Denouement

Ran 5.04 in 8:00 ave pace, then hit the pool for pool running.  I thought maybe MacK was out of town but was thrilled that she came.  She was making me laugh quite a bit, probably a cruel attempt at drowning me :)  My legs always feel so good after getting out of the pool.  I think running and then pool running is a great workout late in the week when your legs are feeling banged up.

weight 122 

I met with Adam RW, Josse, MattK, James, Merri and her friend Tammy at the mouth of Provo Canyon for up and down, a 20 miler.  I wanted to do some fast miles and have this be one of two hard workouts for this week.  I felt good as we ran up, but when we turned around and started the fast miles it seems like I had to fight to stay in the right pace.  My legs are sore, and I'm not sure if it is residual from the race last week or just from high mileage this week.

After just over 3.5 hard we took a break at Vivian park so I could hit the bathroom and get a drink.  We were rerouted to the road because of the canyon fire, and as I picked up the pace to resume the tempo I got a side cramp that I couldn't shake so I flaked out on the tempo at about 1.5 miles.  So the workout portion of the run bordered on ignominious.  I was embarrassed to have a fast guy come down from SLC and for me to not be able to do a good workout that would count for something in his book.  I get kind of stupid when I run, the brain shuts down, and I forgot that you breathe deeply to get rid of side stitches.  Oh well. I guess not all workouts turn out.  

On the bright side, it was really nice to run with bloggers I don't normally run with, the scenery was awesome, Adam picked up 17 cents or some outrageous sum of change off the road, and we had what amounted to a post race ice bath party in the river afterward. (PS real runners sit down in the river, if you're going to get in, get in all the way baby!)  I bought a pool thermometer yesterday and brought it in.  It registered 57 degrees, not really cold enough but it seemed plenty cold to my toes.   

weight 121

I now have to pack and prep the house.  We are going to California for a short vacation. 

They paved paradise, and put in a parking lot. . .

AM:  8.18 miles of cement.  A very non glorious pavement pounding run back and forth on Harbor, the road with a gazillion hotels/motels by disneyland.  I went around the block and the other road was more seedy.  There are so many stop lights I did the geeky run around waiting for it to turn green action.  Slow pace while waiting for lights, definitely faster pace when actually running.  I want to do some speed tomorrow, but it looks like it will have to be of the fartlek variety.  We are going to Irvine and the beach, so I'll do a second run there.

Weight:  O dear me, I didn't bring my scale, but I better start eating healthier, that's for sure.  We went to Medevial Times last night, which was so fun for all of us, but the food was one size fits all: tomato soup, garlic bread, garlic potato, 1/2 chicken, a rib and a pastry.  I skipped on the pastry but ate the rest plus two servings of sprite (I was thirsty!).  I now close my confessional.

PM:  We went to the beach just north of Crystal Cove with Paul's brother and sister-in-law and their two little kids.  Then we went to their home in Irvine and they treated us to a yummy lasagna dinner.  I still hadn't gotten in my PM run so I ate a small portion, waited 1/2 hour, then ran through UC Irvine and the faculty housing, uphill the first part of the run, downhill the second.  4.4 miles, 7:45 ave pace

Ran up and down a safe street by Disneyland three times to make 10 miles.  I started really slow and gradually picked it up to marathon pace, then slowed down after holding the pace for a while.  ave pace 7:48

We are going to Knotts Berry Farm today so I will have a ton of time on my feet today.  Wish my legs good luck!

I'm getting sick of cement and this Disneyland route!

We were at Knott's all day yesterday, and my feet and legs were tired from that.  My right achilles felt really tight so I stretched before the run, then about one mile after starting, and again at the end.

Ave pace 7:52 pace

4am is way too early to wake up.  This mornings run felt just like a tax season run - I felt like death to start but then started feeling better with each mile, and each mile got quicker.  Only had time for 5 miles before leaving Cal to make the long drive back to Utah.  We made it.  Trips are not good for training.  I am glad to be back and to be able to sleep in my own bed tonight.

Ave pace 8:33 

I did pool running for 60 minutes (count as 5 miles) then ran 7 miles easy.  It was nice to sleep in another hour and run after the pool running.  One good part about my low mileage for the week is that my legs feel fresh for tomorrow and less aches and pains than prior weeks.  

ave pace for the 7 7:57

victory over the family vacation:  weight 122 

Bad sleep. I dreamt I got to meet Green Day then went to one of their homes (they lived with their mom) and I proceeded to lecture the poor fellow on how he wasn't living his life well.

For the race I was hoping to break 1:20 but the gold goal was to hit 6:00/mile ave pace (1:18:41 or so).  I did it and got first place too! 

Woke up at 4:10am, ate two pieces of whole wheat bread, picked up the babysitter, and took off with Paul to Provo. There were a ton of buses at the Riverwoods. We got in a line and got on the first bus that filled up, but it turns out we cheated because there was a long line of people in the other direction trying to get on. Sorry.

At the top James was doing his best to get the buses to turn around in an orderly manner. Our bus hit a sign on a tight curve at the turn around point. I left my bag at the start and helped James with the buses for a few minutes, then ran downhill to the park with restrooms. It was about 1.5 miles before I got there, so I took it nice and easy back up the mountain to the start. Stretched and chatted with bloggers. I didn't recognize Dave Holt with his buzz, nor Steve C, who I mistook for Adam, who I haven't seen in forever. I am full of faux pas. I met Kristen (used to be Barnes) from my BYU college days and we chatted for a while. I also met a couple of Sojourners. I had enough time for all the prerace business so it was perfect from that stance.

On to the race: My GPS watch misbehaved the whole time so I had to make complicated calculations in my head and I don't remember all of my splits. I'll break it down the best I can for posterity:

Miles 1-4, steepest downhill, 5:40's or so, the male bloggers dominate the front packs and I wish I could stay with them, they had such a nice pack, but I knew I should be 10-20 secs behind them so I keep my distance, Craig blows by me at mile 1 or 2 and I let him go because I don't want to blow out my legs on the downhill. I hope to get him later but he was always just ahead.

Mile 5 6:01 (per mile marker)- starts downhill then a gradual uphill as we hit the highway. I just try to reel in Red shirt while on the highway

Mile 6 6:06 - more uphill on highway then start to hit some more downhill, I get right up on red shirt but he doesn't like it so won't let me pass

Mile 7 5:45 or so - we have a water stop so I take a gu, red shirt puts some distance on me, I nearly choke on my water, and my shoe lace unties, I try to run with it untied and ended up never stopping to tie it (but I have a blister as thanks for that).

Mile 8 5:50 something like that, trying to get into a manageable rhythm for the rest of the race

Mile 9 6:26 perhaps the mile marker was off for the 9th mile, or I slowed down. I tried not to panic with such a slow time for this mile, I gave up alot of the cushion I wanted for the last three miles, I tell myself to run the next mile faster

Mile 10 6:00 (all miles are per mile markers) a much stronger mile, I switch my watch to total race time and tell myself to push hard to see if I can be under 66 minutes at mile 11.

Mile 11 65:38, this is a flat mile, feeling in the groove, I know I can hit six minute average pace for the race if I stay strong for the last two miles, trying for a 6:10 for mile 12

Mile 12-13 have no idea on splits for these, I tried to stay tough but there was no mile 12 marker and I was in no mans land, red shirt was way ahead, noone behind, I try to pick it up in mile 13 but feel the need to go to the bathroom so I back off.

Last .1, lots of cheering for #1 lady and I give a little kick and I try to smile, and I raise my hands for the finish, but there's no ribbon so its pretty dorky to do that really. The clock at the end was a minute off and I stop my watch a little late (too busy raising my hands) at 1:18:42, so my time was likely 1:18:40 or so.

Yeah! I won and I got the time predicted from the Deseret News 10K! I think this course was faster than last years because of the course change, so it is likely only 2 minutes slower than Hobble Creek instead of the 4 minutes the race predictor "predicts". 

I met several people after the race.  Hopefully they'll join the blog (if you are reading this, join the blog already!).

FRB/St. GRC had an awesome showing today.  I hope it caught the attention of some media and we'll get a newspaper article out of this race. 

On an embarrassing note, I took an "ice bath" with my new thermometer and it only registered 61 degrees, way too tepid to be much of use.  I have been putting in more ice, and I accidentally put too much water in, but I will continue to monitor my ice bath temperature, and try to drop it down to an acceptable range (I also need to research ideal range for it, though I am sure its not in the 60's). 

weight 122 - I thought I would be below 120 by this time of year, but I am meeting my racing targets without a lower weight, so perhaps this is my ideal running weight?  I still have some junk in my trunk but perhaps I always will.

Bad dreams!  I dremt that the first two marathons I have done, (st. G and ogden this past year) were actually done with multi hour breaks in between running stints because I had to work and take care of the kids, so in reality I had actually never run a marathon all the way through.  Glad that was just a dream.

I started this morning's run on my own but saw Whitney and joined her.  She was on a recovery run but running 7 flat pace, so I, embarrassed, asked if we could slow it down.  My legs are still sore from the race.  We slowed it down but only to 7:15 ave pace for the 5 miles I ran with her.  I finished up my miles on my own, though I saw the high school's cross country team ahead of me and caught the stragglers, held myself back from catching the main packs since I'm doing a hard workout tomorrow.

I did another ice bath this morning.  This time added one ziplock baggie of solid ice.  Temp was 59F.  Still too warm.  I guess I better start filling up some more ziplock bags so I am ready for tomorrow.

This week is supposed to be another 85 mile week.  Fun fun!

weight: 123 (lots of banana chocolate chip cookies yesterday while watching the olympics-a bad sort of irony to be watching the olympics while stuffing my face with cookies- I'll have to stick to fruit for the rest of my two week couch potato stint called the summer Olympics)

AM: 14.5 miles, Met Josse before 5:30 and ran 1.5 miles then went into Sasha for a RB (real bathroom) and stretching. Josse's coming down with something so she hung out with MattK during the tempo. He also seems to be under the weather. We did a long warm up before starting the tempo, to get more light. It was so dark on the trail during the first half of our warm up. I really think Matt would have tried to sneak by us when he passed if I didn't say, "Is that Matt?"

The goal for the tempo was 6:00 pace until failure (hopefully 6 miles, 5 miles ok, my best was 3.5 miles in June). I was still sore during yesterday's run, but my ice bath seemed to take care of it, but the workout brought back the pain.

Mile 1 - 5:58

Mile 2 - 6:04 (1:31 each quarter, I felt ok at that pace but felt like picking it up would make me quit)

2.5 is turn around, Sasha's already asking me to give him five, a bad sign, I am already slacking on pace

Mile 3 - 6:07

Mile 4 - 6:08, Sasha makes me surge to pass him and plays other running "games" with me to keep me in it

Mile 5 - 6:04 (was about 6:10 pace for the first half and less for second half), Sasha said our last 200m was a 41. Much crying after, I don't think I could have done it much better today.

5 miles in 30:21. A great time for me for a 5 mile tempo, but dang those 21 seconds!

We ran back to Josse and Matt who were following our same route and did an easy run back.

So, this workout was a great workout, a hard work out, but I didn't meet my goal. I also didn't give up when I saw that I needed to go a little slower, so that is nice practice being tough even when you're not feeling it.

My legs were so sore after the workout, so I decided to jump into the river, since I wasn't going home. I was the only one who did so I had a very enjoyable cold 10 minutes of contemplating life in nature (though I could hear the sound of the freeway faintly, but I tried to ignore that spoiler). I showered at Josse's since I was going in to work, this saved me an hour, a couple of gallons in gas, and Josse even made me a yummy egg, honey, and whole wheat toast sandwich while I was showering. She is so sweet :)

PM: Ran 3.76 in the heat of the afternoon up in WH, so hilly and hot! 8:48 ave pace

Throat feeling a little throaty and I was so tired this evening so I snuggled in a blanket and watched the Olympics in the evening.

I saw Clay this morning as I drove down the mountain.  He was going up Loafer, so I asked if I could join, he said sure but I'd have to catch him.  I had to drive .5 mile to park still, so I drove, parked then thought, "Dang, he's 6 minutes ahead of me now, I'll never catch him!"  Thankfully he stopped and stretched, so I stopped and did some stretching too.  He's bouncing right back from his injury.  We ran up to the Elk Ridge turnoff then back down. That's enough of Loafer Canyon for me.  It keeps going up for another 2-2.5 miles, but it's a killer and much steeper than any race unless you're a crazy trail racer like our own mountain goat Jon.

I still had about 5 miles to run after dropping Clay off.  My legs are tired.  I am sure it's from the race, yesterday's tempo, and doing two runs yesterday. 

 Ave pace approx 9:30

weight 122

AM: 11 miles. Met Merri in Salem ran to SF and back. We did 8 strides within the run.

Ave pace 8:21. My legs felt pretty fresh at the beginning but they still have some soreness and fatigue in them.

PM: Went to Dr. Brady's. He worked on my right hamstring, which is still tight. He asked if I had ever tore my hamstring where he was working on it (in the middle), I said not that had been diagnosed. So perhaps there is a small muscle tear there. He put on another bizarro chinese herb patch on me, on the ham. I also had him work on my left groin area, which is sore intermittently over the last couple of days. I don't feel it when I run, just sometimes when I play with my kids and other times.

Ran 4 miles in the afternoon. I started at the 7-11 by the Provo River and hopped on the river trail. It was hot! (90something) I was running out of time due to a last minute client need as I was trying to leave the office, and I had to get home at a certain time, so I wanted to run 7 min pace. But my legs felt tired the first 1/2 mile, with my right achilles tight, so I took it easy the first 1/2 mile, but then I warmed up and felt good, so started to push the pace. I did marathon pace in the middle three miles. Splits: 7:21, 6:35, 6:32, 7:05

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 395, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 59

I didn't even try to watch women's gymnastics. I was so tired and I knew it would run late. So I got decent sleep instead.

I ran 6.09 miles then did pool running with MacK for 63 minutes. My chinese herbal patch came loose so I got out of the pool halfway through the workout and wrapped half my thigh in athletic tape to help it stay put. And the tape is really tight so the result was a very unattractive looking thigh, oh well, a self esteem boost to MacK as she thinks, "I can't run much right now but at least my thighs will never look like Michelle's!" It is the last day the pool is open for early morning swim :( I am so sad. It has been such a nice weekly break for my legs. We had a great time chatting and catching up. They turned on the slides and we went down the steep one after we were done.

weight 121.5ish

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 401.09, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 59

I met James, Josse, and Me at the end of Hobble Creek, then we drove up to 6.67 miles from the top.  We ran easy up then 3x3miles at marathon pace, with 3 minutes rest in between (well that was the plan).  

We did the up part easy pace, then stretched, potty breaked, and I took a gu and had water at the top, then we ran some more to get about 7.33 before hitting the starting line.  I got my splits from the road markers.  The mile marks were very clear since they just repainted them for the race next weekend.

First set: 17:39 (6:03, 5:46, 5:49) James and I ran the tempo part together, we were able to stay somewhat conversational for the first two tempo intervals, though in broken sentences for me, 3:01 rest

Second set: 17:50 (.61 by garmin @6:04, 6:01 by road markers, 5:50 by road markers, .4 by garmin @ 5:39), 4:45 rest because of VPB for me and water stop, then we ran a bit more to start at the fork in the road just before the golf course

Third set: 17:40 (I missed the mile 7 mile marker so the only mile marker split I had was in the middle at 5:50) In this set I felt yucky the first mile (some uphill and dodging bikers), really good the second mile (I'll let myself feel good and even say I pushed James on this mile), and in the third mile I felt ok the first half and started to feel spent by the second, but James started to feel me slide and coached me through the last .5. 

James was such a great help throughout the whole workout.  He reminded me that I need to practice doing inventory checks: (breathing, relaxed arms, shoulders, and I would add no excessive heel striking, pushing the ground with my legs). I need to do this in my workouts so I can do it in races.

We went uphill for probably .25 while finding Josse, then went back down and have several easy miles to finish out the workout.

2:32.38 for the whole run, 7:20 ave pace

Stretching at the end, we found Me up by my car (mile 6.67 on the course).  Her feet bugged her in the workout.  I am glad she hung out by the car. 

Major ice bath when I got home 54-55F.

weight 121

I am so excited I am tubing down the Provo River this afternoon!  Perhaps I can stick in my legs for part of it to get them iced again!

Also the women's marathon is this evening!  Anyone who wants to come to my house to watch can come, see my posting on the discussion forum.

I had great sleep Saturday night and a great Sunday nap and paid for it with horrible sleep last night.  I ended up on the couch watching the Olympics after midnight. 

I ran 11.01 at 8:08 ave pace in Salem/Payson, with four miles on the canal trail.  I felt slow at the beginning but warmed up just fine.  Not much soreness from Saturday's workout.  Some tenderness in one knee, hamstring still tight but not sore. 

 weight 122

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 412.10, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 59

Kids started coughing yesterday, and this morning I woke up with a little bit of a sore throat.

AM: 8.18 total. On my own for speed. I hate to do speed alone. I was going to do 3x2miles at threshold with 2 min rest, but between my little sore throat and my slow warm up I decided to cut it to 2x2 miles. I ran just over 2 miles then started into the workout at the mile 3 marker of the Speedy Spaniard, toward the rodeo complex.

1 - 11:55 (5:53, 6:01) Toward the end of the first mile, it looked like I was headed for 6:26 by my garmin and I was going to throw in the towel, but by the road markers it was 5:53, so I kept going.

2 - 12:33 (6:08, 6:25) Reversed directions to make it slightly uphill and into the wind (especially the second mile) So the first mile was about the same effort as the first two. Mile 4 was just a stinker and I obviously did poorly, so I'll count it as marathon pace.

Overall I am not displeased since I was considering bagging the whole workout in the first mile. I tend to not do the best workouts inside the week of a race, so I'm just keeping consistent on that front :)

I have been taking Zicam to try to not get a full-fledged cold.

weight 123

ice bath.

PM: I did a run in Orem with no watch and no idea how long the run was. I was praying it would be at least 3 miles, and it was 3.62 when I mapped it on the course tool. Then I went to Josse's house all sweaty so she could give me a sports massage. She worked me over real good :) Thanks Josse!

My husband and kids are no longer going to St. George so that turns St. George into a PAR-TAY! (Well a party for masochists).

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 415.72, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 59

11.06 on my own this morning 7:52 ave pace.

I locked myself out of my car, but thankfully TylerS ran by where I had parked as I finished up my run, so he ran home and got his truck and drove me home. Thanks Tyler. I think I may have left my key out there during one of my two bathroom breaks this morning. I have to go investigate. That should be fun.

While I waited for him I did a good stretch session and abs, but then I was also starving by the time I got home--so hungry! And our milk went bad even though it wasn't supposed to expire for another three days, so I can't have cereal. I guess I'll have to suffer through some eggs and toast this morning. If I were Phelps I'd eat some hashbrowns. I saw him eating hashbrowns on tv and haven't forgiven him yet :)

weight 121

Heavenly PM nap.  Strengthening exercises in the evening.

I ran alone again, this time without music.  From Salem around the SF riverbottoms loop.  8 strides in the middle.  The wind was strong this morning by the SF canyon.  My legs felt great at the beginning of the run but kind of sore by the end.  I still have just a trace of sore throat, so I am still taking Zicam and trying to get more sleep.

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 426.82, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 59

Easy run, ave pace 8:15.  Some Metallica, Linkin Park and Gwen, and NPR of course :)  Nice mix eh?

excited/nervous for tomorrow.

weight 124

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 426.82, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 67

Bad night sleep. Lots of dreams and sleeplessness at 2am.

On to the race: We got to the buses at 5:45. Marcie and Jody were there and Paul and I rode up the same bus as them so we could chat on the way up. Jody, Marcie and I run the .75 miles up to the starting line to warm up, and we joined Josse there. There were lots of bloggers at the race (some even with purple ponytails!).

We contemplate waiting in line for toilets but the stench downwind from them was bad, so I hit the bushes twice while warming up.

At the start line Dustin made up the contingency of bloggers who could beat me today. It sounded like we might be able to run together. Marie Glahn (a Sojourner I met at the Provo 1/2) showed an interest in tagging along with me so I invite her to start with me. I am not aware of any female competitors (there was a registration list and I checked for any potential female competitors) but anyone could pop up. My plan is to run 5:40's for the first 15k then just try to hang below 6:00 for the next couple of miles and be as close to 6:00 for the last mile. This is a downhill course, the fastest in Utah, and I thought it would be about 2 minutes faster than the Provo 1/2 (not 4 minutes as predicted by the predictor). I was hoping to break 1:16, but would be happy with 1:16:40, but turns out I have to be content with 1:17:14.

I took splits from the road markers since I knew the GPS watch would be useless.

1 - 5:48, downhill, The race start was a siren (like a police siren), very confusing if you ask me. Very quickly Mike Vick takes off and then its Dustin and I leading the rest of the runners. We are perplexed why there aren't some inexperienced young ones popping out a 5:00 or some fast runners ahead (besides Mike, of course). I am concerned that maybe we are going too fast since Marie Glahn didn't go with us (she said she wanted to start at 5:30), but Dustin got a little ahead by the one mile mark and the mile was 5:48. Turns out Dustin was right on pace and I was behind goal.

2 - 5:33, downhill, I catch up to Dustin and we run together (very nice)

3 - 5:53, downhill with some rollers, Dustin pulls away at about 2.75 (why did I let him, not like my pace was hard), water stop at mile 3 made his small lead a little harder to bridge

4 - 5:26, much better, still downhill

5 - 5:45, downhill

6 - 5:59, downhill, no! too slow, have been running behind Dustin since 2.75, trying to bridge the gap, I noticed he is not running tangents too well so I try to use that to my advantage, gu at 6 miles, water stop at 6.5

7 - 5:54, thrilled with this split because this mile is tough, two uphill sections, but overall the mile is still downhill

8-9 11:24 for the two miles (missed the mile 8 marker because there was a water station there), getting hot!, rolling downhill, but the uphill sections make it hard to keep my rhythm

10 - 6:10, this mile is so stinky, it is the same place where I didn't do well with James last Saturday, thankfully there were some spectators so I couldn't totally dog it

11 - 6:02, I wanted this mile to be below 6:00 so bad, but I was close, I passed Dustin at 10.5 as we went up a hill that lasted only .2 but seems so nasty at this point in the race,

12 - 6:19, wheels wobbling, just get me to the finish line

13 - I have to get a 5:59 by my watch to be sub 1:17, so I try to be close, but only manage a 6:09 or so (I didn't lap for the 13 mile mark, too close to the finish). I didn't kick at the end as much as I should have :(

Overall, I wish I could have been 1:16:40 or faster, but it was a great workout, and I think my effort never slacked off too much (some weakness in mile 12 but not too long of a weak point). I just kept telling myself to keep up the effort, to turn over those tired legs. I think this race is great preparation for St. G because it pounds your legs then you get flat at the end and you have to find a way to keep with it.

I won the race by about 3 minutes, and posted a time comparable to some elite ladies who have gone to OTQ, so I can't complain.

After the race I met several bloggers I haven't met face to face. Most notably 1) Marion-self proclaimed peanut gallery of the blog, who is way cuter in person than even her picture on her blog, it is awesome when people's personality are as sweet and cute as their outside. She is perfect! and 2) Brent finally! He congratulated me but I didn't know who he was at all, so I asked his name and it was B of BS Rools! And I met Sylvie too.

I won a bouquet of flowers, a $150 gc to Runners Corner (everything is way overpriced there, so this is worth maybe 4 pieces of clothing on sale), a pair of shoes and a plaque (not bad!, much better than the Provo River 1/2). It was quite a festive atmosphere, especially as I get to know more and more runners in the community.

Lots of bloggers posted PR's and great performances. I can't wait to read some race reports (sorry mine is so long).

10.26 easy @ 8:07 ave pace.  I felt fairly sore at the start, but the run helped shake some of it out.  Now I just feel some faint residual soreness.  I want to go out and run hard tomorrow but I am guessing my body's not ready for it.  

weight 122

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 426.82, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 67, Mizuno WaveRider (aqua) 10.26

AM: 12.38 total. My legs felt pretty good yesterday after my run, and I was feeling edgy to get back out on the road for some speed, so I decided to meet Steve K, Darin C, and Carl. They were doing 6x2 min on/1.5 min off, then 2x1 mile. All my times/paces are off garmin so they are only approximate. Gives you an idea, though.

Warmed up 3.4

1 - 2:00 (no split for this one, I forgot to start garmin), stayed with Steve and Carl for the first one, they were chatting, but by the first half I was working

2 - 2:03 (.37, 5:36 pace), sticking with Darin, they're taking their rest at 8-9 min pace, fast for between intervals for me

3 - 2:02 (.35, 5:48 pace)

4 - 2:00 (.33, 6:09 pace)

5 - 2:01 (.36, 5:34 pace)

6 - 2:00 (.36, 5:30 pace)

rested 6:06, a little longer than planned because someone had to hit the bushes and it wasn't me!

1 - 5:55 mile, Darin pushed the beginning, I pushed the middle, then he pushed the end, Steve King and Carl were behind us to start and Steve caught us with about 5 sec to go

4 min rest

2 - 6:03, felt like a death march, on south part of SF main street, past the rodeo, trying to keep legs turning over (they feel like bricks at this point), I let Darin pull away at about .5, but then we turn toward Bishops Storehouse and the wind hits, us, I surge so that I can draft off him, I finish probably 2-3 sec behind him.

I felt like not doing the workout after the second 2 minute bit, but I held on pretty good. I ended up with pretty tired legs, probably because of Saturdays race.

ice bath

weight 121

PM: 4.01 miles while JJ was a preschool, 7:47 pace

evening: leg strengthing, abs, and stretching, a full day of training!

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 426.82, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 93.02, Mizuno WaveRider (aqua) 10.26

way easy slow run.  I gave myself the nickname road slug in honor of this run.  I ran 4 miles with MacK in the middle, our first run in 3 months together.  Those were some of my fastest miles. 

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 426.82, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 67, Mizuno WaveRider (aqua) 21.34

I got to bed late last night (yes I am going to blame Paul), Paul wanted to watch the news.  I got in bed around 10:45 and by that time I was stressed because I needed to wake up at 4:25.  I noticed my breathing was rapid as I was trying to fall asleep.  I was stressed and anxious--GOTTA SLEEP NOW!  GOTTA SLEEP NOW!  Well, that approach seldom works.  At 11:15 I got up and took two benadryl.  They made me groggy but I still has wrestless sleep, with two distinct dreams.

On to the run, I felt like death starting my run.  Dr. Brady advised me to not do speed today since he worked my hamstring over yesterday, but when you set up a workout to be paced by a guy who's kind enough to do it, you don't want to back out.  So combine a tight/sore hamstring with grogginess (Josse can attest I really woke up halfway through our 9 mile run) and I am not feeling like tempoing the end of this 22 miler.  I ran with Josse for 9.2, then met up with a crew at Sashas.  I warned Sasha I was feeling foul, so he suggested a 4 mile tempo at the end.  We started off slow, but once it was Derek, Jeff, Sasha and I, we dropped to 7:15-7:30 pace.   Then after 6 miles with these guys, Derek peels off, and Sasha declares we will start my tempo and it will be 6 miles.  After a couple of quarters at a slower pace (6:45-7) I was wondering if the tempo was really starting.  I tried to keep the effort marathon pace, sustainable and comfortable,  1:36 became the standard split after 2 miles.  The turnaround point was about where my hamstring started to feel more sore, and I wanted to quit at 4 miles, but I just kept plugging away quarter after quarter, until we had only one mile to go.  Sasha challenged me to get a 3:10 last 1/2 mile and I got a 3:01, with a nice kick at the end.  My legs felt like they were going to fall off, and I had 21.43 on the watch so I had a small cooldown.

I appreciate Jeff and Sasha for pacing me on the tempo.  They're great to do this for those of us who are brave enough to let them.  

I bought a bag of ice on the way home and brought the temperature to 52F in the bath for my ice bath today.  Very cold!

weight 121 (after a banana and some powerade even!). 

Slow and alone. ave pace 8:29

weight 122 

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 448.82, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 78.1, Mizuno WaveRider (aqua) 21.34

medium long run with the SF group. I ran with Ali, Hal and Tara for six miles, then Hal, Doug and Ali, then just Doug around the golf course, then TylerS for .25, then by myself for a little. It's nice to not have to do a long-long run today. I'll be running the Payson 10K on Monday for a nice tempo workout. If I'm feeling good I'll try to do 6:00 pace, if its raining or I'm tired I'll have to adjust.

ave pace 8:07 

weight 122

ice bath

Shoe totals: Red sox: 50, Brooks Defyance (Blue): 448.82, Asics Stratus 2.1 (Purple) 78.1, Mizuno WaveRider (aqua) 36.61