Relentless

AM - 8 Strip Mall. Simple, boring, out and back to the first entrance to the Strip Mall by way of the old house. Who needs an entertaining run when it's too dark to see anyway? (Cumulus red 499.85 - they are now retired. Good pair of shoes, I have two more Cumulus 9's. I enjoy the feel of the Cumulus series.)

afternoon - 10.6 Parkway extended to Dino Tracks.  A pretty crappy run.  Started off with the kids and they were having fun, but the pace was a bit slower than it should have been.  Then As I went up into the desert, I really slowed up.  I was just very tired/sleepy.  (Cumulus blue 18.7) 

AM - 8 Middleton. I had a strange dream last night that when I woke up I was totally rested and felt no pain or tweaks; the reason, my head wasn't attached to my body - but I didn't seem to mind! (Cumulus silver 413.15)

afternoon - 10.25 - 4xcemetery mile. Mile goal going into this was to have a workout that I wouldn't be ashamed to write about. I'm happy to say that things went pretty well (much better than the last two weeks). Ran out to the cemetery with Ruth 2.2. 1-5:23 I started off well, but felt that I wasn't going that fast. Made sure to check my watch at key points on the loop to track progress. When I looked down the first time, I was going much quicker than I thought and found myself come in at a solid time. 2-5:17 Flet a bit better on this one and kind of held back as I wanted to make sure all 4 miles were okay not just 2. 3-5:25, time slipped a little (my weak spot is the uphill on Telegraph, hard time in the loop to have to push), but I was happy that I was able to work it well enough to stay right in there. 4-5:27, started off strong knowing that I was going to lose some time at the end, but I lost a little more than I thought. I was pretty winded at the end. However, that fatigue is okay to deal with when you have reached a goal. Like I said, much much better than last week. Hit 6x100barefoot grass striders and a little more barefooting at the soccer field and then brought it home for the total mileage. (Precision 305.4)

AM - 8 Strip Mall.  It was weird this morning, I went to change the alarm for Al and my mind tried to convince me that I could sleep in and catch the miles later.  But as I was thinking about it, my legs just slipped on out of bed and there I went.  I guess that's a good thing, because I am glad I got the run in.  (Cumulus orange 471.75)

afternoon - 14 River Trail Bloom. Hills.  Felt a bit tired as I got going.  I realized I need to get going a little quicker on a few of my workouts, so I decided to hit miles 3 and 4 on the way out at Tinman Tempo pace.  Got 6:03 and 6:00.  As I moved on, the tempo helped me pick up the rest of the pace for the run, as I hit 6:30-6:40's the rest of the run.  Tempoed the same two miles on the way back (11 and 12) and got 5:57 and 5:56.  But I was working a  bit harder to get them.  Another nice afternoon and a solid run done.  (Stratus

AM - 8 Middleton. A little bit of blowing snowflakes this morning. I had hoped we were through the cold. (Cumulus silver 421.15)

evening - 10.15 Club run.  Started out with the crew, then they took off.  So Jeff and I ran it decent to the intersection where he pealed off.  Then I was alone.  Everybody else was racing each other hitting some good Tempo miles and I just stuck to the plan and kept it as an easy day for the run.  (Stratus red 124.45)

AM - 8 Strip Mall. 10 more seconds of lying in bed and I wouldn't have made it out. But I just couldn't justify it as I thought about my goals and crawled out and sleep ran for the entire 8. (Stratus 287.7)

afternoon - 10 4xSunrise hills. Got going with some track kids and had a shot of pain in the tendons/ligaments(?) at the back of my left knee. I stopped and streched for a minute and had no more trouble with it. Got back going with a few of the runners just getting into track. Hit my hills very good. 1-1:53, a solid time as I held back just a little to make sure I could run them all at a good pace. 2-1:51, hit it solid, but I thought it might be the quickest of them all because I was tired in the legs. 3-1:50 really tried to make it solid and it worked, now just one more. 4-1:46, Got into a good mind set as I started and pushed hard, just kept pushing each section without worrying about the hill as a whole, as I hit the top I knew it was good. Caught my breathe and looked at the watch... best hill ever! So I thought that was pretty snazzy. Then went down across Foremaster up the Mall Trail over to Sandstone for 6x100 barefoot grass striders plus a little more grass running and finished to the school. (Cumulus blue 27.5)

morning - 21.2 Utah Hill to Mike's. Everybody got dropped off and I went on to 20 out. Ran out .5 more and then turned around. The next 2.5 were uphill with a pretty strong downslope wind at my face which started me out near 8:00. Once I peaked out, however, I started running very well. Hit 6:10's then started to take it under 6:00 for awhile. Kept it pretty strong up onto Shivwits and through Kayenta. Then tried to hit MP miles for the last 5, but wasn't able to bring it lower than 5:50 by that point. I was happy with the run, nonetheless. Ave. for the entire run was 6:20 I am pleased with where my running is going; I've had two solid weeks of workouts even with very high mileage and should be ready for SLC. (Stratus red 145.65)