Fly me to the moon...

It was pretty warm this morning and it looks like tomorrow will be even warmer.  I ran with the usual group plus Matt.  I forgot to start my watch for the first half, but I started it at the halfway point.  The last 4 miles were run in 30:29 (7:37/mile).  I decided to try my older pair of Brooks running shoes this morning.  They are the ones that gave me some knee problems a few months back.  My foot is still sore, but the shoes felt better.  I did get a nice big blister on my right foot though.  My quads have also been sore after runs lately.  It is mostly my right quad, but the left one was hurting today as well.  It feels like soreness from fatigue or from a hard run and has been there for at least a week.  I don't know what the reason is, but it may be some lactic acid that is just sitting there.

Ran the usual with the group.  I abstained from doing the 400m intervals with Sasha and Jeff due to the sore foot.  I did do a couple on the way back after turning around.  They felt good and weren't too fast, but my foot has been hurting a bit more today.  I was thinking of doing a race this Saturday, but I might be visiting U of Wyoming this weekend.  I also won't be around for the next race in the FRB winter racing series in a couple of weeks because I have Spring Research conference at BYU.  The day after I fly out to Houston for a planetary science conference.  It will be a busy month with all of that plus trying to finish up my thesis.  The total time for the 8 miles was 61:37 (7:42/mile).

I only did 4 today to give the foot a little bit of a break.  I picked up the intensity a little because I had to be back in time to get ready and go to the doctor with Symphany.  She had a follow-up appointment for her ear infection to be sure everything was okay.  Total time was 27:39 (6:54/mile).

Eight miles with the group in 62:32 (7:49/mile).  The foot felt like it normally does in the morning.  It is still a little sore, but feels better as I warm up and the day goes on.

Just the usual again with the group.  It has turned off cold the past few days with temps in the upper 20s and lower 30s in the morning.  Total time for 8 was 63:04 (7:53/mile).

Today was an interesting run.  In hindsight, I should have run the Run for Red 5K today.  I would most likely have gotten in the top three pretty easily, and I was in town.  I was unsure if I would be here for it so I couldn't commit to it.  Anyway,  I started off with a run to the post office and back to mail a letter.  Then I headed out on the trail for 4 more miles.  I noticed the time was around the time for the race start when I got back to Independence Avenue.  I decided to head over to Independence high school to see the start and wish Mary Ann good luck.  There were cars lined up all along the road and filling the parking lot.  It was a really good turnout.  I looked around for Mary Ann, but didn't see her until right before the start.  She looked pretty focused so I didn't want to bother her.  I also saw Bryce at the start, and the women's race winner, Lindsey Dunkley.  She looked pretty serious.  They started, and I let them go.  I then headed out along the road and caught the trail near the ice sculpture.  The trail was covered with runners so I ran in the grass along the side to 820 N.  I'm sure they were wondering who I was running along the trail passing people like they were standing still.  I was going around 7-7:20 pace, but they were much slower.  I headed down 820 N because I knew they were going to be coming that way after running along the trail to the fire station and back.  I stopped a little bit after the round-about and turned around to see the leaders coming up the street.  Bryce was in the lead with another guy and Lindsey about 50 meters behind him.  About 200 meters after that was Mary Ann and another guy.  They didn't seem to be going that fast, but the times weren't too bad.  I followed after them and finished the loop.  Then I headed home.  Altogether it was an interesting run.  I timed portions of it to get an idea of distance, but with all of the stopping and starting I gave up trying to time it completely.  I figured it was about 8.5 miles.

Eight miles with the usual group plus Matt.  The temperature was warmer this morning, but the wind was cold.  I guess it was blowing in the snow we are getting right now.  The foot felt almost normal.  There was very little pain at all.  I'll see how it holds up this week with about the same mileage and then bump it up a little next week.  I'm going to Wyoming this Thursday for a visit and interviews at the Univ. of Wyoming school of geology and geophysics.  It sounds like my schedule will be pretty packed so I hope I will get a chance to do some running while I'm there.  Total time for 8 was 64:00 (8:00/mile).

It was cold and snowy this morning.  The trail had snow and ice on it, which made it hard to go the usual pace.  It was just Sasha and Mary Ann this morning because Jeff overslept.  Total time for 8 was 68:33 (8:34/mile).  The foot felt fine.

The pace was a bit faster this morning because we got started late and Sasha needed to be back and gone by 9.  I ran with the group at around 6:30-6:40 pace for the first 4 miles and turned around.  At that point I slowed down to around 7:30 for the next mile.  Then I ran the next three between 7:00-7:30 per mile.  The first 4 were a bit fast, but my foot seemed to hold up okay.  Total time was 58:16 (7:17/mile).  The extra 0.5 was from running a little at the beginning when we thought Mary Ann wasn't coming and running to class at school.

I thought I would be leaving early tomorrow morning, but it won't be until later in the morning.  I'm glad I will be able to get my run in before my trip.

I ran with the usual group plus Steve Ashbaker.  I didn't participate in any of the speedwork though.  I just ran an easy 8 in 62:46 (7:50/mile).

A big goose egg for today.  I drove to Laramie yesterday afternoon, and then had interviews all day today with faculty and staff in the Geology and Geophysics department.  They took the prospective students out for lunch in the afternoon and dinner in the evening.  It was a long day so I didn't get a run in.

This was a fun day.  I got up early for a run around the town (almost literally) of Laramie.  The town is at ~7200 ft above sea level, but I didn't really notice a difference.  The town is also rather small with less than 30,000 people, which is the 3rd or 4th largest in Wyoming.  I wanted to see a little more of the town and campus so I did a loop around campus.  I was thinking of heading back at that point, but I noticed the LDS church building up on a hill a little further away and decided to check it out.  Then I headed out towards the Laramie river because I had heard there was a trail along it.  Sure enough there was a nice paved river trail along it.  It was cool running along the river with the sunrise.  I took the trail for awhile and then headed back to the hotel.

The rest of the day was spent on a geology field trip with the other 4 prospective students, one current grad student and two professors.  We had breakfast and then headed out towards Rawlins for lunch.  After lunch we went back east to Sinclair, home of the "most modern oil refinery in the world," and took a road out into the desert towards Seminoe state park.  We stopped along the way at various points along the Platte river and looked at rocks.  I learned a few things and was able to follow it somewhat, but got a little lost in all of the terminology.  The best part was climbing down an icy, rocky hillside to see some fossilized pterodactyl tracks.

I was tired from the weekend and slept in this morning.  I got a run in later in the evening.  It was nice to run in shorts and a t-shirt.  Total time for 8 was 57:37 (7:12/mile).  I wasn't trying to push the pace.  It just felt good to run without all of the long, winter clothes.

The warmer days have been nice.  I decided to run the full 10.1 with the group this morning.  I would like to go 10 a couple of times this week and keep the other days at 8.  Jeff ran a 4:42 mile for some speedwork in the middle, and Sasha and Mary Ann also did some speedwork.  The idea was for Mary Ann to run a mile in 5:20 or until she couldn't keep the pace.  She made it to 1000m on pace and then finished up in 5:30 something.  Sasha continued on and ran a 5:19.  I didn't want to do a full mile, but I did 3x400m with 200m rest in between.  I finished the mile in just over 6:00.  Total time for 10.1 was 1:22:17 (8:09/mile).  I felt pretty good throughout the run, but I was a little more sore during the day.

I ran the usual 8 with the group plus Elana, Mary Ann's friend.  We started off with 4 at around 9:10 pace, dropped off Elana, and headed back out.  I ran another 2 with the group and turned around.  Total time was 1:07:54 (8:29/mile).

I ran with the usual group and did 8 in a time of 60:51 (7:36/mile).  I ran part of the middle a little bit faster, but overall an easy pace.

This was a crazy day with everything I had going on.  I didn't get much sleep because I was working on my presentation for Spring Research Conference at BYU and my poster for LPSC in Houston.  I spent the entire day finishing up those two things which included lots of troubles with printing the poster.

Another long night and long day with no running.  My presentation went well though.

This was the start of a very bad, very lazy week in Houston.  At least as far as running was concerned.

I got home this morning at about 2 am due to weather troubles at the airports.  I was originally scheduled to fly from Houston to Denver and then to SLC.  Denver was stuck in a blizzard so they switched us to another airline going through Phoenix that got us home at about the same time.  Unfortunately, the nasty thunderstorm in Houston grounded us for 2 hours on the tarmac and resulted in nearly everyone on the plane missing their connecting flights.  They got us on a plane that left about 3 hours later.  We got some lunch/dinner and waited.  Finally, we boarded the plane.  Then the wind decided to pick up to 50 knots, beyond the safety limits for takeoff, and grounded us for another 2 hours on the tarmac.  It was all very tiring and frustrating.  Add to that the fact that I was forced to check my bag because there wasn't enough room on their overbooked plane, and it was a pretty good day.

The conference went well, but I was lazy and didn't get up to run all week long.

Got out in the early afternoon for a run.  It felt good, and it was warm enough for shorts and a tshirt.  I decided to only do an easy 6.  The last time I didn't run for a week I went back to my regular mileage and intensity and ended up injured for 3 months.  I thought it would be wise to go easy today and see how I felt.  The legs felt fine.  I think I'll go back to 8 a day next week.  Total time was 46:02 (7:40/mile).

Just the usual 8 miles with the group.  The legs felt fine.  Total time was 66:08 (8:16/mile).  It was a bit slippery from ice and snow.

I ran with the usual suspects.  I didn't participate in the usual Tuesday antics though.  Once I get up to a steady 8-10 miles a day I'll think about doing some speedwork.  I ran the warmup with them and then continued on at the same pace.  We went a little further along the trail, turned around and came back to the magic 2.5 mile tempo run mark.  They took off, and I ran out to the usual 4 mile turnaround and headed back.  Total time for 9.25 was 1:11:15 (7:42/mile).  I wasn't planning to go that far, but the legs felt okay.