I'm retired from racing. Really.

PM- Mini-workout.  3 miles warmup, then a progressive tempo on flat terrain.  Miles were 6:09, 6:08, 6:07, 6:01, 6:00, 5:33.  Last 1/4 mile was at 5:15 pace.  1 mile cooldown.  Definitely the best I have felt in a workout in a long time (probably because I wasn't running up any crazy hills, plus only did 10 miles rather than 16).  10 miles total, 6:29 avg.

AM- When I get 5.5 hours or less of sleep and try to wake up before 5 am, my body generally rebels and wins the sleep battle.  If I get more than 6 or 6.5 hours of sleep, I can usually get out of bed.  Last night was 5 hours of sleep, so my body won.  Hence, my morning run was 5 miles instead of 10.  Looking forward to running Jardine Juniper with Cody and Joe tonight- my favorite trail.

PM- Jardine Juniper with Cody and Joe.  This is my all time favorite trail in Logan, but I only do it about once per year.  It is 10 miles with 2000 ft climbing, but very, very runnable and a great trail.  My fastest time ever is 1:16:56, though I think 1:13-1:15 is very possible.  The run was great- the trail was in good condition, weather was very nice.  We ran up at an easy pace, reaching mile 4 in 43 min (about 3 min slower than record pace).  Ran the top loop fairly easy, too, but then Joe took the lead on the downhill and really pushed the pace.  We averaged 5:58 min miles the whole way down, running the last 4 miles in 23:51- a full minute faster than ever before.  Despite the easy start, we finished in 1:17:51- I need to go later this year and set a decent record.  But it was a great run that I enjoyed with the two guys- they are both going to be great competition at Logan Peak in a few weeks.  I have a feeling that the fast miles just ruined my BW tomorrow, though, but it was worth it.

After I dropped them off, I ran 4 more miles, then took a quick shower and went to a church meeting.  Finally got home at 10 pm, 17 hours after I left this morning.  Long, tiring day, but the run was great.

AM- 4 and 4 easy recovery.  Legs are tired but not at all sore from yesterday, which is a good sign.  I'm to the point where it will take a killer downhill to make me sore, now.

PM- I think my work shoes throw off something in my alignment cause my left hip really hurt today as the day went on.  Combine that with tired legs, and I scrubbed my big workout.  Instead I ran the rather muddy Logan River trail plus some of Wind Caves- looks like the Forest Service did some work on the Wind Caves trail where it had been washed out a few years ago.  Relaxing run in cool, humid weather with a hint of rain.  Lots of walkers and runners out, and I saw Ruth with John 3 times near the end when I had to add a little loop to get more mileage- looks like she is doing well.  14 miles at 8:00 avg pace with 1700 ft vertical.

Got out of bed for my run, started getting ready, then decided that my hips are painful enough to deserve a day of rest.  After all, my objective is to be in the best racing shape on race day, not be on top of the mileage board or keep any running streaks alive.  Those items help me get in racing shape, but not when my body needs rest more.

AM- After 2 days in the mountains at a church youth retreat, it was time to run again.  It started raining Fri at noon and hadn't stopped when Cody showed up for the run at 10:30 am on Sat.  The plan was to run from Right Hand Fork of Logan Canyon backwards along the Bear 100 course- up Ricks Hollow, along some dirt road, then down Richards Hollow.  We tried to run up Richards Hollow on May 1 and only made it 1.5 miles to the waterfall due to snow- we wanted to make it all the way to our previous turnaround so we could say we had covered this whole portion.

It was cool and rainy when we started, and would stay this way most of the run, although there were long patches with no rain.  Thankfully, the rain was never too heavy, and we both commented numerous times on how nice the weather was, given it easily could have been miserable.  The entire way was muddy/puddly, sometimes very slick and goopy, but kind of fun. 

The run up Ricks was normal- I have run it many times, always up.  I felt sluggish and my stomach wasn't happy from all the food of the past 2 days.  But I felt better by the time we hit the road and a steady climb to a summit.  The 800 ft descent was muddy with lots of fallen trees to climb over.  We reached the Cowley Aid location, which was the muddiest of the whole run.  Then we climbed 800 ft up another road to another pass, with 2 ATV's and 2 dirt bikes passing us- the only people we would see all run.  

Just after the pass we turned onto Richards Hollow.  It was a glorious trail- that's really the only way I can describe it.  Most of the run was down a high-alpine, 20 to 50 meter wide meadow that had a stream meandering alongside, with multiple beaver dams along the way.  Probably one of the prettiest areas I have ever seen for a run- I would love to camp there for a while.  Just amazing, secluded, and beautiful.  The stream was quite high and we crossed it about a dozen times on the way down- I formed a dry crossing the first time by throwing in rocks, but we quickly discovered we would cross it many times- sometimes 4 times in 100 yards!  We eventually gave up on trying to keep our feet dry.  The bottom portions of the trail did get a bit steeper, but we eventually reached the waterfall, about 13 miles and 2:08 in.

The way back was quite enjoyable with no people the whole way.  We stopped a few times to enjoy some gorgeous overlooks.  It started raining harder near the end and the trail was particularly muddy and puddly, so I just ran clear through the mud.  Finished with a negative split of 2:05, followed by a wade into the creek, shoes and all.  4:13.  Garmin says 25.5 miles with 10,000 vertical, SportTracks says 25.9 miles with 7250 vertical, Bear 100 mileages say 25.9 miles with 7000 ft vertical.  I'll go with 26 miles and 7000 vertical.

Great run today- hard to beat a day like today with mild weather and great trails.  I hadn't planned on running Richards again, but I may have to mid-week sometime.