It ain't Chinese algebra!

10 miles around Coos Bay and North Bend.  Thankfully it wasn't too cold, the rain wasn't bad and the wind had slowed from yesterdays 35-45 gusts.  My hands were a little cold (I forgot my gloves) but no other complaints.  Finished off the run w/ 2 miles on the treadmill.

AM: 7 miles around the 'hood in GP.

PM: In Eugene for the night. I ran a couple miles to Hayward Field & then ran 1 mile around the track. I wanted to keep running but my hands were freezing due to poor clothing choices on my part (t-shirt & no gloves). 2 miles back to the hotel and then 3 miles on the treadmill to warm up. I love running in this town...

10 miles on the hotel treadmill. Once again, I didn't bring the proper gear to run outside. You'd think Id learn. Anyway, 5 miles easy and then 2 miles @ 6:00/mile pace. 9th mile was .25 @ 5:27 pace and .5 @ 5:00 pace before slowing down for the final 1.25. Feeling good.

7 miles around Albertsons and the hospital.

Just like last Saturday, I had to run some serious loops around Grants Pass to get in the mileage--and still only managed 12 miles.  Those 18-20 mile runs are going to be rough.

It was raining the entire time which made for a wet and coolish run.  My wrists and arms were pretty cold at times, other times not so much.  I'm ready for dryer weather.

AM: 9 miles around Grants Pass before leaving for the coast.  I felt good despite bad sleep during the night.

PM: 11 miles in Coos Bay.  I ran to the track to find the gate unlocked at Marshfield HS so I ran 26 laps around Steve Prefontaine's HS track, plus a few miles around town afterwards.  I took my shoes off during the middle of the run (mile 6) and ran 1 mile barefoot on the new astroturf field which felt great.

10 miles on the hotel treadmill in Coos Bay.

9 miles today.  The first 6 were with Ryan (finally some decent weather!) and then 3 more by myself.  After a day like today, I'm so ready for spring.

10 miles in the pouring rain. It didn't let up once the entire time. I'm glad I wore my vest & hat for once. Seems we've been getting more rain in So. Oregon the past month than we ever got in Portland.

6 miles in Elko, NV. Yuck.

2 mile warm up
10 mile race
3 mile cool down

I won.

I finally have time to write up a decent report--it takes too much effort to make a lengthy entry on my phone.  My grandparents live in Bountiful and this weekend they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.  As such, my wife and two kids loaded into the car on Thursday night and made the long drive to Utah for today's festivities.  A quick search on-line and this was the closest run I could find.

The weather was perfect for any race.  I wore a t-shirt and shorts but for the final 5 miles I was wishing I was wearing a singlet.  So it goes.  After looking over previous years race reports, it looks like we lucked out when it comes to weather.  I didn't know any of the other commpetitors, as expected, but I figured there would be some quick competition.  From the gun there were 4-5 guys that made a little group through 800 meters and then from there it was down to 3 of us.  I hung back in third, content to let the first couple miles play out as they may.  I didn't drive the course before the race so I was pretty clueless as to the layout.  I knew there would be some hills but I wasn't sure when, how long, steep, etc.  I realized at the first mile that I had forgotten to start my watch--bummer.  Oh well.

Through the first couple miles it remained a group of 3 for the lead.  It's the same story as always for me--I'm not a strong downhill runner so I just have to hang on and hope that the other guys don't get too far ahead and that I get a chance to catch up when the uphill comes.  At miles 3 and 4 (about where we turned back South) I was sitting well behind in 3rd place.  It's the furthest thing from a 'mindset of a champion' but at this point I began to think of all the reasons I belonged here and would do no better than 3rd; I hate downhill races & I'm already too far behind, I live at sea-level and this elevation would be too difficult to overcome, it's flat where I live with very few hills (up or down) to train on, etc.  Shortly after begining our climb around mile 4 I noticed that I was gaining on the 2nd place runner and yet I didn't feel like I had increased my pace.  On the flipside of being a weak downhill runner, I feel one of my greatest strengths is that of an uphill runner.  I moved into 2nd place and a short time later caught 1st place as well.

From mile 5 to the finish it was just me and the cop car as we continued to wind through the streets of Ogden.  Or at least I think it was Ogden.  Who knows?  All I know is that we kept climbing and climbing which was fine by me.  I figured the longer we did that, the better shot I had at staying in the lead.  I didn't love the downhill back to campus (is there a pattern with this post?  Uphill good, downhill bad...) but the flat section between 8-9 was enjoyable.  I thought before the race that a sub-58 would be ok by me, especially with running at altitude.  I was very surprised to see 56:XX as I approached the finish line.  Anyway I'll take a 56:21 on a very tough course, possibly one of the hardest races I've ever run.  I'm certain that I could have ran sub-56 if I would have focused a little better during that final 3-4 miles or been fighting for the lead.  So it goes.

In-N-Out burger for lunch.  Almost makes me want to move to Utah, but not quite. ;)

AM: 8 miles around GP.  It's good to be home.  The combination of tough course on Saturday, limited stretching afterwards and looooong drive Sunday made for stiff legs this morning.  They felt much better by the end of the run though.

PM: 5 miles after work.  Legs feeling better still.  I wore a new pair of shoes.  It's the first pair of Vomero's that I've worn and they feel pretty good.  A little clunky compared to the others I use but I bought them a year ago and they need to get used. 

AM: 8 miles around the hospital, Albertsons and the hospital again.  The rain just keeps coming and coming and.....

PM: 5 miles in Eugene on the hotel treadmill.  The rain is worse here (plus 20+ mph winds) so I kept it indoors tonight.

AM: In Eugene today. I left the hotel & ran to Autzan Stadium, then Pre's trail for a bit but it was very dark and the trail was super soggy from the rain. It was more mud-like than I wanted to deal with so I crossed the river & ran to Hayward Field for a couple miles & then back to the hotel for 9 miles total.

PM: Same story as yesterday.  5 miles on the treadmill is better than 5 miles in the rain/strong winds.

9 miles on the Cathedral Hills Trail, a very cool trail system 2 miles from my new house.  One of the perks of moving is discovering new routes and this one is a keeper.  The trails were pretty muddy at times from all of the rain we've been receiving, but this will be a fun trail system to run in the summer/fall months.  I drove there tonight but in the future I'll just jog there to get some easy miles in before/after.

"Rain, rain, go away. Come again another....year!"

I'm getting really tired of EVERY run being a wet one. I keep telling myself that its got to end soon...

5 miles around the Albertsons loop.

Excellent run today.  All week I've been planning on competing in a collegiate track meet this weekend (5000m) but after driving to Utah last weekend and then to Eugene twice this week for work, the thought of another 8 hours (round-trip) in the car on the weekend didn't sound appealing.  I figured I'd try for a quality workout in GP and hope for the best.

I started with 4 easy miles (7:28/mile) for a warm up, then set out for a 11 mile tempo run on the pancake flat roads in NW GP.  There was very little traffic (1 car through the first 6 miles) and the temps were perfect which was nice.  The goal was to keep things under 6:00 each mile and to feel good in the process. First 5 miles in 5:59, 5:59, 5:56, 5:49, and 5:48.  Perfect.  Pace felt comfortable and effortless.  I hit a pretty decent hill for the next couple miles which took some effort to maintain my pace (5:55, 5:46) and then it was back on the highway and returning to GP. My mind was wandering here and I was thinking about how if I was running in the 5k I'd be shooting for 5:00/mile for three straight miles.  For the 8th mile, seeing that there were no up or down hills in sight, I took off to see that I could do.... 4:58.  I was shocked to be able to hit that pace after 8 tempo miles and 12 miles total.  Final two tempo miles in 5:57 and 5:45.  FINISHED!  I was very happy, as well as exhausted, as I trudged along for 1 final mile for a cool down.

Averaged 6:21/mile for 16 miles total. 

AM: 5 miles.  Not a good start to the week.  I just couldn't get out of bed this morning which is typical on a Thurs/Fri but not on Monday.

PM:  12 miles on the standard Coos Bay/North Bend loop.  I felt great and wanted to keep going but also didn't want to eat dinner after 8 so I called it quits.

AM: Another bad morning.  What's my deal?!  5 miles on the treadmill watching the sunrise.

PM: 11 miles in Eugene, 9 of which was on Pre's Trail.  I didn't realize that the trail was so long.  Of course, I had to run two loops (I figure the entire loop is between 4-4.5 miles) but it was awesome.  It was still a little soggy in sections from the rain but the majority of it was perfect.

Nothing today.  My left achillies wasn't happy last night and for a 3rd morning in a row I struggled to get out of bed.  I'd rather take 1 rest day now rather than a week later.

Felt better today. Much better. I ran along Redwood Rd for the first 20 minutes or so, then back into town and up the one-way to the north exit, then home the same way.

Another morning where it was a struggle to get out of bed. Blah. Only time for 7 miles. I'd love to run some more tonight but I'm not holding my breath.

Decent run this morning.  I headed south on New Hope Rd to Murphy and then north on Highway 238 back go GP.  There were lots of hills which was good.  Lots of rain also which was not good.  I thought about calling it quits after 12 miles but the last 6 miles I felt great so I'm glad I stuck it out.

I really liked this course and will run it again for sure although next time clockwise.  Averaged 6:52 for the run.

6 miles this morning.  I don't know what the deal is but I'm REALLY struggling getting up in the mornings.  Something has got to change...

AM: 10 miles on the treadmill.  My right foot wasn't feeling too hot around mile 6.  I had to stop running because of the pain but it went away after a few minutes and I was able to finish my run pain free.  Not sure what it was but it gave me quite a scare--similar sensation to the stress fracture I had in 2009.  I'll be sure and watch it closely.

PM: 5 miles in spikes at the track.  I'm racing in the 10,000m this weekend and wanted to run a few laps in spikes beforehand, otherwise I'll be in 'blister-land' on Friday night!

10 miles in the morning! I slept like junk last night (the 2 prank calls at 3 AM didn't help) but managed to get up in time to run more than 6-7 miles. Good stuff!

10 miles in near perfect weather.  No rain, no gloves, short sleeves--it was awesome.  There were lots of people out this AM.  It's been 6 weeks here and I've only seen 1 other runner but today there were 8-10 walkers out for their morning stroll.  Maybe they all hibernate until spring?