All it takes is all you've got

9 miles in 7:16 pace

Calves felt pretty tight and quads were pretty tired from Saturday's race.  Took me a few miles to warm up and I stopped to stretch for a few minutes just to get everything moving.  Then I did 6 strides with a minute easy in between and the rest of the run felt much easier.  I'm pretty amazed my calves aren't more sore considering the fact that Saturday was the first time I had worn spikes in over 7 years!!!   I didn't even do any workouts in spikes.  The most I did was some strides Friday night on the course.  Next year I think I'll at least do a few workouts in spikes beforehand.

A.M.  Met the RRB group (including Renee) at East Boulder Community park

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

5:49 steady controlled (Oops!  It was supposed to be 5 minutes but Renee and I went a different way and couldn't hear Darren's whistle...my bad).  Our pace was just barely sub-6:00 pace on a gradual uphill.

2 minute jog 

4X90 seconds in 5:13-5:30 pace with 1 minute jog between each

5 minutes steady controlled in 5:42 pace

2 minute jog 

6X45 seconds hard.  This is where it really helped me to have Renee there...that chick has WHEELS!!  Renee was out in front of me and I just tried to pick up my legs and stay close.  I was running between 4:30-5:00 pace on each.  It felt great to get my legs moving FAST and work on my quick turnover.  Somewhere deep inside I do have some fast twitch muscle...not a lot...but some.  :)

As soon as I got home from the workout I showered, ate breakfast, and took the girls with me to meet my ART guy, Richey at the Fairview track.  It was a gorgeous 60 degree day today...perfect day to be out on the track.  Richey and his cohort (partner in crime?) Jay Johnson had me running strides at different paces and filmed me from behind and the side in three different pairs of shoes AND barefoot.  Richey is now in the process of analyzing that video footage and refining his recommended plan for exercises I can do to help my make my form more efficient.  He had written a rough draft of the plan and after he filmed me, he demonstrated all of hte exercises to me so I can get started.  Thanks SO much for your time and expertise, Richey!!  It was nice to meet Jay as well and get to know him better....SUPER nice guy who obviously knows a TON about long distance running.

P.M. Easy 4.5 miles in 7:19 pace

Felt great to shake out the legs after this morning's workout. 

9.5 miles in 7:14 pace

Met Renee and Sara S. for a nice run on East Boulder creek path and a little loop around the research park CU cross country course.  Good pace and good company.

Right after our run I drove the four minutes to Flatiron Athletic Club (drinking a water bottle full of Ultragen and and eating an energy bar on the way).  Aaron was kind enough to drive the girls and meet me at FAC so I wasn't too late for my appointment with Colleen.  I checked the girls into child care and met Colleen for my first personal training session.  She really knows what she is doing because I felt my core activating and my leg muscles mobilizing in every exercise she had me do.  Good stuff!!   I'll definitely be back for more.

6 miles in 7:39 pace

Took it nice and easy today to shake out the legs after all that new stuff Colleen had me doing yesterday.  I'm just a little bit sore, not bad though.  I was considering going to the plyos class that the De Reuck's teach tonight but I don't think its a great idea since we have our second workout this week on Friday instead of Saturday and I am a little sore still.

I'm so sad because I broke my favorite sunglasses yesterday when they got caught on my arm as I was swinging my bag over my shoulder.  Since getting Lasik surgery back in 2008, sunglasses had become a required piece of running gear (for UV and wind protection). I was rewarded with the Native Eyewear pair after winning the Denver Skirtchaser back in 2009 and I wore them nearly every time I ran (and raced). Before having the high quality Native Eyewear glasses I always just bought cheap $10 glasses at Wal-Mart or wherever but now that I've seen the light (through high quality sunglasses) I definitely appreciate quality.  I may just have to bite the bullet and get a new pair.

Met my team at Palo Parkway

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

4K steady controlled (5:58 pace)

3 minute jog

2K at 10K effort (5:39 pace)

5 minute jog

2K at 10K effort (5:41 pace)

15 minute cool down 

Went to a rockin' RRB club Christmas party tonight and REALLY enjoyed getting to know all the RRBers better.  The food was excellent, awards ceremony hilarious, and conversations were muy etretenido.  I was also glad to finally ditch that 64 ounce beer mug (race prize) in the white elephant gift exchange.  You're welcome, Tony. 

Thanks for a GREAT year, Darren, Colleen and the Running Republic of Boulder!! 

15 miles in 6:49 pace

Serene, peaceful long run in the beautiful sunshine!!!  That East Boulder Creek path is packed with fast runners on Saturday morning.  I just happened to be running next to an elite guy for a few miles....arg...for the life of me I cant remember his name!  He trains with Boulder Express and has run 1:03 in the half.  We passed my RRB buddies, Cathy and Pete.  Then I saw Andrew Leatherby and Benita Willis, two international world class runners who train here; they charged past me as I was coming back on my out and back run.  Fun fun!  And now I'm excited to hear about Aaron's 50K in Fort Collins today.