Easy 8 on the TM after work. 8:50 avg.

8.2 miles / 8:33 avg. Early lunch run. From work and about the hoods. Partly cloudy, 37 degrees, a little wind.

Splits: 9:16, 8:49, 8:32, 8:28, 8:20, 8:32, 8:17, 8:09, + .2 mi. @ 8:27 pace (almost a progression run.)

14 miles / 1:53:36 / 8:06 avg. Commute run from work. Upper 30's temp, wind around 10 MPH from the W (mostly cross wind for me), mostly sunny.

1/2 marathon PR by about 2:40! 13.1 miles in 1:45:56 (8:05 avg.)

After the first 4 miles, I realized I was feeling pretty good and decided to do a 6 mile tempo at my goal half marathon pace. After mile ten, I had finished the tempo portion and let off the pace but realized I was in for a good HM PR on today's training run so I tried to keep pushing a bit.

The funny thing is I almost called off the run today because I woke up this morning feeling a little nauseous and my joints were sore. Also, I didn't start the run until 1:00 PM, and I spent most of the day whining and obsessing about the crappy weather. Fortunately I decided to go ahead and get a run in because it went really well!

Mile splits: 8:31, 8:17, 8:21, 8:29, {7:56, 7:46, 7:48, 7:56, 7:48, 7:45,} 8:13, 8:15, 8:00, 8:24.

Also the last 10 miles of this run constitute a PR of 1:19:58 for 10 miles. Just a hair under 8:00 avg. pace. Nice.

4 easy miles at the mystery field track with the dogs. 8:41 avg.

"Ain't gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent at this juncture..." G.W. Bush

10 miles / 1:23:28 / 8:21 avg. Commute run from work to home. I'm not going to mention the weather until it improves. The run felt good today.

Mile splits: 8:24, 8:30, 8:41, 8:37, 8:09, 8:23, 8:05, 8:07, 8:23, 8:05.

Easy 8 on the LPT after work. Weather's improved a little.  9:05 avg.

AM - 9.8 miles / commute crawl into work. Clear, sunny. 34 to 39 degrees. 9:31 avg.

Supposed to be sunny, breezy, and 60 degrees for the commute home.

PM - 9.3 miles / 8:44 avg.  Usually when I run to work, then run back home in the afternoon, the run home goes really well. Not so today. It took 1.64 miles until the PF in my right ankle loosened up. It wasn't until 2.51 miles that ye ole achilles in my lower right leg settled down. My IT band on the outside of my right leg was even threatening to spaz out for a little while. I thought a mutiny was close at hand. Miles 6 and 7 went well (8:02, 8:17), but after that I was just tired out and couldn't wait to finish the run. It could be worse...I could NOT be a runner.

Zip.

Short hike with the dogs. Yard work. Lots of thinking about running.

 14 miles / 1:58:02 / 8:26 avg. Overcast, 50-59 degrees. Commute run home. No tempo/workout etc. Just wanted to keep at MP (8:30).

Splits: 8:29, 8:47, 8:20, 8:14, 8:29, 8:08, 8:14, 8:13, 8:30, 8:13, 8:28, 8:35, 9:02 (mostly uphill, and I'm tired), 8:12.

6 miles / 48:37 / 8:06 avg. Half mile loops at the mystery field track. Overcast, 68 degrees, windy.Ran miles 3 and 5 faster.

Splits: 8:54, 8:34, 6:56, 8:53, 7:00, 8:18.

Easy 3 on the T in the PM. 8:37 avg.

Off today. Good week to cut back. The SL Half on Saturday yo!

10 miles / 1:22:03 / 8:12 avg. Lunch run. From work/Emerald park. Sun, 55 degrees.

After 5 miles I did 10 x 1 minute intervals with equal time recovery. I tried to get the pace on the intervals down to 7:00 mm or faster.

Splits: 8:53, 8:21, 8:03, 8:08, 8:10, 8:13, 7:43, 7:49, 8:33, 8:06

6.2 miles / 9:00 avg. Early lunch run from work and about. Recovery run. Crazy beautiful weather.

Pre-race high performance diet:

Day before: chocolate donuts, doritos, frozen burritos (nuked, of course), fruit, maybe some rice.

The morning of the race: banana, slice of wheat bread, one frozen burrito.

Add edit: I delved into the abyss, and picked up my race packet. Glad that's over with.

Easy 5 before work. From the house, around the town. 9:34 avg.

Wife has our home computer (laptop) with her at a writers conference this weekend. So I won't be blogging until tomorrow afternoon when I come back to work.

1:43:49 as per Garmin. Official time: 1:44:23. My official time is slower because I stopped my watch for a POP break in mile three. Perfect weather. I jogged about a half mile before the race and another half mile after wards.Well organized race. Hope everybody gets paid on time this year. Got about 3 hours of sleep. I need to figure out what to do about my sleep issues on race days. Felt pretty strong until about mile 10, couldn't maintain pace. Good last mile though as I was eager to get finished. I felt good after the race. I think I could've/should've pushed harder. Lately I've determined in training too that I need to do more speed work, the kind that hurts, mostly to get my mind wrapped around it. So roughly a 5 (4 minutes, 19 seconds), minute PR over my time at the Ogden half last year. And about 2 minutes faster than my little breakthrough training run a couple of weeks ago (04-03-10).

My buddy Lysa (on the blog) ran a really good half today and PR'd!

I'm happy with my result. I am, after all, 46 yrs old. I've only been doing this consistent running thing for less than 2 years. I'm hoping to get PR's still when I'm into my 50's.

Garminesque splits: 8:18, 8:08, 7:45, 7:24, 7:57, 7:55, 7:49, 7:56, 7:49, 8:15, 8:09, 8:34 (they just had to throw that hill on the course), 7:37.

Will post official results when they become available.

6 miles / 8:34 avg. Sun, 70 degrees. 1/2 mile loops on the mystery field track. Last two miles barefoot on the grass. My legs were undecided on whether or not they were tired from yesterdays race. Mostly tired though. 

splits: 8:43, 8:31, 8:34, 8:48, 8:35, 8:14.

Easy 8 / 9:04 avg. Lunch run. Bluff trail. Sun, 75 degrees.

PM edit:  Radio West on KUER. TV On The Radio on the computer. Replay of todays Boston Marathon on the TV. Squatters Chasing Tail in my hand. This is recovery done right!

10.3 miles / 8:51 avg. 10 AM. Sunny, 68 degrees, quite a bit of wind. From work/Emerald park. Tired legs.

AM - 10 miles. / 9:16 avg.Commute from home to work.  temp in the low fifties, wind NNW ranging from 10 to 20-ish MPH. Easy pace rendered easier by the strong headwind I was running into for the majority of the run. I resisted the temptation to fight the wind and just let the pace fall where it may. My legs feel best since the half last Saturday.

PM - 10.6 miles / 8:40 avg. Commute from work to home. Mostly cloudy, temp in the low 50's. I left from work around 5:00 with a good break in the weather.

My week ending today gives just over 70 miles, including the half marathon on Sat.

6.3 miles / 8:41 avg. Late lunch run. Sun, clouds, 50 degrees. From work. I started my usual course but went backwards, and explored some new streets as well. 

18 miles / 8:46 avg. Started around 1:00 pm. Sun, temps low 60's. Commute run from work to home w/extensions. I felt sore and tired from the start but figured that would ultimately make for an effective workout on the legs. I ran 12 miles (mi. 3 through 14) at my goal marathon pace (GMP). My goal for the marathon is 3:45, so my pace should be around 8:34. I just figure 8:30 for easy calculation on the run. I ran a 2 mile warm up, then the tempo splits: 8:26, 8:36, 8:32, 8:17, 8:12, 8:23, 8:33, 8:30, 8:31, 8:33, 8:18, 8:15. Total time for the 12 miles, 1:41:12 / 8:26 avg. Then I death marched the final 4 miles home. I've done better than this just on random training runs, so I'm not too worried that  I could barely make 18 miles today. I don't know what to think. Just have to see what race day brings...in three weeks.

No run today. Driving. Camping out South. Running Monday, Tuesday. Maybe Wednesday before returning. 

11 miles / 11:04 avg. Sunshine, temps in the low 60's, light cooling wind.

After  Saturdays long tempo run and a rest day Sunday, I wasn't sure how I'd feel for this run. The area I was camping in is surrounded by hills. I decided to run up the power line road and to the lookout that me and my friends have always mountain biked up. It seemed a little crazy to me to attempt to run it, it's a huge climb. I told myself that I should probably just run 2 or 3 miles out then turn around. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I felt really good starting out. I had no muscle soreness and my lungs felt great. I just kept going till I got to the top. What an awesome view! It looks down on the Colorado river, and Fisher towers etc. No matter how many times I go there I'm always floored by how huge this view is, and to have run up there made the moment that much sweeter. Anyway, after a couple of minutes on top I started heading back, about a mile into the return, I ran into a buddy who was making the climb on his mt. bike and I agreed to go back to the lookout with him. So that added two miles to my run. After hanging out on top for a second time, this time for a couple of minutes also, I headed back down and decided to take a shorter, steeper route down. There were a couple of sections where I could open up my stride a little but for the most part I was just trying to negotiate the rocky, steep descent without toppling over. What a great workout this was! I was out for just over two hours and felt pretty good the whole time.

This was the only run I did while camping this week. I'll pick up the miles again on Thursday.

It's been snowing most of the morning, and now we have horizontal snow blowing outside. Seriously. I'm done with Winter.

PM edit: 

10 miles / 1:23:51 / 8:23 avg. Treadmill at home after work.

2 mile warmup

8 x 1/2 mile @ HM to almost 5K pace with 1/4 mile recovery. 1/2 mile interval splits: 8:00, 7:48, 7:36, 7:24, 7:19, 7:36, 7:48, 7:30.

1.25 mile cooldown

Last mile @ 8:08

PM

Limited Time + Lack of Motivation + Slacker Attitude = Easy 4 Mile TM Run