First run of 2013!  Yippee!

AM: (10 miles, 1:26:26).  28:38wu/25:21cd (whoops a little faster cd since it was out and back!) 15 x 1` w/1` recovery. 

PM: easy 4

Running news: not only is Lauren Fleshman pregnant -- but she has teamed up with Oiselle Running!!   Since I love Lauren, and Oiselle products, this is a wonderful sight to behold!

HAPPY NEW YEAR bloggers!! 

chilly, hurried run -- getting used to my new work hours ;-).

1:42:27.  22:47wu/36:53cd  5 x 5` w/3` recovery (sort of like 5 x 1000 w/600 recovery).  I was super late getting out the door (because I worked all morning and got caught up in stuff) - so, it was nearly 1PM before I even started this workout (btw, I had not eaten yet! yikes) - since it was going to be late when I finished, I just decided to do my AM and PM run at the same time.  Different stimulus, but better than missing the PM run all together I suppose!

Happy Thursday bloggers, for a short week, it has felt like a really long week.  There was a HR snafu, so I am still only getting paid for 1/2 time, even though I have two huge deadlines (including getting ready for a presentation at a conference in San Francisco in two weeks) so I am working full time ... hmmm, and I thought this job was going to be less hassle ;-).

Easy run ... hilly run, the old faithful "radiation run".

Hope you are all doing well, happy Friday!! 

AM: (8.5, 1:15:11).  Slow, hilly, unmemorable (except that I was happy to be running - and thinking about breakfast a lot), run.

PM: easy 4.

Love Tucson in the winter.  I am sorry you Utah bloggers are having such a cold winter - you are always welcome at our house.  We have room, internet access (to update your blog), dogs who will eat your unwanted plastic/electronic items, and plenty of sunshine - we will cure what ails you!

Happy Saturday! 

A little shorter than last week, but a much much more difficult run (terrain-wise) and I did speed up a little the second half of today's run (1:29:32).  

So, on my way out I notice there was water running through one of the washes (and across the street).  Given that there hasn't been any rain in the past couple of days I wanted to make sure it wasn't coming from one of the houses up the hill.  I followed the trail and saw that it was coming from under the ground.  So, I hiked the dirt road up to the closest house, and showed the owner. When I ran back past the house 1:17 mins later (I looked) there was already a Tucson City truck there ... and then after I did my mountain loop (2:29 mins later) I saw a huge truck carrying a back hoe up the hill (city truck) -- so it took only 2 1/2 hours for them to get a back hoe out ... I thought that was pretty good for a Sunday.   But, it is the desert - we care about our water!!

Happy Sunday bloggers! 

AM: (10 miles, ~1:30:xx), I accidentally hit my pause button mid-run, and did not notice it until there was only about 35 mins left ... oh well, it was an easy run.

PM: easy 4.

First running on the track in nearly a year on Thursday - nervous? who me? (you bet I am am ;-) ).

Happy Tuesday bloggers! 

1:07:32.  Easy run.

Busy busy busy, but I can't complain, well, I can complain very well, but I won't ;-)

Happy Hump Day bloggers! 

AM: (13 miles, 1:40:49).  28:32wu/28:47cd.  Cruise interval workout:  6 x 1000 w/2:30 recovery + 3 x 200 w/200 recovery.  Targets, based on my last race which was a whole year ago now, were 4:12-4:18/1000 (approximately 6:45 - 6:53 mile pace).  

Actual splits: 4:21, 4:15, 4:17, 4:14, 4:15, 4:15 (200s were a mind blowing, slow, 48 secs)

I was both disappointed, and relieved.  My pacing was all over the map, and I felt it was harder than it was supposed to be; but I got the first track workout out of the way, and I guess it wasn't horrible.  So, the targets for this workout were based on Greg's calculator last year (basically they were the paces I was doing in preparation for last year's unrun marathon).  After I finished the workout I went to the "new" calculator - and found out that the updated calculator had my target paces as 4:07-4:15 -- yowser, I don't think I could have done these, even if I had known before I hit the track.  Even adjusting for the wind (which was not insignificant since a storm is blowing in - weather underground has the wind at 10-13 mph) and my lack of speed work, I don't think a 4:07 would be in the cards for me right now.   hmmmm.  

Last year, about a week from my 1/2 marathon that the current workout was based (e.g., my PR) I ran this workout in: 4:19, 4:18, 4:19, 4:17, 4:16, 4:17 (recovery average: 1:20) + 3 x 200 at 46secs with 1:17 average recovery. 

Based on the newest calculator, and assuming I am in as good of shape as I was last year (or will be), Greg predicts a high 3:18, almost 3:19 marathon for me.  I am a little skeptical that I can do that ... but, man, I would love to run under 3:20. 

PM: easy 4.

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

I don't know exactly how far this was, I tried a new route and my watch got turned off I don't know how ... I was gone for a little over an hour, so I am calling it 7 miles.  A little on the sore side today, but not as bad as I feared.

Happy Friday bloggers!!! 

AM: (8.5 miles, 1:15:20).  Probably a little longer than 8.5 miles - it was 5 mins or so longer than what I usually call 8 ... but it really doesn't matter.

PM: easy 4.

whew.  A progression run tomorrow and then a rest day.  Between my work and getting back into training again I am super exhausted right now!  Not complaining,  just saying ;-)

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, it is Spring weather by most of your standards here (28F low, 45F high), but chilly for us ;-) 

1:36:57.  90 min thirds progression run - same hilly course as just before Christmas (splits then were 52:xx and 45:xx).  Today I ran the first loop 51:28; second loop 43:29!! Interesting.  It was still hard :-)  

Next weekend? The marathon long runs begin! 

Congrats to all of the bloggers who raced this weekend (big shout out to slowjoe who pr'd at the Houston half)!!! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:05:23).  15 x 1` w/1` recovery on the hills.

PM: easy 4.

This week is insanely busy for me ... many "balls in the air" at work!  I am getting ready to fly to San Francisco next week for the GI cancer conference, I am presenting some work that I have been doing at my new job to some collaborators from Australia and the Mayo Clinic! wow, how cool is that?  And, this Friday I am giving a web seminar to a different set of people in Zurich!  As you can imagine, I am going to be working on both of these talks up until the last minute, because that is how I roll ;-).  I love this part of my new job (because it looks just like my old job) ... the "other part" -- the manager stuff -- is hard.  too many meetings, and I am feeling pretty overwhelmed at the "directing the work of a bunch of other people".  

But, grateful to be running, have my health, and be living the dream! 

In a hurry ;-). 

I forgot to tell you -- so, it has been in the 17F in the AM this week, and highs in the 40Fs.  Apparently, this is a record -- since the 1890s when they started collecting records.  The doggy water bowls that are outside, have been frozen since last Saturday and yesterday I was driving and hit a patch of ice and slid down the street.  It freaked me out, because I did not see the ice, and certainly was not expecting it (I live in the freaking desert! ;-) ).

That said, it is all good, there is no snow, this freak weather pattern is an anomaly, and I like it much much better than 116F.  

Hope you are all doing well!! 

AM: (13.5 miles, 1:51:40).  27:54wu/23:48cd.  4 x 2000 w/2:30 recovery + 3 x 200 w/200 recovery.  Wind was gusting at 17 mph -- it was so hard, really hard.  

Target (based again on "new and improved" calculator) were 8:41/2000 -- actual: 8:47, 8:36, 8:46, 8:48 (200s were :49s).  This hurt bad, the 8:36 really wasn't smart - I was fighting the wind for about 200 meters every lap, and so this took waaaay too much out of me, and it shows in the final 2 k's.  The last one was probably the effort I should have been running all of them, yes, slower than "target" but actually the right effort for these.  I am not sure how I feel, they are what they are, and it isn't horrible ... but it was a little painful (I wanted to quit so bad 1/2 way through the 3rd one -- I guess the fact that I didn't is good ;-) ).  

Either the new calculator is too fast for me, or I am not in as good of shape as I was last year.   

PM: easy 4. 

Back to work .... yikes the day is almost over and I have so much to do!!

happy trails, bloggers! 

After working in the morning I took 4 hours paid time off and went up to Phoenix to see John Ball.  Both running, and surgery/radiation, issues are still problematic.  

it was quite a day for "famous runners" at John's -- two Olympians, Desi Davila (2012 Olympics, marathon) and David McNeill  (2010 NCAA 5K champion, 2012 Olympics, 5K), plus there were two very fit looking triathletes there (I assume they were triathletes, because they were skinny like runners, but with slightly larger upper bodies).  John is on an upper body exercise kick now, so all of us runners were doing some variety of the same upper body strength and flexibility exercises ... it was painfully obvious that all the distance runners had horrible upper back problems too, especially compared with some  of the other athletes that were there.  

Anyway, nice bonding drive with Dean, my hip felt much better on the ride home, and my shoulder was "unfrozen" again after some painful ART ...

AM: easy 8

PM: easy 4

First 18 mile run in a long time on the schedule for tomorrow!  looking forward to it!

Happy Saturday bloggers! 

2:42:02 ... Well, only 8 more miles and about 1min30secs/mile faster and I will be "ready" for my marathon :-) 

Very hilly run, not fast, but not hard either ... So, pretty happy.

Happy Sunday bloggers! 

AM: 7 miles (1:02:32).

PM: easy 4.

So, today was a workout day, but I had an incredibly busy day at work and I am getting ready to go out of town for a conference tomorrow, so I had to rework my schedule.  In addition to a presentation I had to give this morning, and two meetings for two really big projects that are starting, I had to fit in a little "happy hour" outing that was a kick-off for one of the projects.  It was hard not to snack on the happy hour treats -- and leave by 5PM in order to get my run in before it got too dark, but hopefully it is a sacrifice that will pay dividends in March ;-).  I know I have told you all about this before, but it is DARK here when the sun is not up.  We have a huge telescope outside of town (Kitt Peak National Observatory - we are nicknamed "optics valley" because of all the optic research here) so Tucson is a  low light city.  We have few street lights, and the ones we have are low light emitting, and out where we live there are no street lights - and no "city light" it is so much darker than other cities of its size.  Out where we live there are no sidewalks - but there are nice dirt/rock shoulders) -- anyway, even at 6AM it was so dark that I couldn't see a thing ... not a darn thing.  Same thing is true in the evening, by 5:45 it is so dark ...I  feel I am always at the mercy of the sun ;-).  And yes, I could use a headlamp, but I am such a minimalist runner, I think garmins are too heavy, let alone some bit ole' thing wrapped around my head ;-) -- I would rather "complain"  he he.

Happy Tuesday bloggers. 

1:30:41 

I am so stressed out about work that I haven't slept in a couple of days ... yikes.  Anyway, I dreaded this workout, I really don't like 800s!

8 x 800 w/3:20 recovery  (almost Yasso 800s, but 8 instead of 10, both because of time constraints - plane to catch - and because I am building up to 10).  

Did not know what to expect, hoping for 3:20s

21:18wu/19:18cd

3:21, 3:21, 3:21, 3:18, 3:18, 3:20, 3;21, 3:20  (average recovery 3:18).

meh.  ok.  wasn't super hard, but wasn't easy.  If I hadn't been distracted by my time constraints I might have been able to run a tiniest bit harder, but I think it was a good effort.  Also, this workout is always a challenge for me.  

I hope you are doing well.  I will be running around Fishermans Wharf tomorrow and Friday, sounds like fun, but city running is sort of a pain -- to many people to dodge - well, and too many cars ;-).

My big big boss will be at this meeting - most importantly at my presentation -- holy cow, I better go work on it!!  Happy trails bloggers! 

AM: 7 miles, on a foggy, humid, but surprisingly warm, San Fran morning.  It was a pretty ok run, the waterfront part was nice - although I am not a fan of sidewalks - the city run (~16 mins total) was downright deadly -- dodging cars and people.  I guess I need to get out earlier tomorrow, I am sure it was better at 6AM ;-)

 Last minute prep for my talk tonight.

PM: easy 3-4 on the treadmill in the hotel.  I am calling it 3 miles, but my plan is 30 mins, which is closer to 3.5    couldn't do my second run ... work calls. Normally, I do everything I can not to miss runs ... but sometimes, things just get in the way -- today, work is just one of those things.  Off to give my talk!  Can't give you the exact title -- but it has to do with colon cancer, cancer biology, diagnostic biomarkers, predictive modeling ;-)  (doesn't it sound exciting?)

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

1:39:55.  Maybe a little longer than 11, but I was trying to run pretty easy -- I have a 20 miler on Sunday.  The usual dodging through traffic and people downtown -- I ran from about 1/2 mi from the financial district to the Golden Gate Bridge ... also ran around a park (Crissy Fields) - had a nice dirt/sand trail, which was a really nice break from sidewalk ... Weather was spectacular (50F and sunny).

Have to go to work the conference, and then catch a flight home late this PM.

Run safe, have fun, bloggers! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:02).  Hilly run, after very little sleep (my flights were delayed last night and I ended up not arriving into Tucson until midnight). Felt great despite all the travel, and being calorie deficient (I don't eat much when I travel, because I am pretty picky about what I eat).  Happy with how I am feeling right now ... We'll see how the 20 miler (first one in a very very long time) goes tomorrow!

PM: easy 4.

Ick I have to clean house and do laundry today ... 

BTW ... My talk went well! I am going to try not to work today!  It actually takes a bit of work to check my work email (I have to go through a bit of a process to get on to the corporate website), so it is sort of "easy" to not do it if I am busy doing other things.  Unfortunately, this is all going to change on Monday ... The bosses finally realized that I didn't have a company cell phone/blackberry ... And now I have one waiting for me ... Yuck, constant connectivity.

Not really "easy" ... But not bad either.  Very , very, hilly.  I felt sort of worried with an hour to go, but somehow rallied and ran the last 2+ miles uphill at 8 min pace ... who knows where that came from! 

Happiest of Sundays bloggers! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:16:42).  15 x 1` w/1` recovery, on hills (not hill repeat hills, just run-of-the-mill hilly route).  It was chilly this morning (35F) - especially after the beautiful 65F of last week.  It rained yesterday (snowed in the mountains) and the temps came down.  Still beautiful - just a little chilly and windy.  No complaints, truly (other than the wind, and dead legs).

PM: easy 4.  I want to ask if my co-worker wants to run with me after work, but I have to say, he is a half-stepper (always is a 1/2 step in front of me) - and he runs a little faster than I like to run my afternoon runs.  Oh, what to do? what to do?  It will be a moot point if he sees me dressed for a run, it would hurt his feelings not to say something.  sigh.

I hope you are all doing well bloggers! 

1:06:43.  Radiation run, I felt a little tired, but it was much better than this summer (both because of the weather and my fitness level right now).

Happy trails bloggers! 

AM: (11.x miles, 1:31:19)  28:28wu/27:05cd + 5 mile tempo run.  Greg said I should be able to do these between 6:49 and 7:05.  Again, I thought maybe this would be a little over-estimating my fitness -- and (as MichelleL will tell you) I actually do a lot better in workouts and races if I ease into pace.  I kept telling myself that it would me better overall if I ended up with a slower pace and finished the workout than to go out too fast and not get be able to finish.  So, the idea was to start out ~ 10 secs/mile slower than target and adapt by how it felt.  So, I just kept evaluating and adusting ... I was pretty happy with the result overall

7:19 (a little slower than I had anticipated, but I did not panic), 7:13, 7:08, 7:05, 6:57

Then, I ran the 2.5 miles uphill home!

PM: very easy 4.

I guess the idea is that my marathon pace during my 20 miler this weekend should feel "easy" ??  I am feeling a little tiniest bit more confident I can run 26 miles in 5 weeks, but it still seems a little far fetched!

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

1:01:43.  Nice and easy ... little tired.  Need to recover for Sunday's marathon pace work!

AM: easy, albeit hilly, 8 miles.

haircut, little work, some laundry, some cross-country and indoor track watching, and then

PM: easy 4.

Lucy the pitbull ate my cell phone this morning.  It (the phone) is still usable, but the screen has huge crack (from a canine?) in it.  sigh.  I saw our bobcat again -- still did not get to the camera in time!!!

Happy Saturday bloggers! 

2:46:15 with the last 8 miles at MP.  Ran on the Rillito River path - the flattest run since around Christmas (when we were in Gulf Shores, Alabama).  There are many mile markers, but not 20 miles worth.  I did 4 miles out-and-back from my secret parking area (near mile marker 2 1/2 -- almost 400 meters from the 2 1/2 mile marker actually ;-) ) - and then proceeded to head East to ~ 4:30 mins from the 10 mile marker (from 6 1/2 to 8 1/2 is missing, and then from 8 1/2 to 10 is missing) and then turned around.  I know exactly where 7 miles is, and I hit that in 1:01:09 (8:44 pace) going out and 53:35 (7:39 pace) coming back.  The only other pace information I have from the MP portion is miles 8.5 to 5.5 were 22:52 (7:37) and 5.5 to 2.5 were 22:36 (7:32).  I was not actually timing each mile, I was trying to "find" the pace that I thought I could run for 8 miles, and I adjusted and readjusted throughout the run.  Greg calls this "tuning your internal Garmin" ;-).   It is old-school, but it usually gives me a pretty realistic idea what I can run - versus trying to hit a pace that I "want" to run.  Sometimes it is disappointing, but, for me, it is realistic.  The bottom line is that it is possible that can run somewhere "around" 3:20 -- maybe not under 3:20 (which would be 7:36 pace) - as a matter of fact it might be more likely that I run a little slower than 3:20; but I am probably not out of the ball park ;-) -- if I can stay healthy!  I have two trips in the next 4 weeks, so fingers crossed I still juggle training and traveling!  

Anyway -- off to watch Rupp's 3k race and Matt Centro's mile race from last night!

Happiest of Sundays to you all! 

AM: easy 4

PM: easy 10

I had some meetings very early this AM and couldn't get an early AM run in.  So, I switched the two runs.  In both cases I was up against the dark ... ;-)  But, all was good!

Work is very busy, I am doing my best to ensure it doesn't interfere with my running!!!

I hope you are all doing well! 

Easy run - 1:05 (maybe a tiny bit longer than 7).

AM: (13 miles, 1:43:25).  I had to make a choice between workouts today.  15-30 min wu/15-30 min cd  +  either 5-8 miles @ goal pace (7:35-7:40) OR 3 x 2 miles @ 10K +/- 10 secs (6:50-7:05)  w/4 min recovery.  I wasn't sure which one I was going to do until I got to the track.  The GP workout is more my "sweet spot" and likely to be more comfortable, while the faster workout was outside my comfort zone.  Neither would be "easy" ;-).

I decided that the reason the faster workout is outside of my comfort zone is because that is likely the type of workout I need to do -- so, I decided to do it!  As usual, I tried not to focus on the exact pace, but rather work into a groove and hold it to the end. The last 400 was ugly - uggggllllyyyy - and I was surprised to see the pace!

7:07/7:02, 4:00, 7:03/7:00, 4:02, 6:57/6:56 + 27:24wu/26:57cd.

PM: easy 4.

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

1:01:32.  I got up early (for me) and drove across town to run with my friend Merry.  I had a bunch of doctors appointments and took the morning off work.   It was a blast.  Then I had to work until 7 to make up for it ;-).

Happy Friday bloggers!! 

AM: (1:07:43, 8 miles).

PM: easy 4.

Somewhere between 22-24 miles tomorrow.  I am running with Merry again, she is supposed to run 24 and I am supposed to run 22, so depending on how slowly she will run (she is faster than me) I might do an extra 2 with her.  If she needs to go faster, than we will run part of it together, and then I will let her run how she needs.  She was pretty surprised yesterday to see that my "estimate" of our pace was nearly exactly what her Garmin showed ;-)

I hope you are all warm and safe.  Congratulations on all the awesome races!!! 

3:38:06.  3 loops - between 7 and 8 miles each loop (Merry has a Garmin, so I know we ran 22:2x something miles - even though I did not want to know!).   I know, the time looks slow -- but, it was on the trails, and it was a challenging run.  I ran with Merry -- and she took off during the first loop, but she stayed with me the second two, she said she was tired, but since she is a 3:12 marathoner, I am not sure that it is the case, although it might be the case that she is not used to either running on the trails, or on the hills.  Anyway, 1:12:22, 1:13:xx, and 1:13:xx -- for some reason the lap thingy did not work on my watch beween 2nd and 3rd laps, I just remember that the 2nd was 1:13, and that would leave 1:13 for the last one.

All and all, a beautiful day, and fun running with someone for a change!

Happy Sunday bloggers. 

AM:(9.5 miles, 1:20:33).  Abbreviated wu and cd because I was running to catch a flight this morning.  I drove to the track (because I did not have time to run the 4 miles to get there) and ran on the trails for a little while.  I came on the track from this little gate that leads from the trail, and started to do some strides - all the other entrances to the track were roped off!!  I bet you can't guess why?  Well, because there was ice on the track.  It rained (and snowed up at my work) most of the day yesterday, and was well below freezing overnight ... so ... I was in such a hurry this morning Dean scraped off my car when he left (he is so sweet), but it had frosted over again by the time I left ... Anyway, the first 800 was sort of gingerly, as I tried to assess how icy it was.  It wasn't really bad, the sun was up, so although there were still some slick spots, mostly it was puddly.  BUT -- with about 100m to go for my first 800 some guy came on the track and held his arm out into lane 1!!!  I kept going, but I slowed down while I mentally "assessed" the threat level (he he) - I thought for sure they were going to kick me off the track ... but it was just a guy who wanted to know why they had the track roped off.  Between evaluating the slickness, trying to figure out how to run 800 meters (he he) and "the guy" -- my first couple 800s were slow, I know.  

I would not recommend this approach for averaging 3:20s.  It was a hard way to go, maybe not for you speedstars, but I will have you know, I have never done this many sub-3:20s in my life.

3:24, 3:22, 3:19, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:16

Since I only did 8 and not 10 (time constraints coupled with the fact that between traveling, Dean fighting a cold, and switching days for this workout - meaning it was closer to my long run day that Greg had wanted -- I am playing it conservative right now, I don't want to get sick!!!!) it really is not a Yasso 800s predictor workout, but, I guess I will call it a good VO2 max workout.  Especially for a slowpoke like me!

PM: easy 4 from my hotel.

Happy Tuesday bloggers, I hope you are all happy and warm.  I am dreading my all day meeting tomorrow, I have to be sort of "hard" for work in front of a lot of new people.  Our "partners" for one of the projects I am working on are not "playing nice" and I have to show in my presentation what the cost of this type of behavior will be ... yikes.  

Ran around Oyster Bay, South San Francisco ... nice run, very early in the morning.

I am a little tired, and wouldn't you guess it that the woman who sat next to me on the plane last night coughed and sneezed the whole way?  I was holding my breath ;-)

Lot's of zinc and Vit C are on board.

I hope you are all doing well!!

The meeting went well, not too bad, a tiny bit "tense" at times, but overall, much better than any of us anticipated. 

No AM run, super early flight and I am playing it a little conservative right now.  I would rather be a little low in mileage and hit my two remaining workouts, and stay healthy!

PM: 8.5 miles (1:08:50)  12 x 1` w/1` recovery on the hills.  

1:07:35.  Easy run.  My legs felt better than  yesterday afternoon -- probably because I had not been sitting on an airplane for 3/4 hours before the run.  Also, I think that I was able to eat better yesterday, helping me feel a little better.  But, I have to say I am feeling a little worn down right now.  Part of this feeling is just typical for 2 weeks out before a race, sort of confounded by stress and travel.  One more week of travel ... I can do this!!  I am doing the best I can trying to minimize the effects of my schedule ... what I really need to do is take a little time off from work this weekend so I can get caught up on some sleep.  Apparently 4 hours/night is not enough for these old bones ;-).

Happy Friday bloggers -- I hope it is warming up where you are, and that you have a wonderful weekend!

AM: 8 miles, 1:07:43.

PM: easy 4.

What to do, what to do?  I feel like I am getting sick.  I am not sick yet, but I am super tired and my chest feels tight.  I am supposed to do 20 with 8 miles at MP tomorrow.  I am not sure if I should temp fate or not ... I am going to DC on Wednesday.  I could probably get 20 in on Thursday before my meeting, unless I get sick.  I have been taking vit C and zinc for about 4 days now -- noooooo, I can't get sick.  I am pretty sure sick would be worse than missing a run, though I would prefer to do neither.  I AM running this marathon, even if I have to run it with pneumonia.  seriously.  

2:47:29 (8:22 AP).  So, I was supposed to this with the last 8 at marathon pace.  But, I have a cold'. It isn't a bad cold, but it is a cold.  I talked to Greg (in a panic), and we decided to back off today in hopes of letting my immune system do its thing.  I had planned on running 18, and I was supposed to take it easy.  If I started to feel badly at any point then cut it short.  Problem is that I wouldn't really (won't really) know if it was "too much" until tonight or tomorrow :-).   I tried to keep it at 65-75% effort, which apparently is 8:35 pace because that is what every single mile split was on the way out ... every one!  My body started picking up the pace after I turned around, I had to slow myself down ... It wasn't marathon pace (I had a couple 7:59s in there), but it was faster than I had promised myself to go, I was still averaging about 8:10-8:20 on the way back, even while trying to keep it easy.  Bummed that I didn't get some more MP miles, but I still have 2 more "workouts" to go and if I can stay healthy for them then it will be worth it!!

Happy Sunday!! Congrats on the awesome races today (Rachelle rocks!).  The Mill rose Games are on ESPN tonight for any of you that missed the live feeds yesterday!!  T&F! 

AM: 8.5. 10 x 1' w/1' recovery.

PM: easy 4.

Still fighting the good fight on the cold front.  Just so you know ... Snow down at 2800-3000 ft tonight!! Of course, I am flying out in the morning!

Happy day bloggers.  Stay warm and dry! 

yup, 40 mins!!  wow.  

I was in a hurry - rushing to the airport.  I am bummed to be leaving Tucson.  It was cold this morning - and after my plane left it snowed all day -- and actually stuck.  This happens 1 time in every 5-10 years, and I have to miss it ... booo!

And, I am sicker.  double boo.  I am sure 8 hours of travel will help my cold!

Ok, staying up with my friend until wee hours of the morning did not help either!!

I hope you are all doing well!! 

AM: (1:09:45,8.5 miles).  I was supposed to be doing 3 x 2000 w/2:30 tempo interval pace (6:44-6:57 pace) recovery + 3 x 200 w/200 recovery.  I did not have a track, but I did have easy access to the Rock Creek Trail, which has mile markers.  So, I figured I would run miles and then add on 1:40 or so.  It was 23F and windy.  I also woke up at 5:30 AM with a seriously sore throat ... took an ambien (before I saw that it was 5:30, but after I felt my sore throat, dumb me ;-)).  I had a conference call early this morning -- so I sort of overslept when I woke up at 8:30 AM (East Coast time -- 6:30 my time -- which was also oversleeping!).  

Anyway ... my friend Lara (who I am staying with -- and her 3 kids, beautiful petri dishes that they are) - is a pediatrician and when I told her that my throat hurt she said, "you won't feel it after a couple of miles, you are fine" -- ha ha ... so much for sympathy ;-).  She was correct.  My legs feel incredibly good -- though they are looking kind of fat to me, how does that happen?  is it taper-goggles? -- and I did not feel badly.   Since these are on the road, with all the hills, chilly headwind, etc. I was not expecting to hit my target at all, and was actually thinking that I would be happy with 7:30s given my health.  Instead:

7:09 +1:45, 1:56 + 6:53, 2:00 + 6:45.  (the last two I did the "extra 400 meters before the mile marker - the last mile had a goodly amount of downhill - this compensated for the extra meters I was running ;-)).  I was quite surprised with this.  And, I decided, Lara was right, I am fine -- no matter how aweful I seem to be feeling!!  I am hoping to get to my hotel and sleep early tonight ...

PM: easy 3.5 (30 mins).  I usually would rather run in a blizzard than run on the treadmill, but I think today I will do the treadmill because I am actually quite cold.

Happy Thursday!! 

easy run, early early early, cold ...brrr.

48:56. Yesterday I ran the same route (on the Mt. Vernon Trail - from Alexandria VA to near the DC line).  I was wearing two sets of gloves yesterday (because it was so cold), and I somehow hit my watch off at some point - so I wasn't exactly sure how far it was before I turned around.  So, today I had no 'watch malfunction' -- it was 25:01 at my turnaround point!!! wow, that was amazing yesterday!

So, two things, #1 I am sick, pretty darn sick.  So far, it has not moved to my chest, and I don't have a fever, so I am holding it together, though bummed that I am sick 7 days before my race. I don't understand how I got sick (sarcasm inserted here), I have only had two airplane/work/stressful trips in as many weeks, have been running in wintery mix weather for 3 days on little sleep!

Yesterday, I was supposed to fly out at 5PM after my meeting was over - I was flying from DC to Chicago to Tucson.   By 3PM I started getting text messages from the airline telling me that flights were delayed up to 90 mins in Chicago and 45 mins out of Chicago.  I knew there was no way I was going to make my connection in Chicago, and it was the last flight to Tucson of the day.  So, I rebooked my flight to this morning - and luckily was able to get the American Statistical Association to get me another night at the hotel.  I went back to recheck into the hotel and the lobby was FULL (3 bus fulls) of little cheerleader/beauty queen girls. Some of them were wearing huge amounts of make-up, seriously, like movie set amount!  I tried to talk to one of them in the elevator, she was a little snot and treated me like I was gum stuck on the bottom of her shoe (seriously).  I felt like telling her "pretty is as pretty does" - but I figured I wasn't my place, and she wouldn't get it anyway.  I will say that the experience (of just seeing all of these little girls prance around) was an interesting sociologic experience ;-).

Anyway ... it was a good call to change my flight.  I got to sleep in a comfortable bed, sleep in until 6:30AM (4:30 Tucson time), and go out with a friend of mine last night for dinner.  The flight I was supposed to be on was 4 1/2 hours delayed out of DC, I would have arrived in Chicago at midnight, and most certainly been stuck in the airport until about 6AM ;-)  good call!!  Today, I am stuck in DC again -- I already have missed my connection out of Dallas, and have had to rebook 2 flights.  However, I have all day to get some flight home, I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can catch at a minimum the last flight out of Dallas, which would get me in by 9PM.  I do have an Admirals Club pass, so the waiting is tolerable.

It looks like I will miss my 2nd run today -- I won't stress about it, having a cold is a much bigger threat than missing a run at this point.  DRAT. 

Happy Saturday bloggers. 

so.  It is now Saturday, March 2, 2013, and I am sitting in my office, NOT in The Woodlands, Texas, with my friend allie -- like I was supposed to be.

The last you heard, I was sitting in DC, waiting to hopefully make it home that evening (Saturday).  After many flight delays, and two flight changes, I boarded a plane to Dallas, connecting to Tucson.  My throat had been hurting for 3 days, I was feeling really crappy, but still, I thought that I was going to beat this cold.  40 mins before we landed in Dallas we had to make a quick descent to miss some weather -- and, my worst fear was realized, my "cold" was bad.  I lost hearing in my right ear, and it felt like someone stuck an ice pick in my ear.  I spent 40 minutes in pain (tears in my eyes).  I did not get the hearing back in my ear until today.  

Luckily, my primary care doctor is the husband of one of my running friends, Merry.  We were supposed to run our last run before our marathons together on Sunday.  I had to cancel, because I was so sick Sunday I couldn't get out of bed.  I talked to her husband on the phone on Sunday and he called in a prescription for me that afternoon.  I stayed at home from work on Monday, only worked 4 hours, and did not run.  I finally got out of bed on Tuesday and ran 4 miles.  By the time I got home, I knew I wasn't going to be able to run in this marathon.

I had to make a decision ... was I willing to run in the marathon just to run in it (knowing I would not be able to actually race it), or should I wait and run a marathon that I think I am able to run well.  

I cancelled my plane ticket/hotel on Tuesday evening, and signed up for the Eugene marathon (April 28th).  I was way too depressed to blog the rest of the week.  Now that the day is here, and I am waiting patiently to hear from allie -- have already heard from my friend Merry (who ran a 3:12 at 57 years old), and about Jake (who won, yaaahoo!!!).  I am back.

I am still running easy, as I have 2 more days of antibiotics.  But I feel better.  Still sound bad, but feel better -- at least physically.  

I hope you are all doing well. 

AM: 6 miles

PM: 3 miles

AM: 6 miles

PM: 3 miles 

1:25:26.  Yes, it is a little quicker than I usually run -- but I after a such a low mileage week my legs feel pretty fresh.  Now I begin the process to get a little  "out of shape" so I can build back to being in shape again.  My mileage will remain on the lower side for the next two weeks.  My main hope is that I don't replace my run time (built into my workweek) with work ;-).

I hope you are all doing well!! 

AM: 10 x 25" with 1` recovery (8 miles)

PM:  easy 3

Yikes .. I don't know how I lost so much time, sorry bloggers.  Things have been crazy busy at work.  I have been running -- and this coming weekend (3/24) is my first race since last December.

I am running in the Eugene marathon on April 28th ... and this weekend I am running in a very hilly 1/2 marathon!  Not a PR course, not by a long shot, but I hope not to embarass myself! 

AM: (9 miles, 80 mins) last 20` was at marathon effort.

PM: easy 4. 

AM: 8 miles, easy

PM: 4 miles, easy. 

1:42:32.  Hilly, nice day, loved the run!

AM: (9 miles, 1:18:23).  Such a busy week.  My workplace is sponsoring a big scientific conference here in Tucson and it is back-to-back talks and working groups.  Yesterday I gave a big talk to our advisory board on a project that I have been working on ... it was so cool!  But, this morning I had to get up way too early ... I am staying at the conference hotel (even though it is Tucson) so I can limit the 80 min commute (40 mins each way) -- thereby getting more time to run!  I found an awesome place to run, fairly long bike path, mixture of dirt and asphalt, and it is close-by to my office!

PM: "easy" 4 -- tried a trail run, not an easy trail, probably won't put it on my "every day" runs -- it was rocky and steep and sort of dangerous!  It is very hot this week, btw -- getting up in the 90s. 

easy 60 mins!

AM: easy 4.

PM: 1:28:43 with the last 20 mins hard.

Such a busy day, I ended up doing my longer run at 5:30 -- I wanted to run longer, but I ran out of daylight, but I did run hard the last 20-25 mins.  (my schedule said 80 to 100 mins with the last 20 hard).  

easy run, felt really good, especially considering that my last hard run was last night and not yesterday morning!

AM: 8 miles -- brought carrots to Coco -- Big Boy is living on a ranch with other retired race horses now, I miss him.

PM: easy 4. 

3:25:45.  Same 22 miler that I did ~ a month ago.  It was much much hotter this time - 82F and sunny at the end.  I am still acclimating to the heat.  Plus, last time I had company, this time I did it all by myself.  First loop was in 1:14, second was 1:11, and third was a 1:09!!  I was suprised, this was nearly 8 mins faster than last month, and it was hot!  Maybe it is because my legs are still sort of "fresher" than they were last time!

  I am still a little nervous about the race, but I am also excited to race again.  

... maybe 15.5 ;-)

 AM: (11 or 11.5 miles, 1:32:11).  28:29wu/27:52cd + 6 x 800 w/equal recovery (abbreviated Yasso 800s because of the race this weekend).

I was a little worried, because: 1) I am always worried about 800s, 2) I haven't done any workouts for 3 weeks, 3) I am a worrywort (see #1).  I get to the track and there is a big group of guys (8-10 of them) and it wasn't clear whether they were finished with their workout, or hadn't yet started (they were standing around).   I did one set of 800 + recovery, and then they started their workout.  It involved pairs of them doing something - I think 400s or 600s on some staggared start so that as one pair hit the "start line" (they used the curve as a start, which I found odd) on one side another pair hit the "start line" on the other side of the track.  But what it really meant was that at each turn as I will hitting the straight there were two guys that used me as a target to catch and pass.  I am sure they considered it quite fun ... since all but 3 of them were able to pass me at some point on the track straightaway!  But, then they got to stop, and I had to keep going ;-) (oh, and I am a 50 year old woman, he he).  Anyway, I guess it was good, because I did work a little harder than I might have, but I did have to keep saying to myself, "this is your workout, don't worry about their workout" ;-) -- I told one of them as I left the track that maybe next time they could help me out a little -- he laughed and said, "yes, we were trying to catch you" ;-)

anyway my splits:  3:20, 3:18, 3:17, 3:18, 3:18 3:18  -- I was pretty surprised at the consistency!   

PM: easy 4.  

Happy Tuesday bloggers, I have missed you!! 

It was funny ... I had an early morning meeting, so I warned them I would be wearing my running clothes so I could go on a run right after the meeting ... well, the meeting ran over, and my next meeting was only 1 hour later, so I did not have time to go on a run then.  Then, the day just filled up with meetings, and my last meeting ran late -- there I was, 6:15 at night leaving work trying to get somewhere where I could run in the dark!!!  At the end, I could only run for an hour before I couldn't see anything ... but, it did get done!! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:18:54).  8.5 miles and then 8 x ~100m strides

PM: easy 4.

For such a low mileage week, my legs are pretty sore ... maybe I am just psyching myself out because of Saturday ;)

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

58:34.  Easy run up Trails End Road, then back down -- down was faster than up ;-).

So, big news today? Asli Cakir, the olympic gold medalist in the 1500 has supposedly tested positive for banned substances.  This was common speculation about her after the race ...  as was speculation about the men's winner, Makhloufi (who has NOT tested positive).  Lifetime bans is what we need!!!

easy 45`.  Beautiful day ... a little windy, a little dust to the North (where the race will be), but we couldn't ask for better temperatures here at this time of year.  I made the mistake of driving the course a little last night on my way home.  Ouch, this is going to hurt.  Basically two hills -- out and back (same hill, up and down, out and back).  I am trying hard not to think about it, and instead, as my facebook friends saw:  I got my bib from Brigetta Bartlett (silver medal in the HJ in London) -- I knew her as soon as I saw her!  And she gave me a hug!!  The running store (very small) is near my work, and they were very nice.  The owner gave me a VIP bracelet for tomorrow (more porta potties - although since the race starts and ends at my work, and I have a pass to get in all the buildings ;-)  I will have plenty of nice bathrooms to choose from!

Have a wonderful day, bloggers, I can't wait to read the race reports from today!!!! pins and needles! 

This was easily the 2nd hardest course I have ever run (the first being the Winter Running Series 10K).  There was not one mile on the course that was not up or down (it was an out-and-back) and the ups were miles long, and quite frankly, the downs never felt as long ;-)).  But!  I was very happy.  It was my first race as a 50 year old, my first race in 16 months, and my first race back after my horrid year last year!  Whoo hoo, is all I can say!

 I was 9th woman, and 1st woman master (over 40).  I was only 4 seconds off of my PR from last year, and the course was tough (have I mentioned how tough the course was?

:-)).

I had a few 7:30 miles in there -- but these were tempered by some sub 7:00s, so it was much more about focusing on "effort" and not freaking out at my mile splits.  Good practice for the marathon, right?

anyway ... here they are:  6:56, 15:06 (missed the mile marker ~7:33 average), 7:07, 7:02, 14:20 (missed the mile marker again, 7:10 average), 7:09, 7:29, 7:22, 7:32, 6:45, 7:02, :42

The timing mat had me at 47:30 at the halfway point, which is pretty remarkable to me (that I was able to negative split second half by any amount - I was so tired on the last uphills!).  

I am very excited about my goal of a 3:20 at Eugene, I almost believe it is possible now!

Happy Sunday bloggers! 

AM: 4 miles easy.

PM: 3 miles easy.

My legs are tired bloggers.  My plan is to take it easy this week, in hopes of a good 20 miler (with 8 at MP) on Sunday.  My goal now is to making to Eugene strong and healthy ...

Happy week to you all.  I could bore you with how busy I am at work ... But it is no different than any other week :-)  I spend 75% of my time in meetings, 20% time trying to direct the work of the folks that work for me, and the rest of the time trying to do my work and worrying about how I am behind in everything :-) Oh, and at least 2% of my time trying to figure out how to schedule my running into my schedule... it is almost more difficult than the running, he he.

Easy 5 miles.

AM: big meeting very early in the morning (I was up until very late preparing).  4 miles easy.  I have been wearing my watch and running my usual PM course (I never wear a watch for my PM run) ... Apparently, it might be longer than 4 miles ... It takes me longer than I have estimated.  Cool.

PM: 8.5 miles, 1:15:53 ... Maybe/probably longer than this, but I don't think it was 9 miles.  23wu/24cd . 6 x 4'w/1' recovery + 3 x 1'w/1' recovery.  I was supposed to do 8-10 x 1000 w/200 recovery + 3 x 200 ... but my legs are still sore and I am erring on the side of caution ... It felt great to run a little fast, but I tried to keep it pretty controlled ... it is really harder to recover from races as I get old :-)  (work isn't helping, but I love what I do).

Happy Thursday, bloggers! 

1:03:22.  Feeling great, ran some hills!

AM: easy 8 ... More hills!

PM: easy 4.

2:54:02 (8:42 AP, ~9:02 for the first 12 and 7:50 for the last 8 miles; not sure of all the mile splits, but for the ones I had, there were a couple 8:00 in there, a few 7:50s and the last mile was 7:31 - which, given how I felt this week was nothing short of a miracle, he he).  86F and sunny (I did not get started until nearly 10AM, my bad ;-)).  I know 85F sounds like fun, but in full sun, when you aren't really acclimated, 3 hours in it is a little difficult ... but, it wasn't 100F, so I won't complain.  

Remind me again why I think that running 26.2 miles is a good idea?  My legs are still a little "heavy" from last weekends race (and the 22 miles/800 meter workout the week before).  One thing I am really grateful for about having a good race 5 weeks out from a target race is that I know that my race target is realistic, so I don't have to go out every workout and stress about "what does this workout mean in relation to my race?".  I *know* I am in the ballpark for my "B" goal, and if all goes well, I might even hit my "A" goal (3:20-3:22 versus sub 3:20).  I just have to be smart, and work on staying on my feet for 3 hours and 20 mins!!  (which is actually no small feat - or feet - ;-)).    Anyway, if I have to modify a couple workouts in the next week or so, to ensure I stay healthy, I can do that and not worry so much.  And, I can start focusing on things that I usually don't have the oppotunity to focus on - like nutrition (both during the race, and in general), optimal hydration strategies, focusing on form when I am tired, etc.  And, I can listen to my body and when it tells me that I am still recovering from some hard workouts, well, I can tone it down and not stress ... too much.  

Anyway -  I told myself I would be happy with anything between 7:30 and 8:00 min pace for the last 8 miles today - and I hit it.  So, I am, again, grateful!  I feel that cardiovascularly I am in great shape, my limitations are neuromuscular (my tendons, muscles, etc aren't quite up to the task sometimes, or they take more time to recover after being pushed).  So, I have been modifying my expectations, and hopefully, when I do this workout again in 2 weeks, it will feel "better" ;-).

Happy Easter bloggers, I hope you are enjoying your family day!! 

Can I just please tell you how excited I am to see how Shalane Flannagan does at Boston??  She just ran a 31:04 10K at the Stanford Invitational - 3 weeks from Boston.  She is in amazing shape!!

AM: 10 miles

PM: easy 4 

Soooo busy, I miss you bloggers! 

Off to the airport!

AM: 9 miles (4 easy + 5 @ MP) I did something to my hamstring ...

Ran in DC ... Had to hurry to get to my class I taught at the US Senate!!! More on that later. Then I have two days of  board meetings, and then another day of meetings as part of a conference on cancer research!  Somewhere in there I have to get a 22 miler in!

PM: easy 4 

Easy ...early ...tired

AM: 8 ... Scoping out a route for my long run tomorrow.  I have to change hotels, after my meeting ends today, but I am trying to stay where I will have access to the Mt. Vernon trail!

PM: easy 4

I am tired of eating out! I need some fruit and veggies! 

3:03:10 (1:33:52/1:29:18). Ran on the Mt. Vernon trail from Arlington to four miles from Mt. Vernon.  I was not enthusiastic about getting out the door today, but had to admit 10 miles into it that it was a beautiful day, a great place to run, and I felt pretty good ... I am lucky.  There were a lot of people out - cyclists, runners, and walkers.  I even saw a woman who easily weighed 250 lbs jogging.  I so wanted to yell "good for you!" But, I was afraid it would make her feel worse and not better, so, I just casually said "good morning" instead.

 Tonight I have to go to a dinner meeting...I did not get much else done today, so I guess I will be working on the plane tomorrow. I can't wait to get home!  Oh, and my legs ache. :-) 

Happy Sunday, bloggers. 

AM: (10.5 miles, 1:20:43).  ~30 min wu/cd and then 15 x 1` w/1` recovery.  over hill-and-dale.  Saw Abdi, invited him to come with us to see John Ball (the imfamous ART guru) on Friday in Pheonix, he did not accept ... too bad, it would have been fun to ride up with "the Mayor of Tucson".  

PM: easy 4.

Nice day today, I felt pretty darn good.  I just need to make it through a couple more hard workouts, and then I am on easy street ... hehe ...

Easy/hilly run (radiation run today).  

AM:(13 miles, 1:45:56) 27:57wu/28:05cd.   8 x 800 w/ equal recovery (psuedo Yasso 800s - since I only did 8 instead of 10, I am just not strong enough to do 10!). 

Average: 3:17 

3:20, 3:16, 3:19, 3:18, 3:17, 3:17, 3:16, 3:16   (recovery was between 3:22-3:35)

I think this is the fastest I have ever run these ... like, ever.  (by comparison, this same workout before my aborted March marathon was: 3:24, 3:22, 3:19, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:16).  It was not easy by any means, but I did try really hard to keep control - and think "let the pace come to you, don't fight to hit the pace" (and there was a little voice in my head that kept reminding me that I had to run 3 hard uphill miles home ;). I am hopefully optomistic about my chance to go sub 3:20!!

PM: easy 4.  like stupendeously easy 4 ;)

Happy Thursday bloggers!! 

1:03:43.  Easy easy easy run.  Legs are not achy, but they are tired.  I feel very old.

16 days to stay healthy!  I took 1/2 day off from work to drive up to Phoenix to see John Ball.  Love him (like seriously, I have a tiny crush on him) - I don't feel "better" yet, but I do have a little more flexibility now.

Safe travels Boston bound bloggers -- so excited for you!!! 

AM: (8 miles, 1:08:34).  easy, hilly, tired - again ... last 20 miler before the marathon tomorrow!!  relieved?  excited?  both??  

PM: easy 4.

I have to do my taxes today -- ouch.  it is not easy, actually, it is pretty complicated with two houses, two jobs, and my Mom's estate stuff.   Sigh, unfortunately, I can't put it off much longer.

Rest Boston peeps, and the rest of you too, happy weekend, bloggers! 

2:51:08. 20 with last 8 at MP.  Flat run with some mile markers that I can use to get a sense of pace. It is 14 miles from where I park my car (in a parking lot near a clinic - one my secret spots :-) ) to an intersection to the east: 7 out and the same 7 back; there are mile markers for ~12 of the miles, but not all of them - and the mile markers don't start exactly where I park.  Anyway, so what I did was run ~3 out and back heading west first (partial dirt path), and then do my 7 out heading east and back.  The first ~6 were 29:02/24:51, the next ~7 were 1:03:58, the last 7 were 53:13 (7:36 AP).  The splits I could get were for the last 6: 2@15:25 (7:42AP), 7:31, 2@14:55 (7:27AP), 7:12.

I really did not expect this at all, my legs felt horrible, heck *I* felt horrible, the whole first 12 miles.  The mileage, and my workouts, have just been wearing me out.  But, I somehow rallied, and although it was not "easy" ( and in fact it was a little fast - as MP for a 3:20 is 7:40/mile), it got done!! Now my legs ache again, but I can focus on recovery now! I have two more "track" workouts that shouldn't be over-the-top hard, and one more "longish" run!!

I can't wait to see how all the bloggers do tomorrow! FRB!! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:17:49).  10 x 1` w/1` recovery.

PM: easy 4.

Heavy heart today bloggers, lifted by the knowledge that all of you are safe and sound.  

And know that before the tragic events unfolded I was so very happy for all of you that were able to finish the Boston marathon -- and holy cow, how well you did!!  I still feel that happiness for you -- that can't be diminished in any way.  

40 mins ... yikes, taper time already?

AM: (11.5 miles, 1:36:47).  27:57wu/28:27cd.  3 x 2000 w/2:30 recovery + 3 x 200 w/200 recovery.  Goal (according to the McMillan running calculator: 6:44-6:58 pace/mile).  I thought to myself, "well, you don't have a lot to gain with this workout, but you do have a lot to lose, so lets just shoot for 7:00 pace -- since the calculator seemed to be a little fast 4 weeks ago".  What I meant by "a lot to lose" was that it is unlikely that this workout was going to give me any huge fitness benefit, but given that my old tired legs probably need a lot of recovery from the past two cycles of training (2 marathon cycles really - since I missed the marathon in March), I could over do it.  My guess is thatt Greg puts these in my schedule so that the taper is still similar to my previous schedule (in terms of workouts on TTh and every-other Sunday) - but at a lower volume.  These sorts of workouts keep your legs remembering turnover, while not really very stressful.   6K @ 10K pace with recovery inbetween is not quite lactic threshold.  Anyway -- it went better than I could have anticipated, given that although it was not what I would call "easy" - it was not pushing it either (certainly not as hard as the 800s last week):

 8:44 (6:59AP), 8:41 (6:56AP), 8:40 (6:56AP), then some pretty slow 200s in :49, :48, :49.

It was pretty windy down the backstretch, and as usual, I did not seem to make up much time with the tailwind on the homestretch -- but, luckily, it was a short workout!

PM: easy 4.

Thinking about you all.   

51:43. Whoa. I must be tapering, I feel like I weight 200lbs, I am slow, and my mind keeps saying "26 miles, really? Why would want to do that?"

So glad this week is over. Rest well, bloggers. I

Pretty much the same as yesterday, maybe I feel like I weight 210 today because I broke down and had some ice cream last night ... I tried not to, but I couldn't seem to stay away from the freezer.  

Enjoy your running, bloggers 

It was so awesome to see so many bloggers with good races at the SLC half marathon today (it is too early for results from the full, I am sure you rocked it there too!!! FRB!!)

PM: 4 miles easy 

1:43:12.  Schedule called for 12 miles with the last 6 at MP.  Usually I would hit the Rillito River Trail for this run, since it has some mile markers. But, I was inspired this morning and thought, "why drive all the way to the trail, when there is a track 3 miles down the hill?".   So, I drove to the track, ran 56:45 on the trails around Pima Community College (I love these trails, it is rocky, and hilly - not long hills, more like cross-country hilly). Then I hit the track.  It was hard to find "just the right pace" -- I was really trying to keep it easy, but the first 800 was a little 'too' easy, and I had to not over-compensate :-) -- the target was 7:35 pace.  Splits were: 7:46, 7:31, 7:32, 7:31, 7:29: 7:24.  An extra 1/2 mile to my car, and it was a wrap!  One more 'workout' on Thursday and it will be time to take this training to the race!

Happy Sunday bloggers!! 

AM: 6 miles (maybe 9.5) 53:24.  20 mins easy then 10 x :25 w/1` recovery.  20 min easy home ...  I feel like a sluggish, slow, mucus-dragging slug.

PM: easy  3/3.5 (just a quick - in duration, not speed, see above - little jog).

allie is an awesome, wonderful, funny, beautiful, speedy, sweet, person.  She sent me a good luck charm for my race!

Happy Tuesday, bloggers! 

Yikes ... 30 mins.  Still dragging along, like a snail ... just like yesterday (see "slug") but now dragging a house on my back...

Happy hump day, bloggers! 

AM: (7.5, 1:03:01).  17:01wu/20:06cd.  4 x 1000 w/200 recovery.  I messed up.  When I read the pace that I was supposed to run these in (my schedule said 4-5 x 1000) I misread speed versus cruise interval pace!!!  so, I read my pace was supposed to be 3:53-4:06 (6:12-6:36 /mile pace), when in fact it was supposed to be 4:07-4:15 (6:36-6:48/mile)!!!  I *KNEW* that 3:53-4:06 was too fast.  So, my goal was 4:10 pace (which was 3:20/800). 

My actual paces: 4:13 (6:45/mile), 4:15 (6:48/mile), 4:11 (6:41/mile), 4:10 (6:40/mile) + 3 x 200 each at :49.  

I swear it felt much harder than it was supposed to feel -- so I decided to only do 4.  then I felt like a failure during my cool-down ... and thought, "well, maybe it wasn't so bad for running on these hollowed out tubes filled with cement, that some people call 'legs'".  Then, when I got home I checked my schedule again and hit myself on the forehead!  Dummy, me.  Anyway - I was in the "target" pace.  If I had paid attention I would have tried harder to hit 4:15 instead of the 4:10/4:11 on the last ones, but as long as I run super super super easy the next few runs, I am sure there is no real harm done.  These were between 10 - 17 secs faster than the ones I did in 2009 ... so, well, I am in better shape  -- hopefully this will translate into a marathon PR!

PM: very very easy 3 miles.

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

I did something to my leg yesterday ... It hurts, and I am worried. Or it is the taper??  Yikes!!!

With Dean ... We looked for Pre's trail ... Just found bike path :-).  Nice to jog with Dean.  Leg is 'better' ... I have been rolling and sitting on a lacrosse ball all day!

Picked up my race bib (first corral behind elites, oh no!), heard a very inspirational talk by Lauren Fleshmen, who is one of the cutest pregnant women ever, and got a good luck hug!!!

http://results.bazumedia.com/event/results/event/event-3271

More later, my legs hurt, bad.  Thank you all for your love and well wishes.  My lucky javelina was pinned to my shorts (thanks allie) ... It helped a lot over those last painful miles.  xxoo 

Report:

I did ok, I really can't complain (except for how much my legs hurt the last 4 miles, and they hurt so much right now - ache - that I can't even take a nap - despite only getting ~3 hours sleep last night ;-)). My half-marathon splits were 1:38:51/1:40:24 -- I wanted to hold it together and go for sub 3:19, but I was just holding on at the end (or that is how I felt anyway).  I have to say that the course felt hillier than 2009 -- they did change it, both so we did not have to navigate through the 1/2 marathoners between miles 15-16, and so we could finish on Hayward Field (which I wish I could have enjoyed more - but, I was so focused on the finish line, and stopping running, that I did not see the Jumbo Tron -- small mercies :-) -- or much of the "track" ... ha ha).  Maybe it was just the 24secs/mile faster than I ran today that made the hills feel harder?  The other two larger points, both have to do with the fact that I am so lucky.  I can't believe that 10 years ago I started running.  My racing debut was a 23:30 5K followed up with a 1:39:xx 1/2 marathon -- both of these races were the same pace that I just ran 26.2 miles in!  I never would have believed it was possible, certainly not at 50 years old.  Which brings me to the second of my lucks -- today I hit an unspoken milestone -- it concerns something that Sasha doesn't believe in, but I do.  It is WAVA (age-graded performance). Basically, there is a calculator that estimates the percentile for your race results adjusted for your sex and age.  It is based on adjustment of your performance to the current world records of your gender - and accounts for the natural slowing that happens as you get older (loss of muscle mass happens no matter what you do).  They break this down into percentiles, 90th, 80th, 70th, etc. and the "rule-of-thumb" is that 90th percentile is "world class", 80th percentile is "national class", and 70th percentile is "local class" (they also give you an estimate of what your time is worth in "peak age" performance, which is a little 'murkier'.  Anyway -- I have been in the 75th-78th percentile range for the entire time I have been running.  Today ... bloggers, I hit a long sought after goal of mine -- I hit the 80.63th percentile!  I was very happy, maybe it is a silly target - but it was a target of mine for a long time.  

This race hurt more than any race I have ever done.  I never felt "comfortable" and I hurt very badly the last 4 miles.  My splits aren't horrible, and I am pretty surprised about this - because I tell you -- I was hurting.  I had a side stitch at mile 21, and then at mile 24 my side-stitch woes went away because my left leg was hurting so badly ... I saw all these guys (again, just like last time there were more men around me than women) laying around on the grass the last 3 miles, and I thought, oh man, I could so do that right now.  We ran by our hotel at mile 22 and I so looked at it, long and hard.  I wanted to stop and call it a day.  But, I was racing these women - we kept passing eachother back and forth the entire race, and I was "holding on to them" and I did not want to let them beat me.  They did -- but I was right on one of them at the end -- I was 3:19:15 and she was 3:19:14.  Frustrating because I passed her at about 25 1/2 and then she passed me as we hit the track!! I couldn't respond, I just hung on for dear life. 

First 5 miles (7:32 AP): 7:41, 7:23, 7:28, 7:35, 7:33

Second 5 miles (7:28 AP): 7:17 (downhill after an uphill), 7:32, 7:25, 7:32, 7:38

Third 5 miles (7:37 AP): 7:34, 7:42, 7:34, 7:39, 7:40 (I was really starting to hurt here - I felt like I was slipping into much slower pace than it ended up being)

Fouth 5 miles (7:36 AP): 7:25, 7:39, 7:43, 7:32, 7:41 (trying to pass the women)

Fifth 5 miles (7:40 AP): 7:39, 7:38, 7:44 (hurting really bad), 7:40, 7:43 (like really bad),

final two splits (were wrong, I think the 26 mile marker was in the wrong spot): 7:08, 2:17

So glad to stop running.  My legs cramped so badly when I finished ... yowser, from my toes to my adductor ... ouch.

So, that is that.  I loved the fans, I love Eugene.  At mile 24 there were these guys with cups, they yelled: "water", "beer"  ;-).  There was a lot of music on the course, from bystandanders. Mainly hits from Bob Marely, and from the 70s and 80s (my favorite).  The weather was PERFECT.  The size was perfect, it was a little congested the first mile, but it cleared out quickly.  Everything was perfect.

You are all perfect.  Thank you so much, for everything the past 6 years I have been on the blog, and throughout the difficult times in the last couple of years.  And, thank you for sharing these good times with me too.   

ha ha ha ... 20 mins!  

 I also like blogging a little bit while I am in "recovery" - I have found myself going back to these posts when I have been injured, or recovering after races - seeing "how did I survive this last time" (there is no way I could remember without writing it down!).   I also am in the statistical analysis mode of my race -- trying to figure out *if* I were *ever* to run a marathon again (he he) what would I do better ... so, I looked at the 5 mile average splits (because of the hills the 3 mile splits were a little too variable, the 5 mile splits are much more smooth): 7:32, 7:28, 7:37, 7:36, 7:40  - although I did slow down over the last half of the race, I am not sure that running miles 5 -10 slower would have helped at all (e.g., my normal strategy would have been the opposite splits - with the fastest being the last miles) -- I think I ran the best I could on the day.  It is not my usual "negative split" race strategy, but, it is a marathon, and it was a race ... so, I guess I will just call it done!

Greg is a pretty serious advocate about the recovery cycle after a marathon, I am sure by this weekend I will start to get antsy, right now though, I am happy to take some downtime.  I did not feel at all like running until this AM ... I finally started some gentle rolling and some of my ab and back exercises yeterday.  I am on my way to SF for a business trip tomorrow, it will keep my mind off of my running routine -- it will be nice not to worry about how I am going to fit in all my runs on this trip :)

I wanted to share few tidbits I took away from Lauren Fleshman's talk (she was the guest speaker at the expo).  She is a funny, smart, and very nice person (we use the same ART therapist in Phoenix, and so it was fun to see her in this "mode").  

Her talk consisted of 4 major topics:

1.  Mystery column - this is sort of what Sasha calls "factor X".  No matter how good your training is, no matter how much you watch what you eat, and do everything right, there is always some intangible factor(s) that influence your race/your ability.  Could be something like genetics, could be something immeasureable that influence your performance on the day ... it is a mystery.

2.  Training - everyone has their favorite workouts, the workouts that they like, most likely what they are good at.  It sometimes has to do with your strengths (e.g., some people are really good at short interval workouts really fast, others are better at tempo runs) - sometimes it is just how you are wired (see #1 above).  Lauren made the case that you should focus on those strengths - train to them.   Greg McMillan also advocates this - he structures our workouts so while we sometimes touch on those systems that are not our "favorite" - he tries to make sure that 80% of our workouts for any give target race focus on our strengths.  It could be that people like Galen Rupp - who needed to work on his closing speed to compete at the world level - need to step outside of their comfort zone a little more often (Salazar sent him to work with the sprinters at U of Florida for a season -- it changed his kick a lot); but Lauren believes that even the world class athletes should spend the majority of their time training to their strengths.

3.  Recovery - don't run through injuries, don't be afraid to take the time required to stay healthy.  Learn from your training.  Lauren talked about the fact that she is not a high-mileage runner.  The first time she moved up from 70 mpw she broke her foot.  She convinced herself that it was some sort of fluke.  She recovered, and did the same training again, pushed the mileage again, broke it again.  After a few of these cycles, and a surgery that was pretty bad, she learned to listen to her body and she doesn't push through pain/injury cycle -- and she trains to her strengths (see #2).  Get massages, get treatment before injuries, not just wait until afterward.

4.  Psychologic side to running.  This is a growing area in professional athletics.  It concerns "the little voice" -- you know the one ... the one that tells you the last 1-4 miles that you can't go on, that you need to stop ... the one that, for Lauren, almost paralyzes you before the race even begins.  She told us how after winning her first US championship race (5K) she started to get so nervous before races that running wasn't fun anymore.  Her mind, "the voice",  would worry so much about what could happen ("what if I lose my national title", "what if I am 4th in this race and I don't make the team?") that she would be a mess before the race.  This is also the same voice that you can turn into, "right now I am in 4th - all I have to do is push it this last lap and I will have 3rd" or, "if that woman in 3rd doesn't keep up, I *will* take her".  There are specialists that can help you develop skills to "change the conversation" when the voice sabotages your races.  I have to say that I thought a lot about this during my race.  I have always been pretty good about convincing myself that "if I can do it in training, I can execute the race" - so I do a lot of fast finish runs, I run primarily on my own, so I spend a lot of time thinking "ok, how do I feel right now, what do I need to adjust to run 40 more minutes?", "can I go faster? do I need to slow down?".  But, when things start to hurt, it is so hard to keep the negative thoughts out, and replace them with the positive ... for elite athletes (where the stakes are oh so much higher) - this aspect of their training/racing can make the difference between a big payday, or not.  So, many are turning to experts in sport psychology, and Lauren believes this can make a substantial difference. 

There you go ...  it was very entertaining, witty, and fun.  I am sure I did not do it justice, and some of this stuff we all "know" (e.g., especially the injury one :)) - but it is so important, it is worth hearing all the time!

I hope you are all doing well!  Happy Wednesday, Bloggers! 

another 20 min run!  I feel slow, and fat, but I still don't care much ;-).  I can see that by later this weekend I might feel like running more than my schedule calls for, but still today - I am a little sore and would rather sleep in tomorrow than run ... fat and lazy that is me right now!!  

I am stuck in LAX -- my flight has been delayed 3 hours.  I am going to go for a walk, I will see how far I can go between the three terminals that are connected.   Hopefully I won't get into trouble ... you know how that can happen, even when you aren't expecting it.

Weird to not run today ... This is the first day of my "recovery time" that I am am antsy about running!!  So, I think I will eat instead :-)  

Happy Saturday, bloggers!!

Yippee, a 'long' run :-) 

Actually, I will be running two days in row (tomorrow too).  My legs feel really good, my back ... Not so good.  I am both happy to have some extra time and completely unsure how to use said time :-)

Happy Sunday, bloggers! 

yup ... that's what my schedule called for -- 20 mins for a little over 2 big ones :)

Stupendeously beautiful day -- a wopping 32 mins of running!

The only thing keeping me from freaking out -- primarily about the weight I feel I am gaining -- is that Bernard Lagat takes a month off every year, and does not run a step.  He says he gains 10 lbs, and is happy to do it.  It is true that he could gain 10 lbs and still look emaciated, but still -- he comes back stronger than ever after he does it ... so, I am just recovering ... and pretty secure that I can come back refreshed and ready to start over training (for something) again!

I hope you are all doing well bloggers -- I am sending lots of taper thoughts (positive ones) for those of you getting ready for Ogden!!  FRB FRB!! 

Someday, I will be a runner again :)

OK!  Now we are cooking with gas! For some reason 5 miles finally feels like "a run" ... It is hard to take such a long recovery cycle ... But I won't lie, it is taking a little time to recover ... I am having some fatigue issues that I think will make it a tiniest bit of time to rehab.  It is primarily to do with the radiation, and physiologic stuff from last year - it just makes recovery a bit of a challenge.  The good news is that I *know* I will be running strong again soon! I am making race plans and everything!! For now, I am enjoying the last of the below 100F weeks, in a very short amount of time we will be staring at months of an oven ... For now, I am loving "spring" ...

Happy weekend bloggers! 

Nice 30` run, then I drove up to Mt. Lemmon with my friend Merry and her husband.  We went for a 4 mile hike and lunch at the top of the mountain!  It was a beautiful 70F day up at 8000ft, versus the 99-100F day down at 2500ft!  It was wonderful.   And, I know I got a little workout, because my bum hurt the next day!!

Happy Mother's Day FRB Moms! 

1:02:34.  Yehaaa!  yes, it was wonderful, a real run again!!  LOVE life!  Felt pretty good.  Nothing hurt, I did not feel like I had lost any fitness at all from my "down" time, my landmark was 20 secs faster than it normally would be -- maybe even quicker when applying the heat factor!  Life is sooooooo good.

Happy Day, bloggers!

All you taperers out there -- stay calm, you are FINE -- don't listen to it.  Just do your thing, trust your training -- dream and think about how awesome your race is going to go!! 

Whhooops I forgot to add this run. My whole week is off kilter because I am not training ... I can't wait until I am back to my routine!

1:01 ... lookeee me, another whole hour!! twice in one week! whoppdeedee.

Felt good, thankfully happy to drag my fat behind for a whole hour.  I can't believe how pudgy one can get in two weeks.  Let's see how good it can get going for 3 :)

GOOD LUCK FRB runners -- get your race on!!  Hoping for many potty breaks before the race, none during, smart pacing, fast times, and finish with a smile!  

53:45 hilly hilly run ... So good!

Up with those marathon results FRBrs!! 

Guess what I got in mail today?  My little 1st place 50-54 year old age group plaque from Eugene.    I put in the same drawer as the one for my 3rd place in the 45-49 year old group from Eugene 2009 ;-). They are both nice, not a moose or anything, but nice ;-)

3 miles?  sheesh.  Oh well, at least I had a run scheduled :)

1:02:32.  Schedule said 60-70`. I wanted to do 70` mins, but I had to get my car to the shop (the AC doesn't work and it is in the 100s here -- not pleasant to get to work all sweaty!).

Last night a friend stayed over ... we met Mary at running camp last year, and she came to Flagstaff for running camp again this year.  She stayed last night, and then tonight a bunch of other running camp friends are meeting in Phoenix for dinner!  then tonight, another running camp friend, Becky, is staying with us!  So much company (my cousin is coming through town this weekend).  Lots of quick turnaround with sheet/towel washing going on here at Chateau LaFleur!

I ran with Mary this morning -- she is a little faster than me, but I made her slow down for me :)  I think she liked the views, though she did not much like the hills!

I hope you are all having a good week FBRs!! 

Ran with Becky!  It was a blast!  We saw three coyotes, and rescued a tarantula (a huge one -- it was walking/crawling toward the road, I got a stick and moved it to the wash).

Loving running this week! 

1:19:49.  29:16wu/28:00cd  15 x :30 w/1` recovery.  Yippeee!  Today, I felt like a runner again.  I am not sure it felt "great" - but it must have felt great on some level, I was grinning through most of the run!  (some people might have mistaken the look as a grimace ... but it really was a squinty - due to sun - smile!!).  

So excited, I get to do a long run this weekend, and next week I will be almost back from recovery! yea! 

45` on the trails ... yippee, life is good!

Happy Friday, bloggers! 

1:43:49.  Hilly, 91F and sunny when I finished.  I can't believe how good I felt today.  I guess this is the difference between first long run after downtime because of being sick, versus first long run after taking some downtime because of a race!!  I just loved being out there - despite the heat, despite the pull of my hamstrings up the hills ...  I need to remember this when I start getting tired of the heat :)

Happy Saturday bloggers, I get two days off ... and then next week I am nearly back to my usual, perhaps a little boring even, running schedule!  sigh.  Good times!

Whew, after two days off (why oh why Greg, I am such a fat slob!) - it felt really good to get out again today!

On Sunday we went over for a BBQ - it was a friend of a friend scenario - and it was a blast!  we met some awesome people, had some really good food (they had plenty of vegetarian options for me -- including these most amazing marinated portabella mushrooms).  Best yet?  we were able to talk track and field for much of the time - plenty of runners there.  Since the Diamond League is on right now -- there was much to talk about!  The daughter (~9 years old) had a bunch of autographs from Olympic high jumpers to distance runners - so it was pretty cool!

Anyway - this morning I ran 27wu/28cd and 15 x :30 w/1` recovery.  Ran on the dirt, alternating slightly uphill to slightly downhill (just because that is the dirt road that is ~30mins from my house!  Grin/grimace home again!

I wanted to do a second run today -- but I got caught up at work.  I need to get back to my routine.  Especially because I need to lose this weight I have gained :)

Happy Tuesday that feels like a Monday! 

AM: easy 40 (no watch -- I am calling it 4 miles, might have been a little longer)

PM: easy 30 (~3.5 miles).

Warm here in the desert ... is it December yet? 

1:08:44 (35:06/33:37).  I had an early morning meeting, so I decided to run after work instead of before.  It was hard getting started, it was hot (97F) and still a little sunny, so it felt even hotter; once the sun started setting it was a little better.  I felt "clunky" - but after the turn around, it felt a lot better, and I think I saw a "hint" (very small hint) of the runner who ran a good marathon a few weeks ago. I thought that runner was gone forever, and in her place was this old, chubby, lumbering, rickity -- you get the idea -- wogger ;-).  Not that there is anything "wrong" with this old chubby wogger, mind you, she still loves running (or whatever it is called that she does) - but, she is a huge shadow of her former self.

ANYWAY -- it is all good, this struggling through the Tucson summer is part of the deal to have amazingly good winters -- and it does make us tough :)

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

45` easy peasy.

Just a little jog to get the blood flowing!  Happy Friday! 

AM: 8 miles. ~70` (no watch)

PM: 3.5 miles (no watch).

Easy peasy.  It is hot here.  It was about 90F by 9AM (which is when I finally got out the door).  much hotter than that by the time I finished ... about 97F?  Summer has arrived in the desert ... can't say I have missed it :)

Happy weekend, bloggers!!

It is track and field weekend -- continuation of the Diamond league - this time from my favorite place, Eugene, OR -- the best of the best this weekend!!  more info here: http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2013/06/oregon_track_field_rundown_the_72.html

1:48:18.  I tried really hard to get out early today, forecast says high of 108F, yesterday was 104F or something like that, I know it was 102F for my pm jog.  Anyway, I got out at 7:30, which meant it was 95F or so when I finished.  Little road, little trails, lots o' hills.  Loved every second of it (except the relentless heat, and sun).  Stopped once for a drink from the best drinking fountain EVER ... refrigerated!! Sigh, pure bliss :-) 

 Great track and field yesterday!! The men's 5K and Bowerman mile were incredible!! (Loved to see Ritz looking strong).  Brenda Martinez (miler) ran a 1:58 800, and 17 year old Mary Cain ran a 1:59!!!! Both of these two are going to make the other milers worry at USAs in a few weeks ... Now that they both have proven to have sub 2 min 800 speed. Can't wait!!

In road racing news, Koech just ran an unofficial 58:14 1/2 marathon in San Diego!!! That is 18 seconds off the world record!! Insanely fast!

Happy Sunday bloggers! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:18:56).  28:45wu/28:35cd). 10 x 1' w\1' recovery.  Hot hot hot.  Still awesomely happy to be training again!

 PM: easy 4

Happy Tuesday! 

Easy run!  My hamstring is a little sore ... I am rolling a lot, and sitting on my lacrosse ball ... Yowser!

AM:  (9 miles,1:18:43).  Hills and heat.

 I was quite depressed today as I hit a deer on my way home from work last night.  It was horrible. I am not sure if he/she lived or not.

PM: easy 4 

Hot ... Easy 7, on the hills.

AM: (easy 8, 1:08).  I really MUST get out earlier in the Summer.  I was up by 5:30 (the dogs don't understand the concept of "weekends"), but still did not manage to get out the door until 8:30.  Consequently it was already 93F and sunny.  Don't like it much.

PM: easy 4 

oh mercy!  where did the week go?  

This run was super hot (as are all runs here in Tucson now -- unless you hear differently just assume that all runs are somewhere between 90-100F - maybe a little cooler if I can get out on my run before 6AM

this was a super busy week -- I somehow got swamped bigtime at work, had to go on a trip to DC, and basically was able to squeeze in running -- but not blogging :)

I have miss you. 

AM: (9 miles, 1:18).   12 x 1` with 1`/recovery

PM: easy 4 

I wanted to sneak in a 2nd run today -- because I will be traveling all day tomorrow and won't be getting into DC until 10:30PM, a little late for a 2nd run ... but, alas, I did not get out of work until 9PM, so no sneaky 2nd run for me ... 

Ran very early - was a little more comfortable than usual :)  - ran to the airport.  Sat on a plane for 6 hours, sat in airports for another 4 hours ... did not get into my hotel room until nearly 11:30PM ... early morning tomorrow too ..yikes, this has not been the best week for sleep.

AM: 7 miles, on the Mt. Vernon trail -- beautiful sunrise over the Potomic.

PM: snuck in 3.5 miles in the afternoon before heading up to Maryland to see some friends (and sleep at their house!).

Most awesome run on the Rock Creek Parkway!  a little humid, but oh so much cooler than Tucson.  Slept well last night -- and even this AM.  The time change is a little challenge, but all is good.  LOVED hanging out with Lara, John, and Jeremy, Samantha and Gabe (their lovely kiddos).

Now I get to spend another 8 hours traveling! 

1:48:43.  A balmy 95F and sunny when I finished.  I am acclimated though, so it did not feel as bad as it had the past couple of weekends.  I do have start earlier - because the highs for the day is set at about 11AM now, so an hour difference in starting can be the difference between having most of the run in the 90s versus most of the run in the 100s.

I really did love running in the green, humid, DC/Maryland area -- but, I love my desert too.  And, I love the pine forests of Northern Arizona.  I am so lucky that I get to experience it all!!!

Happy Sunday, bloggers!  I can't wait to get caught up on all of your blogs.  But, alas, today I have to clean my house, finish up a report, and try to catch up on many of hours of sleep I lost last week!  

AM: (9.5 miles, 1:24:09).  27wu/27cd 15 x 1` w/1` recovery.  I should have done a fast finish run, just to "break things up" -- but, oh well :)

PM: easy 4 - as easy as 104F is anyway ... hot, but since the sun was going down (and it is a "dry heat"), it was actually not as bad as I had been anticipating!!

Dean is out of town, my car is still in the shop (from the "poor deer" incident), and life is just plain hectic.  But, I can't complain (much) - I have my health, I have a job (though I complain about it), I have Dean, I have running - and my FRB friends, so -- really LIFE IS GOOD! 

4:30 AM run -- it is much much cooler this time of day :).   Still don't like it though.  

I felt really good today - my legs did anyway.  Loved running.  

Happy Tuesday, bloggers! 

AM:(10 miles, 1:26:32) easy run, Dean got home from his trip very very late, so not much sleep last night.  Felt good on the run!

PM: easy 4.  Met a woman who lives in Indonesia, and has a house here in Tucson, she sort of "run stalked" me in the park, and then asked if she could run with me ... It was fun having company!

Happy nearly Friday! 

Easy 7, happy Friday!!

AM: 8.5 miles, very hilly, and hot, again. 90F at 7:30AM

PM: easy 4

Happy Saturday, bloggers! 

1:46:49.  I was feeling so good today that I decided to put on a little pressure at the end of the run.  My hilly "usual" for right now.  I will probably jump up to 2 hours (~14 miles) next week -- when we are in FLAGSTAFF!!  Can anyone say 30F or more cooler?  Yea baby!  

Can't wait.  We have a house for 3 weeks.   I will likely need to come back down for a few days in there for work, but most of the time I will be cooling off and training high (altitude-wise :)).

I am in heaven with all the Track and Field on TV this weekend!  living the dream!

Happy weekend bloggers! 

AM:(10 miles, 1:26:54). Easyish, hilly with the last 10 fast.

PM: easy 4

Whew what a week!!! It is hot here - closer to 110 most of the week!  This week I had my first FDA meeting. It is very stressful!

Happy week bloggers! 

Very early morning!

 AM:(7 miles, 1:02)

FDA conference call.  We spent last night preparing our questions, and responses to their questions.  We met at work super early and practiced 2 hours, and then had the conference call, then we had an hour debrief. It was as very busy day.

PM:(4 miles easy)

So tired.... 

First night of sleep all week!  Felt good to sleep in until 5:30!!!  Happy day!

Have a wonderful Friday, bloggers! 

AM: 6.5 miles, I had to cut my run a little short.  With the high temps (it was 92F at 6AM), and the smoke from the fire (in New Mexico), my throat was burning 25 mins into the run).  We drove up to Flagstaff!! (yes) though not without some drama.  It was so hot that we really had to keep an eye on our temp gauges, especially on the steeper climbs. B3 hours after we left home my car finally registered 99F, something I hadn't seen in a long time.  It was 90F in Flagstaff, who knew 90 could feel so cool?

PM: easy 4 

1:53:54.  Ran on Campbell Mesa -- lots of trails, but of the easy variety (for Flagstaff).  Still at 7000ft, so a little bit of a challenge for me on the hills, but I LOVED it.  It is hot here, not as hot as Tucson, but still pretty hot - especially with no AC. I am hoping it cools down mid-week!

Happy Sunday bloggers! 

AM: (10 miles, 1:17:34).  Pretty much uphill out, downhill back.  The footing is sort like Jeremy Ranch Road - same elevation too, maybe a little higher than JRR here - but the hills are a little steeper, and the climb is net uphill the whole way.  LOVED it, I have to go slow, and I huff and puff more than I do at home, but I know it is good for me :)

PM: easy 4 -- very windy, cloudy because a storm blew through, NICE NICE NICE!

Happy Tuesday of a holiday week, bloggers! 

BTW, I backed my car into a ditch and had to be towed out.  It was stupid, there is no excuse, other than I wasn't paying attention, I had just gotten off of a conference call and was distracted!  The guy who towed me out laughed at me.  Dean laughed at me.  A neighbor came by and asked if I knew my car was in the ditch (he thought maybe my car had slipped out of gear and rolled) -- I was too slow to go with it - and sheepishly admitted I did in fact know -- and, he laughed at me (in a very nice way :)).  It was a "laugh at Bonnie" kind of day!! 

More trails, exploring.  I am so happy, and lucky, to have so many cool trails!!