track fan

2:04:16 (1:04:54/59:22); 8:52 (9:16/8:28).  My leg(s) hurt so bad today.  Different kind of hurt from the originally "injury" (I had two huge knots in two muscles of my calf) but really sore nonetheless.    I really expected to run this whole run super slow, but somehow I still ended up speeding up the second half.  I did not look at my watch at all, so have no idea how fast last miles were, but I am pretty sure it was the only the last 2 miles or so that got into the high 7s and brought the overall pace down.  It was hot, what else is new, but it is cooling down some -- it was only 87F when I finished.  The usually dry river bed was full of water, torrents in some places ... very good to see. This means that two of the rivers are flowing well (there is one by my house that is as well) -- and that the rainfall is much better than last year, important for us in the desert, we rely on getting most of our water in about 3 months of the year.

I need to get to work on my class for tomorrow ... I am behind since I did not work yesterday (unfortunately, I did not get to nap either!).  I forgot to tell you yesterday that we saw Kyle Acorn (US steepler) at John's office, he looks much taller (and younger) in person!  Today is the Rieti trackmeet -- it is being televised this afternoon - ANOTHER world record in the 800 (after the one last Sunday) and a new American record in the 3000m by Lagat!!  Summer track is so fun!!

AM: (10 miles, 1:19:45).  25:19wu/24:14cd.  20 x :30 w/1` recovery.  Ran on a dirt road, some slight little "dips" but pretty flat overall.  Warmish, but not hot (85F) and sunny (which made it feel warmer).  I am excited as the lows this week should be in the 75F range ... yea!!

PM: 4 miles easy.

Busy.  I am behind in my class, I am behind in my work, I am just plain ole behind.  We are heading to SLC for a wedding this weekend, should be fun ... I can't wait to run in cooler weather again (despite the oxygen debt I will be in). 

Have a great day bloggers!

1:02:51.  I thought my leg might be getting better, but it did not feel like it today.  It hurts so much right now that I might have to miss my workout tomorrow.  Bummer is that with our trip, I won't be able to see John again for a week ... I am pretty frustrated right this minute.  But, I don't have time to dwell.

Have a good day bloggers!

For your reading pleasure, a look at Paige Higgins. This is a series of articles that Greg has been writing as he tries to change her "marathon" shuffle ... as you can see, these things take time.  If you haven't been reading the whole series, I highly recommend them, you can find the links at the bottom of the link.

AM: (10 miles, 1:24:29).  23:32wu +strides/24:07cd.  5 mile Steady State run (target pace: 7:16-7:29).  7:18, 7:23, 7:23, 7:24, 7:18.  I was surprised on a couple of counts.  First of all, I did not feel good this morning, I am pretty depressed about my leg hurting so much and not being able to stop it ... and during my warm-up I just did not feel "smooth".  And, it is still warm, not as hot as a couple weeks ago but still 88F at the end of my run.  Anyway, I negotiated with myself  - the schedule said 4-6 mile steady state -- and I told myself I would feel that I had a successful workout with 4 and a great workout with 5.  I know how these are supposed to feel, not really hard, Greg says, "you should get tired from the duration of the workout, not the speed" and he always wants us to start at the slower end of the range and work down ... it is better to do more and slower than less faster.  My first 800 was at 10K pace!  The problem with this is that slowing down to pace is tricky, you can't just slow way down (otherwise you get out of rhythm and can end up going too slow which makes the other miles slow), I just slowed down slowly over the next 800 and hit my comfort pace.  I was telling Dean that I kept remembering that I was doing 8 miles at this pace before my 1/2 last year, and today I was mentally having trouble getting my head around running 20 laps!!  But by the last mile I knew I was done and the last one was pretty fun ... mentally getting stamina going again after a break is hard ... but it comes back pretty easy (Dean said I am less than a month away from doing 8 again) which is good, because it will be cooler soon and it bodes well for decent 10 mile and 1/2 marathon tune-up races this fall before the marathon this winter (if I can ever get rid of this pain in my calf).

 PM: easy 4 in Sugarhouse park (on the grass outside of the park -- I have missed this run!).

Got to rush, get packed and get to airport, happy cooler Utah temps here I come!!!

Have a wonderful day bloggers!

???  I don't know how long this took.   Dean and I drove over to Sugarhouse (he can't run much and did not want to waste much of his mileage running on the roads) and ran on the outside of the park on the grass -- I did 3 laps around the park (~2 miles each lap) and then the mile uphill back to the "condo".  Nice day, we got out at 11AM (I love it!) and it was nice and cool -- cooler than 5AM in Tucson!

We have to get some wedding stuff, and then go  help out Steve and Rosemary before the rehearsal dinner tonight.  I did not actually plan it this way but we are right across the street from where the wedding and reception will be held and 2 blocks from their house!!!  I did not realize all of this until last night when we drove in!  I rented a condo from "Vacation Rentals By Owner" -- ever since we did this in Europe is what I do whenever we travel (on personal travel) - it is much cheaper than a hotel, usually more room, and more comfortable too.  

I hope you have a wonderful day bloggers! 

After limping through another run, I finally am giving up ... I am taking tonight off (no 2nd run) and am not sure yet about tomorrow, but thinking I will take it off too.  I am just worried that after spending 24:53 (I timed it) literally limping before feeling I can run a smooth stride without screaming in pain is probably not doing the rest of my body any good either ... and then even when I am able to get a decent stride it hurts the whole time.  The thought of another 2 hours of pain tomorrow just did not sound fun.  We are flying into Tucson on Monday morning and then driving straight to John's house, he knew it was serious when my text said, "I am not running".   I decided that since training won't be starting for about 3 more weeks, the main thing would be to start healthy -- nothing says, "not a good marathon" than having problems before you even start to train ;-).

After my painful 8 miles I had a wonderful breakfast with Michelle, who needed to recover from an awesome training run with allie!!   

 At least I can enjoy the wedding tonight, not worrying about getting up early to run.  Although I would rather run.  

Last nights rehearsal dinner was  more of a "BBQ party" than a rehearsal dinner, it was awesome to see all of our old friends again.  Steve (the groom) had written two songs (he plays guitar and piano) for Rosemary, one was about her, and the other was about getting married (sort of bluesy/ballad/ early country) -- very nice, it made her Dad cry.

Have a good weekend bloggers!