track fan

2:04:20 (1:05:15/59:05).  Because summer is really here now I had to get up at 5 to get this run in before it got too hot.  It was still about 85F when I started, but at least it wasn't fully sunny yet, so it felt pretty good.  It was 97F when I finished, it did feel hot, but I was just happy to finally be running long again so I enjoyed it.  Well, plus I knew we were leaving for Flagstaff so I would not have to endure it for the next 4 weeks (even if I go to Fort Collins during this time it is much cooler there).  

We had a very uneventful drive, no real traffic and we made good time.  It is so funny to have it 108F when you leave and then a beautiful, cool 84F after just 4 brief hours of driving!!

Our house, for the next month, is very nice, and a huge 5 acre field from Greg McMillan, it is going to be a FUN month!!

Track was GREAT this weekend!!!  Galen Rupp had a spectacular 10K run for the championship win (Teg and Scotty Bauhs  rounding out the team).  It was a slow, tactical race with almost everyone in the race having the A standard, Rupp had an incredible last 800 meters, just shaking everyone else with a 4:07 last mile (1:52.5 last 800!!!!).  Shalane Flanagan dominated the women's race from the gun, with Kara Goucher close-by, and Jen Rhines added another Championship podium to her impressive record.  

The mens 1500 was SO slow, that the women had a faster split through the first 800!!!!  But it was an impressive last 400m by Matt Centrowitz a 21 year old college student from Oregon over Bernard Lagat!  The women's race was really exciting, especially since Christine Wurth-Thomas just blasted through the first 400 in 62.1!!!  Holy Cow, the first 800 was 2:08!  in the last lap Morgan Uceny just hit the gas pedal and gunned it for the win, Wurth-Thomas ended up in 4th, which I for one was really disappointed, she MADE the race, and just got out-kicked by the fresher runners the last lap (there is likely a lesson in there somewhere for all of us who tend to go out fast thinking we can "bank" time).  

I loved the men and women's 5K too ... they were fast races with Molly Huddle (current US record holder) the obvious winner on the women's side and Bernard Lagat (the stud) as the men's.  The men's race was more "thrilling" as it came down to the wire, and there were several guys that could have won that race (not quite as close as the men's 10K though).  Solinsky was working with Teg and kept the pace pretty honest through the last 3K -- and despite his tired legs from the night before Galen Rupp took 3rd.

Results are here ... I can't wait for the World Champs in Daegu, we are sending a GREAT team!! 

Happy Sunday bloggers!

I also can't wait until this week -- it will be so nice to run in the cool weather again!! 

AM: (at least 8 miles, 1:14:32).  Sucking wind at 7000+ft ... very good feeling!  Nice to be here.  It is dry up here too - so 4th of July will be fireworkless (probably for the whole state) ... but that is ok.  I was just happy to run in the cool pines.

PM: easy 4.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!! 

1:08:49 ... pretty much downhill for 35 mins, then uphill for 33 - I guess I was feeling better than I realized.   Today I ran near the Snowbowl, I ran near the bottom of the mountain road, the sign said 7520ft.  It was brutally hilly, I huffed and I puffed and was glad when it was done ;-).

Happy Hump Day bloggers! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:19:43).  Ran on the Arizona trail today -- parked near Snowbowl again but instead of running on the forest service road I ran on the trail.  I did this primarily because it was SO windy today (30 mph gusts) I thought it would be better to be in the forest than on the exposed FS road.  I climbed a lot -- probably 800-900ft (8000ft +), but it was gradual, and really not as bad as yesterday.  All and all a very very pleasant run.

PM: easy 4.

Last night I looked outside and just started laughing.  From across this 10 acre field comes a tractor, and on the tractor sat Greg (McMillan) and his 3 year old son, Angus.  It was so cute.  Greg uses his tractor to help clear the roads during the winter (last winter they got 53 inches of snow and they live sort of out in the country, so there is no snow removal service). Mainly, I think it was his dream since he was Angus's age -- to have his very own tractor ;-).  This Sunday Greg and the owner of the house we are renting are having a tractor race ... boys will be boys ... sounds like fun (they are doing both a drag race and some sort of figure eight in the meadow).

Happy Thursday bloggers. 

1:03:07.   Last night I ran up to "Tracy's loop" (named for Greg's wife, Tracy).  Basically, it is a trail about a mile from where we are staying - it winds all through the National Forest, and off of it are endless other hills and Forest Service roads ... SO cool!  It is pretty flat too, though today I ran it for a little longer than last night and there are trails that climb (though I did not take them today).  I did fall, it is good to get it out of the way, luckily, unlike last year my face and ribs (which are probably barely healed from last year) did not take the brunt of the fall ... instead, the fleshy part of my bicep did ;-).

Happy Friday bloggers ...

In case any of you are "space buffs" there is a chance to see the Space Station flyby over the next few days ... to look up times for your city, look here. 

AM: (8 miles, 1:10:02).  Ran on the Arizona trail again ... did not huff and puff quite as badly, I could still blow the straw house down.  It was hot by Flagstaff standards, but felt pretty good to me (90F).  I am very excited because the monsoons are starting ... it rained pretty well in Tucson last week and it is raining in Flagstaff today.  I am keeping my fingers crossed for a couple month of this so the state won't burn down, it has been sooooo bad the past year.  

PM: 4 miles.

Happy Saturday bloggers, and Happy 4th of July weekend.