track fan

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!