneak out of work early so we can go to Old Tucson Studios this afternoon (and watch a gun fight in front of the saloon).

Happy Friday bloggers! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:43).

 PM: (4 miles easy). 

off to the desert museum.  

Congratulations to all the racers out there!!  (McMillanElite woman won cross-country club nationals -- our Nan -- running for Running Republic of Boulder was 3rd overall).  Men's race is right now.  AWESOME high school championships.  Girls winner, Aishleen (sp?) Cuffe won in an outstanding 16:53 (very tough cross-country course) and Luke Verbakis  was a second-time winner in 14:58 (only the third guy in US history to win 2 years in a row).  

1:55:32.  Ran down in the desert today ... I hadn't run this route since last may (snake season) ... although it is "overall" more flat than my usual runs it is tough because there are some long grades in sandy/rocky terrain and lots of downs and ups - in and out of deep washes - it was nice to be back!!  Another beautiful day.

Very tired today, had quite the busy weekend with my friends -- did just about all the fun things there are to do here with visitors, although with one more day it would have been better as we did not get to the Mission (which is very cool -- a very old (1700s) mission on the reservation that has some spectacular statues and just very cool).  And it would have been nice to have brunch at the botanic gardens (though probably not as popular with the 11 year old boy set, except maybe the prickly pear lemonade).  Now I have to take a nap so I can get caught up on some of the work I missed over the weekend ... 

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Congrats to McMillan Elite -- both men and women teams won club cross-country nationals.  The men absolutely dominated (only 29 points!!!! the next team had 69 points)!!!

Our Nan also just killed it!!! She really rocks! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:18:15).  20 x :30 w/1` recovery.

PM: (easy 4).

Have an early morning meeting today so I need to be brief.  However, I did see 3 coyotes this morning ... they "ran" with me for a while ;-).  And, I forgot to tell you about last Sunday.  I got to run with a red tailed hawk.  I was running on a trail that parallels some telephone poles - it was flying above me and then alighted on a pole, as soon as I got up to the pole it would take of and fly around and then sit on the further pole, and so on - we did this for almost 2 miles!  Pretty cool.

I hope you are all doing well and have a great day of running and everything! 

~1:05 ... up the mountain.  It is hunting season in the mountains where we live, however, they are only supposed be hunting with a bow.  Well, after I turned around to come down the mountain I heard gunshots ...  I ran a little faster after that.  Plus I went and called the "Arizona Game and Fish".  I am not a huge fan of hunting, but I realize they should get an opportunity to use the area, I only wish they would follow the rules.  I see them parked all over the place in areas (private property - we all have a lot of acreage where I live) right in front of clearly marked signs: "No Trespassing, No Hunting" ... and that pisses me off.  So I tattle on them.  Anyway, an exciting morning!

I hope you are all doing well!

AM: (11 miles, 1:29:51).  30:31 wu + strides, 6 x 800 w/400 recovery, 27:49 cd.  Yikes, I could not find the right pace for anything ... I am rusty rusty, splits: 3:28, 3:23, 3:25, 3:24, 3:20, 3:23, my recovery averaged in the 2:20s.  I was supposed to be running 5K effort -- this was a "fitness check".  Theoretically, I should have been running 6:37 pace (3:18 for the 800), but Greg knows that I am unlikely in shape to be running a good 5K (since I haven't raced or trained for a 5K in nearly 7 years!!) - I was hoping to be about 6:45 average -- and I came pretty close (6:46) so I guess it was a success - last year I did 5 x 800 at 6:45 pace, and I was in much better shape (43:30 10K shape) ... however, I learned that my internal garmin needs some calibration.

PM: I am not sure yet, I might run 4 miles easy, I might do an hour of pool running -- I have both sets of workout clothes here at work and I will choose later.  We have a faculty candidate in town interviewing and I have to take him to dinner tonight, so it depends on which one I have time for -- I would really like to do the pool running (burns more calories and will be better for my tired legs). 

1:04:26.  I am so glad that I did an hour pool run last night.  Not only did I burn more calories, but I feel so good today.  I am planning on replacing one or two second runs with an hour pool run every few weeks.  I think it will help decrease chance of injury and actually mean that I can run more of my harder workouts harder (increasing benefit) ...

It rained most of the afternoon and early evening ... so it is foggy and "misty" today.  It made my mountain run really fun ...

Have a wonderful Friday bloggers! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:09:19).  Ahhhhh ... I finally got 8 hours of sleep (first time since thanksgiving) and I felt fabulous this morning ... 

PM: (4 miles easy). 

I have to finish my Christmas shopping today, not only am I a procrastinator, I seriously have not had any time to do any of this type of thing this semester.  Next week will be super busy (I have about 3 weeks to finish two papers that I am working on with other people, one paper of my own, two grants that will be submitted in February that I have to begin sketching out a design for, and find some papers and create homework assignments for my next semesters class).  It will be fun though, I can sleep in most days and work into late in the night -- I love when classes are not in session and everyone else is away ;-).

I hope you have a wonderful weekend bloggers!

1:49:16.  I ran the outside loop almost 4 mins faster than last week (~30secs/mile) which meant that I had to run further today than last Sunday (it does not really behoove one to run faster than expected when you run for time, you just end up running more miles and you don't get "credit" for it ;-)) ... it was a beautiful day and I really enjoyed the run, I felt better than last week so I was able to enjoy the peace and beauty of my surroundings.  I ran the last 20` hard (only 1:30 faster but it is uphill so even just running the same pace is harder so running faster is much harder -- good training stimulus for the end of a race).  

I have to go wrap a whole bunch of presents and hopefully get some work done this afternoon.  I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:15).  approx. 8 miles with the last 10` at 1/2 marathon effort, it was fun (though hard because it is so hilly).  Very refreshing run.  Now I am in Phoenix at Dean's doctor -- and then we are going to see John, I am trying to work but instead am writing in my running blog, see how it goes?

 PM: (easy 4).

Have a wonderful week bloggers!

1:05:31.  Ran up the mountain ... it was so beautiful, cool, cloudy, sprinkling.  Then, when I got to the top I heard a coyote howl (it was about 3-4 miles in the middle of a mountain range with a few valleys), he/she was pretty close.  I stood really still and within a minute there were at least 20 lone "responses" -- from up on higher mountains and lower in the valley, from all directions, the sound just reverberated ... so cool!!  I see or hear coyotes pretty much every day, but usually I hear a pack of them "yipping", this was one of the few times I actually heard them howling the way you would expect to hear them - and then to hear so many answer back ... it was just really something.

As if running weren't already an obsession in our house there is a new Android app: track geek (they have it for the iPhone too, but it is not free).  Now I have track and field news 24 hours/day on my phone ... it is pretty darn cool too. 

I hope you are all having a wonderful week! 

AM: (10.5 miles, 1:27:48).  31:07 wu + strides, 1200, 800, 400, 200 @ 10K, 5K, 3K, 1500 pace w/400 recovery: 5:13 (6:56), 3:23 (6:44), 1:38 (6:32), :46 (6:10 -- meaningless, I know).  2 sec improvement in 2 weeks ... hmmm.

PM: easy 4.

I really have a lot of work to do today, Dean wants to take at least 2 days off over the next 4 days ... I would like to take them off with him, but I can only do it if I finish a couple projects today ... concentrate, concentrate.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve Eve bloggers! 

1:05:17.  Beautiful day, lots of people on the trail today -- mainly because I did not get started until Noon.  I was busy with the insurance company, my cell phone carrier and the Tucson police department.  When I went for my run last night at Reid Park (about 7PM) someone smashed my car window and stole my briefcase.  My laptop was not in it, but my Android phone was (about as expensive as a computer) as well as my external hard drive that had a bunch of data on it and all my work for the upcoming week.  I lost two papers that I was in the middle of and just about all the stuff I have been working on for the past 2 weeks.  I was pretty bummed.  But, I can't complain, things can be replaced (albeit it is a royal pain in the butt) -- I still have my health, my family, my friends, my dogs, my house, see ... look how many *things* I do have ;-).

I have decided not to replace my phone until next week, it is good for me to be offline for a couple days.  Well, I will still blog, of course!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas Eve, and have an even better Christmas day bloggers!! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:17).  Pretty weird, despite sleeping really well for two days I really felt like I was dragging on this run ... so much so that about 1/2 mile into it I thought of bagging the run.  Then when I got to my first landmark I found out I was almost a minute faster than usual - very odd.  I think it must be my new Egoscue exercise menu, when my hips are aligned properly it just feels weird ;-)

PM: 4 miles easy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS bloggers!!! 

1:53:13.  Did a long hilly loop in the mountains around my house (52:50/51:00 + 9:22 on some trails) - the last loop was much harder than it looks, not only is the last 20` seriously uphill but a storm is blowing through and it was into a pretty strong headwind ... I was really glad to get to the house!  As a way to describe the difficulty of this last bit, it is a road that is winding up into the mountains where I live, it starts at 45mph at the bottom and then because of the switchbacks as it climbs it slows down to 15mph in front of my house ... it is not really a straight uphill climb, but more of a incline with hills.  Very good training ... but can be challenging mentally.  

I felt much better today, I guess I had not eaten enough on Friday, and it meant that I did not have enough energy yesterday, because I ate much better yesterday (very well in fact) I felt pretty good today.  Dean really was over the top yesterday with his eating -- he ate a huge piece of pecan pie his Mom had sent us (a cute little 6" thing), some fudge, and a big dinner. We never (seriously never) eat things like that so I was pretty surprised watching him - but he still looks like a skinny runner even after being injured for a year now so he deserves to let loose every few years ;-).

I hope you are all having a wonderful day after Christmas.  After a morning of depression trying to list all of the work I lost and have to try to make up this week (not to mention the pain of getting a new drivers license - made worse by the fact that the one I lost was a Utah license so I have to spend all day taking the written and drivers test to get an Arizona license, since I don't have an out-of-state to exchange), I am resigned to working a doubly full week next week so I can recreate 2 weeks worth of paper-writing and programming.   

AM: (11.5, 1:36:38). 32:47wu+strides/29:50cd. 6 x 800 @ 5K effort w/400 recovery.  

3:22, 3:22, 3:24, 3:23, 3:22, 3:24 (2:29 average recovery).  Better than two weeks ago, average was very similar (1 sec faster) but these were much more consistent.  Not any easier though.  I almost didn't do this workout there were some very fast people on the track and I was embarrassed to be out there going so slow ... but I just sucked it up and tried to stay out of their way.  I mean these people were fast -- there was a young woman (wearing an Auburn track and field jersey) running 47 sec 350s and a guy (her boyfriend) running 1/4s.

Pretty tired today, couldn't sleep last night because I was worried about all things I lost from work ... I have a lot to do and I really don't know how I am going to finish it all.

PM: 4 miles easy.

Happy Tuesday bloggers. 

I am conflicted.  I think the person who stole my stuff is listing my phone on Craigslist and I am sorely tempted to try to get it (and maybe my work???) back.  But, I am also afraid to do that ... but they keep listing the phone every day.  It is a rare phone (google nexus one) and I really believe it is my phone ... I could catch them too, because I have the charger and all the accessories.   errrrrrr ... what to do? 

1:04:23.  Recovery run up the mountain ... tons of hunters today ... I did not see them, but I saw their trucks and a hiker (bushwacker) said he came up on some of them and he could see a whole bunch more from their vantage point.  Perfect weather for running, 45F and cloudy.  A big storm is coming though - blizzard conditions up on Mt Lemmon and snow down to 3000ft (our house maybe) ...going to be in the 20s tonight.  I LOVE this stuff (in small doses).  

Happy Hump Day bloggers! 

AM: (9.5 miles, 1:17:50).  Thirds progression run - 28 mins easy then 25` medium-easy and 25` medium-hard ... the last "third" was much harder because it was uphill into a serious headwind.   Sleety-snowy mess -- not the nice puffy snow, but cold, hard, wet, pellet snow.  I was freezing the first 2 miles but then was ok the rest of the way ... glad it is done, but I needed a very hot shower.

PM: 4 miles easy.

Yesterday was my last of  my "errands" to get my "stuff" -- I spent 4.5 hours yesterday at OfficeMax trying to get some of my data off of a old broken hard drive so I can start all over from 3 months ago with respect to 2 of my papers ... I also "replaced" my phone - actually I got a newer model of the phone I  used to have and then Dean and I switched phones, he wanted a lower profile phone to put in his pocket and I like the full keyboard he had on his.  Now I need to spend the next four days working like crazy as the deadlines have not moved just the amount of time I have to finish and REDO stuff has.  

Have a happy day bloggers!! 

1:03:54.  My legs were tired today, I couldn't believe that I made it to the top of the mountain in exactly 33 mins (which means 30:54 back).  I felt like I was really running slow, but apparently I wasn't any slower than usual.  It was in the 20s here last night, but warmed up to 35 by the time I left for my run ... spitting snow again, but not the wet yucky kind today, I little "nicer" (though not the good puffy kind).  

Happy New Years eve bloggers!!!  Enjoy the last of 2010!