faster with age

This morning I ran 13 miles at an easy 8:43 pace. I had to do a few things before I went and it got into the 70s which felt hot.

I went to head out the door this morning for a ride and was greeted by my 3 dogs with their faces full of porcupine quills. If that wasn't enough two of them smelled like skunks. I guess they had a busy night. I spent the next 1 1/2 hours pulling quills. 2 of the dogs had about 30 in their noses and in their mouths. The other dog had over 100. After they were done I had run out of time for my ride and wasn't able to get it in untill 2 PM when the temp was 89. At least on a bike you create wind that keeps you from getting as hot as running. I went 20 miles on my mountain bike in 1:18.  After that I ran 3 miles at 9:14 pace.

I did a hill workout this morning focusing on the downhill getting ready for St george and a 15k that I'm running on the 4th of july. I went over to Weston canyon where there is a real gradual 3 mile grade. I started with a 1 mile warmup in 9:35 then started down the hill. My splits were 6:50, 6:36, 6:17. Then I ran the three miles back up at an easier recovery pace of 8:45 per mile. Then back down in 6:28, 6:22, 5:50. Got a little carried away on that last one. Pace for the last 3 was 6:13. Overall pace for all 10 miles was 7:25. My wife and son came with me. She parked at the bottom and walked up while I ran. My son followed me on his bike.

I did my normal 20 mile mountain bike loop. I planned on it being an easy recovery day after running hard yesterday but I felt good and didn't feel like I was pushing that hard but I finished in 1:15:16 wich is my fastest time this year. Later on I ran 5 miles at around 9 min. pace.

I ran 11 miles in the morning. I didn't feel quite as energetic as yesterday. 8:35 pace

I had a ward campout Friday and Saturday so I took my running gear and went for a run Saturday morning in the mountains. I did 13 miles on a  rutted and rocky road with lots of hills. At the turnaround point I had a net gain of over 700 feet to 7000 elev. [overall gain was much more] and my legs were getting tired. I had only been averaging about 9:30 pace. I averaged about  7:40 pace coming back down. It was a real pretty morning  never saw a soul just a few deer and some very young fawns.

My computer broke down on wednesday so until I get it fixed or replaced I guess I'll just have to blog when I get my chances.