Turn your rut into a groove.

pm--10.50 A slow burner/slow builder on the tready no less. Sad to say, but when it takes me longer to get running, the tready creeps in. I'm glad to get a run in like this though. 7ish years ago, when this all started, I really started to get stronger and faster w/ the 90+ minute runs every week. It's time to start bringing those back. Throw in a fartlek, some striders, and a few tempoish miles every week, and I'll be coming back as strong as ever. 

pm--4 A predator run, starting at mid-8s down to high-6s. Felt decent. 

pm--5.5 Truncated morning route in the evening. I've had a good week--a longer run, a few mids, and some leg-speed work. Let this be the start of a real groove. 

pm--8 XC meeting this evening. That got me pumped, so I went for a nice 8-miler w/ my neighbor. Some Boyz in da Hood signed up for the marathon this year. I guess I'll have some running buddies throughout the summer. 

pm--6 Fartlek 12 x 1 min. @ ~6:45 w/ 1 min. recovery. This is probably about 5k pace for me right now. It was good to stretch the legs. 

pm--7 A nice run into Green Valley and down into Sunbrook via Las Palmas. Felt purty peppy. 

pm--5 A progression run, starting @ mid 8s and ending in the low 7s. About 8-min. pace. I finished w/ 8 x 100m striders. 

am--9 The Rim Circuit w/ Matt from the bottom. It was good to get out w/ him. He's turning his all of his attention to ultra race promoting. Living the dream. 

pm--7 An iteration of the mid-distance run up around the Canyons. Felt good tonight. I meant to keep it easy, but by the end, the legs want to go a bit. 

pm--6 A nice run through SC w/ my neighbor. The pace was decent, and the temperature was great. I had a nice night a celebratory dinner @ school too. 

pm--4.5 A run w/ the kiddos before state track. Mia and JP and I did a warm, some barefoot striders, and a cool. 

pm--5.5 An out-and-back run in pine valley. The breathing is not quite so easy @ 6500 feet. Negative split this sucker. 8:15 pace overall.

am--10 A run from the cabin up the Pinto road to Grass Valley. There is about 500' of elevation gain in 2 miles to the turn-around. It's hard when you top out @ 7,000'. Nice, hard run. 15.5 miles above 6,500'. 8:34 pace. 

pm--6 Fartlek w/ 5 x 3 min. @ ~7 min./ mile pace. The warm and cool were roughly 15 min. each. 

pm--3 The last 2 weeks, I've had a day that I missed a run for whatever reason. Today nearly became that day this week. But I got my over-engorged belly going for a short run. 

pm--8 A nice bunny loop run around the Canyons. Felt smooth and relaxed. The only complaint is that the tomtom watch shows a quick pace on the wrist but lags on the average pace of the whole run. I'm not sure why. 

am--4.5 A short out-and-back in the beautiful morning weather. This felt hard. Not sure why. The route is slightly uphill on the way out. Average pace--7:51. 

am--7 Back to the usual morning run w/ my old running buddy. There is still some lingering fatigue in my legs, but oh well. I added a mile loop on the end. RHR--53

pm--4 With my neighbor. He's getting ready for the marathon. 

pm--5.5 Lazy day. I finally got a nice progression run in. Frankly, most of my runs should be progression runs. That would slowly bump up my average pace and help stouter paces feel easier. I finished w/ ~ 8 min. of bounding stairs. 

pm--6 Fartlek (3 min., 3 min., 4 min., and 5 min. @ ~7:00 min. pace w/ 2 min. recovery jog) w/ some decent running. Towards the end, I felt some tightness in the right hamstring. We'll see how that goes. 

am--7 Usual morning run w/ Lava Cove extension. The hamstring was a bit twingey but nothing too scary. Otherwise, evertyhing went great. 

pm--5 A good run w/ 8 x 100m striders. Ominous yearly total today--66*. 

pm--6 A nice progression run w/ 2.5 going below 8. Went on a hike w/ the fam earlier but had a hard time talking myself into running. 

am--6 Pine Valley. I ran part of the Cemetary Trail. It had a good initial climb and soft single-track most of the way. Supposedly, this trail connects to the Gardner Peak Trail. I'll explore that trail someday. 

am--12 Down the course. Lame I know, but everyone I know was doing it. Went running w/ the in-laws and a neighbor. I dropped everyone off on the way to 12. My goal was to catch everyone. Some had hopped out at 8 and my neighbor at 10. Well it took me nearly 11 miles to catch them, but I did. I never pushed into the uncomfortable zone, but by the end, I had to work to hold pace. Overall 7:42 per mile pace. It's close to a T-man pace for me. I'm actually happy with today's run. Some good aerobic miles w/ 90+ minutes of running. We ate at the Egg & I after.