It ain't Chinese algebra!

11 miles this morning.  I ran around the middle school to the skate park, then to the HS and home via 6th street.  My legs felt pretty tired this morning so I tried to keep it easy and relaxed throughout.

AM: 7 miles around GP.  My body is worn out.  Today felt like a Friday morning, not Tuesday.  Needless to say, I slept in and only had time for a few miles.  I woke up real quick though when I was chased by a dog less than 2 minutes into my run.  Not a pleasant experience...

PM: 6 easy miles with the family.  Andrea rode her bike with Ryan on back and I pushed Miles in the jogging stroller for 4 miles, then Ryan and I did 2 more.  It was a little windy but all in all, an enjoyable run together. 

13 miles on the Cathedral Trails.  Hopefully I can get a few more runs in on these trails before the rains come and it turns too muddy.  All sorts of wildlife today--horse, deer, turkeys, squirrels, bear...  Okay, maybe not a bear but I was on the lookout!  I'm a little paranoid about animals these days...

Not cool.  Haha.  So I was two miles into my run and it was pitch black as I ran along Redwood Highway.  I thought to myself 'I miss being able to see when running at 5:30 in the morning like it was in June/July.'  Not more than 10 seconds later I clipped something with my foot and fell face first into the ground.  I still couldn't see that well but realized that I had ran into a construction zone and the sidewalk that I had been running along no longer existed.  I had hit some buildup of asphalt and fallen down into gravel, dirt, etc and a few minutes later blood was covering the palms of my hands, left forearm and left leg.  Not cool.

Anyway, I 'brushed myself off' so to speak and ran the next seven miles before taking a painful shower and pulling gravel out of my skin. 

10 miles in Eugene on Pre's Trail.  Pretty uneventful compared to yesterday.  The town was pretty quite this morning.  I wonder if they're all in Dallas for the Oregon-LSU game tomorrow?

22 miles around GP.  I didn't have much of a plan today--figured I'd just get out and see how I feel.  If nothing else I would run 20ish miles easy and call it a day but if I felt quick then I'd throw in some speed along the way.

I ran south along New Hope Rd (feels just like Flagstaff) and then looped around the Cathedral Hills on Cloverdawn Rd.  The first 4 miles were rolling, followed by 3 up and 3 down.  I felt good from the start and hit the first 7 miles in 6:42/mile average.

Started a tempo (thought I'd only go for 7 miles but ended up extending it for 12 miles).  Miles 8-10 were downhill (5:59, 5:36, 5:34) and then I ran to Walmart via N Street (5:49, 5:35, 5:38, 5:20).  I then looped around Fred Meyer to the south I-5 exit, passed the hotel and the HS and then ran up 7th street (5:41, 5:32, 5:47).  Final two miles of the tempo were south into downtown and the farmers market (5:54, 5:34).  Felt solid throughout and as always, felt stronger on the uphill and flat sections compared to the downhill portions.

Final 3 miles were slow across the river to the hospital and home (6:43, 6:57, 7:25).  Total running time for 22 miles was 2:16:10 for an average of 6:11/mile.  I think I'm ready to run TOU.  I guess I better sign up...