track fan

1:59:05 (1:02:25/56:39) (8:55/8:05) - last 2 miles were about 7:55 pace.  I was supposed to run the last 20` hard, but as usual, I just ran the last 7 miles hard-"er" and tried to finish at least a min/mile faster than the first 7 miles.  It was 89F when I finished ... it felt a little warmer than that, I have to admit ;-).  I was surprised to see my time at the turn-around.  Today was not one of those "nice run" days.  I felt like I was struggling the whole time.  My split for the 2 miles after the turn around was about 8:30 and I thought for sure that I was going to miss my "1 min/mile" faster for the last 20` goal -- but, my brain took over and pushed my old, hot, tired body to the end.

I took a 1/2 of a day off yesterday (and will pay for it today as I have to finish my lecture for tomorrow before bedtime) ... Dean and I went up to Phoenix to see the ART guy, John.  He worked on my adductor and hip flexors -- and scraped my knee (he said I have some "arthritic changes" going on -- I told him to jump in a lake ;-).   The coolest thing was that on the way home we stopped outside of Tucson so I could get my 2nd run in before it got dark.  We went about 10 miles from the highway to this mountain range and ran on a dirt road around this Indian Site that has thousands of rock paintings (petroglyphs).  It is amazing, some of them are from this very ancient group of Indians (the Hohokam tribe who lived here in the Tucson basin from 300 - 1500 AD) and some are from a more modern tribe, the Tohono O`odahm (their reservation is here in Tucson, about 2.8 million acres of land - they are the second largest Indian nation in the U.S.).  I can't tell you how amazing this place is ... you look up this mountain side and there are literally thousands of these paintings ... it is a very intense thing.  Plus it is surrounded by beautiful desert, saguaro forest (mountain-sides covered with huge cacti) and scrub-brush.  I was both relieved and disappointed not to see any snakes on our run -- but we saw a huge one lying in the middle of the road on our way back to the highway -- it was dark, but I still found him!!!  It was a hard run last night, first off because I was running with Dean - which means it was too fast -- and it was all uphill for the first half --into a stiff headwind -- but then the wind died down for our nice downhill back (because the sun had set).  I can't complain though - it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen ... and only 1 hour from our house!

I am so impressed with everyone's racing yesterday -- you guys are so awesome!! Congrats to all of you - especially Allie, Carolyn, Jun, Becca, and JD!! 

Happy Sunday bloggers!

AM: (10 miles, 1:26:53). 8 x ~100m strides at the end of the run.

I struggled again today -- the only time I felt "good" was during the striders ... I guess because my body was tired (mainly from work not running) and it was the only time my form was good ...

PM (4 - 4.5 miles -- depending on how late I will be at work ... oh please I want to leave before 8PM tonight!!).

Happy Tuesday bloggers, I hope you are running strong and feeling good!!

1:01:36 ... I don't have my splits, I will add them later.

Barista sounds pretty good right now.

AM: (8.5 miles, 1:09:57).  29:53 wu 8 x ~150m hill repeats 27:34 cd.  Pretty steep hill, dirt/sand = tough on stabilizer muscles.  Consistently 43-44secs uphill ... couldn't get any faster than that no matter how much I tried! 

PM: (4.5 miles).  I truly am going to try to get to my favorite park tonight ... 

Happy running everyone.

1:02:18 (31:49/30:28).  Not a bad run.  I did not get to go to my favorite park last night for my run -- it is just getting dark too early and I couldn't get home from work in time.  But, I had a nice run anyway.  It was 92F, but it felt much cooler ... this morning at 5AM it was 62F - winter is here ;-).

On our way to finish up some paperwork for our new house -- it has been pretty drawn out because there were some property line issues that came up.  In the end, we will be buying a house (on 1 acre) plus another 1.25 acres of adjoining undeveloped land.  The whole thing used to belong to the house but there were some weird (and perhaps shady) deals going on a few years ago and the land was split and sold.  Both properties were then foreclosed and someone else bought the house, remodeled it, and then when we went to buy it we found out (and the sellers found out from us) that the driveway actually was on the "other" lot ... not a happy time for any of us ... in the end we are buying into more than we bargined for, but it cost the seller a little more than hoped.  Moral of the story -- "do your homework"/"caveat emptor". 

The adjacent lot is a mountainside of saguaro cactus ... it is spectacular.   The house is in the Tucson Mountains with incredible city and Catalina Mountain views.   Best of all, it is much closer to work, so commute time will be reduced considerably.  It is also much closer to my favorite long run place (Saguaro Park West).  I will miss my favorite park - as it will be much too far to get to now. 

Happy Friday bloggers.
 

AM: (8 miles, 1:11:58 (37:09/34:48)). Nice run, a little hot (87F), but tolerable. Felt pretty good today. About 2 weeks until my first race since the marathon. I know I am not really in racing shape yet, but my weight is good (my dehydrated post-run weigh-in was 125.6 -- so very close to my target, I think I will call it good!) and my overall fitness level is ok -- so I am just hoping for an indication of my fitness level so I see what a realistic expectation might be for my upcoming 10K races (that I hope to actually be in race shape for!!) ... I think it will be fun to race again.

PM: (4.5 miles). Will definately leave work before dark tonight!!

Happy Saturday bloggers!