Every Run is a Great Run!

AM: Ran Loafer again. Legs seem to be getting their zip back as I thought I was running about equal effort to last week but my splits were quite a bit faster and easily the quickest ever for me up Loafer. Tacked on a little extra at the end shooting for 8 miles but I misjudged and ended up with 8.2.

Uphill splits: 8:24, 8:50, 8:56, 6:17 (.65 miles, 9:41 pace)

Downhill/flat splits: 5:54, 7:00, 6:57, 7:17, 4:23 (.54 miles, 8:04 pace)

Overall average pace: 7:49.

PM: Ran with Paul and Nate 5.2 miles easy out LakeView direction. Had an enjoyable run, not quite as hot as last week and maybe we're getting a bit more used to the heat. Legs feeling pretty good after Loafer this morning.

Ave pace: 8:15.

This will be a reduced mileage / recover week for me, probably around 50 miles. Most of the reduction will come at the end of the week and will probably include a 5K race/time-trial on Saturday.

I have the day off work today so we slept in a bit longer than usual and then drove 2 vehicles over to Payson so we could do a downhill canyon run. Ran 8 miles from the Grotto down to Pateetneet. I tried to keep Kim reigned in on pace but she kept ignoring Coach Tom's suggestions to take it easy. Actually it seems like lately when I suggest to slow down she speeds up instead! I may have to rethink my strategy of having her fast days be my recovery days as I don't know if I'm getting much recovery as of late.

Ave pace: 7:55 

AM: Did some mile repeats with 2 minute rests in between. Since this is a reduced/rest mileage week I cut back on the number of repeats and only did 3 instead of building on last weeks 5. Legs still a tad sore from the hill running the last couple of days but still fresh enough for a touch of faster running. Wanted to stay between my goal 10K pace (6:00) and current 10K pace (6:10-6:15?). Did good on the first 2 miles but kind of wimped out on the last one. Lots of other runners out today, passed a few bloggers and lost sheep but I wasn't very sociable since I was sucking wind big time finishing up the fast miles.

Splits were 6:00, 5:59, 6:06. Ave pace overall 7:59.

I found a race in Orem to run Saturday (Best Buddies 5K). Hope with a mini-taper and fresh legs I can hold around a 5:55 pace for at least a couple of miles and ideally all the way to the finish. But I really know nothing about the course, how fast it is, etc. Plus it's at 8am so it might be a bit warm. The only goal I have for this race is practicing mental toughness and better dealing with pain during the last half of the race. I don't really care what time I get, if I get to the finish line feeling like I was able to endure the pain well and maybe push just a little harder/longer than I have before I will be very pleased.

PM: Ran out 2 miles with Paul and Nate around 8:15 pace before turning back (they went 5 or 6) and finishing quite a bit slower since my legs were feeling a bit heavy and tired. Looking forward to lower miles and very easy pace the next few days. Ave pace 8:44.

AM: Ran with Kim down to the river bottoms then ran 3 x 1 mile repeats with 2 min. rests at around Kim's 10K pace or a bit quicker. She did great as usual but at least I was successful in finally making her a little sore after the 8 mile run down Payson Canyon on Tuesday. Not exactly sure on her splits since I don't have the garmin, plus there was a bit of disagreement between Kim's garmin and mine on our pacing. If I remember correctly the 1st 2 miles were right at 8 minutes and the last one was around 7:40.

Overall ave pace around 9:10.

Late AM: 10 minutes on the bike then core workout.

Yes that is correct. 2 easy miles with Kim this morning. It was nice to sleep in a bit and get some extra sleep. My legs/body are needing a little extra rest and this is supposed to be a reduced mileage week so I figured it was about time to actually get around to having a reduced mileage day. Also running a 5K tomorrow so hopefully I'll be a little fresher than I've been for recent races.

Ave pace 9:28.

Taking my son and nephew to a concert tonight at USANA. Journey/Heart/CheapTrick, hmm.... you think maybe I'm an 80's child or something? Actually my son Tyler is a big fan of 70's and 80's 'classic' rock and loves Journey and Heart so it was actually his idea to go. Should be fun.

Not a good day. Didn't get home from the concert until about 1am then couldn't sleep at all. Stomach churning and loud music hangover. The concert was pretty good (especially Journey) but as always the volume is louder than it needs to be and since I kind of fried my ears during my high school and college rock band days I don't handle the loud volumes so well.

So anyway I had already decided last night against doing the Best Buddies 5K. Adam had sent me an email showing the course. It looked short but also checking google earth it looked hilly. So I had decided to just do my own 5K time trial around SF on flat roads. Felt horrible during the warmup from lack of sleep and gunky stomach so I didn't have high expectations. Well I probably would have been better off just bagging the whole thing and just doing a long slow distance run since I quit after 2 miles and just had nothing in the tank and didn't care. I was just not physically, mentally, or emotionally in a state to try and doing anything race-ish today. So we'll just call this a decent 2 mile tempo run and leave it at that. Glad to not have any more 5K's planned in the near future and I'm looking forward to getting back to the longer, slower tempo runs of 4-12 miles that seem to suit me much better than the short speedy stuff.

Mile splits: 5:56, 6:00. Overall ave pace: 7:55.