"I don't really need a duck"

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 7:00 pace - 28:00 - It was windy but not terrible.  I felt fresher than yesterday yet I had less sleep.

11:03 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:30 pace - 54:29.22 - The air was crisp and cool and the wind was nearly non-existent. What a beautiful night.

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 7:15 pace - 29:02.74 - It was chilly out there but no wind.  There were alot of bugs along the parkway though (I think I got some extra protein!).

5:45 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:15 pace 52:37.24 - It was cold, snowy and windy but my legs felt suprisingly fresh.  It felt better than my noon run.

Fun with Sasha and kids.

10:54 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:16 pace - 52:44.42 - 16 deg with a little (but quite cold) wind from the west.  The stars were beautiful tonight.

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 6:54 pace - 27:36.48 - A balmy 28 deg with no wind.  The parkway had no bugs today but it was smelly.

10:56 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:20 pace - 53:14.80 - A fantastic 19 degrees!  It is getting warmer.

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 7:01 pace - 28:03.51 - Tired.

5:50 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:16 pace - 52:47.51

11:00 pm - 13.1 miles @ 7:09 pace - 1:33:40 - We had our Christmas lunch at work today so I was unable to run during lunch, thus I needed to make this evening a long run.  I decided to give the Riverton Half Marathon course a spin.  My legs felt sharper and fresher than they had for the last several days.  With about 2 miles to go I got this little surge out of no where and starting hitting low to mid 6 minute pace.  On the weather front, everything stayed relatively warm other than my face numbing out the last couple of miles.

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 6:58 pace - 27:53.10 - Another protein filled run on the parkway. It was warm (long sleeves, jacket and shorts) and little to no wind. My legs felt good - my best feeling noon run of the week.

6:02 pm - 4.35 miles @ 7:01 pace - 30:34.48

8:00 am - 13 miles on the Jordan Parkway with Jake, Andrea, Allie, Kelli, James, Rob, Adam, Kam, and Scott.  I hung out in front for a bit then spent a while cruising with Kelli and Kam.  I finished off with a little pick-up for the last couple miles at about 6:40 pace.  As usual for me in long cold runs my upper back got sore the last few miles (I need to learn to relax better when it is cold). 

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 6:30 pace - 26:01.71 - 4 movin', groovin', nutritious (but not smelly) miles along the parkway.

No night run.   My body said sleep and thus I obeyed.

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 6:49 pace - 27:17.19 - I had to negotiate some slickery patches of snow but otherwise it was a nice run (I am certain the extra sleep last night didn't hurt either).

10:56 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:15 pace - 52:40.45 - A nice night run with only a few slippery patches.

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 6:29 pace - 25:57.29 - I was comfortably going along at 6:40ish pace when I had a guy pass me going the other direction a quarter of a mile from my turnaround.  I decided after my turnaround to pick up the pace and see if I could catch him with his half mile head start.  I didn't go all out but my next mile was 6:12 and I ended up passing him about 500 meters after that (It took me a little over a 1.5 miles to close the half mile gap).  My last mile was 6:19 (three quarters of it clear of my rabbit) with the big hill.  I did see a big hawk along the parkway.

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 6:44 pace - 25:56.82 - It probably helps that I didn't get out and run again last night (it's been a very busy week).  I will probably get out for three runs today.  As a side note I cleared 2000 miles in a year for the first time in my life today.

5:49 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:02 pace - 51:02.70

10:41 pm - 4.35 miles @ 7:09 pace - 31:08.11 - A realy calm and nice night run.  Felt warmer than my run at 6 pm.  I guess we can chalk up today a Ragnar training day.

6:34 am - 7.25 miles @ 7:27 pace - 54:01.03 - Tired and slow.

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 6:57 pace - 27:50.88 - Felt better than this mornings run.

7:30 am - 13 miles @ 7:01 pace - 1:31:10 - Another fantastic running event with Sasha in low 20 degree weather that actually felt kind of nice. We did a couple mile warm-up and then got going on the Fast Running Blog 5 mile course tempo run. The plan was 6 minute pace until failure or 5 miles. I held a 6 minute pace average through about 3 miles and started backing after that. I struggled holding pace when Sasha peeled off to use the facilities and really couldn't keep it going once he caught back up with me. I ended up finishing the 5 miles in 30:48 with an average overall pace of 6:09. We doubled back on the course to get some more mileage in and worked our way down to a high 6 minute pace (I sort of led this consciously) before Sasha challenged me to hit the last quarter in 90 - which I did. This run felt better than two weeks ago. I feel like I am making some progress but I definitely have more work to do. We will see how things look in another two weeks.

Noon - 1 measly mile - I got derailed by the plant fire in Sandy

10:45 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:07 pace - 51:41.34 - I was tired and wanted to go to bed  but my legs thought otherwise.  Nice calm hazy night with no wind - 27 deg F.

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 6:44 pace - 26:58.40 - Another fantastic voyage with me and the birds on the parkway.

A 4 mile noon

10:54 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:04 pace - 51:18.85 - So apparently I got a little busy and lazy over the Christmas holiday.  It was nice to get back out into the swing of things. 

Noon - 4.0 miles @ 7:06 pace - 28:24 - My hips were a little achey and sore.

Another great run with Sasha and his kids.  The weather was fantastic other than a little bit of wind (tech-t, sleeves, light jacket, beanie, gloves and shorts).  After about a 5 mile warm-up we did a 2x 2 mile tempo run with a 2 mile jog in between.  The first tempo went 88, 85, 83, 85 (5:41), 86, 256 (5:42 - I missed the triangles) for a total of 11:23.  The second tempo went 88, 88, 85, 89 (5:50), 90, 90, 94, 86 (6:00) for a total of 11:50.  I pushed the last quarter to try and erase the 94.  We ran back to the house and ran with the kids.