The Long Run

Shorter run this morning, although I felt a little tired. Just took it easy. One loop around the neighborhood, then out and back on Trinity Blvd running on the dirt and grass. Tried out my new Brooks Cascadia today, felt pretty good on and off the road.  I decided I really needed a better pair of trail shoes and had heard a lot of good things about these shoes, plus they were on sale for $71.

Nice cool and damp morning. A few puddles on the trail but pretty easy to get around. I did 3 pickups of 1 mile each 6:41, 6:36, 6:33. I missed out on the coffee but there were some bananas left when I got back. Ran with Diane for the first two miles.

I guess being able to do the pickups during the run and end up having the whole run feel better for it, lets me know I can go faster when I need to.

Out and back mainly on the grass, with a detour to the water fountain to gel up. Beautiful, cool, partly sunny morning.

There was something weird going on with my left foot.  I could feel it in the arch and later on in the top of the foot.  Not sure what it was though (and since I'm backfilling these entries, looking into the future to Monday, it seems to have cleared up).

Arrived there just as it was light.

It's been a while since running here, they now charge $3 for parking. Headed south down the trail a little over a mile and then came back, grabbed my fuel belt and a handheld and headed north, about 11 miles up and then came back. Just enough accelerade with me.

Glad they have a cold water fountain at the shelter. I felt a little sluggish and stopped a few times but was happy to get it done.

Shorter run this morning. Very cool and pleasant. Legs were a little tired at the start and felt refreshed at the end.  I kind of had to trick myself into running at all.

I was supposed to run 12 miles yesterday, however with the early morning and then 7 hours on my feet volunteering at the Police Appreciation race I'm hoping that it was the wise choice.

I'm taking a new approach to back filling this blog.  I'm going to start blogging each new run today as well as some ones I need to fill in, rather than waiting to get caught up before keeping up.

Ran at the Y with the Striders this morning at 5:30.  More perfect weather. Easy paced start up and one surprise mile under 7 (6:56), and then the rest under 8:00. Did a few sets of weights after the run including leg extensions.  Every little bit helps.

Shorter run, mostly easy pace average (10:00 first mile, 8:00 last mile). Lots of flowering jasmine to run past this morning. Cool, almost chilly weather.

Good run this morning. Ran with the Striders at Longleaf at the usual 5:30 meeting time, mainly alone, but enjoyed the company at the start and end of the run. I was at a medium effort pace most of the run except for 3 x 1 mile pickups of: 6:39, 6:43, 6:28
Awesome temps again - high 60's

Felt a bit tired this morning, so kept it short and easy.

Ran at the Y with the Striders, extra cool weather this morning. I was running with the fast crowd. At one point I tried to catch up with Beka, she seemed to speed up as I got closer until we were nearly at an all out sprint. I didn't stop the lap at the end of that interval, but the mile pace was 6:38. Haven't done that for a while. Ran the last 1K fast (6:05 pace), and then did a cool down to make it to 8 miles. Time for a few sets of weights including leg extensions.

Pretty good run, especially for a treadmill. I was happy the original meeting time was delayed since we didn't get in until a little later than planned last night.

Took an early flight back this morning so I didn't do my run until the evening. Although if we had waited to the later flight I was tempted to try Sandia peak.

I ran around the neighborhood and a bit out onto Trinity Blvd on the grassy shoulder.

Trinity Blvd, past golf course, Little Road, and back on Trinity Blvd, a little bit of everything on and off pavement.

Started out at 5:30ish by myself. Ran into Starkey Park, then ran with Jamie out and back for 10 miles, then headed back to Longleaf. Started out nice and cool but warmed up to about 80 at the end.

Spring Lake area of Brooksville.  Nice rolling hills and beautiful scenery.

Ran with Dan, Cynthia, Chris, and Charley. Moderately cool to warm but most of the course shaded. It was good to get in some hills and a little bit of off road.

Ran at the Y this morning with the Striders.

Started off slowly and gradually picked it up to 7:30's at the end. Felt great at the end of the run especially.

Started out easy, sped up, then stopped at the house to wake up the kids. I went back out and tried on the new Camelbak which I got used to pretty quickly, wanted to see if I should try it out this weekend.

5:30ish start time with the Striders at Longleaf, bordering between cool and warm but pretty muggy out. Easy paced start then ran mostly just under 8:00 pace.

Day 1 of Western States 100 training run.

Hardest of the three days, glad it got easier after this. First mile was uphill (want across two patches of old, icy snow), I kind of walked along with the crowd for an 18 minute/mile pace, then the downhills started. The rest of the day was pretty much either up or down. l did better than I thought I would on Devil's Thumb. I was slow there but passed a lot of people on the way up. The last down and back up between Michigan Bluff and Foresthill caught me off guard because I thought I had finished all the hard stuff for the day. I knew it wouldn't be easy today but thought I'd be a little bit faster, but it was a good lesson in humility.

I was a lot slower than I had hoped but at the same time there were a lot of points where I was being extra careful as I wanted to make sure and complete all three days.

Day 2 of Western States training (Foresthill to Rucky Chucky)

Today was a good deal easier. My legs were a bit stiff starting out but not too bad.  My brother ran with me today. He was better than me on the downhills but I would pass him on the uphills so I started letting him go ahead on the downhills and then catching up to him later. Ran down and saw the river crossing point at Rucky Chucky, and then had a pretty good 3 mile climb back up to where the buses would pick us up. They had some good refreshments at the end, which worked out well because I was starving! Had a lot of fun and was glad my brother could make it out today and run with me.

Started out 2 miles from Green Gate before getting onto the WS100 course, then ran to the finishing area. Today was the hardest day to start out as my legs were a bit tired and sore/stiff. But, I loosened up quite a bit after two miles and was able to start on a pretty steady pace after that and maintain it. Didn't slow down as much on the uphills and enjoyed running the last mile from Robie point to the finish. Finishing the third day was a huge confidence booster. Someone told me that if you can finish all three days, you can finish the race. I'm going to believe in that.

Wow, 73 miles in 3 days over some pretty tough terrain.

I thought I was ready to run but maybe not. Short slow run where I had to stop a few times when my ankle got tight. But, then again not so bad based on the three tough days, overnight flight, and then early morning travel again. Ran down Klem Road, to Holt Road, then onto a nice off road trail which took us back to Jim's neighborhood. It was nice to get to run with Tim and Jim (even though I kept slowing them down).

Ok, a little bit better than yesterday. Ran in the neighborhood and actually started feeling pretty good by the end of the run.