track fan

2:42:18 (ave 9:01 pace). Beautiful day for a hilly run! Saguaro National Park West. I ran on the Bajada drive loop (a dirt road) 3 times. The trail maps say it is 6 miles, but based on my splits I did not believe it, I think it is about 400 - 600 meters short of 6 miles so I added on an extra mile (ran out and back on a ~ 1/2 mile dirt road that leads to a picnic area). The loops are primarily uphill for 3 miles and then downhill to flat for 3 miles. Splits were 51:05, 51:13, 49:59.

I could not believe how good I felt on this run, the hard part was that I was getting bored with running -- mainly I just did not want to be out there any more near the end - it would have been nice to have some company. But it was such a pretty run that it was tolerable (and I was so happy that I felt good!).

2:06:18 ... maybe a little long.  So, I don't know if I made the right decision today or not but I decided to just run one run instead of breaking it into two runs (I was supposed to run 90` in the morning and 4 miles in the afternoon).  I did this because it was raining and 40F and I just did not want to run in raining and 40F again in the afternoon, and I have to go to the airport this afternoon and I would only have had 4 hours to recover between runs.  Dean reminded me that I could have skipped my PM run -- but honestly, that option just did not occur to me while I was deciding what to do.  At about 5 miles into my run I just decided an extra 3 miles or so would be fine ... and I hope it will be.  The last two miles felt like maybe I had made the wrong decision (I think I am still a little tired from my 18 miler this weekend).  Now I have to make an extra effort to recover, eat well and hopefully it won't affect my workout this week. 

I hope everyone is having a good week and traveling safely, staying warm and enjoying their families and friends.

63:38, nice recovery run.  Now we are off to the Sonoran Desert Museum!

AM: (11.5). Yippeee, my longest tempo run ever! Went to the track at Pima Community College for a 7 mile tempo run, range is 7:16-7:35.

2.5 miles wu + strides, 7:35, 7:29, 7:33,  7:29, 7:29, 7:28, 7:27 + 2 miles cd. It was SOOOOO windy, 28 laps with a 12-15 mph gust on the backstretch every time - Dean said the wind was worth about 1 sec/lap (which is what I estimated -- I felt like I was running in the 7:25-7:26 range). It was an awesome run, I was running at exactly the pace I was supposed to be (Greg says I should feel like I could run a couple more miles when I finish, and though it would not have been 'fun' I certainly felt like I could have run a couple more).  The wu and cd are always on these very cool trails in the hills -- I love running there a lot!

PM: (3.5 miles, 32:16).  Run on the dirt around the 'hood.  

So, the greatest thing about my PM run?  I saw Santa riding a motorcycle down the street! 

Merry Christmas bloggers!

1:04:24.  Recovery run -- I must say today was a completely uninspiring run.  Mentally and physically I was just not in it today.  I could  not wait for it to be over and it was not simply because it was 38F and raining/sleeting.  I don't know why -- I was thinking  maybe I need some spinach or something. 

 The cool thing was that near the end of my run some of the clouds blew away and I discovered that the mountain tops of both the Tucson and Catalina mountains had snow!! That was a boost.

AM: (8 miles, 1:14:45). Slow run, felt better mentally than yesterday. This has been a hard week ... one more hard week and then all I have to do is stay focused and healthy!!

PM: (4.5 miles, 39:34).  I felt a lot better this afternoon.  I dread my PM runs, but once I get started I generally feel a lot better than my AM ones. Weird.

Happy weekend bloggers.