dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

Easy run this morning.  I ran 1 mile on the track at the high school to give myself a better feel for how fast I am going when I run easy around here.  Not being at altitude throws me off a bit, and now I don't have a trail to run on with markers every 1/16th of a mile.  I will probably be wearing the HRM a little more around here to make sure that I do not start running too hard on my easy runs.  Average HR stayed around 130 today, which felt good.  Pace on the track was at 7:20 at that HR.  Total time of 1:14:14 for the run.

Drove to California in the afternoon with Kimia's dad.  I will be up here for a little over a week before going back to Vegas to start school. 

Easy run on the Los Gatos Creek Park Trail here in California.  This is basically a more congested, more hilly, and more twisting version of the Provo River Trail at sea level.  I ran what was supposed to be a "fat mile" on the way back, but ended up running it in 5:03 (2:31, 2:32).  Total time of 1:10:42 for the run (37:19, 33:23).

I did a better job of running a "fat mile" today while on the park trail.  I ran a 5:38 mile (2:51, 2:47) which felt really easy, so I was happy.  Total time of 1:28:34 for 12 miles (45:34, 43:00).

PM:  5 miles easy in 36:42.  Started off fairly slowly, and then sped up a bit later on unintentionally.  The pace felt easy, and I feel strong right now.  No pain or discomfort anywhere, so I am happy.

12 miles in the morning in 1:27:54.  I got excited about 2 miles into my run, so I ran down a guy on a bike and then passed him when he hit an uphill section (not too steep, but he slowed down a lot).  I slowed after a half mile and let him pass me again.  In total I ran a half mile fast in 2:40 kind of as a "fat" half mile, but probably a little too fast for it to really give me the desired stimulus.  Later I ran some sprints, 5 x 15 seconds hard, 3 of them going out, and 2 more on the way back.

PM:  5 more miles in about 38:00. 

Easy run today, no fat mile.  Finished 14 miles in 1:43:48.

20 mile long run on the same stretch as always, but with a variation, as the trail ends about 8 miles into the run.  I took a back road that also has mile markers on it after I got to the dam where the main  trail ends.  1:10:00 at the turn around.  On the way back I was running on a slight downhill grade on average, so the second half is naturally faster, but I also ran a 5 mile tempo (plus a little more near the end just to finish quicker).  I ran mile splits of 5:57 (mile before the tempo, but lots of steep uncomfortable downhill on this mile) 5:50, 5:45, 5:42, 5:33, 5:19 from approximately miles 13-18 of the run.  Total time of 2:10:41 for 20 miles.

Just one run today.  15 miles, with one mile fast from 10-11 in 5:11 (2:35, 2:36).  I thought that I had passed my mile marker, (it is buried in the bushes so it can be hard to see) but realized that I had slowed too soon, when I saw my watch was only at 5:00 for the mile.  I didn't feel like speeding up again and hit the actual mile mark in 5:11.  If I wouldn't have slowed too soon I probably would have ended between 5:05-5:07 by my estimation.  Total time for 15 miles was 1:48:27.

5 miles in 38:10.  I woke up later than I was planning, so I did my short run this morning before heading out to Campbell.

PM:  10 miles in the evening running about 5.5 of it on the canal trail, which reminds me a little of a smaller shadier version of the canal trails I run on when I am in Mesa visiting grandparents.  Total time of 1:17:10ish.

I ran in Concord this morning before taking a plane back to Las Vegas.  I ran out the same way I did yesterday, although I ran a little longer, and I threw in a mini tempo of sorts that lasted about 13 minutes (so probably a little over 2.25 miles assuming about 5:40 pace).  Total time of approximately 1:25.  Was considering a PM run, but after spending all day on airplanes, waiting at airport terminals, and then following with more of the same riding on buses/waiting at bus terminals, I decided to skip the evening run.

The plan was to run 12 miles this morning before it got hot out, however I woke up before my alarm went off (6:10) and then climbed back in bed thinking that I would sleep for a few minutes, and then get up for the day.  Well, it didn't work out quite like I had planned.  I ended up waking up at 8:00, and didn't get out the door until 8:30.  So, not quite what I wanted, but I drank a cold glass of water before leaving so that I wouldn't get dehydrated.  

I ran out about 4 miles to Sunset park to explore it as I had seen that there were some trails that wound around the park.  While at the park I was enjoying myself, so I ran a little extra before coming back (probably a little over 9 miles into the run at this point).  At the end of the run I stopped by the high school track to do a pace check based on what my HR had been at over the course of the run (not completely accurate, as my HR steadily rose during the run due to the heat, but close enough).  After an 800 pace check I ran another 800 fast to get my legs moving a little bit and to practice relaxing at fast speeds.  2:24 (74, 70) for 800m, which I was happy with given that I finished the 800 almost 1:42:00 into my run.  I then finished by running back to my apartment.  Total time of 1:44:57 for what I will call 14.5 miles.

Checked the temperature after I got home.  Only 87, (although the high for today is supposed to be 104) which is why I was able to tolerate the heat as well as I did.  As long as the temperature is under 90 I don't feel too shabby.  If running in Vegas is like this every day I will be happy.

Easy run this morning in 1:18:24.  I found a trail about a mile from my apartment, so I am glad about that.  I don't know how far it goes, but it is at least a little over 4 miles long based on the mile markers that were painted on the trail (although I don't know how accurate the markers are since there has been construction going on in the wash next to the trail, and some portions of the trail appear to be new additions which could lengthen the distance a little).  Temperature was 88 when I started the run, 93 when I finished.

 PM: 5 miles alone.

I decided to try out running my long run in the evening for once to see if the heat did not feel as bad (half of what kills me when it is over 100 is the sun beating down on me).  So, I went on my run just before it got dark, and it was not too bad.  I did have some issues with the heat near the beginning, but later on I felt good.  I did nothing hard as this was my first long run in this kind of heat.

I am way behind on my blog, so in an effort to get up to date I am blogging this entire week on Saturday.

As a whole this week kicked my behind.  I was just getting started at UNLV with my graduate assistantship, and the lows in the morning were in the mid 90's with highs between 106-108 pretty much every day.  As a result, I kept the mileage low this week in order to get adjusted to things.  67 total miles for the week, and I only ran hard on Thursday when I ran 3x 1 mile hard on the pittman wash trail.  This trail is fairly slow as it has lots of rollers in it, as well as sharp corners.  Times were 5:28, 5:05, 5:06 with about 5 minutes rest between repeats.

10 miles easy

10 miles easy

I ran easy this morning, before school.  Nothing special happened.

 PM:  I went to a group run in Boulder City.  I didn't run too far because I got there late and it got dark shortly thereafter.

I ran to and from school for the first time here at UNLV, and it wasn't too bad.  It almost started raining right before I left so it cooled down.  8.7 miles each way, with a total time of 2:09:01 combined.

10 miles easy this morning.

I ran a long run this morning, running out 10 miles and then back.  I ran 4 miles fast on the pittman wash trail near the end of my run, averaging 5:33 for 4 miles.  I started out the tempo at 5:20 pace, however it was just enough to push me over the edge heat-wise and after about .75 miles I started to suffer a bit.  I kept the effort even and slowed down progressively until I hit the third mile in 5:42.  I honestly didn't feel too bad, I just got slower.  I finished off the last mile of the tempo in 5:29.  Total time of about 2:14:00 for 20 miles.

10 miles easy before school on the pittman wash trail.  I felt good and I ran faster than I should have because of it.  I finished in just under 1:10:00.  I need to make sure that I take it easy at the beginning of my runs when I am on this trail, as it heads uphill for most of the way until I turn around, and then is mostly downhill on the way back.  If I run too fast on the way out I will really fly on the way back.

I ran to and from school again today.  I found a way to cut off about a tenth of a mile each way, so the total for today is only 17.2 in comparison to the 17.4 I ran last Thursday.  I ran a fartlek during part of the run in the morning, running hard between stop lights, followed by easy running until I got to the next light.  In the evening I ran an approximate fat mile as I headed home.  I ran to school in 1:03:23, and made it home in 1:02:xx.