Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 8.7 miles. Andrea and I ran an easy paced loop around Midway. Really nice run in the sunshine. Midway is such a cool little town - my kind of place. During the post-run hot tubbing, Andrea challenged me to attempt Rob's hot tub / snow angel challenge (see below).

PM - 6 miles. Horsepark loop w/ some extra laps on the squishy grass. What a gorgeous day - has spring sprung?

We went snow tubing at Solider Hollow during the afternoon. Fun day in the sunshine! I put up some photos on the wasatch and beyond blog. Most of our discussions this weekend revolved around how we need to convince some rich people who have one of those big unused homes in Park City to let us live there on the weekends during the summer.

Before... 

And after Rob's double dog triple dare challenge was put on the table...

AM - 7.5 miles. Just an easy 60 minutes with lots of loops on the grass at the horse park.

PM - 11.5 miles. Wanted to get in some MP miles today. My left calf/achilles has been feeling a little weird since the canyon run on Saturday (Chad noticed the same problem), so I played it safe and stayed on a flat surface with no camber - the track. Warmed up 1.5 miles then got down to business:

10K in 32:53 (5:17 / mile average) - 5:19, 5:18, 5:18, 5:16, 5:15, 5:13, 1:14

...600m jog recovery... 

5K in 16:16 (5:14 / mile average) - 5:14, 5:16, 5:11, :36

Andrea was at the track too, and she jumped in and out and did some 200s along with me. It was so awesome to see her running fast again - she looked strong and smooth. It won't be long before she is kicking butt again. 

In the past 10 days I've had a great string of workouts, starting with the SLC 15K to today. Now I'm not doing too much harder running other than a neuromuscular tuneup workout on Wed or Thur later this week. Looking forward to racing on Sunday because I think I'm ready to pop a fast one.

Oh, and 65 degrees today? Seriously awesome. 4 days ago I had to move my workout to the indoor track, and today I was running shirtless and in my shortest-shorty-shorts. Love it! 

AM - 7.5 miles, easy jogging. Went out solo for the first 15 minutes, then looped back and picked up Andrea for the rest of the run, shedding all my layers at that point b/c it was so warm out. I'm not running back and forth to work this week, even on my recovery days, b/c I'm trying to play it super cautious w/ my left calf... today it feels OK, but if anything is going to aggrevate the leg, its running up & down that giant hill.

PM - 7.5 miles on the grass, running loops around SHP in the wind/snow/rain. My hands froze! Character building run - good to get one of these every once in a while :-) But I will say that after that, I'm looking forward to 80 degrees in AZ this weekend! 

Speaking of playing it safe - I have 2 Snowbird lift tickets (Tram & Chairs) that include a free lunch on the mountain. I'll sell them to anyone here heavily discounted. They expire on April 16th, and I'm not skiing before Boston, and Andrea is going to Brazil. E-Mail / PM me if you are interested. I promise this is not a scam! :-) 

AM - 8.6 miles, most of it w/ Andrea. We got a few laps of first tracks on the snow covered grass in the horsepark. A nice run on a brisk morning with the north wind.

PM - 7.8 miles. Started with Andrea and then back over to the horsepark for more loops on the gravel/grass. Legs are getting antsy to go faster again... 

Here's the press release for Sunday's race. Stacked fields! I also did an interview recently for the Hungry Runner Girl website. Here's the full Q&A. Nothing necessarily new, just running and ice cream talk.

AM - 7 miles, horsepark loop w/ extra loops around the park. I've done this run a lot this week!

PM - 8.5 miles. Warmed up 2 miles, then did a tune-up workout on the track - 1600m, 4 x 200m, 1600m, 4 x 200m, 1600m. Rest was 400m after the 1600s, and 200m after the 200s.

Splits were 4:54, 33.2 average for the 200s, 4:53, 33.2 average again, 4:50. 

Cooled down a mile w/ Andrea. She looked good once again running her 200s. I am trying to convince her to run some collegiate 1500m races this spring.

I learned 4 things tonight:

1) Soccer practice has started at Olympus HS. This creates a hazard (flying soccer balls)
2) Olympus' new track is definitely windier than Highland
3) I am ready to roll this weekend
4) Dreyers is on sale at Smiths

AM - 7.5 miles, horsepark loops again - that's been the theme this week. 

PM - 4 miles w/ Andrea around SHP. Finished on the track and did some stretches and drills.

Now waiting for my plane to board - gotta love the SUPER SLOW wi-fi in SLC airport. 

AM - 7.6 miles in sunny (and warm!) Phoenix... Ocotillo golf course loop, then a few short strides. 

Hanging out w/ my parents today, going to a cactus league baseball game (at the spring training facility where Crockett ran his 48 hr race on New Years) and just taking it easy.

The plan for tomorrow is to run aggressive but not be stupid. I anticipate the race being a lot like the Long Beach 1/2 - it will go out fast. I just plan to tuck in behind the leaders as long as they don't go out at sub 4:40 pace. I can take some chances in a 15K that I wouldn't take in a marathon. I didn't really taper too much for this one, as I want to keep my volume up until its Boston taper time, but this was still a nice cut-back week to only run ~100 miles and I feel pretty fresh. 

PM - 2 miles around the block. Easy breezy, legs feeling snappy. I like when they get this kind of feeling.

Proof that I went to a baseball game. It was boring but nice to sit out in the warm sun for a few hours. Our favorite guy was the Rangers' first base coach. We kept yelling at him to send the runners to steal second base, and he kept doing it! Itchy trigger finger!