All it takes is all you've got

7 miles in 6:53 pace

7X30 second strides after a few miles warm up.  

Gorgeous morning!!  50 degrees, sunny, and very light misting in the air.  Felt like springtime!

My legs felt pretty tight and sore when I started but the run helped loosen things up.  I iced my right achilles/calf twice and went in for a massage this afternoon which felt heavenly.  Also did the cannon ball cool down twice today to help get my hips moving.

Met Colleen, Katie B., Robert, and Kristan at East Boulder Community Park.  Enjoyed the chatty warm up and stretching time while Robert was forced into listening to "girl talk" for the majority of it.  Haha, he's a good sport.

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

3X2 minutes at 5:18-5:24 pace with 1 minute jog recovery

4X30 seconds at 4:45-5:00 pace with 1 minute jog recovery 

2X5 minutes, first one gradual up at 5:50 pace, second one gradually down at 5:30 pace (my legs started to feel pretty tired here) 2 minute jog recoveries

4X90 seconds at 5:06-5:20 pace with 1 minute jog recovery

10 minute cool down

P.M. 4 miles easy from FAC, weights afterwards

Went on a "date night" with Bre tonight and we ate A TON of yummy Indian food at our new favorite restaurant right around the corner from our house, Tandoori Grill.  We then went to the dance store to purchase some ballet and tap shoes and a couple of new leotards for Bre's new dance class.  Oh, how I LOVE shopping with that cutie!!!  Then we went to Boulder Chill for some frozen yogurt (since you're never too full for frozen yogurt) and we stopped off at Sunflower Market to get some bread since we were all out at home.  We may or may not have gotten sidetracked in the candy isle and purchased enough candy to sustain us for the next month.  That bulk food section is SO tempting!!  They must have had over 80 different types of candy, most of which I hadn't seen since I was 5 years old!  Fun date night.  I may have overdone it slightly.  Next time we'll just go for a hike.

11miles in 6:58 pace

Busy morning, rushing off to Abe's spelling bee right after my run and Bre's dance class after that.  Found out that a friend from the Running Republic Club, Cheri has a daughter in Bre's class too!  Yay for chatting with friends.  

After a big lunch of left-over curry, I went in for a massage while the girls were napping and Aaron was working in his basement dungeon office.  I've been working my body pretty hard lately, so it was time for a little R&R. 

A.M. 6 miles in 7:05 pace

Did my run on the treadmill at FAC since it was pretty slick out and I figured one fall per day is sufficient for me (I slipped on my own driveway while shoveling the snow this morning).

P.M. 4 miles in 7:15 pace

Nice easy afternoon run from my house.  I love that there is a Boulder City Ordinance requiring people to shovel the sidewalk in front of their houses.  It makes for a much more dry and pleasant afternoon run when the snow is cleared and the sun melts the remaining residue.  The temp is supposed to get up to 51 degrees again tomorrow which means bye bye snow...again.  Gotta love this snow/melt cycle.

Met Colleen at FAC for our workout on the Creek Path.  We waited for Katie B. but she never came...must have had bad traffic or an unexpectedly busy morning (she is a CEO, after all).  While we were standing around, Colleen invited her triathlete friend and neighbor, Joanna to join us since she was heading out for her workout anyway.

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

8X800 Meters on the Creek path.  Odds were very slightly uphill with a mild headwind, evens were slightly downhill with a tailwind.  My splits on the first four were 2:41, 2:34, 2:38, 2:34.  Colleen reminded me that Darren wanted me to to pick it up for the next few intervals and I decided to just hit the last one hard too.  My last four intervals were 2:30, 2:28, 2:31, 2:29.  We did 2 minutes of active recovery after each interval and cooled down 10 minutes.

I was surprised by how strong I felt working into those faster final four repeats.  Definitely the fastest set of 8X800 M. I have ever done.  Colleen and Joanna did really great in their repeats too and gradually increased their speed as they went along as well.  Darren showed up on his bike just as we were finishing our final interval and biked next to us on our cool down.  Another gorgeous, sunny morning in Boulder as I found myself feeling SO grateful to be able to be out on a run with such great people and fast runners!  Oh, we also got to say hi to Tera Moody as she passed by, which was cool.  I guess she's in Boulder for the weekend; she normally trains in Co. Springs.

P.M.  Easy 4 mile shake out run

14 miles in 6:42 pace

Started my run with Aaron from home up into Eldorado Canyon.  After our first 6.5 miles together, he took off up the Mesa Trail to get more "elevation change" and I headed back on the roads.  I still ended up with 640 ft of elevation change over 14 miles...not bad for a roadie.

Did my last three miles in 6:11 pace into a stiff headwind. 

Beat Aaron home by 30 minutes, showered, made a big brunch of french toast to enjoy with Aaron and the kids.  After brunch, I took a nap and now we're headed off for some hiking in the 45 degree sunshine and then to the CU indoor track to cheer for Sara V. and Renee as they chase a sub 4:48 mile.  After that we'll go to FAC so Aaron and I can get in a little weight room workout while the kids play in the kids club.  Top it all off with dinner at a delicious restaurant TBD and you've got one FUN-FILLED SATURDAY!!