I'm retired from racing. Really.

AM- 9.

PM- BTW.  Parked at USU Water Research Center and ran up the canyon.  4 miles into the run, just at the end of the singletrack, I started my tempo.  I wanted 8-10 miles of tempo, but wasn't feeling very spunky.  The first mile was the flatest and had a 6:26, but the next ones were more technical and hilly singletrack, and were 7:37 and 8:27.  The last uphill tempo was on the upper mile of the wind caves trail, so was a very slow 12:49, though that climbs almost 800 ft in 1 mile.  I didn't feel great on the steep downs, so went kind of easy.  Once I hit the nature trail again, I picked it up with some 7:XX's.  It started raining at mile 9 of the run, and the wind got rather nasty, but I had brought a long sleeve shirt and gloves so was actually warm enough.  I started feeling better 6 miles into the tempo, so ended up tempo-ing all the way to mile 14, with some 6:00 pace on the flats.  2 miles cooldown in the rain back to the car.  My effort coming down from wind caves was pathetic, so I'll only count 9 miles at MP.  Total for the run was 16.1 miles in 2:07:48 (7:57 avg) with 2300 ft climbing and descending.  Ok run- not great, but not the flop I feared it was going to be.

AM- Sluggish 9.

PM- I was planning to go running when I got home from some church meetings at 8:30.  But, my 2 daughters apparently had found an entire container of vaseline and spread it all over our bathroom- all over.  Have you ever tried to clean up vaseline?  Not easy.  So I spent the next hour cleaning rather than running.  I guess I'll have to add some extra mileage later this week. 

AM- 8 easy.  My bathroom floor was still a bit greasy and slick this morning.  I'm tempted to leave my girls home as punishment, with only Marci and I going to Disneyland this week.  I still can't believe how big of a mess they made.

PM- I hadn't run PW in a long time, so I did 2.5 laps on it for 7 miles total.  Saw Cody.  Legs are tired.  Leave for Disneyland tomorrow. 

AM- I was planning to run with Cody this morning, but 2 straight days of 5 hours of sleep, combined with going to bed after midnite last night, caught up to me.  I ended up sleeping in and running PW 4.  I'll definitely be more awake for our drive today, now, which is a very good thing.

AM- No run last night with all the travel.  I set out early this morning from my sister's house in Las Vegas.  May I say, I hate concrete!  I'd like to have a long talk with the guy who decided all sidewalks should be made of concrete, rather than asphalt, rubber, wood chips, or silly putty- anything soft.  Anyways, after 4 miles on the concrete I reached the west edge of town and proceeded to run up very, very rocky jeep trails to the base of Blue Diamond Hill.  Running through the desert beats the city, but doesn't compare to what I am used to- it is a completely desolate desert with no trees, just barren dirt and rocks.  I really wonder what in the world caused the first pioneer traveling through here to say, "This looks good- let's settle here."  He was nuts.  I wish I had a pair of trail shoes with good rock protection rather than my road shoes.  Turned around near the top of the trail with a great view of the city.  Ended up with 17 miles in somewhere around 2:20, including 1500-2000 ft climbing (best guess).  Now drive to LA.

AM- 12 on the Santa Ana river (concrete spillway) trail.  Not the nicest run ever, but it was a run.  About 7:25 avg pace.  Ended up missing a few runs this week with all that was happening (vaseline, travel), but 82 is still decent.  Not the 90+ I hoped for, but oh well.  It is what it is.  I just want all the stinking snow from the past month to melt up in the high country.