1:04:38.  Very very slow recovery run up the Yeatman trail.  Saw a huge buck -- I told him to run, it is hunting season for another 2 weeks in the park (bow hunting only for javelina and deer).  

I am very tired, a little from yesterdays run and a little because we stayed up late (we watched Julie and Julia -- good movie, I thought) and I had to get up early to pick my Mom up from the airport.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Day -- happy 2010! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:17:58).  Still feeling Thursday a little, but I just took it easy and felt pretty good by the end of the run.  Ran the hilly loop and then ran 8 x 100m strides.

We are going to hang pictures today -- my Mom is here to help (right now she is soaking up some vitamin D).

PM: (4 miles easy).

Enjoy the weekend bloggers!

1:54:53 (50:37 +20:05, 44:00).  WOW!  This was my hilly route that I run in the Saguaro National Park.  The loop is a little more than 5.5 miles -- I am not sure exactly how long it is, I just know it is not quite 6 and more than 5.5.  It is uphill for almost 3 miles then downhill for a little more than 1.5 miles and then flat to uphill for the last bit.  I added on 20 mins in the middle of the first loop, I ran out and back on a long road that goes out to a trailhead - I did this 2.5 times to make sure I got in 14 miles.  I ran hard the last loop, mainly pushing it a little on the uphills and then just running comfortable on the downhills and then about 1/2 marathon pace for the last 20` or so; I am pretty sure I have never run this route this fast, and it did not feel hard (except for some of the hills during the last 10 mins).

It was such a beautiful day -- I had forgotten how pretty this was, I am hoping to be able to take 1/2 day off this week to take my Mom to the Desert museum and if I get my new camera in time I can take a couple of pictures on the way there.  The whole drive and run is just breathtaking.  I am sure that the beauty has healing properties, I felt fully recovered from Thursday. 

Have a wonderful Sunday bloggers!!

AM: (10+ miles, 1:33:25).  Nice hilly 9 + 8 x 100m strides.  I must have felt really good because I hit all my usual landmarks faster.  I just ran longer and turned around after a while ... I am hoping it was closer to 10.5 today.

PM: (4 miles easy).

Two more workouts until my race!!  Ok, I am ready to say it out loud.  I will be happy with anything under 44 mins, but I would LOVE to be closer to 43:30.  There you go.  I said it.  Based on my 1/2 marathon last year I should be able to hit a 43:30, but speed is not my forte so things will have to align just right ... I will just do what I can to allow for the best (recover well, eat right and be healthy, and work hard - in that order) and then what will be will be ...

I hope you are all staying warm, and running well!

1:04:50.  Beautiful run on the Yeatman trail -- I know, I am sounding like a broken record!!

AM: (10+ miles, 1:29:34). 31:15 wu/31:21 cd.  5 x 800m @ 10K > 5K pace w/400 recovery.  Target pace (3:21 - 3:29/ 6:44-6:59).  Actual pace: 3:23 (2:19), 3:21 (2:18), 3:23 (2:19), 3:23 (2:18), 3:20 (3:22).  Not bad ... especially because it was VERY windy today.  The whole time down to the track I was trying to estimate how much the wind was going to cost me ... and I was actually quite angry about it after thinking about it for 30 mins ;-).  But I just tried to relax and not over do it into the wind, a good strategy I guess.  I was sort of surprised when I saw this workout, I thought it was a little easy compared to the past couple weeks -- but it wasn't really that easy, just shorter than usual.  Next week are more 400's so it is nice to have some slightly shorter workouts thrown in ... but I guess 2.5 miles at 5K pace or thereabouts really can't be thought of as easy ;-).

PM: (4 - 4.5 miles easy). 

I have a lot to do today - mainly because I am trying to get some work done so I can take my Mom to the desert museum.  The wildlife is not being cooperative - not one sighting while she has been here, despite her diligent watchfulness ... so, I am going to cheat and take her to where we are guarenteed to see some animals ;-).

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

1:02:45.  Early morning run on Yeatman Trail.  Like sunset in reverse, orange glow on the mountainsides ... sillouette of the saguaros against the mountains ... awwww.

I did get my new camera (Christmas present from Dean's Mom -- well, 1/2 of it was), I now have a tiny little Sony Cyber-shot!  I have not had a chance to play with it yet - we were supposed to go to the desert museum yesterday but I had some work stuff come up (grrrrrr, I won't get started on it) and then I went into a panic because I have somehow lost my drivers license!!  Darn!  Utah is no longer replacing them via mail, so I have to try and get a copy of my driving record to prove I have a license, OR I will have to apply for a "new" license, which is really a pain - and will take a whole day (which I don't have).  And, classes start next week -- not good timing.  Anyway, I spent an hour scouring the house, instead of strolling through the wonderful desert museum ... poor Mom. 

I discussed my training with Greg, and I feel better about things today.  I was a little frustrated yesterday, not because the workout went badly - but I thought it felt harder than it should have.  I had done a Yasso 800 workout last March at almost the same pace (10 x 800).  Why would 5 x 800 feel harder?  Well, duh.  I actually was about 3-5 seconds faster yesterday, and my recovery was a little more than a minute less.  That extra minute of recovery really does help ;-).  Anyway, I feel a little better today, and Greg assures me, I am right on 'training-wise'.  The race I am running has an interesting prize structure, $100  under 31:00 for men and under 36:30 for women in the 10K and under 15:00 for men and under 17:30 for women in the 5K.  I think many of Gregs elite group may be coming down for this race ... so we will have a full house!  And they can cheer me on at the finish -- since they will have finished their race and cool down by the time I am near the finish ;-) -- one of the good things about being a slower runner!

Enjoy your Friday bloggers!! 

AM: (9+ miles, 1:21:56).  8+ miles + 8 x 100m strides.  I am not a morning person, but 7:30 was a perfect time to run this morning.  The sun rise over the mountains was stunning and the temperature was more perfect than perfect.  We went up to Phoenix yesterday afternoon to see the magic doctor, John.  He worked on my back and shoulder (not running related but an injury that has been bugging me for months now -- probably due to long hours on the computer coupled with carrying a laptop around too much.  Anyway - on the way home we took my Mom to the petroglyphs ... I got some awesome pictures that I will try to upload some time this weekend, it was cloudy last night so there was quite a sky show with orange streaks ... I hope they come out even half as nice in a picture as it was in person!

PM: (4 -4.5 miles easy).

I have to go to Michaels to get some pictures framed, and then I need to work a little today -- I am really hoping to take tomorrow off off off!

 Happy weekend bloggers!
 

maybe closer to 14.5.  1:59:19.  Ran my "flat"route in the valley of the Tucson Mountain Park.  I tried a little variation of my normal route, so I am pretty sure it was long by at least 1/2 mile ... maybe more.  Since I wasn't sure where I was -- though I had an idea -- I wasn't sure when to start running hard (was supposed to run the last 20` hard) -- so I just ran pretty hard for about 30` and just kept running a little harder until the end -- when I found the "main" trail I knew I still had 10` to go -- I ended running the last 45` hard.  I would estimate I was running a little faster than marathon effort, finishing up at a little faster than 1/2 marathon effort to 10K effort.  Felt good to finish ;)

Took my Mom to the airport yesterday -- then took some paintings that we got in Australia over 4 years ago to be framed -- not an inexpensive venture I have to say ... but it will be worth it when we hang them up!

Happy Sunday bloggers!  Rest well!

AM: (13 miles, 1:46:27). 33:27 wu/28:34 cd. 16 x 400 @ 10K>5K pace w/ 200 recovery. It was brutal, it was ugly. The wind was blowing so hard that I was going sideways a few times -- despite weighing in 3 lbs heavier this morning ... All the way down to the track I kept telling myself not to compare todays workout with the one I ran a few weeks ago, I figured the wind was going to cost me at least 1-2 secs/lap. I ended up running the first lap too hard, but tried to just relax.

Summary:

1st 1600: 1:39, 1:40, 1:41, 1:41 (6:41), ave recovery 1:08

2nd 1600: 1:41, 1:42, 1:38, 1:41 (6:42), ave recovery 1:08

3rd 1600: 1:38, 1:39, 1:41, 1:39 (6:37), ave recovery 1:12

4th 1600: 1:39, 1:40, 1:39, 1:38 (6:36), ave recovery 1:10

I ran a littler harder than I meant to, because of the wind (did I mention how windy it was? :-) ) - but all and all, I have to be happy about the weather here, and my improvement this month (last month I ran 6:52, 6:35, 6:49, 6:49). This was the last hard workout until my race ... the goal is to have 10K pace feel "easy" (at least compared to 5K pace ;-) ).

PM: (4 miles super duper easy).

Alas, my blogger friends, my cat Titus has struck again. He was obsessed with the laundry room since Sunday -- I told Dean that he must have brought something inside (from outside), I saw little blood stains on the floor yesterday morning. So Dean moved the washer, dryer and all the other things around last night but did not find anything. This morning I saw the mouse/desert rat ... I told Dean that we needed to catch it (while it was alive) because I did not want Titus torturing the poor thing any more. Well, when I got back from my run Dean had left me a note "I caught and removed the mouse, unfortunately, he did not survive". RIP little fella.

1:05 or so ... I did not really time it today - ran up the Yeatman Trail.  A deer and I startled each other ... he was way close.   I felt really good this morning on my run, I was surprised, and a bit nervous so I made a very conscience attempt to run as slowly as I possibly could.  They say you never get injured when you are running badly (because you push yourself when you are running well).  Anyway -- it was weird, I had something happen last night that hasn't happened in a while, I had bad night sweats.  I used to have these all the time nights after I did really hard track workouts.  I guess yesterday really was harder than I have been running in a long time - guess that is good ;-).  

Anyway, classes started today, I am teaching an early class on Monday and Wednesday and did not have time to get to blog until now.  And so it begins again!

I hope you all had clear air, sunshine and happy running today bloggers!

AM: (9.5 miles, 1:32:43).  8.5 miles + 8 x 100m strides. 

I hope to get a PM run in, but I am not sure.  Our water heater (brand new, manufactured in May 2009) broke yesterday when we were at work.  Flooded the house caused substantial water damage.  We did not sleep last night (water damage restoration people were here until 11PM - and we have huge noisey industrial sized blowers and dehumidifiers everywhere). We still don't know if our tile and carpets are salvagable at this point, and about 4 ft or so of wall might be compromised too.   The insurance company is moving us to a motel for 3-5 days ... I have a grant due tonight, so I am not sure I will be able to move and get my work done let alone go for a run.  But I am hoping to try for at least 3.5 miles tonight. 

Stay toasty and safe bloggers (and don't get water-logged, it is not fun).

 PM: (4 miles).  I snuck in a run, now I am working in our quiet, dry motel room.  Sleep tight bloggers.

59:52.  Our hotel is on the "other side" of town - actually much more populated (and some would say the "nicer" part of town -- I liken it more to more and less populated.  There certainly are more stores and resturants over here.  Anyway, I ran over to a park about 2 miles from the hotel.  The run over there was not really pleasant, mainly a sidewalk run next to a 6 lane road.  The park was ok. I was able to find a series of trails that ran around some sort of a dirt/rock facility ... maybe a dump?  Anyway -- I followed  a series of trails left by other people and their domestic animals (dogs) - there might have been some javelina around, it was certainly close enough to people (and more importantly, garbage).  

I got up early and worked, so I could send some grant stuff out before the day actually started, so it was pretty warm by the time I started.  Good thing, since I forgot to pack my gloves, although I am not compeletely adverse to using socks on my hands, I was glad I didn't need them by the time I ran.

Happy Friday bloggers! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:17:53).  8 miles + 8 x 100m strides. I ran Sabino Canyon + one of the lower trails off of the visitors center.  Sabino Canyon is a beautiful place, despite most of the run being on ashpalt. I have heard a lot about it since moving here, but had never actually been there (since it is on the North East side of town and I live on the West side).  Rocky canyon that snakes up about 600ft (start is at 2800ft, so low to you high-landers, but higher than sea level).  The road is closed to cars, though they have a tram/bus thing that takes people to the top and stops at 8 different stops over the 3.7 miles up.  Not a really steep uphill (~3.2%) but steady uphill out and downhill back - I liked the uphill part, it was a good workout.  I did not like the downhill part, I tried to take it really easy, but I swear with every footfall I felt my body go 'ouch' ;-).  I am spoiled I know, I like my dirt trails and I like rolling hills.

PM: (4 miles, easy easy easy).

Happy Saturday bloggers -- I hope you all had nice runs and awesome races!

2:12:59.  Ran on the Rillito trail -- I actually started at the turn-around point when I did my 20 milers last year.  Kind of weird running it backwards!  My legs were pretty sore today, the downhill really did a little damage.  Since I ran harder than I generally do, and this close to the race there is not anything to gain, I decided to take it a bit easy today, I still ran a little harder the last 20' - but ran slightly faster than MP rather that the 1/2 marathon pace I usually do ... I have one more little speed session this week, mainly just to keep my legs "snappy", but this week is all about recovery recovery recovery.

I got a really late start because I was live-streaming and tracking two different races this morning.  First off was the Houston 1/2 and marathon.  Brett Gotcher of McMillanElite ran an awesome 2:10:36 in his first marathon! I am not positive, but this might have been either the 3rd or 4th fastest debut ever for an US runner (he was 7th overall, with 5 guys coming in sub-2:10! wow).  Paige Higgens, another McMillanElite runner, was 4th in the womens race with a 2:33:32.  Shalane Flannagan got the course record in the 1/2 and ran her first 1/2 marathon in 1:09:41.  Meanwhile, here in Arizona, Alvina Begay (another McMilllan Elite runner, was 6th in the marathon with a 2:37:low.  Deena Kastor shows us all that she still has it going on with a stunning 1:09:low win in the 1/2 marathon. 

What a great morning for road racing!  Meanwhile, on the track, Alan Webb is getting ready for some fast track times this spring with a 3:45 time trial!! It will be so good to seem him back this year!  World Champs are going to be good!!

Happy Sunday bloggers.

AM:(7 miles easy, 1:03:48.  Raining but nice morning.  My leg hurts, but less than it did on Sunday.  I have been trigger point balling it and rolling it for 2 days.  Dean said, "it doesn't matter if it hurts, you just have to run fast".  I also have been using my "salonpas" patches (a mixture of menthol, camphor and methyl salicylate - they work wonders for my PF, well that and using Birkenstocks).  I told Dean last night, "I feel like I am being held together by scotchtape and menthol" -- he said, "you are ready to race" ;-).

PM: 3.5 miles easy (~30`)

We are hopefully moving back into our house tonight - the contractors won't be finished fixing things until late next week, but they think they will be able to remove the equipment tonight so at least we will have 1 room to live in (just like the hotel).  Very busy day at work ... I hope I can get out in time to meet the insurance adjustor tonight ...

I hope you are all having a great running week bloggers!!

11 miles, 1:29:48.  28:20 wu/29:06 cd.  Cruise interval workout: 5 x 1000m w/200 recovery (4:18-4:22/K pace, 6:56-7:05/mile) + 3 x 200m w/200 recovery.  I call this my "internal garmin calibration" workout.  Greg *always* has me run this workout 4-5 days before a race.  I had to teach this morning, and had some meetings in the early part of the afternoon, so I actually did this about 2PM ... not an ideal time because I can't eat before I run, so was kind of hungry around lunchtime ... but skipped lunch.  Good news was that I was able to run down to the track a little quicker than I usually do, because my legs were more warmed up, just from walking around for 8 hours.  I usually do my "track workout" warm up, where I jog to the track (~3 miles) and then run 800-1600 meters worth of strides before the workout.  Today I did more of my "pre-race" warm-up where I run easy for 1.5 miles and then run hard for 1.5-2.0 miles instead of doing strides.

Splits: 4:22, 4:18, 4:22, 4:20, 4:20 w/average 1:10 recovery + :46, :47, :46 w/average 1:07 recovery (man do I suck at these or what???  A mediocre 400m runner could run 400m by the time I run my 200's - and I was running hard!!).   It was windy, not quite as bad as last week, but these were slower than last week so it did not really have much of an effect.  I was really trying to remind myself - you need to run 6.2 miles at this pace (twice as long as today) with no 200 m breaks ... seems a little intimidating to me. 

I hope you are doing well, very busy day today with work, so I will read you blogs later.  Happy running!

AM: (5 miles easy, 45:04).  My internal garmin is calibrated ... I ran 23:12 out and 21:51 back - I knew the out portion was going to be a little slower because it is uphill and hard on the rocky parts, so I guessed when to turn around that would get me closest to 45` ... pretty funny.

PM: (2 miles easy).  Just keeping the routine.  No PM run per PT - not a bad choice since all heck is breaking loose at work today.  There will be some long workdays in my future for the next few days.

Happy Thursday bloggers.

I am meeting a new PT today ... to see if she can help me with my leg -- that still hurts after Saturday. 

43:12.  A little longer than 4.5 miles ... very very easy.  I got worked over pretty good.  My leg is still sore, but more from the therapist than the big ole' knot that was in the belly of my quad.  She said to take it really easy today, and no hills, so I did.  It was a mudfest, but fun as long as I kept it pretty slow.

Happy Friday bloggers.

Had some errands to run before I got to work so I ran near my old neighborhood (~30`).   Because of the rain and snow the past couple of days the Rillito River was flowing!! Pretty cool, it was always a dry wash when we lived there ... Snow on most of the mountain tops ... very pretty.  The wind is still blowing (a couple of days ago they measured 56 mph at the airport) -- I really hope it dies down by tomorrow.  It is supposed to be ~35F at the start ... I am thinking it will be warmer than that.  My leg is sore most of the time, but did not bother me too much while I was running (jogging really).  

Happy Weekend bloggers!  Looks like Painter's was exciting, I can't wait to see all of the race reports come in! 

Yea! It hurt, just like I thought it would, but I made my target and I am happy. The age groups were 40-49, I actually won my age group - because they took the overall masters winner out. I missed overall masters to a 40 year old, who beat me soundly (by a whole minute -- a huge amount in a 10K). So, my prize was nice as  I got "first age group winner" (a very very nice pair of gloves), but I am counting it 2nd  in my age group.  The woman who beat me was in the 50 year old age group -- how great is that???  Not only that, but the 2nd woman in the 50-59 year age group beat me too!! I was 9th woman and 58th overall (out of 221).

 I overslept ... I don't know what it is about me and 10K's  - this time MichelleL was not here to wake me up.  Luckily, I only woke up 35 mins late, so it was ok.  I ran 3+ miles wu and 3 miles cd (much more slowly than my wu).  It was about 35F and a little windy, but not as bad as it was during my track workouts.  It was a flat course (a few blips but nothing to complain a lot about, but you felt them). 

The mile markers were off, I tried really hard to not get freaked out and just run by what I knew I could do. I knew the course was certified, so I suspected that it would turn out ok. My strategy was to run the first 3-4 miles under control and then start racing, "run the first 1/2 of the race with your head and the last 1/2 with your heart" (I think Jack Daniels said this). My "wrong" splits were: 6:54, 7:25 (wrong - someone around me said it was a 7:11 split - it was uphill with a tough headwind, but not 25 seconds!), 6:58, 6:08(wrong), 7:51 (wrong - average of these two miles would be 6:59), 6:52 (hurt hurt), last .2 6:45.  I think the last .2 was actually slower than the split showed, even though I was racing a guy that was right off of my shoulder (those 100m strides paid off today -- I beat him over the line by a stride) - it hurt. Did I mention how much it hurt? ;-).  At 4 miles I saw Dean and he said "Ok Bon, you are doing great, now start passing these guys in front of you".  Being the "follower of directions" that I am, I did.  I just concentrated on picking off people, even though it hurt.   My friend Merry passed me in mile 2, but I passed her at mile 4 - and according to her she tried to keep up with me but by mile 5 I was speeding up (it did not feel like it to me - though I was breathing hard by mile 4).  Even though my splits were off my average pace was 7:00.5 and that is all I care about overall - well, that and that I did not slow down at the end ;-).

Ahhh. it took 4 years, but I finally did it!  Thank you for your kind words and encouragement bloggers!

Happy Sunday bloggers.

53:36.  Beautiful run on the Yeatman trail.  I stumbled twice today -- weird.  I felt really good today, but I still followed directions and ran very easy.  I might jog a little tonight - but I might not.  Depends on how things go at work today.  And whether I have time to eat lunch or not.

So, I was remembering something this morning that I did not share with you all on Sunday (since my race report was already too long for a 10k ;-) ).  It was about 5-8 mins before the start of the race and people were starting to line up at "the start" (no markings and the race was not chip timed so there were no timing mats) ... I ran off to find a VPB - I ran up the street about 1/4 of mile and found a nice patch of trees.   Just as I am "finishing up" and coming out of my bathroom, I realize that EVERYONE in the race was right there.  Apparently, the start of the race was a little further back than the earlier people had estimated.  Pretty good timing - but I was pretty surprised to see everyone outside of my potty.  What can I say, when you have to go you have to go.

Happy Tuesday bloggers!

Another nice easy run up Yeatman trail.  I felt really good today, could have run longer, but a little recovery is good before the next "push".  (53:29).

M-W are my absolute busiest days, even more so during grant deadline push.  I will be checking on you all as soon as possible ... until then, Happy Humpday!!

NOTE:

Greg McMillan and Brett Gotcher will be airing a training segment tonight at 8PM EST.

AM: (7.5 miles, 1:06:34). Another comfortable run up Yeatman trail.  Still feeling good, running-wise - very sleep deprived in general.  It was a little chilly today because it was wet -- drizzle/sleet at the beginning of the run and then more rain-like by the end.  The trail was slippery in spots, luckily I wasn't trying to go very fast.  Greg wanted me to take it really easy this week, so that is what I am doing, and it doesn't bug me much at all ;-), my true lazy nature is showing itself I guess.

PM: (3.5 very easy).

I hope you are all warm and dry bloggers!

Some highlights from the interview/training podcast with Greg and Brett Gotcher from last night ... the interview went for 90` instead of 60`, I haven't had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet -- hopefully this weekend.  Definitely worth a read/listen.

1:05:something.  Same run as yesterday.  I spent the run thinking about recovery and trail running.  Regarding recovery, I truly believe it is the most important part of training.  Recovery from hard workouts on easy days and also recovery from hard training cycles after key races.  This week was not about recovering from a race, it was a little recovery from a hard 4 months of training.   Secondly, I like running my Yeatman trail on my easy days because it keeps me running slow (because the footing is bad and it is hilly), but at the same time I am working my stablizer muscles and balance/co-ordination (which I desperate need help with ;-) ).    Nerd that I am, I felt much better knowing that I had a rational reason for my run today!

Another nerdy thing - we got a new scale this week (Tanita Ironman Body Composition Monitor).  It measures all kinds of stuff (probably not accurately): weight, body fat, water and muscle mass and some sort of "body type" and "body age" thing that is scary because it says I am 13-15 years old, luckily Dean is equally young so we are ok there).  Anyway - body fat wise, the recommendation is for women to weigh themselves in the evening (at the same time), not too close to finishing a workout.  Well, I always used to weigh myself after runs (I liked the weight then ... dehydration and all) ... so all week I have been weighing myself in the mornings (like I used to) and again at night (which they reccomend) ... surprisingly enough both my weight and body fat calculations are "better" at night (even though I often feel fatter then!).  Difference is about 2bls and 3%!!  That said, my morning readings and my evening readings were pretty close to other (difference ~ +/- .5 bls and +/- .5%).  Just so you know, I did not make my target weight goal before my 10K -- I was shooting for 125 and only got to 129/130.  But, I still ran ok ... so, I guess my "target weight" should have been higher ;-).

I hope you all have wonderful weekends and to those of you that are racing -- Go GetUm!

REMINDER: track fans, tonight Millrose Games will be on ESPN at 6PM mountain time.  Of note: Bernard Lagat is going for his 8th Wannamaker Mile win!!  GO BERNARD!!

My throat is sore from screaming at the TV last night -- GO LAGAT!!  8 Millrose Mile wins!  He makes it look so darn easy.

AM:(8 miles, 1:11:45).  Nice easy pace, hilly route. I am a little tired today, we stayed up too late last night.  Beautiful day today, overcast but a warm 50F.

PM: (4 miles easy easy).

Happy weekend bloggers!

1:57:46.  Wonderful trail run on my "flat" trails.  I parked in a different spot, hoping to figure out how do this in laps so that during the summer I will be able to drop water.  It was about 1:10 to do the whole lap once -- I got water and then wound around a bunch of other trails to find my way back.  Greg said I could run the last 5` at 1/2 marathon pace if I was feeling "frisky" - I actually ran a little hard the last 10` because there were some mountain bikers on the trail - they were stopped at the bottom of a hill when they saw me coming and jumped on their bikes  in front of me, well, of course, I *had* to stay as close to them as  possible.  It was uphill the last mile and they finally stopped and pulled over and let me pass ;-).  I will admit, they weren't exactly true competitive mountian bikers (who would have kicked my behind) - but I was pretty happy to have "beaten" them anyway - especially since I wasn't even breathing hard!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day with friends and family!

No run today -- but I am excited to share that there is a new ultra running coach in town.  Ian Torrence has joined forces with Greg McMillan  -- and even if you don't want a coach, his blog is kind of interesting -- at least to you ultra folks out there (read, crazies).

I hope you are all having happy and pain-free running today bloggers!  At least those of you that are resting on those laurels after the fast racing this weekend!

AM:(9+ miles, 1:22:56).  Hilly run at pretty easy pace.  For having a week of recovery my legs are surprisingly dead and heavy.  I reduced my caloric intake a lot last week, to compensate for the lack of running -- but for some reason I still felt like I was trudging along carrying an extra persons worth of weight ... oh well, nice run anyway!

PM: (4 miles easy).

Happy running bloggers! 

1:03:28.  Easy run on the trail, before the rain came in ... good timing.  Still feeling a little sluggish today, but not quite "Michelin Man" (loved it Samantha!).  

Have to run, teaching this morning and two projects due today ... I can't believe I only have a month to rewrite my grant for resubmission, have a presentation for a external review of a grant, and I have two trips to DC this month!!  There are definitely not enough hours in the day.

Have a good day bloggers!!

AM: (11 miles, 1:35:08). 28:51 wu +strides/25:23 cd. My "workout" today was to run 5 x 5` @ steady state pace (7:24-7:36/mile) w/3` recovery. I have been feeling so strange this week, that I really wanted to do this on the track to see if I have been running harder than I thought lately (and that is why my legs feel sluggish) - I figured if I struggled with this workout then that would mean something else entirely. But mainly, I just wanted to make sure I did not run too hard today. I modified the workout slightly into 5 x 1200 @ SS pace w/600 recovery (target for 1200 was 5:33-5:39). It had been so long since I   had run at this pace I knew it would be a little difficult to find ... 5:19 (3:25) 5:23 (3:22) 5:39 (3:23) 5:28 (3:26) 5:23. A little on the fast side, but I was relaxed and finally I just went with the effort-based workout and did not worry about splits. Felt good to be running a little hard again. It is going to take a while to remember what 1/2 marathon training pace feels like ... better get used to it before the long tempo runs begin!

PM: (easy 4). I just can't get these done before 8PM ... every single T/Th I try to get out before it is dark, but I always get stuck at work ... I have meetings all day today, so I am positive I won't be leaving my office before 8 tonight ... luckily, there are a few people still out in the park at this time of the night -- and it is not as busy as it can be at 6PM.

I hope everyone is feeling good today, and I hope you got some sunshine where you are!! Spring is almost here!

1:03:41.  A little too fast recovery run up Yeatman trail -- no wonder my hamstring yelled at me a couple of times.  It generally takes me about 1:05-1:06 to run all the way to the top of the "big hill" and back down.  Anyway ... beautiful morning.   I am going to work really late tonight, in hopes to finish my lecture for Monday and get some work done, so I don't have to come in over the weekend.  I think both Dean and I are a little overworked right now and need some down time -- and we need to finish re-unpacking our house after the flood.

Have a wonderful day and a great weekend bloggers! 

AM: (8+ miles, 1:11:25). Nice hilly run. First time I have felt this good all week. Did not run hard, but focused on running consistently both uphill and on flat and downhill portions. Nice day, got up a little late this morning, so my work day is a little rushed.

PM: (easy 4).

Need to finish as much work as possible today so I can take time to watch track and field tomorrow! I LOVE this time of year!! Reebok games will be on Sunday 2PM EST on ESPN2. Next meet will be the USA Indoor Nationals on the 28th.

Have a wonderful weekend bloggers, run safe, stay dry (don't trip on the snow and ice)!

1:59:34.Wow what a great training run.   Very slow going because it was hilly.  I woke up to pouring rain - it had been raining most of the night (snowing in the mountains but just not cold enough for ours, since they are only ~5000 ft).  Luckily, I am a great procrastinator so by the time I got started it was only sprinkling. 45F and wet is not too bad, but I really wasn't sure what to wear ... (shorts I knew, but top??).  I ended up picking a short sleeve shirt because I wanted a pretty tight shirt that would not get too heavy in the rain ... then I thought, "what a perfect day for arm warmers!!".  Yes indeed.  It started raining pretty heavily again after the first 20 mins and so within the first hour I was soaked -- but warm and comfy.  After about 9 miles it warmed up enough that I took the arm warmers off, what cool things they are!

So, the run.  It was super hilly.  Since most of my usual long run venues are dirt roads or trails I had to pick something new for today.  I decided to do my usual hilly Saturday run and then a ~6 mile loop that Dean had done that I haven't done before -- the finish is basically my uphill from the Pima College track.  Pretty much every single mile of this run is up or down.  The longest uphill segment is about 2 miles and the steepest uphill is about 1.5 miles.  Nothing is too steep though - which is good since I hate downhills.  I would say probably about 2% grade up down.  Arthur Lydiard would absolutely love this route.  Anyway - I felt pretty good, the last 2 miles were tough, but I ran them pretty hard and felt really good. 

Bernard Lagat ran an indoor American record for the 5K today -- Ann Pierce (nee Willard) and Shannon Rowbury also ran great races ... I love Track and Field!   Nick Willis (NZ) won the mile in 3:55 after having hip surgery last year for an injury similar to our therapist thinks that Dean has -- so it gave Dean a little hope that he might someday be able to run again.

 Happy Sunday bloggers!

AM:(10 miles, 1:32:21). Probably a little longer than 10, I ran 9+ miles and then did 8 x 100m strides. I have two ways to figure out when to "turn around" in my runs, either I run for the alloted amount of time, or if I am running a bit faster than normal (at the same effort) then I run to a specified turn-around point. Today I ran to my turn-around point - and I was there with about a minute to spare ... pretty cool, I was not running any harder than usual, and I felt really good today.

PM:(4 miles easy).

very busy day today ... I am wishing happy trails and awesome miles for you all today!!

1:01:08.  Yeatman trail. Lots of work today and early morning class.  Saw a herd of mule deer, they were very cool!  Just to explain how sleep deprived and stressed out I am right now, I was getting ready for my run last night (about 8PM) and I changed in my office.  Then I hit the restroom and walked to my car to drive to the park.  I don't know why, but I looked down at my feet ... one Nike Free and one Nike Pre ... drat.  

I will have to write the story of the co-eds in the park another time ... I hope I remember it later ;-).

Happy Wednesday bloggers!  it is snowing in the mountains -- it is cold enough that it might be snowing at my house -- alas, I am not there.

AM: (11 miles, 1:29:43).  30:51 wu/ 29:12 cd + 4 mile SS run (7:24-7:36/mile).  Ran down to the track, it was a bit windy, but luckily I wasn't doing any speed work so the wind wasn't too bothersome.  Man, I just love this pace, it is still my "sweet spot", once I get into it, I can just relax and it just comes, 7:33, 7:25, 7:23, 7:16.  My "running uphill" legs are a little tired, but I know the circuits I am doing will make me strong, so I am trying to love them ;-).  Still horribly sleep deprived, but I guess I am getting used to it.

Ok ... I am sure this story will be a little anti-climatic, sorry I got your hopes up.  It was pretty funny on Tuesday night, maybe just because I am a little punch-drunk this week.  Anyway.  So, I left work late (reference: two different shoe story) and drove over the only lighted area in town to run my easy 4 miles.  As I am getting out of my warm-up pants these two really young college students come over to me.  Apparently they had locked their keys in their car and wanted to borrow my cell phone.  Of course I said yes, and as one sister dialed the number the other one started telling me about the "nice cop over in the police car who seemed nice but wouldn't help them".  Wow, I was surprised (I have always found cops pretty helpful, especially when it comes to helping cute co-eds).  Apparently, they (the cops) aren't allowed to use the slim jim anymore to open peoples cars, and for some reason would not let the girls use his phone.  I found this odd, but ... what do I know?  So, the girls have to call their Mom, to get the number for a friend, who has the number for the roommate who can either come and get them or get a key?  It was taking a really long time and there was a lot of "can you call me back ..." etc.  It was already 8:30PM so I gave them my car key, showed them my secret hiding place and told them where to put my phone when they finished and went on my run.  about 40 mins later I was back at the car and the girls were hanging out by the cop car. They ran over and told me that their ride was there and that the cop was going to drive the 800 meters across the parking lot to tell their ride where they were ????? hmmm???  anyway, they were huggy and happy  and all was well with the world.  After they left I went and asked the cop who was flirting with who?  He laughed.  Then I told him I was surprised he couldn't help them and what were they supposed to do if I hadn't helped them.  He said that the city won't let them break into peoples cars anymore and that he offered to call the city contractor to come and do it (it would cost $50) and the girls said no.  He then said that they did not know the local number they needed to call and he wasn't going to let them use his phone to call long distance to ask Mom and whoever in Kansas for the number (? I did not know they were calling long distance, but it really doesn't matter).  He said that they had their iPod and could have sent people facebook messages or something, but that they did not have reception in the park and he had told them they could go to McDonalds for free internet. He said, "I did not know what else to do for them, they were co-eds from the U you know" ;-)  ... I wasn't sure what he meant, so I left it alone ;-).  It was pretty funny at the time though - both his reaction and the fact that I had no idea what the real story was all about -- but it was mighty complicated when all the pieces came together ;-).

Have a great day, and watch out for spacey, albeit cute, co-eds!

1:00:48.   Yeatman trail -- beautiful day.  I don't know why, but I felt awesome today.  I ran to the top and back - lots further than on Wednesday's run -- probably closer to 7.5 miles.  No wildlife though, I saw about 12 deer on Wednesday, today only one Rhodesian Ridgeback (like my dog Keiko, but Keiko is much prettier than this one was ;-) ).

Have a wonderful weekend bloggers!

AM: (9+ miles, 1:20:19).  ~8 miles + 8 x 100 m strides.  A little sore today, yesterday I had some ART -- didn't hurt as much yesterday as it did today.  Funniest thing?  Poor John, he was about to cause me much pain and I knew it and took a deep breath and tried to act stoic.  Dean laughed at my face and John said, "I love my job" as I started to almost cry ;-). Dean thought that was pretty darn funny.

PM:(4 miles easy).

Happy Saturday bloggers, have to watch USATF cross-country!

HOLY COW.  Colleen DeReuck won the masters women's 8K by 1:45!!  She would have placed well in the men's race! WOWOW!

Probably closer to 14.5 miles ... 2:04:52. I ran my "flat" loop ... near Old Tucson ... ran the big loop (about 8 miles in 71`) and then ran the inner loop, with the last 20` hard; given my workout this week I would guess the hard bits to be 7:40-7:50 depending on how sandy the footing was and how many little hills I was climbing.

Lots of birds out today, it was pretty warm, warm enough in fact that I was paying attention to the "sticks" on the trail -- in a month to 6 weeks it is likely that they won't be sticks; which, of course, reminded me that we have to "snake guard" our yard soon. The desert museum uses a fine chicken wire that they bend into a "L" and then you attach it to the bottom of your fence with the lip sticking out (backwards). It then lays on the ground and about 6" up the fence. The finer the chicken wire the smaller the snake that it keeps out. I am pretty sure we will have them in our back yard, but the dogs don't go out there so it won't be as much of an issue. Such a beautiful day.

I have to change up my running schedule this week because I have a business trip on Wednesday. The bad part about living in the west, and Tucson in particular, is that it takes nearly 6 hours to travel to DC and parts East ... I have to be in DC by 7PM on Wednesday for a dinner so I have to leave here by about 7AM - for the 6 travel hours and the two hour time difference ... and no nonstop flights from here. Anyway, I won't have a day off until Wednesday, so I was trying to keep my run pretty easy today.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday bloggers!

7+ miles, 1:04:56.  Ran to the top of the mountain on the Yeatman trail.  Pretty morning.  Running off to get ready for class.

Have a great week bloggers!
 

AM: (10.5 miles, 1:33:02).  Hilly 10.5 + 8 x 100 m strides.  I ran into some friends on the run (two ironman triathletes) and ran a little way out of my way to run with them to catch-up. I don't know how long the extra bit was, but it took me about 6-7 mins to get back to my regular route - not a mile so I am calling it a 1/2.  

PM: (4 miles easy).  

Very very busy day today and I have to get my run in early enough to pack tonight and eat dinner with Dean (poor guy, I usually make him wait until about 9:00 or later). 

I hope you are having a wonderful day bloggers!
 

1:00:03.  Might have been closer to7.5.  I started out running on the road (literally, since there is still a foot of snow on the ground and no sidewalks or paths) - but it was pretty dangerous (especially in the dark) so I ran 8.5 laps around this man made lake (~1200m/.75 miles).  It was boring, but better than a treadmill (in my opinion). 

I was supposed to do a workout this morning, but things were bad yesterday, plane delays and long day of travel meant that I only had one meal (plus a power bar and a little bag of almonds).  Then, last night I did not sleep well. I woke up at 5 to run (3am my body time) and just felt horrible.  So, I laid there for another 1/2 hour and decided to try to heal and eat better today and do my workout tomorrow.

Busy day today - long meeting and lots of work.  Tomorrow will be another travel day. 

Hope you are all doing well and staying dry and warm!

1:38:37.  30:54 wu/32:59 cd.  fartlek workout 20 x :30 @ 5K pace w/1` recovery.  The faster parts were supposed to be at about 6:45 pace, but I had to do them uphill so I am sure they weren't much faster than 6:50 pace, and maybe closer to 6:55.  Very limited places to run, so I just ran around the neighborhood (staying at some friends house near Chevy Chase) and then found the flattest place around to do the fartlek part.  Even then I had to choose between uphill or downhill for the faster bits, I chose uphill - only about 1-2% grade so it wasn't really a hill workout.

Another day another very little food.  We worked through lunch and they ordered in some sandwiches - but forgot to order any vegetarian for me, even the salad had bacon in it.  So, yesterday I had a power bar, a little thing of yogurt and fruit for breakfast and lunch.  Had some nice Indian food for dinner though so I am not starving, just running a slight calorie deficit. 

Long travel night tonight, but at least I will be sleeping in my own bed.

Happy weekend bloggers!

AM: (8 miles).  Did not do my usual strides because I had a workout yesterday and I need to recover a little for my long run.  Yesterday was an incredibly long day.  2 hours to drive to the airport ... 2 hour flight delay meant I missed my connecting flight to Tucson, did get to Phoenix and took a shuttle home -- time of arrival at home was 1AM.  Another day of substandard nutrition.  I have been taking Emergan-C like crazy, I hope it helps!

PM: (4 miles easy).

Have a nice day bloggers!  Raining (snowing in the mountains) here, but hopefully just cloudy and chilly tomorrow ... 

2:00:28.  Nice run in Tucson Mountain Park.  Today I really felt the lost 3,000 calories from this week.  I was a little sluggish in the middle miles of my run. I picked it up the last 20`, probably not as fast as I usually do, but it was still a solid effort.  It will probably take me a couple of days to get my metabolism back to normal, but I am sure no real harm was done.  I just need to focus on eating healthy and keeping up with the Emergen-C to keep my immune system working hard!

Today I have to get my talk finished for a big meeting we are having on Wednesday and Thursday this week.  We were supposed to have them ready on Friday, so they could make copies for the exernal advisory board members (a group of scientists that will be reviewing our program) - but since I was out of town (and friends with the project director) they gave me until tonight!  I am the director of the statistics and bioinformatics core, so I have to tell the advisory board about all the work we have done over the past year - and what our plans are for the upcoming renewal submission in 6 months.   I am giving a midterm tomorrow, so luckily I don't also have to prepare a lecture.  I am so tired, what I would like to do is take a nap.  oh well.

I hope you are all enjoying your family day and the rest of your weekend!!

AM:(12 miles, 1:41:00 - wow, no seconds!).  30:05 wu+strides/26:41 cd (uphill home) + 6 mile steady state run (target pace is 7:36-7:24)  in 44:10: 7:29, 7:27, 7:26, 7:22, 7:16, 7:10.  It was a nice day for a run, about 45F and sunny, a little windy - but it wasn't excessive.  I really ran "inside myself" today.  I ran the first 2/3 of the workout concentrating on what the pace was intended for - comfortably hard pace that you can run for an hour - then allowed myself to run a little harder the last 1/3 as long as I did not compromise the workout ... it was a great training stimulus I think.  I was constantly assessing and reassessing my breathing, running relaxed and just letting myself work into the groove.  Highly enjoyable I have to admit.  I feel so lucky to be healthy and feeling good.

PM: (easy 4).

Have a wonderful day bloggers! 

1:03:06.  Recovery run on the Yeatman trail.  I missed my trail!  It was slow going at the start, but I have no idea how I got home so fast (I turned around at about 33  mins).  Very busy day today...

Hope you are all doing well! 
 

AM: (4.5 miles ? , 43:41).  Hmmm.  Probably a little further than 4.5.  I had to get to work early today for the external advisory board review (and my presentation).  I pretty much ran the same way I run on Saturdays without a watch, so I was surprised to see it was 43 mins ... I did add on a little bit but maybe I am running further on Saturday than I thought, interesting.

PM: (9.5 miles, 1:18:30).  Ran ~8.5 miles and then did 8 x 100 m strides.

The talk went well, kind of, it is hard to explain but I called Dean after the meeting was over (mine was only one of many many presentations), he asked me, "how did it go?", I said, "it must have gone well because one guy picked an argument with me, and then afterward two people came up and told me they agreed with me and one person asked I would consult with their company".  hmmm, what a weird world I live/work in.  

I hope you are all doing well and that your running is fun and fulfilling! 

1:03:43.  Beautiful morning -- the trail was particularly beautiful because of all the rain there is a lot of green these days!

Have a great day bloggers! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:20:30).  8 hilly miles + 8 x 100m strides.  Watching the storm roll in, it looks like a wet PM run today. I am worried sick about a good friend of mine from grad school who lives in Talca, Chile along with the family of one of the grad students that I work with.  Talca is a medium sized town in the mountains between Concepcion and Santiago (about 100 miles from each). 

PM: easy 4 -- I might wear my watch tonight because I want to see if what I have been assuming was 4 miles is more like 4.5.

Rest well my blogger friends.

1:59:33.  40F, raining, windy and a very very hilly run.  I am not complaining - but this was, weather-wise a pretty tough run.  It rained all night and was pouring when I got up this morning.  I waited until it was more of a "drizzle" before I started.  Since it was on the cool side I decided to wear tights, mainly because I knew it was going to rain the whole time and I hate wet sticky shorts.  At first, especially on some of the uphills, I thought I was going to regret the tights -- but after about 20 mins I was soaked through and after the first 40  mins I was into a stiff headwind and it was cold.  By the last 30 mins my hands were numb from the cold wind and wet gloves and I was very happy to be in tights ;-).  I ran the last 20` hard -- the very last 2 miles are uphill (some parts are pretty steep) - it is a stretch of road that when I run "down" to the track usually takes me about 19 mins -- I ran it in 16:53, probably 7:45 pace on the gentler incline and about 8 min pace on the serious uphill part.  All and all a very good training run, it is a good "rolling" course with at least 4 very steep sections and so the body gets used to "work hard" and then "recover" for the whole 2 hours ... no "sleeping on your feet" ;-).

I hope you are all having a wonderful family day -- enjoying birthdays, successes and warm nights at home! 

AM: (~10 miles, 1:29:31).  9 hilly miles + 8 x 100m strides.  I say ~10 miles because I am sure it was longer than 10.  I ran to my turn-around point (rather than my time) and got there with almost 4 mins to spare!  quite a surprise, I guess I am feeling frisky today!

PM: (4 miles easy).  

A coyote came right up to our bedroom door this morning - if Dean hadn't have moved he would have run into the house!  I think he was following a scent -- most likely Titus the cat (who had "just" came back inside, yikes!).

Have a wonderful day and week bloggers! 

1:02:56.  Beautiful run up the Yeatman trail.  Was in a bit of a hurry because of it being a Wednesday and all (teach in the morning).  I can't believe how busy things are right now, and given that my life at work is always busy, for me to notice it being busier is saying something ;-).  We have some folks coming into town this week from Nashville, runners (she was a DI steeple chaser for Iowa and then was the women's coach at Belmont University and he was coached under Jack Daniels when Jack was head coach at Cortland).  I am sure they are going to LOVE running here this week.  I am trying to find out if she can run in the open track meet that is being held here at the University this weekend -- could be fun, our first track meet of the season!  That is, if I can get some of my work done so I can take an afternoon off.  Tomorrow Dean is having his arthrogram -- to see if surgery is an option to get him up and running again.  Lot's of things going on!

I hope you all  had a good hump day and are running strong with a smile!!

AM:(~11.5 miles, 1:29:32).  26:33 wu/25:15 cd. Fartlek workout 20 x 1`w/1` recovery.  Warm-up and cool down was somewhere around 2.5-3 miles.  The fartlek portion was a little shy of 300 meters -- I was going to go down the track, but I have a sinus/head cold and thought a workout based solely on effort would be better right now than one where I was trying to hit a time.  Anyway, it was slightly faster or right at 5K effort (~ 6:45 pace -- which means the first 15 felt pretty good, and the last 5 were kind of tough ;-)).

PM:(4 miles easy).  

Have a wonderful day bloggers! 

1:04:04. Up the mountain -- on such a wonderful morning.  It was chilly, but shorts weather nonetheless.  I will have to put the actual time in later, I did not look at my watch today after I stopped running.  I was in a hurry because Dean and I are carpooling so our friends can use my car today to go sightseeing.  I have a horrific head cold, but mainly just a sneezy runny nose thing ... it doesn't seem to affect my running much except for the fact I haven't slept well for past few nights.  

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!!

AM: (9 miles, 1:21:16).  Hilly loop for 8 miles and then 8 x 100m strides.  Our friend Dave seems to have gone missing.  He went out for a run on the Yeatman trail and hasn't come home yet ... not that I am one to talk, but apparently he is directionally challenged.

PM: (4 miles easy).

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

1:55:32 (59:54/55:45) (AP 8:32/7:57), last 20` hard with the last two miles @ 7:46 and 7:19.  Ran out near my old stompn' grounds -- on the Rilito trail (hence the splits, since they have some mile markers ;-) ).  Took Dave and Jessica there - and let them go on without me, since I really did not want to even try to run too fast on the way out.  Good thing too because there was a huge headwind the whole way.  What really sucked is the storm came in during the run (it was raining pretty hard at the end of the run) and the wind shifted, so there was a headwind the last 4 miles too!  Drat.  I was surprised to see 8 min splits at miles 10 and 11, it did not feel like marathon pace at all - and I sort of worried about the last 3 miles, since I knew I wanted to get into 1/2 marathon pace near the end.  Luckily, the run went well (despite the 10mph headwinds) ... I finished really strong.  I saw Dave coming back about 1/2 mile before my turn around (he ran 16) and when I got to the car he said "wow, you flew the way back".

Now it is really storming ... a good day to sit around and visit with friends, maybe watch a movie or two ...

I hope you all have a wonderful relaxing day! 

AM: (10 miles, 1:28:34).  9 hilly miles + 8 x 100m strides.

PM: (4 easy).  

Busy day bloggers ... I am so tired.  I hope you have a great day!

Up the Yeatman trail - it was a brisk 37F today.  I didn't have my watch, somehow I left it in my office last night -- speaking of last night, I ran my 4 miles in the dark at the track ... mind numbing, I mean seriously, mind numbing!

Off to teach ...  Have a wonderful hump day!

AM: (14 miles, 1:51:45).  27:32 wu/25:19 cd.  8 mile Steady State run (severe chilly headwind on the backstretch of every one of these 32 laps -- it sucked).

7:32, 7:25, 7:16, 7:18, 7:25, 7:20, 7:19, 7:14.  These were a little faster than I had intended them to be (target was 7:24-7:36), in part it was because there was some type of fitness group on the track and they kept standing in lane 1 while they were getting directions and whatnot.  So miles 3-5 were a game of bob and weave -- I couldn't really get into a groove.  I was really hating the workout about mile 6.  I loved that I was almost done for the last 8 laps!   All and all a littler harder than it was supposed to be, but not too far off.

PM:(4 miles easy).

Have a wonderful day bloggers!

1:04:01.  Easy (faster than I would have expected though) run up the Yeatman trail.  This run was much better than I had anticipated.  I was so sore last night before my 2nd run that I was worried about even doing that run, let alone today.  Miraculously, I seem to have recovered in my sleep.  Although that is not really true, my legs were really tired and I stumbled twice today.  Pretty scary both times, one time if I had fallen something would have broken for sure, either my wrist from falling on pointy rocks or my legs/hips from falling off the ledge.  The second time, I would have fallen right on top of  an extremely pointy cactus.  

A couple days ago we had our first snakebite of the season here ... reminding me that we haven't finished "snake proofing" our yard, and that soon I most likely won't be able to run on some of my favorite trails. bummer.  But, I get them over 1/2 of the year, I guess the natives can have it the other half.

Happy Friday bloggers!
 

AM: (8 miles, 1:12:xx).  8 x 100 m strides. Was running late so I had to do my strides during the last mile of my run today.

PM: (4 miles).  Ran in the dark at Tempe Town Lake.

So, Dean had a grant meeting up in Phoenix (at TGEN).  The plan was I would go up with him and go see John the Magic ART guy, find a nice coffee place and work for a few hours and then pick Dean up and take him to John on our way home.  John was way overbooked, so I went to his office and then rebooked my appointment for later when Dean was finished with his meeting.  The coolest thing?  As I was walking into Johns office I see another woman going in the door, I swear, she looked EXACTLY like Kim Smith ...  well, I sat next to her in the waiting room, and I knew it was her (she looks like she weighs like 90 lbs soaking wet, btw)!  Very cool.  Just as a bit of history, Kim Smith won NCAA cross-country, indoor 5K and outdoor 10K in 2005, she lost to Shalane Flannagan in 2006.  She has the NZ record in the 3K,  5K and 10K.  She just ran the New Orleans 1/2 marathon in 1:07 and some change (her first 1/2) and is training in Phoenix for the London marathon.  She is very nice.  John has a runner for ASU (she is a 10K runner) working in the front office and the three of us talked for a while about running, about how much we hate 5K's, and how much we like 10K's.  She (Kim) was hoping to find some ASU men or elite men runners to help pace her in a 10 mile tempo run today (her pace is too fast for even most of the women on the ASU track team - her 10K PR is 30:35).  So cool.  I stayed and chatted with her until John was ready for her.  Very fun.

It was a long day, we did not get home until nearly 10PM. 

I hope you all had productive, happy running today!  Sorry about the stupid course snafu at Rex 10K. I would be so mad!

1:59:13.  Ran on my "flat" trails.  It had been a few weeks since I had run here ... I missed it.  It has rained so much the last couple of weeks that it was green today (little tiny "grass" on ground)-- but the trees are still bare and the cactus are nearly blooming yet.  I did see my first lizard ... it is not going to be long until it gets hot and the snakes come back out.  Today was spectacular, about 65F and sunny, still snow on the mountain tops.  Very pretty.   

I read a very good article by Pete Magill in Running Times.  It basically talked about how he coaches his athletes for 5Ks (he is 47 years old and just ran a 14:49 5K on the road).  Very interesting - he does a lot of things similar to Greg, the main one, and what he focused on in the article, was training people to run by effort and not time.  Based on this, when I ran my 20` hard today, I focused more on how hard I could run for 20 mins and less about how hard I was running.  It was fun.

I hope you have a wonderful day with your families today bloggers!

AM:(8 miles, 1:10:42).  Super fast finish run ;-)  I am serious, that is what Greg calls it.  Basically, I ran my hilly route and ran the last 5` (actually the last 6:15) at faster than 5K effort.  Very refreshing ;-).  My miles will be lower this week because I am going to be jumping into a 5K for a workout this weekend.  Not my idea, definitely not my idea (I hate 5Ks).  Not a PR course, likely a small PR, but not really a "solid" 5K since I am not really in 5K shape (and, I hate 5Ks). 

PM: (4 miles easy).

Busy day.  Busy week.  I have to get a lot of work done in the next couple of days because I need about 4 days to review grants - I will be heading to DC for study section (where we get together and rate grant applications) next week - yucky since because of DST they are now 3 hours ahead instead of the 2 hours they were last month when I was there.  Drats.

Have a wonderful day bloggers!  Hope is warm and sunny for your runs this week. 

1:01:19. Wow. I can't believe how fast this was. There were about 20 people out on the trail today. Dean thought they might have been part of an elder hostel group -- the cars in the parking lot were from all over the country. I felt bad because they were coming down the trail from "my" mountain and all stepped out of my way - and then after I turned around (at an insane split for this run) they all had to step out of my way again. It was good to see them out enjoying the beautiful day! Today will be our first day in the 80s. I am sad to see the "winter" end, even though there were some beautiful wildflowers in the wash(s) today.

I will have one more month of training, one more race (after Sunday) and then my "season" is over. I am not really expecting any more big things this year, I am happy with how the training (and my racing) has gone and am thinking really good thoughts about a good marathon next year. I will keep thinking 3:25 yea, 3:25 year, and maybe it will happen ;-). Anyway, after this weekend my next 1/2 marathon (Eugene?) will be more fun and less stress - since I am not really betting on any more PRs this year. I will enjoy my last months of racing/training, but am looking forward to some enjoyable base running too. Greg is coming down in April, and we will run and discuss the upcoming year, and maybe make some big picture plans based on how things went this year. I just am SO happy to be healthy and have had such a good year.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about what John was telling Dean and I last weekend. There is a USA throwing center in Phoenix (where the world and US throwers -- shot put, discus and hammer -- go to train, John works on their athletes, I am pretty sure for free). Some people bemoan the lack of support for up and coming distance runners. Compared to these guys (and women) runners have it MADE. The silver medal holder in the discus (on the womens side) can't even afford a new pair of shoes -- she was at a meet last week (where she won and threw an American record indoor) and the Nike rep was making fun of her shoes that were all taped up and scuffed. She said, "I can't afford a new pair". I am thinking about writing Stephan Cobert -- surely they are worth a Cobert bump?

Happy Hump Day bloggers!

AM: (7 miles, 1:01:15). Another beautiful run up the Yeatman trail. Not as many folks as yesterday, but still more than I am used to seeing. So, today I saw three types of wildflowers. One is a butter color, very delicate looking (I would say buttercup, but smaller than a true buttercup), the second is a similar looking but more deep orange and a little larger, and a new one (this week) is a deep blue/almost purple that kind of looks like a small daffodil. Very cool!

PM: (~3.5 miles easy).

Have a good day bloggers, may all your miles be sweet! 

Wildflower 1

Wildflower 2

I need to look at the third one again tomorrow.

43:57.  Hilly run, likely longer than 4.5 but I like to underestimate my mileage (and I was supposed to run 40 mins)  so I am logging it at 4.5.  I hardly ever run this route because it is too short for most of my runs and there are better routes for longer runs.  But, I like this one, it is very challenging with all the hills and it has some nice views.

Have a great day bloggers! 

32:01 (16:24/15:36). Decided to run down to the track (downhill) and then back up.  Pretty surprised to have negative split like that, even though it was a short and easy run.  I kept saying "trust" (trust your training, trust  your instincts, trust your body) - I think I might write this on my hand tomorrow ;-).  

 Off to try to finish my grant reviews.  I looked at the roster for the other people who will be at the review next week (about 25 people from many disciplines, mainly physicians, radiologists, physicists, and 2 statisticians including me) - these are grants studying uses of nanotechnology in cancer detection and treatment.  The other statistician is a VERY famous guy (well, in our small world he is very famous) - when I told Dean who it was he laughed really hard and said, "I can bet that is pretty intimidating isn't it?" - thanks a lot honey, it wasn't until now ;-).

I can't wait to see how everyone did in their races today!!  I am sending lots of positive energy your way!!!

Not a good day for me ... sometimes you have good races, sometimes bad. Today was a bad for me ... but the mark of a good athlete is to think about it, but not dwell on it, and move on.  So, I am moving on.  The course was super hard. I was running with my friend Merry.  The first  mile is uphill, then a short downhill of about 1/2 mile and then 1/2 uphill (these were about 6% grade hills - worth about 10-15secs) and then downhill the last mile.  I hit the first mile at 7:00, the second at 6:58, and then disaster struck.  I stopped to pee. I shouldn't have, I know I shouldn't have, I should have just pee'd my pants (TMI I know).  It was the toughest part of the race and I let myself get distracted.  I am angry with myself now.  I knew I wasn't going to PR, but I should of hung in there (pee and all) anyway.  Oh well ... thankfully, I don't make my living running.  My last mile (after pit stop) was 6:54, as I desperately tried to catch Merry (and more importantly, this woman that I have traded races with a few times).  They ran about 21:28 or so, I ran 22:03. I blew my 9th place streak - and fell to 10th.

2 mile wu/ 7+ mile cd with Merry.

Happy Sunday bloggers!

easy 4, did not wear a watch.  I have to change up my week because I am on my way to DC today.

Made it to DC ... very long travel day.  Even longer day tomorrow.  

Have a nice week bloggers!

1:37:30. Shhhhhh... don't tell Greg, I was only supposed to run 70` today, but after being cooped up on a plane all day Monday and in a conference room for 13 hours yesterday I was just SOOOO happy to be outside that I did not want to turn around at 35`.  I had to get up super early again today, but I knew we would be finishing up around lunchtime so  I thought I would just run after the meeting was over.  Right after the meeting I had to run up to my room and finish a project that I couldn't finish into the weee hours last night (because I was so tired) - finally, I was able to get outside, and what a beautiful day.  It took me about 20 mins to get to the Rock Creek Park trailhead, but it was such a pretty day ... I did not even might all the traffic.  And the trail was heavenly.  I saw a deer and a fox, the deer was so close, he did not even run when I came up on him ... these city deer are hard core ;-). 

Now I have to shower before my 4PM conference call and tonight I am going into the city to have some dinner with friends ... yea, just like old times.

Hope you are all doing well, I miss you, I will get caught up this weekend!

1:03:51.  I tried to find a trail that I saw signs for ... unfortunately it wasn't really a trail, more like a sidewalk that went along Rockville Pike (a very busy intersection).  After a little zigging and zagging I did find a pretty nice bike path that could possibly take me to the Rock Creek Trail, I might have to take some time to investigate this next time.  For a big city, Washington DC (metro area, including Northern Virginia and Montgomery County Maryland) is a pretty nice place to run, lots of good places to choose from (many off roads and with dirt surfaces).  

AM: (14.5, 2:03:40). 29:39 wu/28:45 cd +  Aerobic capacity intervals 8 x 1200 w/600 recovery.  So, I do practice what I preach, I knew going into this workout that I was not really going to hit the "recommended pace" - these are just not my forte, as this gets into the true "speed workout" paces that are just a challenge for me.  Gregs calculator puts these at 4:55-5:10 (6:32-6:52 pace).  I figured I could probably hit about 5:11-5:12.  The radio weather forcast called for strong winds building up to 30-40 mph this afternoon.  I did not really feel it too much on the way to the track, but then after I got there I realized it was because it was a tailwind -- it was gusting up to about 10-12mph ... it hurt and it got worse as the run went on, right now it says 12mph but I swear on some laps the gust shot up and I felt like I wasn't moving forward at all.  Going this fast is struggle anyway, let alone if 200 meter of every lap basically blow you backwards.  Since my recovery jogs were 600 meters I started from opposite sides of the track every 1200, and you can tell from my splits which ones were the hardest - when I started into the headwind it was easier than when I had to turn into it on the back stretch.  Anyway, not the best in terms of speed, but a good solid workout none-the-less, I guess.  It sure was long ;-).

5:12 (3:24), 5:11 (3:19), 5:11 (3:22), 5:12 (3:20), 5:13 (3:23), 5:18 (3:19), 5:12 (3:02), 5:18

PM: (easy 3.5).

Happy Friday bloggers, I have meetings all day, about 1 every hour until 6 tonight (4 with students who are either trying to finish masters theses or projects or getting ready for their first professional meeting presentations).

AM:(8 miles, ~70-75 mins). I did not wear a watch today, I needed to run extra slow and the main reason I wear a watch on days like today is make sure I don't go too fast, I knew that wouldn't be a problem today, yesterday kicked my behind.

PM:(easy 4).

 
Now I need to go enjoy my breakfast, an awesome fresh fruit smoothie (made with fresh melon, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, a banana, and some frozen peaches, all blended with no sugar, no concentrate, organic apple juice) YUM!!!  Dean is going to start to incorporate some principles of the Paleo diet (basically do away with grains, legumes and milk) - I can't really go all the way without not being a vegetarian, but I am going to go less on the grains and milk, and incorporate more nuts and fruits.  I want to see if some of my stomach issues (that I have had all of my life) might be sort of a low level gluten problem.  Anyway, I love my fruit! 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

2:15:12 (1:10:29/1:04:42). Ran my usual "flat" trail - this time I ran 2 x 8 miles instead of my usual 8 miles + 6 mile loop. My schedule called for the last 2-4 miles at 1/2 marathon pace, but since I had run 9 miles at 5K-10K pace this week, I decided to just see how I felt and run harder at the end without actually thinking about running fast. Sometimes it is more important to listen to your body and not your schedule (especially so early in my 1/2 marathon training cycle). I felt better than I would have expected on the second loop -- especially since it is really windy today again -- unfortunately it was a headwind on the uphill part, and tailwind on the downhill - and a cross-wind on the flat sides. Yuck. But, since I wasn't going 6:50 pace it was much easier to deal with!!

Nice to start running a little longer on my long runs again. The wildflowers are blooming -- I promise I will get some pictures this week (I am going to be updating my facebook photo albums anyway), I think I was way too ensconced in marathon training last year to have realized just how beautiful the Spring is here ... lots of greens, purples, yellows and oranges. The cholla (a type of cactus) is also starting to get some redish flowers.

Congratulations to the women's USA cross-country team on their BRONZE metal in World Cross-Country!!  Shalane Flanagan, Molly Huddle, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, Amy Hastings, Renne Ballie (nee Metivier) and Emily Brown!! YEA!!  I believe this might have been the first US cross-country medal in ever?? I know we have had individual winners (Craig Virgin and Lynn Jennings) - but I don't know if we have had a team medal winner ... I will have to do some searching on this.  Regardless -- this is a HUGE deal!!  Women's distance running here in the US is on a tear right now!!  At the first big outdoor track meet yesterday (Stanford Invitational) Lisa Koll ran a huge US leading 10K race in 31:18 - and this is EARLY in the season, her first 5K split was faster than winner of the 5K!!!  And she is still in college.  Things really could be looking up!!
 

I hope you are all enjoying your family and rest day today!

AM: (8 miles, 1:09:31).  Usual 70` hilly route, I ran the last 10` at 1/2 marathon pace - or thereabouts.  Since I don't know exactly how fast I usually run, or how fast I ran today, I just ran what I thought was 1/2 marathon effort.  I guess I was pretty darn close - since the last time I ran this route I ran it in 1:10:42 (and I had run the last 5` of that one hard) ... so I figure I was about 7:30 or faster.  Felt pretty good.  I really don't know why, but Greg still has me doing aerobic threshold workouts for the next couple of weeks (I hate them, seriously - probably that is why I have to do them, they are my weakest system).

PM: (easy 4).

Our septic system is messed up, it is gross, we just can't win with the plumbing in this house.  And, of course, it has to happen on a day that I have two talks to get finished by tomorrow! 

Just wanted to post a blog of a friend of mine... Dallas wrote a book a few years back called "Falling Forward" about his ultramarathoning experiences.  He is not doing as many ultras these days, but is, instead, breaking all the Tennessee state age group records (and probably a few grandmasters American records as well).  Anyway, he posted this link to his facebook page today, and I wanted to share it with you.

1:03:24.  Beautiful run up the Yeatman trail... I have missed it!  Three things I have to remember to share, first of all -- I promise pictures soon, but there were parts of the run on the trail today that were so awe inspiring!!  Wall-to-wall carpeting of the buttercup yellow flowers ... in some parts it looked like a blanket ... just beautiful.  Second, I saw about 20 deer on my run yesterday, they were way too close to one of the high traffic arteries through the mountains, I guess they were feasting on the wildflowers.  Thirdly, I have such a hard time sleeping that for a long time I was taking Ambien.  Well, I got off them about 5 months ago and the melatonin is finally starting to work.  However, I have the strangest dreams.  Yesterday *just* before the alarm went off I was "digging" into a huge (I mean like 3 soup bowls worth, in a small trough shape) bowl of ice cream (chocolate chip) -- I was eating with a large "spatula spoon".  What makes this so remarkable is that it has probably been about a year since I have even eaten a little tiny spoon of ice cream (I don't eat sweets much at all).  Weird.  It kind of disturbed me all day ;-).

Have a great day bloggers!

AM: (12 miles , 1:44:32).  Ladder workout, aerobic capacity, 2M, 1M, 800, 400 w/800 recovery between each.  It was windy as all get-out today (worse than last week actually), but luckily the workout was shorter so it was not nearly as painful.  I was not sure exactly how fast to do the 2 and 1 mile, since the running calculator does not go into intervals longer than 2K.  After a consultation with MichelleL and Dean, I just decided to run the 2 mile at about 10K pace +/- 2 secs and then just make sure that all the subsequent intervals were cutting down about 3-5secs each time.  

2M: 7:02, 6:54 (4:41)

1M: 6:51 (5:12)

800: 3:19 (6:38 pace, 5:04)

400: 1:36 (6:24 pace, 4:41)

I am SO excited, this is the first time ever I have been able to hit Greg's prescribed 800/400 targets  - and I was in the middle of the range, not even the slower end. Yippee.  This was a fun workout, it was hard, but not nearly as hard as last week, even with the horrible, stupid, yucky wind.

PM: (4 miles easy).

I hope you all have a wonderful day.   

1:13:23.  Ran up Yeatman trail ... my mileage is slowly building up again, so I added on a new trail off of my regular one.  Pretty tough, very technical climb up a ridgeline, the switchbacks were very tight and the path was rocky (and steep).  Very nice trail to hike, probably not the best for running, I doubt I will do this one regularly.  My goal is to try really hard to leave work "early" (meaning just not late ;-) ) so I can take a short hike this afternoon and take some pictures of the wildflowers.  The cactus plants have buds on them, but they won't bloom until it gets above the 100's for a while - probably not until late June.  

I hope you all have a special Good Friday and enjoy your preparations for Easter.   

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:32).  Beautiful day!  I did not get out of work early yesterday -- I was so bummed.  SO, I am going to have to find a way to get some pictures tomorrow, maybe Dean and I can take an Easter hike ... if I can get my work done today so I can take the whole day off tomorrow.

PM: (easy 4).

Have a wonderful day bloggers! 

2:35:48.  48:27 (+20:23), 45:53, 43:31.  Ran the mountains in Saguaro Park West.  I added on about 2 1/4 miles during the first one (running out and back on a 1/2 mile road leading to a picnic area and trailhead.  Splits look better than they really were.  I felt really good the first and second loops, I am able to run much faster than I could last year, which isn't good sometimes, because I misjudged the hills and the heat (82F and sunny, no shade) -- by the last set of hills I had somehow done my usual "speed up" and I got a really bad side-stitch and started seeing stars.  Basically, I had gone out way too fast for the conditions and I paid for it big time.  The last two miles were a death march and I felt like I was going to throw-up big time (I walked the last 1/4 of a mile up the hill).  Even after I stopped and got some water,  I was way overheated and felt like really really bad.  I couldn't even take pictures of the blooming cactus.  I just had to get home to lay down.  When I lived in Nashville we called this run our "welcome to Summer" run ... somehow I missed it last year, thank goodness.  Anyway, it is over, and I have to get ready for my review session tomorrow - Wednesday I am giving a test, and the students are very worried.  I think 5 people dropped last week, one of the ones that dropped was one of my favorite students. 

I hope you have a glorious Easter Sunday bloggers! 

AM: (10+ miles, 1:29:44). I ran my usual 70` run and added on ... I found a new place to run trails! A little rocky, but mostly flat to rolling hills - beautiful (it is called "Sweetwater Preserve"). Unfortunately, it is about 5 miles from our house so we would have to drive there in order to make the most of the trail. It is a county "park" and there is a trailhead with a parking lot at the other end of the trail. Our end is near a residential area, and they do not take well to people parking on "their" road (and it is technically not a public road). I do have a colleague in my department who lives out that way, and I can always park at her house and jog from there to the trailhead. Anyway, I told Dean when I got home that he HAS to get better soon, he will absolutely adore this run! I felt much better today, and I am glad, I was a little worried after Sunday. But upon reflection and looking back at my training blog ... I actually ran over 4 mins faster on Sunday on ONE loop than I ever have - and actually ran it as fast as Dean usually does ... which in the heat was really really dumb (it was dumb anyway - Dean is a 1:19 1/2 marathoner and 17 min 5Ker when he isn't in good shape). I need to start running some 1/2 marathon runs to "slow down" a little, one of the negatives about running by time and feel rather than pace is that I really don't have any idea how fast I am going, and I think there are many times that I am running much faster than I know -- it doesn't generally make any difference on easy days, but on a day like Sunday, adding in heat, hills and a rather long run, it can be detrimental ... although if this is the worst of my problems I am pretty darn lucky (it isn't, but I am still pretty darn lucky).

PM: (easy 4).

I hope you are all having a beautiful Spring week! On the road to Boston or wherever life takes you!!

1:02:54.  Nice run up the Yeatman Trail.  Because of my new schedule I will only be running on this trail once this week -- I did something I never thought I would do ... I carried my camera.  It was quite a sacrifice I tell you (I barely wear a tiny watch when I run, let alone carry something).  I will try to upload some pictures for tomorrows blog (flowers go well with tempo runs I think).  I am not sure they will do the beauty justice, but I will give it a try.

It has been much cooler than Sunday all week, go figure ;-).  I can tell I will need to start getting up earlier very soon (sigh).  

 I found out yesterday that I will be going back to DC (again) in June, I think this might be a new record for NIH grant reviews that I have been asked to do this year.  Either I am beginning to be seen as an expert in something or (more likely) NIH contracts people think they have found an easy mark ;-).

I hope you all have a great mid-week day, enjoy the sun and take a deep breath -- unless of course, you have allergies, in which case, enjoy the sun from the comfort of your climate controlled environment ;-).

 AM: (12 miles, 1:36:33). 31:38 wu + strides, 28:37cd.  5 mile tempo run (target range: 7:04-7:24), actual: 7:21, 7:18, 7:16, 7:13, 7:08.  They did not feel "good" and actually they felt a little harder than I wanted them to feel, but I was never truly uncomfortable.  All and all, not bad.

 PM: (4 miles easy).

 Last night I was testing my ability to upload desert wildflower pictures to my blog ... while I succeeded (eventually), I actually think they look better (while not professional) in a larger format, so I decided I would post the link instead.  I hope you enjoy them, they really don't do the beauty justice, #1 I am not very good at taking pictures (or at least I can't seem to capture what my eyes see very well) and #2 the poppies open up when it is warm, but when it is warm the sun is too bright to really get how vibrant the yellows are ... but, anyway - I hope you get some idea.  It is just really something when out of a brown, fairly barren, place (which does have a natural beauty of its own, albeit a little different from lush green places) comes such amazing splashes of color.

Have a wonder day bloggers, enjoying whatever nature surrounds you.

1:02:43 1:11:59 -- I think this is what I saw on my watch, boy oh boy did I have to update, I forgot I ran 8 instead of 7 ... I may have to update. I am horribly busy today, I am woefully behind on preparing for a talk I am giving in an hour, and Friday is meetings day. We are having a fundraiser for the college (college of public health) tonight ... I had to buy make-up and stockings, since I generally don't have such ammenities.

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend bloggers!

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:37).  Same route as yesterday - more than 20F hotter (since I ran later).  Kind of getting used to the heat, but it is not pleasant.

The work party was about what I had expected.  It was a really big affair, lots of very rich people spending/donating a lot of money ... it was for scholarships and they had two students (probably the ones most likely to make everyone cry) tell everyone about how the scholarships changed their lives ... one was a "lost boy" of Sudan and the other was a young woman whose father was a drug addict who died of AIDS when she was a teenager, their family spent a lot of years living in their car and in motels.  Both of the students have great ideals and are planning on changing the world now ... it was very inspiring. 

PM: (4 miles easy).

Now I have to grade midterms, it is not fun, they did not do well at all.

I hope you have a great day bloggers -- rest and enjoy, I hope spring is starting to spring where you are too!
 

2:16:14 (1:12:22/1:04:52). Was supposed to run the last 2-4 miles at 1/2 marathon pace. Because I am still acclimating to running in the heat again (it was 80F and sunny again today when I finished) I decided to run the first 12 as slowly as possible and then ease into pace, running the last 2 miles at 1/2 marathon pace. I started running faster at mile 12, but did not get a split as I was trying to run by effort - based on my later splits I am assuming this was at 7:50-8:00 min pace. My last 3 miles were: 7:43, 7:22, 7:08. I was pretty hot, but did not feel nearly as bad as last week. Though I did get pretty bad cramps within about 10 mins after stopping and getting water ... so I timed things just right. I usually takes 2-3 weeks to "adjust" to running in the heat again, hopefully next week will be even better. I really hope so, since in about 3 - 4 weeks today's high (~86F or so) will be the low. Sigh, oh winter where art thou? ;-).

Today was really a day of reflection for me on my run, there are so many people in need of thoughts and prayers. The death of the Polish president, the death of the coal miners in Kentucky, and so many of our bloggers are going through their own personal trials. And yet, so many of us are blessed and getting ready for personal triumph (or like seeaprilrun have already triumphed! yea!) in a little more than a week! Good luck everyone!

One more thing was that I watched Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story last night. Though there were some parts that were a bit over the top, in general I just can't believe that anyone can watch that movie and not want to revolt. Seriously, sickening amounts of greed.

One more thing -- I just finished reading this months Running Times article on Sammy Wanjiru -- holy shmolie -- that man is TALENTED. At 18 years old he was running as fast as most elite athletes run 2 years post college (26:41 min 10K)! Given that he is only 22 it is likely that he will surpass Bekele and Gebs times by the time he fully matures. Truly remarkable.

AM: (8 hilly miles, 1:09:47).  Last 5` @ 5-10K pace ... very invigorating stuff ;-).

PM: (easy 4).

Busy day, as usual.  I want to stop and smell the flowers, but I am too overwhelmed with stuff.  

Have a happy day bloggers! 

1:04:32.  Beautiful day on the Yeatman trail.  Decent day in class today ... so it is good.  Bad was we just found out we will be getting a cut in pay during the next fiscal year (technically we are state employees, even though 50% of my salary comes from NIH grants) [NOTE to any academics out there in fastbloggosphere: it is a "furlough", this is just a way to give a pay-cut because as you know you can't actually take "days off", even on the weekends).  I personally think that this is bad in part because it is going to be a distraction in getting our jobs done.  Politically, I think the moment the email went out today there were a slew of lawyers that swooped down and started filings similar to the ones that state workers in California have (by the way the state of Arizona is in far worse trouble than California) ... also we have a state tax increase that is going to be on the ballot in 2 months -- and this is a 'warning' of even dire measures if that tax does not get passed.  All and all, it is a  messy, yucky thing that everyone is crying, yelling, whispering, etc. about ...like I said, a distraction.  ho hum.

However, I am going to be grateful that I had a great day of running, I am relatively healthy, have some awesome fastrunningblog friends who are going to rock Boston and can't complain about much (well, I can, but I won't ;-)).  

Have a good middle of the week bloggers!

AM:(14.5 miles, 2:02:26). 29:01wu +strides/28:55cd. 6 x 1mile w/800 recovery. Aerobic capacity intervals -- I wasn't really sure how fast to run these, the intervals are a little long for a true speed workout, and the over time being out was long as well, so I settled on 10K to 10K +10 secs (7:00-7:10 pace). I really thought of this an endurance (stamina, if you will) workout, the hardest thing about it was the time on my feet. Anyway, splits were:

7:01 (4:29), 6:58 (4:31), 7:06 (4:33), 7:05 (4:31), 7:04 (4:07), 6:59

Fitness check, when I did these last year, before my Carlsbad 1/2 marathon, I did 5 x 1mile in : 7:09, 7:05, 7:09, 7:08, 7:06. I really am not expecting to PR next month, at least not by much, but it is good to see I have gotten just a little faster after focusing on 10K speed this year, it gives me hope for a good marathon next year!

I actually was out there through 3 different groups of people doing workouts. First were the fire department guys who were walking with weights on their backs - these guys were kind of a pain because they were walking 2-3 across in lanes 1 and 2, which means I had to swing out into lane 3 to pass them. Then there was a guy, much faster than me, who did a ladder workout of some kind - seemed like 400-800-mile-800-400. Finally, there was an army guy getting ready for his 2.5 mile run (I know this because I talked to his coach while I was cooling down).

It was warm out -- I was seeing stars again by the time I climbed the dreaded hill home.

PM: (4 miles easy).

Have a good day bloggers.

1:20:18.  Ran with my friend Merry and another teammate of Merry's. Both of these woman are much faster runners than me (Merry just ran a 3:18 marathon - and she is 55; Melissa is a 36 min 10K'er).  I made them promise if I ran with them it would be a recovery run -- there were a few times they just took off from me (I just ran the same as I always do), and then they would realize I wasn't there and slow down ;-).  It was nice.  There is a 10K race coming up and we ran that course (it is brutally hilly, I mean truly about a 1` to 1:30 time cost course, I am glad I am not trying to race it) and then added on.  I was going to put 8.5 down (since I usually round down), but I need to get over my phobia about not having round numbers in my mileage ;-) -- since Merry had a garmin I am writing what it said -- I hope the .7 makes through the day without me logging back on and rounding it to 8.5 ;-).

Happy Friday bloggers, I am so glad the week is almost over! 

AM: (8 hilly miles, 1:10:55).  I can't believe how good I felt today.  I did not sleep as long as I should have (I got to bed late because I got home from work late and Dean and I were up late discussing life and work stuff -- ok, we were talking about statistics I will confess).  It was hot, and it was hilly, but I felt nice and relaxed and was breathing out of my nose the whole way, and I still finished almost 2 mins faster than I usually do ... AND then -- I went and took some pictures of a cactus that is blooming down the road ... I will post tomorrow, hopefully.

PM: (4 miles easy).

Have a wonderful Saturday bloggers!  I hope all the people racing in the SLC 1/2 today had wonderful races -- and you Boston folks, stay cool and think positive thoughts! 

2:14:04.  I ran my "flat" route for the last time for a few months.  It was overcast today, and I got out earlier than I have been (since it is hot now again) so it was more pleasant than my long runs have been for a few weeks now.  But, when I saw my schedule, I told Dean where I was going to run, and he did not like it.  There are a lot of bushes around the trails at this place, and he was worried about snakes.  You know, it is not that he doesn't love me, but he generally never worries about me, no matter where I am running alone and even late at night ... sometimes when it is really hot and get out late in the morning he worries a little, but this time he was pretty worried.  SO ... I was a a little worried too.  And then, of course, 3 mins!! 3 mins!! into the run I see a snake! It was a rattlesnake, not quite as big as the one I saw last year, but he was moving right across the trail.  I stopped until he was pretty far from the trail (I don't think he saw me) and then walked far out into the brush until I passed him, and then kept going.  The whole rest of the run I was hyper-vigilant, every stick was suspect!  The worst times were when I was climbing out of washes, they are usually pretty steep, lots of bushes and trees, and many of them have sharp switchbacks which means there are blind corners - and then, of course since it is uphill I am running pretty hard to get up - and even if I saw a snake I am not sure I could stop quickly.  The good news is that we are not prey for them, so it is not like they are waiting for you to run by, you just have to avoid stepping on them, or startling them -- which is easy to do if you scan the trail in front of you.  But, Dean is right, this trail is not good for running this time of year ... best to wait until October or so ... sigh.

Lot's of cactus are in bloom, I took some pictures during my cool-down walk -- I will post the link tomorrow.  

Have a wonderful Sunday with your families!  GOOD LUCK BOSTON RUNNERS! 

So proud and happy for all of our Boston bloggers!  Congratulations!!  Now go rest!

I am posting new flower pictures here ....

AM: (9 miles, 1:14:25).   30:52wu + strides/29:06cd.  2 mile tempo (7:16, 7:10).  My tempo range is 7:04-7:23 and I wanted to stay closer to my 1/2 marathon pace (7:20); this wasn't hard, but I was working to stay on pace. It was very hot and though I was trying to stay on the slower end of the range, I wanted to get out of the sun so I found myself speeding up a little just to be done.  I was happy to see this workout on the schedule today, I feel like I am in good shape but I just don't feel like I have dialed in my 1/2 marathon pace yet - and with less than 12 days from the race it makes me nervous.  I am so dialed in to 10K pace these days that I really feel I need to spend a lot more time at 1/2 marathon pace so I can get into the groove early on in the race.  On Thursday I have my last workout that "counts" - and while I feel like I am actually in better shape than I was last year, I am not nearly in as good of 1/2 marathon shape as I was last year.  Thursday I am supposed to part of the workout at 1/2 goal pace - and I have no idea what to expect.  So, I will assume about the same as last year and hope like heck that at mile 9 I can drop it down a notch and use some of my new found 10K speed -- haha, such that it is ;-).

PM: (4 miles easy). 

Such an exciting day yesterday!  Our fastrunningbloggers had a great day!  Paige Higgins (a McMillan Elite runner) was the first American finisher at Boston -- and was just signed by Saucony -- which means now she can train full-time and prepare for the Olympic trials!  

I hope you are all having beautiful Spring days!! 

53:43.  Beautiful day, a lot cooler this morning since a storm is blowing through.  I forgot how much nicer 66F and cloudy is from 80F and sunny!  Ran up the Yeatman trail.  Pseudo-taper is upon me ... I have a lot of aches and pains too.  Two more track workouts and one more fast finish run and the rest of the days are easy and shorter than usual.  And yet, still, aches and pains.  Funny how our mind works!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day bloggers -- run well, stay healthy!