I am one with the levee and the levee with me

AM - Work loop.

Came down with strep. Took the day off.

12 miles easy with Dylbo in Seattle. Really beautiful run through the Arboretum to campus.

Marathon pace run. 8 miles in 47:41 on the Urb. Still sick but it's localized only in my throat. Otherwise everything feels fine.

10 easy, loop to campus and Boulevard and the Urb.

4xcruise miles on the Urb. I was shooting for 5:20 pace, but that ended up being a little too quick. 1:00 rests with 3.5 mile warmup and cooldown. 

5:20 (uphill)

5:27 (flat)

5:24 (flat)

5:24 (downhill)

5:24ish average

AM - Work loop.

PM - Padden loop (7.5m)

AM - Work loop.

PM - 8.5 miles including 8x200m at the track. Full recovery (~1:15 rests), average of 32s.

I went and ran with the Western team today to see some old familiar faces. We did the Whatcom loop for 11 miles. Probably ran it too hard, I think the second half was 6:30s. But it was good to see old friends.

Headed up to Padden for tempoish effort. 6.2 miles at 5:40. I hit the first quarter in 78 but settled into pace and finished in 34:57 feeling like it was fairly easy. Padden has a nice section of rolling hills that made the run much more interesting. 5:38 avg mile pace.

1;50:00 up in the Chuckanuts and adding onto the Urb. Down the Bay trail for a little extra. 

Tried out my first pair of Saucony's on a loop up to campus and through Boulevard. Spent a little time in the Happy Trails for a total time of 72:xx. I really enjoyed the feel of the Rides. The weather was great, a perfect Pacific Northwest morning with mist and low hanging clouds over the bay.

I'm working late this week, so I'm taking advantage to the daylight hours and beautiful weather. I headed up to Padden for a MP pace effort. 3 loops around the lake for 7.8 miles. The goal was just to cruise at 6:00, and I finished in 46:42, 6 seconds under pace. Felt great and enjoyed the beauty Padden offers.

10 easy on the Urb. Made a couple of canine friends along the way that followed me 5 or so miles. Couldn't get them to go away. I dropped them off at the vet hospital on the way home. 

Headed up to campus and ran around the Arboretum a bit before running a 8x200m strides on the track. Despite the long warmup and running some drills beforehand, it took a couple repeats to warm into it. Started at 34, then 35, 33 and the rest in the 32s. It felt good to open things up a bit. Cooled down in the Arboretum as well.

10 easy on the horse trails at Padden. My legs are a little fatigued from the increased mileage. I ran with Tanner and Marty and played the old man card to make them keep it slow enough.

6.2 mile tempo at Padden, 34:52. 5:37 average. The downside of doing Saturday tempos here is the high trail traffic. I spent more time than I'd like dodging kids and dogs. I felt pretty good, though, this was far from strenuous. 

One more week of 80 miles then I'll take a down week.

13 easy with Tanner after watching the Seahawks beautiful comeback. We cruised up to campus and out to Whatcom Falls for the pond loop. Nice weather for most of it, but the skies opened in the last few miles and soaked us. C'est la vie.

Work loop. One run today, something came up in the evening and I wasn't able to get out. It happens.

AM - Work loop.

PM - 4 x cruise miles. I said a couple weeks ago I was done with night workouts, but I forgot about that until I got through with the first one. I started right on target (5:20 pace) with a79 quarter, then finished in 5:27. I just can't maintain a fast pace in the middle of this course in the dark. The trail looks like a dark brown smudge in the light of my headlamp, and I can't differentiate the rises and falls in the terrain. Either my foot lands further down than I expected in a dip or it lands higher than expected and I stumble. Either way I can never keep my momentum. I start to feel like I'm going to twist an ankle or slip over the bridge or fall down a hill. Extremely frustrating. I went 5:27, 5:26, 5:26, 5:25 and it took all of my concentration to hit those times. 1:00 rests between. It wasn't taxing in terms of effort.

But it's still January. The goal races are in May and June, so hitting paces doesn't matter as much. Still, I think I'll run this particular workout on the track until it gets lighter out. If I can remember next time.

AM - Work loop.

PM - 9 mile campus/Boulevard loop.

AM - Work loop.

PM - I ran up to campus and the Arboretum for about 5 miles before swinging by the track for 8x200m strides, which I consider the most important bit of running for the week. I did some drills and loosened up and eased into the reps, going 36, 34, 34, 33, and 32s to finish out. I need A LOT more turnover work. My hip mobility and leg lift feel almost non-existent. 

Took an unplanned day off. I was going to hit 80 miles this week, but I decided to swap down weeks.

13 miles at a steady pace with a friend of mine. He likes to push the pace on his Saturday runs, so we averaged around 6:40-6:45 paced. 

15 miles in the Chuckanuts. I went up Huckleberry and to the top of Raptor Ridge and looped back down on Lost Lake trail. It was gorgeous. I wanted to go down Salal, but it poured the last few days and that trail gets wrecked from heavy rain. These are the kinds of runs I wish I could do every day.

AM - 2.25 easy miles at work. Ran with a buddy so we didn't do the full loop.

PM - 9 miles. Headed up to campus and ran up the Arboretum, down to Boulevard, and looped back on the Urb. Nice night. Fog rolled in and made it hard to see through the headlamp, but it was warm today.

AM - Work loop 3.25

PM - 8 miles with Derek and David from Klicks. Headed up to campus and did my campus/Boulevard loop in reverse. 8x35s strides in the middle.

10 miles around the horse trails at Padden. The trails have become runable again since the last rain. It took me 77 minutes, so it was likely a bit longer than 10, but it is quite hilly in spots.

I spent my lunch break in the gym this time. I'd like to experiment a bit with weights, which I haven't done seriously in years. I took it easy today with 3x10 squats with 95 lbs, 3x10 bench with 95 lbs, lats, stomach and back. I felt the squats in the hills on the run. I need to get some better resources to follow so I know what I'm doing.

5 mile loop up to campus and the Arb, then 8x200m on the track (200m jogs) ranging between 33 and 34s. I picked up a pair of Hyperspeeds and was testing them out on the track. They may be what I'm looking for in a road racer, but they need a better test. I kept the 200s on a slower and relaxed side since yesterday was my first day lifting in years and I want to be sure not to overdo it. You know, with old age setting in and all.

AM - Work loop

PM - 8 miles fairly steady down the Urb to Boulevard Park. A friend is letting me try running her dog, so I picked up Carly at 2 miles and we did 4 miles together. It was great. I need a dog. She kept up fine and was well behaved even in the crowded park. Beautiful evening too, the sunset across the bay was spectacular. Deep magenta all across the sky.

Ran up to campus for a 4 x cruise 1600s on the track (1:00 rests). I wanted the track this time to get a better gauge for my fitness, the last few of these haven't gone well on the trails at night. 

I went 5:16, 5:19, 5:17, 5:16. 5:17 average. This was true tempo effort, never difficult or painful, just pushing to find that threshold pace. My fitness is about where I thought it was.