It ain't Chinese algebra!

Today was a great workout!  I jogged over to the "cove" and ran some hills.  The hill was super steep and I ran 7x70 seconds on each.  The 70 seconds were hold it took me to run from the bottom to the top--I'm guessing the length was about 300 meters or so.  I was wasted when I finished.

Old Shoes (I know, I said they were trashed.  They are, but for some reason I still put them on today?) 

I hope I didn't overdue it on Thursday.  Yesterday (Friday) and today my right knee has a constant dull pain and it hurts to go down anything (stairs, slopes, hills, etc.).  I decided to play it safe, take it easy, and rest the knee.  I did, however, go snowshoeing  for about 90 minutes today.  It was a blast.  We went at midnight, up on the mountain, under a full-moon so no lights were needed.  We had fun, the knee felt okay and I got a decent workout.

Racquetball for 1 hour

I ran the back-roads to the hospital, continued on past the high school and turned around at the north freeway exit.  For some reason I was tired today.  I kept trying to push the pace faster and faster, but nothing happened.  I told the body to "pick it up" and it just wouldn't listen.

Total Time: 1:03:19

Pace: 6:20

Cumulus 8 (orange)

What a blast!! I wasn't sure how this run would turn out. I had Guard this weekend, so I showed up at the armory at 7:00, did the army thing for 90 minutes, then jumped in the car and cruised over to the race. I got out of my car as the last shuttle vehicle was leaving for the starting line. That being said, I got jack for a warm up, or anything for that matter. I quickly changed clothes, put on my shoes and jumped in a truck. We got about 1 mile away from the starting line and I got out and jogged to the start for as much of a warm up as time would allow.

I took of from the start pretty quick, even passing the lead truck. No big deal, but it was a little rough when they passed us back and gave us some dust to breath in. Oh well. Here are the splits:

• 5:12
• 5:25
• 5:33
• 5:36
• 5:28

I felt good the entire run, minus a slight cramp in my side around mile 4. I set a new course record for the race (over 1 minute), but it's really not that impressive as the race has only been around for a few years (3, maybe). The record had been held by Tony Jones though, so I'm happy. He's a stud runner from Hurricane/Utah State University/Southern Utah University.

Anyway, as I finished the run I had enough time to grab a drink, some yogurt and fruit, change clothes and get back to Guard before people noticed I had been gone. :)

Speedstar

I did 1 mile easy, then 4x800m repeats. Splits were:

• 2:20
• 2:20
• 2:20
• 2:22

They hurt. I need to do more speed.

Speedstar

Racquetball for 1 hour

1 mile easy, followed by 8 mile tempo.  I started slow (5:55, 6:00,5:47, 6:18), but then tore up the last 4 (5:53, 5:32, 5:30, 5:09).  I felt good, but wanted to hit 5:30 average, so I was a little off.  Oh well.

Total Time: 46:06

Pace: 5:46

Cumulus 8 (orange) 

I ran the dirt frontage road that sits east of I-15 between Cedar and Summit.  Super hard run.  The first 4 miles were uphill and into the wind.  The second 4 were downhill and with the wind.  Obviously, slow start and fast finish.  

Total Time: 48:45

Pace: 6:06

Cumulus 8 (orange)
 

Speed day.  I ran 1 mile easy, then got on the track for some repeats.  Ran 8x400m.  I felt good.  I was aiming for 65 per lap but ended up averaging 66 on each.  I limited my rest to 2 minutes between each, so that was good.  That's the hardest part of speed workouts done solo-pushing myself to start each lap, even when still winded.

Spikes 

1 mile easy, followed by 6 mile tempo.  It was super windy today.  I'm guessing easily over 20 mph, with gusts up to high 20's.  It made for a tiring run.  I finished strong though....

Total Time: 34:55

Pace: 5:49

Speedstar

Cold run this morning.  11 degrees when I left the house.  I felt pretty good though.  I feel that I need to cross-train better.....and get back to lifting weights like I used to.  I've lost some upper-body strength.

Total Time: 59:33

Pace: 5:57

Cumulus 8 (orange) 

Racquetball for 1 hour

Speed today.  I warmed up for 800 meters, then did 4x1600m, then another 800 meter cool down.  It was extremely windy.  The weather channel said 25 mph winds with gusts up to 32 mph.  Not ideal for speed by any means.  Basically, it sucked, but I did it anyway.  I was shooting for 5 minute miles, but I wasn't even close.  Breakdown:

• 5:23
• 5:15
• 5:15
• 5:10

Racquetball for 1 hour