track fan

2:02:37.  Very cool run ... I ran my just over 5.5 mile hilly loop trail in the National Park.  I ran about 2 miles before I started, and then ran two loops and added on a mile afterward.  I was supposed to run the last 20` hard, but I ran the second loop hard.  First loop was 49:49 and the second was 45:53.  Warm-up and cool-down were pretty easy (9:00-9:15 pace I would guess).  This is a great training run, the first 2.5 - 3 miles are steady uphill with some steep hills, the last 2.5 are gradual downhill to flat with the last .5 miles uphill.  I am hoping that all these hills are going to help with my cross-country race next week!  

Happy week bloggers.

AM: (10 miles, 1:27:09).  Hilly run + 8 x 100m strides.  Nice morning 50 and sunny ... Dean saw a javelina on his run, I saw one bunny and some beautiful cacti ...

PM: (4.5 miles easy).

Happy Tueday bloggers, the semester is almost over!!

1:02:xx.   Another "route-tester" run -- this one is not a route I will be doing much.  It was pretty hilly, more long (2-3 miles of long gradual climb up a mountain) hill than roller coaster, but that was not the problem.  The problem with the run was that although I was able to run on the nice dirt beside the road, there were a lot of cars, and many of them were just going way too fast.  This road leads up to a dead-end at the top of a mountain and there are at most 100-150 houses up there.  You would think that people who lived in such a nice, solitary, beautiful place would enjoy their surroundings, and have respect for the abundant wildlife (and wild runners) ... but apparently they don't.  So ... although possibly a nice training run, it is not one I will be frequenting.  

My knee hurts and is swollen.  I hope I hit it on something and just don't remember.  It doesn't really hurt when I run, but it does when I touch it and it is definately swollen.  I will not be deterred!  darn it!

Happy trails bloggers!

AM: (9+ miles, 1:18:17).  26:47 wu + strides/27:20 cd, 4 x 1200 tempo intervals w/1` recovery (5:17 (7:05) 5:18 (7:06) 5:16 (7:03) 5:14 (7:01)) -- the split in the parantheses are the equivalent mile splits -- not 1600 (the metric mile) but old fashioned mile ;-)) .   Felt so good today (despite my knee being full of some sort of fluid, more on that later) - it was a beautiful day for running hard (45F just a little wind on the back stretch - it is perpetually windy there I guess).   I figure this is somewhere in the middle of my 10K and 15K pace, so it really wasn't hard, I could have done many more -- I am happy about that.  I actually tried to slow it down to keep it on the lower end of the pace range, but this was the pace that felt good.

My knee -- who the heck knows.  It doesn't actually hurt when I walk, run or climb stairs (up or down), but it hurts to touch it, it is swollen (and hot) and I couldn't do my usual quad stretch this morning -- which makes me wonder if I somehow overstretched it earlier this week and didn't know ... I am planning on doing my second run tonight as planned, but I will abort if it hurts even one little bit.  Weird.

PM: (hopefully an easy 4.5 miles).

I am so glad it is Thursday!  Have a safe and wonderful day bloggers!

1:01:47.  Nice run on the Yeatman trail at sunrise.  BEAUTIFUL.  too bad the trail is so rough, I kind of have to watch where I am running, and can't really look around much.  But you better believe I spent every moment of the easier footing time to enjoy the red canyon views and the sun hitting the saguaro ... breathtaking.

This morning we got our new wireless antenna installed on our roof so we can get internet! Yippee.  Basically, our service will be as fast as the university's T3 I think.  But, let me say, when they tell you they will be installing the antenna (which is as big as a footlong sub at Subway) on a tripod with a reflective cone -- they mean a real live huge tripod with a reflective cone that is larger than a satellite dish.  What we will do for email ;-).

The javelina's showed up today.  The fence company had seen them, our handyman had seen them ... and today I got to see them.  There were about 15-20 of them near our mesquite tree, they have two trails that go through our yard and then up the top of the mountain that is our backyard.  Jake was outside and was going crazy - I thought he was going to kill himself trying to get through the brand new wrought iron fence.  They weren't really afraid of him, actually there were at least 5 of them that were almost double his size and actually probably would have hurt him if given the chance.  But man, it was cool to see them all climb up the mountain right next to our house.  WOW.  I have to get a digital camera so I can show you guys.  It was awesome. 

Happy Friday bloggers ... stay healthy (that means you Eric), happy and wise!

AM: (8.5+ miles, 1:13:19).  Ran 8 miles with Dean and then did 8x100m strides.  It could have been closer to 9 miles, Dean said he did not feel good today, but he sure ran like he felt good.  I was a little out of my comfort zone, not really running hard, but not entirely running easy either.  I really was hoping he would just take off so I could slow down ;-).

PM: (4 miles easy).

Happy Weekend bloggers!