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

I wanted to set a new years resolution.  Just kidding.  But I do want to get back to running regularly.  I feel like I need some running fiber to keep me regular.

Monday-Friday - I didn't do anything.  I drove around Las Vegas, made three more trips to the airport, and drove to Pahrump.

Ran (with a little walking) with MR for 4.7 miles.  Felt great to be running again.  Glad the weather is warming up.

Sunday - went for a walk with MR.  Just a couple of miles before church.  I think 11:00 is my favorite church meeting time.

Ran a couple of different days in Pahrump this week.  Total 10.5 miles.

Monday - ran 6.5 miles with MR in the 'rump.  We had to stop and walk a few times because I am still fighting a chest cold.  Hope things improve for the weekend.

Tuesday - ran 6.5 miles while MR rode the bike.  I ran the whole time without needing to stop- a huge improvement over yesterday.

Thursday - ran 4.25  in Vegas with MR on a paved wash trail.  Went slow because I didn't want to over do it before the run on Saturday.  It was a nice run out but when we turned around I realized we had been running downhill the whole first half and we had an uphill run ahead of us.  Nice to not have to run on the roads though.  City living at its finest.

I really wasn't ready for this race, but I had a chance to get a last minute registration and knew I would be able to see RAD, so why not?

My goal was 10:00 pace- to finish in 2:10.  I had a good strong start trying to catch up to the 2:10 pace group and I let the momentum take me on.  After the downhill mile, my pace slowed down considerably but I was able to finish with a 9:42 pace (according to my garmin).  I haven't checked the official time yet.

When I knew I was close to a 9:40 pace, I really wanted to go faster than 9:40 because I needed to show Burt I was really a winner.  I guess we know who the real winner is, but I'm not admitting defeat yet.

Great time with RAD and crew- we enjoyed lunch, visiting snow canyon, donuts, and pizza.... oh yeah- ice cream shakes too.  Looking forward to more runs out here in the west.

Sunday - went for a walk with MR.  Quads are sore from the weekend.

Monday - nope

Tuesday - ran 4.5 with MR on the wash trail.  My quads are not happy with me.  Slow run, but it felt good to run again after a couple days off.

Wednesday - ran 4.35 miles in the hood- made it down every street and cul-de-sac.  Not a bad run, and pretty flat.

Thursday & Friday - my quad was feeling wonky so I took a couple days off to try and appease the running Gods. Registered for the Dogtown 1/2 marathon in February.  My quad didn't start hurting till after I registered.  Isn't that just convenient?

Saturday - 6 miles in the 'Rump.  It was between 69-64 degrees and beautiful out.  Short and tee in January?  I love this place.  Went slow- needed to run but didn't want my quads to be unappy with me.  Had my water boy with me so it was extra nice.

goal for next week: more miles.  Hopefully around 20.  Build slow and steady.

Tuesday - 6.5 miles in Laughlin along the Colorado River.  This running path is getting easier for me.  4th time is a charm!

Thursday - 4.4 miles in North Las Vegas with MR.

Saturday - 10.5 met a couple of ladies from a running group to run with.  They are certainly faster than me.  I was struggling and sucking wind the last 4 miles.  Wind that was blowing in my face that must have been at least 40 mph.  Or at least it felt that way.  Hopefully they let me run with them again- I think it would really improve my game having to push myself a little more often.  And I will remember in the future to ask how far we are running before we start- rather than finding out at mile 5 that we were only half way done.  I was just so happy to have someone to run with that I didn't think about how far....

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.

Sunday - I got to meet Carolyn in Colorado! 

Monday - 4.09 went down a trail I saw when we were walking to the grocery store Saturday.  It had a break for a while, but most of it was lovely and along the south platte river.  Some icy spots still on the path, but not too bad.  Got to meet Carolyn for lunch.  She really inspired me so much when I was having to get up early and run.  I hope she will start running again with me.

Tuesday - I just stayed inside and felt sorry for myself today.  Snow, cold, no house, blah blah blah - a blah day.

Wednesday - It was snowing but I knew I needed to get out since I'd spent Tuesday inside all day that doing that didn't help me one bit.  I went out for a walk but wore my running shoes because there was snow out and I needed my regular shoes to be dry the rest of the day.  I walked .75 and then decided to try a slow jog in my jeans.  It wasn't as bad as I imagined it might be- ended up with  4.25 miles total - 3.5 running.

Thursday - Ran 3.8 with MR on the river trail

Friday - went for a 5 mile walk with MR to Walmart and back for a bag of salad.

Saturday - Ran 7.33 miles through the neighborhoods around the hotel and then caught up with the river trail to run back.  Lots of people on bikes, a couple other runners.  Almost all the snow on the trail is melted- just a couple icy patches left in the shady spots.

Monday - 6.5 miles

Thursday - 2.15 miles

Saturday - went for a walk 

Sunday - moved our stuff into the moving van, then back out of the moving van - and unpacked in our new apartment.  Best feeling in the world to have 4 walls of my own again.

Monday - went for a bike ride with MR.  So many trails to ride around here it's awesome.

Tuesday - 3.26 miles.  This apartment complex seems to be on top of a hill.  No matter which way I go, I have to finish climbing uphill.  I hate uphill.  But I got to go to a RS b-day party with CinC and that was totally awesome.  

Thursday - 5 ish miles on the treadmill.  

Friday - 6 miles exploring a different path that ended up connecting to the bike trail from Monday.  

Saturday - 9.7 miles on the bike with MR.  Took a trail out to the dam.  So many people out on bikes and running.  It's great to see an active community like this.