Philippians 4:13

14M run on a beautiful morning through Snake River Landing to the greenbelt and through Freeman Park then back home.  Ran easy at first (7:56, 7:15ish) then dropped to sub-7:00 from mile 6 on.  My fastest average mile was my last at 6:40.  Through in several hill climbs (in Freeman Park, Snake River parkway) and some accelerations of about 0.25M each.  Nice run...started at 6am sharp to run the first mile with Dan S (in spirit) at the Missoula marathon.  (Ride)

6M early this morning very slow.  I was very fatigued and tired as I worked yesterday doing yardwork and laying pavers alongside our new RV pad.  Also, my son was up late last night with a sick stomach so I was a bit tired.  Started off and almost turned around but somehow got in a full 6M run.  (Trigon)

7.75M run at lunch on a windy and warm day.  Ran easy conversational pace with Pat B just talking about family, running, racing etc.  He is the RD for a half marathon this weekend so we chatted about the race (course, organization, running time, etc.).  (Ride)

Visiting the biking stores tonight to scope out road bikes for my wife for her birthday on Thursday.  She has been interested in a road bike for about a year and has expressed interest in the Logan to Jackson (LOTOJA) road race...lots more riding and training first before she tackles that one (206 mile road race over 4 mountain passes!).

Slept in a bit today (until 4:30) as a treat to myself for my birthday.  8M easy on a cooler morning.  Nice easy run just reflecting on my old age and trying to wake fully and getting past the "old" feeling in my knees today.  Saw 2 other runners out this morning, one being Andrea.  We stopped and discussed plans for the local half marathon on Saturday.  Planning on a track workout at lunchtime (probably 800's).  (Trigon)

Speedwork at the IF Track.  1M warmup then 6X800's with 400m recovery.  Splits for the 800's:  2:41, 2:41, 2:41, 2:40, 2:37, 2:41.  Effort felt very controlled in all the repeats and I ran them all a bit conservative in the first 400, then sped up in the second 400.  Tailwind on the backstretch which meant a headwind on the homestretch.  0.75M cooldown, with an overall avg. pace of 6:15 for the entire 6M during this session.   I ran in my Tangent 1 for this to help with the turnover.  (Tangent)

While at the track, a couple of ladies showed up with a gaggle of kids on bikes and started farting around on the track.  Normally I wouldn't bother, but these folks just seemed rather ignorant and the kids obnoxious. So I told them that the track is posted for no bikes and told them to get the kids off the track (pluse the kids kept getting in my way on the inner lane and it pissed me off). 

8.25M early and easy on a cool and windless morning.  Kami works today so I had to get out and done before she left at 5:30.  I will stay home with the kids this morning and most likely take the day off to spend with family. 

I went for an easy 3M run while the kids rode their bikes with me.  The kids did pretty good up until the end, finished in 22:15.  (Trigon)

Nice and easy run this morning through Snake River Landing and back through our neighborhood.  I got delayed extended due to encountering a train crossing the road the intersection of Yellowstone highway and Sunnyside.  Beautiful morning.  Kami's birthday today so our for dinner with the family again tonight...kinda nice not having to cook at nights. (Trigon)

Link to a neat article on mature athletic performanace:  http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/16/athletes.comeback.endurance/index.html

Older athletes can still kick butt!

Nice 6.65M run on a beautiful day at lunch...sunny, mid 70's and a light wind.  1M wu easy (7:03) then 5M at slow comfortable MP (6:22, 6:17, 6:23, 6:19, 6:25) then some cooldown.  Ended with 4 100m barefoot strides in the park.  A really good run!  (Ride)

I slept in a bit since it is my day off and got out the door at 5:30.  Beautiful morning for a run...10M in 1:17:45 through Snake River Landing and around the greenbelt.  Ran on the southern extension off Pancheri to get to 10M.  Nice and easy pace to save the legs for tomorrow's Kelly Canyon Half Marathon.

Kami asked me to go run with her, so I went back out for another easy 3M down Sunnyside.  Made it back to the house just in time to meet the guy to hook up our wireless internet...we finally joined the modern age!

Stayed up late last night with a little summer party at our house with friends having a few laughs and some good drinks.

Ran the 1st annual Kelly Canyon Half Marathon as part of Ririe Days.  Pat B was the RD and really wanted me to run it to get a good time.  Drove up with Andrea, McKay, Lynette and Kari to Ririe and caught a ride with Pat to the start at the ski lodge. 

This race starts with 2M of downhill, 1M flat, 0.5 hillclimb and gentle down hill for 1M before totally flattening out.  Started off fast due to the hill, hitting the first 2M in 4:50ish average and I was trying to hold back.  After this I just got into a groove effort wise and cruised along in the 5:55 range for most of the rest of the race.  A few slower miles on the gravelly winding road (6:10ish) and for the last mile where the headwind and the nearly 100 mile week caught up with my energy level and slowed me down a bit.  Overall 1:15:45 at the end of a big week and nearly matching my PR. 

Updated for splits:  4:49, 4:58, 5:24, 6:02 (uphill), 5:47, 6:15, 6:12 (last 2 on gravelly roads w/headwind), 5:58, 5:57, 5:58, 5:58, 6:03, 6:07 (headwind), 0:18.   Pretty sure I could hit this one in sub 1:15 (1:14 even) if I geared toward it specifically and tapered a bit.  Next year, baby!

Kari was second overall in 1:31, Andrea 2nd woman in 1:33 and Lynette came across 3rd in 1:34.  McKay had calf issues and just coasted in (including stopping to talk to his wife less than 0.1M from the finish) to avoid injury (still 3rd male!).  So, in my truck we had the top 3 women and 2 of the top 3 men at the race!

Left pretty quickly afterwards to get home and get out to the Melaleuca summer party at the owners ranch...very hot out in a open field topping 95 degrees.  I am now trying to cool down in the basement.  The run and the hot weather really played havoc on my stomach today.