With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams...

Sunday - Pretty sure I walked a couple miles as I kept getting up and down to fill my plate with food.

Monday - Ran 6.4 miles- it was sunny and beautiful outside.  I tried working on increasing my pace- not something I usually bother with but I tried today and it felt good to push myself a little more than usual.

Tuesday - hiked 5 or 6 miles in Death Valley.  What a beautiful place.  I had no idea how awesome it was there- at least in February.  Not so sure about July.

Wednesday - ran 3.08 with MR in the 'Rump.  Then we drove back out to Death Valley where we hiked down (and back out of) a giant crater.  No idea on distance, but it was a huge elevation loss/gain.

Thursday - Ran 7 miles in Pahrump.  Just a beautiful day.

Friday - Walked 3+ miles to get groceries and back.  Got in a bicep and shoulder workout carrying heavy bags back home.

Saturday - Ran 5.8 with a couple girls from the local running group and MR then drove back home and went out for another 4.2 so I could get in 10.  I love running in the winter when it's 60 degrees outside!

Monday - 5 miles around the hood with MR.  Found a network of running paths in the neighborhood. 

Tuesday - Went on a short (but steep) little hike with MR up Lone Mountain.

Wednesday - 7 miles around the hood.  Went up a road- wasn't sure where it was going, but it ended up creating a nice loop.  It's fun to explore new areas while running.   After the run, we went hiking at Red Rock.  4 or 5 miles total.  One trail was super rocky and steep.  The other was just a long gradual climb through juniper bushes and sage.  We walked the trail to where there a was a sign that said "edge of wilderness."  That's where we stopped and ate our lunch- on the edge of the wilderness.  I'm glad there was a sign there or we wouldn't have known.

Thursday - 7 miles.  Took MR on the path I went on yesterday.  Finished by taking a different route.  The weather is beautiful.  Tank tops and shorts.  I never want to see winter again.

Friday & Saturday - worked delivering flowers all day for a florist.  It's my taper weekend before the 1/2 in Utah so I just slept in and didn't run.  We delivered around 40 arrangements all over the city.  It's great when you have a job that brings smiles to other people.

Monday - Ran 6.5 miles with MR down the wash trail to where it makes (or would make) a big reservoir when they have flash floods.  We usually always go down and turn around a mile 2 so we went a little further today and found something new and neat.

Tuesday - 6 miles out in Pahrump.  I like it out here because it's flat and there's not much traffic.  No sidewalks, but not many cars either.  I ran past a tumbleweed today.  Reminded me of that old tumbling tumbleweeds 8-track we had.

Wednesday - 4 miles - tapering for the Dogtown half this Saturday.

Well this was a workout!

I was happy that I got to meet some of RAD's running friends and we were able to spend the night talking and laughing.

MR was awesome and gave us a ride to the start so we didn't have to get up earier and take the bus.  I love that guy.

I don't often follow pacers during races, but I felt like it was really likely I could get under a 9:40 pace if I tried to stick with the 2:05 pacers.  My trouble was that my experience with following pacers is limited to flat courses where they maintain an even & steady pace.  These pacers were all over the place with their pace - and I understand that it was dictated to them this way because of the hills, but after I chased them on steep rolling hills at a 8:39 pace for a mile, I was exhausted and had to walk.  I just could not keep up with them.  I was angry with them because I felt like they'd tricked me into running faster than I was used to.  Oh well, lesson learned.

I met my goal - I ran a 2:05.  Yes, it was almost 2:06, but it wasn't!  So I managed a 9:36 pace and I was really happy about it because it was a tough course for me.  Who puts a wicked steep hill at mile 11 of a half marathon?  I mean, really!?!?!?!

The lunch at smash burger was scrupmtious and made those terror hills worth the workout.

Mileage is a guess.  We moved to Denver this week amid a terrible snow storm.  What fun :-(

It was still snowy and cold so we went to the gym on base and they had a little track.  It was a nice cushy surface to run on, but it was hard to figure out the miles.  I tried keeping track of my laps- but in the end I just couldn't keep track of them.  I'm sure it is somewhere between 6 and 7 so 6.5 is the best I've got.

I tried an ab machine after the run and couldn't get it to work.  I thought it was broken.  It wasn't, my abs are just ridiculously weak.  those abs of steel are long gone.

Then we chased a little rubber ball around a raquetball court for 30 minutes.  I really suck at that game but I got a workout anyway.

But it felt good to workout after a week in the snow.