Relentless

AM - 17 Parkway/Dirt Mile. Did and out and back on the Parkway in the reverse direction. Then did tempo with the groups on the Dirt Mile. Their paces are a nice warm up for the week for me. Started with around 20 at 7:15 and ended with 15 at around 6:05 a decent Tinman, but not stressful. Finally had the team kind of there today; that was nice. Temps were just quite nice today. I will take 75 in the summer anytime. (Hyper Speed 476)

afternoon - 6.5 DI/2450. Both had some extensions. Then ended with weights. (Landreth blue 1128.4)

AM - 14 Parkway/Grass. Just a so-so run. Pretty worn down after feeling pretty good yesterday. Tuesdays are always just long with club and such. (Kinvara White 301.25)

afternoon - 6 ND. Kind of the same old. Started with the same attitude I had this morning, but it ended up being a positive run. Nothing great (the afternoons rarely are), but just felt decent about life. (Stratus black 1128.45)

AM - 16.5 Hell's Hole/Highland loop. Not too shabby this morning, but my achilles was aching a bit more again. Didn't take ibo since Sat, so that is the problem - I'll take some before this afternoon's run. (Lyte33 88)

afternoon - 6.75 DI/Sullivan's. Hit gold old DI with some extension before practice and led that right into Sullivan's. It was very hot today - back over 110. (Ronin 412)

Hurricane Pioneer Day 5K. 16:06

AM - 6.5 Middleton. Got up and got a few in before heading over to the race. Wore my Adios to decide if I need to start hunting down a new marathon shoe or not. They felt great and have at least one more race in them even if I use them for a workout or two before St. George. (Adios 187)

morning - 6 race. Got the kiddos ready and the family headed over to Hurricane. Had planned earlier on running the Enterprise 10K, but he girls wanted to run too, and is just too much money to pay for every race. So this one was just a 5K, but it was only a couple of cans of food - I can afford 8 cans entry fee. Warmed up just a little with the girls and then started off. No competition which was a real bummer. Last year Hurricane's top runner, Nephi, ran, so I hoped he could push me for at least a bit, and I hoped a few of my guys who weren't at Enterprise would show up - but none did. So anyway, another solo effort. Course was an honest loop with a very gentle upgrade on the way out and the opposite on the way back; marked well, so I didn't get lost at all for the first time running it; had a dirt/gravel section for 1/4, but not bad; measured correctly; had a lot of turns though. Used the race markings for splits, and they seemed pretty honest. 1-4:59, kind of fun, I didn't think I was running that fast. Was actually kind of blah and felt like a 5:20's effort. 2-5:11, 3-5:15. Kind of relaxed a little too much on these two. And when I saw I wasn't going to break 16:00 on the homestretch I kind of eased it in. Feel better about this effort than either of the two earlier summer 5K's, but I still can't seem to get into that next gear - although what do I expect, I am not doing any speed training at all so... But I really think I could have held today's average for a full 10K pretty solidly and even stretched it toward a 10 miler. Some progress.

Went back and cheered on the girls. Rylee ran with Pyper. Which was nice, but kind of a pain. Rylee is really good and coaching your own high-level kid seems to have its ups and downs. So I tried not to push her too much today when she said she only wanted to run with Pyper. Pyper is not too shabby herself and has a huge upside with her determination once she really gets training. I found Laney further back than she should have been. She seemed to just kind of be poking along and walking quite a bit until I got to her. But I was proud that she went almost two all by herself until I got to her. Then we jogged it on in, trying to encourage her and make it fun for her along the way. (Rocket 2 99.75)

afternoon - 6 ND. Just the usual afternoon in the heat. These midweek races are tough on me mentally - my body thinks a race means the end of the week and wants to shut it down for a bit. (F50 698.5)

morning - 10 Vernon Worthen. Well... Such a crappy day. Drove over to practice and got everyone going in their groups. We headed up the marathon course, using the paved trail instead of the highway (after a big talk on safety with traffic). The run was actually great. Some of the guys fell off, but I just cruised with Nick and Preston and we were having a great and tough run. It was a bit warm, so I was a little blah about running home. But since The Circle was out of the loop this weekend, I decided to make this my long run and just run home from practice, adding in 8-10 miles with tempo and then just posting an easy 15 tomorrow and I would have another solid 120 week fall in my lap. To run home, I had Ally (and her friend came along with her) run over to the park and pick up the car and Rylee since she would be done so much earlier than the boys and I. Just as we came down Diagonal and were going to start moving into the fast finish for the boys, I saw two cops get out of their car. They kind of walked toward a driveway, so I about said to the guys that we were going to see a domestic dispute - because that's how cops usually approach them. But then they stopped and looked at me and asked if I was Dave. Just like that my heart dropped. Why did they know my name? My mind raced; has one of the kids been hurt? They said, "There has been an accident." Time kind of slowed down. I didn't know what to think. Then they said, "Do you know Teri?" And I just freaked in my mind... ally was running with Teri (her best buddy, or next door neighbor, parent to past/present/future kids I have coached and taught and worked with in church, mom of one of my girls' best and longest friend). They said she had been in a very bad accident, had been hit by a car and I needed to get to the hospital. They offered me and ride and we got going. I asked about Allyson since they didn't tell me anything about her or what had happened. They told me she was physically fine, but mentally a mess. They told me what they knew and such. She had been hit by a mirror of a truck basically right in the head/chest. Ally was only feet in front of her and somehow hadn't been touched. Of course this made for a ver tough and long day at the hospital. Teri passed away with no brain function - they are arranging the donation of every organ the can, so she is still being supported. The situation was a mess. It is something no one, no family should ever have to go through. Allyson is having a very tough time basically holding her destroyed friend as she died. But she is so crazy tough. She called a man who was the first driver on scene to tell him thanks, and he couldn't stop telling me how great she did being there for her. My emotions are just all over. I couldn't feel more hurt for her sweet family. It is, I don't even know the word, to see your spouse covered blood (even after the er cleaned her up), and just thinking how wasn't it her? I feel okay for a bit, but then I get pretty sad. I'm pretty emotional already, so this kind of throws me. (Kinvara lime 487)

0 - nothing today. A lot more stuff going on for our friends. And of course life goes on too for the rest of the world - that is such a weird feeling. I remember after my stroke, we were driving home from the neurologist, and I kept thinking my life and family's just totally changed and none of these people know anything, they just keep on doing what they do. And that's how I felt the last two days. Life has changed so drastically for us, and indescribably for our friends, but for most of the world life just keeps doing what it does. The kids went with the rest of the family to the air show, which was a bummer to miss because it really is cool. But... Also, I have been trying to get ready for XC camp next week. Friday was to be shopping day and all sorts of stuff to get ready. Of course none of that happened, so I tried to get what I could of that done today. You know one thing about all that life just keeps going talk is that there are so many amazing people that can help out and are willing to do anything to ease the burdens and strengthen you in any way possible. Such great people around.

Running wise, just such a bummer end to what was turning out to be a good week. I hadn't planned on a super big week, but it was happening and I felt better than last week. I was also looking forward to next week being a recovery week at camp and not having to stress about mileage (I'll still stick to that plan though... Camp isn't a week to try and kill oneself). Hopefully I'll just have the mental energy to get it going a bit again (of course I will, but it just seems kind of less-relavant now).