Wheeler Farm Loops

Cold, windy, awesome day of storm-skiing at Solitude. The weather never let up, but linking up powder turns is just so worth it. Andrea and I made sure we were dressed for an arctic expedition and also went inside every 90 minutes to warm up. With that game plan, we survived the elements and had a fantastic day.

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 6 miles.

For those interested - a little more information to follow up on the USATF-Utah announcement posted last week. The XC race is going to be the same day as the youth championships, which is typically the last weekend of October or first weekend of November. We'll keep the entry fee low (probably $5), but you must be a USATF member to run. There will be individual prize money, but we're also going to add a team scoring component.

AM - 12 miles. LT AT Reps: 6 x 1 mile in 5:10 avg (all +/- a second). Tempo loop. 2.5 up, 2.5 down. This weekend could be ugly. But, I'd rather run slower in January than June, so I'm keeping it in perspective, and being very patient with the progression of my workouts.

PM - 4 miles. Had just enough time to squeeze in 30 minutes before my Dad came over for dinner. He was up in SLC on business again. Running under 8:00 pace on easy runs is way too hard. I won't make a habit of it.

Great e-mail from one of my best friends from college about Cherry Blossom...

Oh I'm definitely planning on coming down. I looked at the calendar and said "oh, that's still like 12 weeks away, I can probably get into shape to run 10 miles by then" but then I looked at the Cherry Blossom website and registration is closed. THANK GOD! Plus I'd much rather be a spectator and watch you finish rather then have you finish the race, grab a drink, jog around, chat with the Merkels, take a shower, jog around some more, and then watch me finish.

AM - 11 miles. First 6 w/ Andrea, including a few quicker miles on the tempo loop.

PM - 5 miles. Most of it w/ Andrea.

AM - 8 miles. 4 mile Wave Tempo in 21:05 (5:16/mi avg) - alternating 2 minutes at AT, 1 minute at LT. Segment average paces were 5:29 and 4:55. Tempo loop. 3 up, 1 down.

PM - 4 miles.

Watch out for this guy in Houston on Sunday. I really like this quote from the article... it sounds like what Andrea and I say all the time! - “I used to tell my wife on Mondays that this is it, I’m going to clean up my diet. It’s been a hundred Mondays and I’m not much better.”

AM - 8 miles.

AM - 5 miles in Houston with SlowJoe (yep, he's a real person!) along the Buffalo Bayou. We did a couple traffic intersection sprints that would have made Fritz proud. Finished w/ 8 x ~100m strides and 20 minutes of 1-on-1 post up moves with Hakeem.

Hoping I can ride a little residual fitness from the fall to a decent time tomorrow. Honestly I'd have to be thrilled to even be under 1:07 after just coasting for the past 6 weeks. But regardless of how it plays out, being at another US Championship is a great way to kick off the year. Fancy hotel, massages, and more free food than anyone can eat!