It ain't Chinese algebra!

10 miles in Grants Pass. After a 2 week vacation, it's good to be home. But at the same time, I sure enjoyed running in Phoenix where I ran in a t-shirt and no gloves all week.  Good times.

10 miles around GP.  Felt pretty good but all the snacking the past two weeks have left me with a few extra lbs and I'm not loving that feeling as I run.

AM: 7 miles around GP before an early start to the day.

PM: 7 miles around Eugene after a day with the boss.  I was going to make it a bit longer but the rain was coming on strong and the treadmill was taken at the hotel.  So it goes... 

12 miles in Eugene; up Coburg and around Costco, back through Springfield and to the hotel past Autzen Stadium.  Amazing weather for a January morning.

10 miles around the middle school and into downtown, then back home with a quick stop at 7-11 for the bathroom.  The slushees looked good and I made a mental note to return tonight and get one.  Haha.

I ran along the highway west of town past the college for about 4 miles before returning on Redwood Rd.  Only made it 1/2 mile down the road when I was chased by 3 dogs so I turned around and returned home the same way.  Pace was easy for the first 8 miles and then I ran 5 miles of tempo (5:51, 5:38, 5:43, 5:34, 5:34) and then 1 mile cool down.  Felt good. 

AM: 4 miles.  Somehow I slept through both my alarms this morning.  I'm blaming the kids that kept me awake from 2 to 3 this morning.  What was that all about?

PM: 6 miles after work.  Chilly out tonight. 

9 miles after work.  I ran to Staples, then through town and up to the first freeway exit, then home.  I also busted out a new pair of Saucony Kinvara's and I love them.  I'm kicking myself for waiting this long to try them out.  I can tell why everyone loves them so much.  Here's to seeing if I can get 1000 miles out of them as well.

Coldest morning of the year so far.  20 degrees when I started out and 23 by the time I finished.  I ran to the west of town, then around the middle school and home.

6 miles for a warm up.  It was 24 degrees and I didn't love the idea of racing with it this cold.  I ran the course and by the 5th mile it warmed up to 26-27 degrees and felt pretty good.

Goal was to run a 10k race at a faster pace than Paul runs the marathon trials in Houston today.  I probably missed the goal because Paul is a BEAST and gonna tear it up this morning.  Anyway, race started and I took the lead from the gun.  The first mile was slight downhill (5:10), second mile was flat (5:16) and third mile was slight uphill (5:20).  I hit the turn around (forgot to look at my watch) and tried to stay somewhat consistent on the reverse course.  Missed mile 4 but fifth mile was (flat again in 5:24) and mile 6 (slight uphill in 5:15).  Final .2 in 37 seconds so the course was off somehow.  In fact, I think the course was long but who know.  Don't really care.  Just wanted a solid tempo-type workout and that's what I got.  Very pleased with the time given the time of year and the weather.  Hopefully I can put together a few more solid months before Pear Blossom and a spring marathon.

 2 mile cool down and then a large chocolate milk for a post-race refreshment.

10 miles this morning.  Felt a lingering soreness from Saturday but for the most part felt pretty good.

4 miles in Eugene with Jared and his buddies.

0 miles. Too busy with work. Sucks when that happens...

About 4 hours of sleep last night, then meeting from 8-5 in Eugene and not home until after 8pm.  LONG day...

0 miles.  But I did party with the kids for Miles birthday party after work.  Fun stuff!

It's not too often that I can double my weekly mileage with a simple Saturday run.  Pathetic week.  My job/lifestyle makes it pretty easy to run consistently so 95% of the time running is good.  Every once in a while work gets pretty busy and and simply can't make running fit into the schedule.  This was one of those weeks.  Long days and 4-5 hours of sleep a couple nights in a row.  Not pretty.  Next week I'll be back on the horse...

AM: 10 miles around GP, up to the NW freeway exit.  Felt much better than Saturday.  Over the weekend I felt stiff, sore and all sorts of out-of-shape.  Is that what happens to me now when I skip 3 days of running?  Here's to hoping this week is a good one.

PM: 3 miles after work. 

11 miles around GP.  A light rain but the temps were high-ish and I got a bit warm.  That's a good problem to have in January though.

5 miles for a warm up, then 2 tempo miles around the HS track (5:58, 5:28) and 3 miles home.  No gloves this morning.  In fact, I felt overdressed in a long sleeve shirt.  I'm loving this warm spell we're experiencing right now.

As always, I'm tired by Thursday and it's a struggle to get up.  Managed to do so anyway and glad I did.  Ran around the middle school, then to WalMart and home via Albertsons.  Awesome weather--I ran in a t-shirt and no gloves.  Simply awesome for January!

It was 20 degrees colder this morning than yesterday.  It makes getting out of bed so much harder...

Ran around town to the west to keep things flat-ish for the first time this week.  Back to the hills tomorrow. 

Ok run.  Just ok.  My right hammy has started bothering me.  Not sure where it came from.  Just lack of stretching and then long hours behind the wheel of the car.  I need to focus on better stretching after each run and hopefully get things turned in the right direction.

Ran around WalMart, HS and home with lots of hills in between.  Average pace was 6:50/mile.

11 miles around the middle school and across the bridges, then back home.  Tired for a Monday.  Not a good sign...

AM: 10 miles in GP

PM: 10 miles in Eugene.  The first 5 were on Pre's Trail.  So soft--wish I could run there more often.  Would have done the entire run there but it was getting dark and I wanted to get on roads where I could see.