You're faster than you think!

AM: 1:58:23, Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda to Georgetown.  Did an extra mile in and out of the GT trails to add on some distance.  This ended up being a little bit of a progression run... definitely picked up the pace as the run went on.  Hammys were tight at first, but then loosened up.

NOON: Clopper 10, 1:15:57. Man, do I have case of the "Mondays". Headache, no sleep, and sick of the heat!

+ weights

PM: Yoga (90 min) 

NOON: Clopper 10 1:16:52. Nice rain to break the heat, finally! Felt ok, footing was a little sloppy, so did not go too fast.

NOON: NIST 4, 30:37, shakeout

PM: Whitman track, 10 total. This was yet another of my mental meltdowns. The plan was to do 3 sets of 1600, 800, 400, with a slightly modified warm up.

It was very strange, because I actually felt pretty peppy on my noon run. Then when I went to warm up this evening my legs felt like tree trunks. Usually in these instances I feel better if I go for a longer warm up, like 4 miles or so. But I got out of work late, and it was already getting dark, so I only jogged two miles and then did 9 sets (2.5 miles) of drills. The modification to the warm up was to add a 200 and then a 400 at pace. This is a JD suggestion. The idea being to get a better feel for interval pace before going out too fast. So, the sad details...

200 in 34.0 (suppose to be 37.5), 200 jog

400 in 74.8 (much better), 400 jog

1600 in 5:02.0 (in the dark), 800 jog

800 in 2:29.4 (felt way too hard!), 400 jog

400 in 73.4, 400 jog

1600 in 5:07.3, done. This felt like 4:50 effort... just not fun at this point, being out on the track solo in the dark. Just no desire to be there. And it's getting old watching my times get slower and slower. Need to get motivated again. Not having a definite goal or plan is hard for me to deal with.

So anyway, step one in my rejuvenation is a trip out to UT. I am blowing into SLC tomorrow (Thurs.) afternoon on my way to a wedding in Moab. Neal Gassmann and I are planning a 90 min trail run starting from the zoo and headed up Dry Creek and Shoreline. We'll head out at 6:15pm. Feel free to join in if you are in the neighborhood. After the run (8ish) we are headed to Ruth's in Emigration. Neal claims it is bbq night on Thurs.

PM: Shoreline from the zoo up past Dry Creek, 1:24:22.

Beautiful run and a great crew: Albert Wint, Neal Gassmann, Carre Joyce, Michelle Simonaitis, and Carol Cabanillas.  The girls ran with us to the base of Dry Creek and turned back.  Michelle had done a tempo that morning.  Carol had a fartlek the next day.  And Carre came back for a few extra miles.  Neal and Albert and I made it up past the top of Dry Creek and turned around at 45 min.  Probably should have gone a little farther considering it was most downhill on the way back... but I was more enamored with the view than concerning myself with such details at the time.  Man, the WA ladies are super fit!  Can't wait to see how they do in there respective marathons in a couple of weeks.  For my part, I faired better than I thought for a hilly run at altitude.  Scott Browning joined us at Ruth's for dinner.  Good times!

AM: Progression from Neal's to Liberty and back with a lap around the park, 53:54.

AM: Onion Creek Road, 1:42:48.

Epic run! on Onion Creek Road with John and Jen Gardiner. We were attending a wedding in the La Sals. Onion Creek Road is a few miles up past the start of the Moab Half. It is a dirt road that runs behind Castle Tower. The rock formations are amazing! Jen drove the car out about 10 miles and started running back. John and I started up the road and met Jen on her way down. We went up and picked up the car and leap frogged each other with the car all the way back down to the start of the road. This road keeps going and at 10 miles, where we stopped, you are on top a an incredible mesa and the road is flattening out. I look forward to getting back up there to run further sections.