Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Morning run with Dave through the mean streets of Bremerton. Hills, hills, and hills. One could become very fit running in that town, as their are no flat stretches at all. Didn't wear GPS, so no idea of pace.

(1120: 127)

AM - Got in from Washington fairly late, so slept in a bit, then headed out for 7-mile run (canal loop). 7:26/mile pace. My legs are finally feeling recovered from Des News 10K. My left calf in particular had been stiff and sore for several days. I'll try for a good workout tomorrow.

(Adrenaline blue: 272)

PM - 7 easy miles on the River Trail. 7:23/mile average pace.

(Cascadia: 254 miles)

Workout day. I jogged a block with the dog, and then ran toward the Planet Walk, where I ran into Cody. We headed back to the LHS track, where we met James and Logan. The plan for today was 6-8x1000m at CV pace (~5:10/mile pace), with 200m (1-minute) recovery between intervals. I was hoping to get 8 in, but was feeling tired early on, so decided to play it by ear. It turned out my warmup deceived me, and I was actually feeling pretty good and had an excellent workout. Intervals were: 3:12, 3:12, 3:12, 3:12, 3:11, 3:12, 3:07. This converts to 5:07-5:08/mile pace, except for the last one, which is slightly under 5:00/mile pace. I cut it off after 7 reps, because my calves, particularly my left calf, were starting to get pretty sore. I'm still not completely recovered from Des News. But this was the best CV workout I've had since Ogden, and I believe it to be an indicator of increased fitness. It was also really nice having Logan to run with, and that certainly helped me along. Track workouts are always much easier than other people.

Cooled down with James, Cody, and Logan afterward. Cody went home, and we ran up to Jame's place and back to finish it off. My right calf cramped up on way, which is odd. I need to keep a close eye on these calves of mine and hopefully they will get better.

(Burn: 190 miles)

AM - Easy run with Cody on the Planet Walk, then some with the dog. 7:41/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline orange: 441 miles)

PM - 10 miles with Jon. We ran out on the canal trail to the river trail and then back. The Bear River Range is burning. Lots of fire trucks, gawkers, and excitement. So it goes. 7:07/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline blue: 282 miles)

Today I woke up and decided that I really didn't want to do a Big Workout. Legs were feeling tired, and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. But I rolled out of bed and hit the road. I figured I would give myself a couple miles of warmup, and then either start a tempo or defer it until tomorrow, and just do a couple easy runs today. I managed to hit 7-minute pace on my second warmup mile, and figured I was feeling good enough to do the tempo. I completed an 8-mile tinman tempo on the Young Ward - ICON loop.

Mile splits were 5:55, 5:52, 5:51, 5:48, 5:51, 5:50, 5:57, 5:53. Woof. Fortunately this loop is pancake-flat. I initially intended to do the Millville Hill Loop, but when I was talking myself out of bagging the workout, this was the compromise. I cooled down for a few miles on the Planet Walk at about 6:45/mile pace, and made a pit stop at the Logan River Golf Course bathroom along the way. This is a great bathroom, because it's actually open at 7AM and there's music playing inside. It should definitely be the centerfold of Jon's "Emergency Toilets of Cache Valley" guidebook.

Also did 4x100m strides on the Planet Walk. They felt like bung, like my shoes were bricks with lead shoelaces. 

Averaged 6:19/mile for the entire 14-mile run. Good workout day, and I'm glad I talked myself into doing it. I'm pretty beat now, and need a few very easy days to recover from the workouts this week.

(1120: 141 miles)

AM - Providence Loop, 6.25 miles easy. 7:16/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline orange: 447 miles)

PM - out-and-back to First Dam via canal trail (7.25 miles). Didn't wear watch.

(Adrenaline blue:  290 miles)

Long run with Cody today. We drove up Blacksmith Fork and parked at Hardware Ranch. We then ran up Ant Flat, which is a well-graded gravel road that goes all the way to the road that the Ogden Marathon starts on (SR-31?). But we did not go that far, and turned around at 9.5 miles to get 19 miles total. The first half was uphill (about 1300' total gain), but the upshot was running downhill for the last half. 7:30-8:30/mile on the uphill miles, and 6:30-7:00 on the second half. 7:36/mile average pace. I'm tired and quite glad to have this week in the books.

(Cascadia: 273 miles)