Turn your rut into a groove.

am--7 Some progressive miles. Today felt sufficiently hard.

pm--5 Tready w/ the HRM. Just to see what kind of HR I had going during some cheese miles. It stayed under 150 pretty easily. After, I erged--4x 500m w/ 1-min. rest (2:07, 2:04, 2:01, and 1:57). I feel pretty awesome about that pulling. Thinking a lot about XC. 

pm--7 Aerobic run w/ 6x 1-min. pick-ups, ranging from low 7's to high 6's, w/ 4-min. recovery between each. Felt really good. Developing a certain calm picking up speed helps me. Prepping for a good summer. 

pm--4 Easy miles w/ 2k erging after. Felt nice to just run. On the row, I hit 2k in 8:11.3, a new record. That's pretty close to better pace than the cumulative pace from the 500m intervals. Don't sweat the swole. 

am--3.75 Barefoot warm & Tortoise Road. First day of practice. We had quite a few kids come out. Awesome.

am--5.5 Barefoot warm w/ a nice neighborhood run & some grass loops. Finished w/ striders, which felt good. 

pm--4x 500 on the erg (2:00, 1:57, 1:57, 1:57). I'm pulling like a crossfitter. ;)

am--4.5 Out towards Grapevine and back. Skeleton crew today. Hopefully, just a lull. 

pm--4.25 Thought I would double today. Felt nice and strong. Nothing crazy. 

am--4.25 Out-and-back on Telegraph w/ 8x barefoot striders after. A few more of the crew were back today. That's always a good thing. It will be good to get them all back, working hard together. 

pm--Erged for 10 minutes. Reading Bill Walton's autobiography. It's interesting so far.

am--5.5 Trail from Sullivan's w/ negative split. Good group of girls most of the way out. On the way back, it was me and the varsity girls at practice. We got moving at a nice clip the last 10 minutes or so. I could feel it in the abs. 

pm--5.25 Some slow burning miles to offset the stouter running this morning. On another note, I found a way to move a little more during the day. Life is difficult without a routine. 

am--6 Barrel Roll. I have been trying to get out on the trails w/ my bros for quite a while. Today, Andy and I finally got out. It was a beautiful morning, even w/ the humidity. Good week. On another note, my resting heart rate has been up the last few weeks, yet I feel like I'm in a pretty fit. Some investigation in order. 

am--8 Dirt Mile Stamina Work. The weather was perfect w/ a side of thunder and lightning. We hit 25 minutes, working from 7:35-7:05. Strong work from the group. RHR--53. 

am--5 Urie Loop w/ some grass after. No striders for me after. Coach and I had a nice chat and partook of more grass. RHR--54.

pm--Hardcore weights and a team meeting. 

am--5 Out-and-back to Lower Grapevine. We had a really nice group for most of the way out. I'm excited to see which of these girls will have the desire to test their potential this season. I may try to get a few miles in this evening. RHR--56. 

pm--3 Some miles to try to bring the body to homeostasis. 

am--7 Hell's Hole Loop w/ 4x 1-min. pickups. Decent run today. The pickups felt nice, and we had a few girls stick w/ us for the run. Nice work from Carli, Maycee, and Heather. RHR--60 (Yikes). 

pm--3 Some easy miles to get back into things. I reaggravated something in my lower back yesterday trying to do too much in the weight room. It seems to be an si joint issue. I found some stretches that help. This is good knowledge going forward. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

am--8.25 Highland Park loop w/ some pickups. I didn't hit all the pickups, & when I did, it was all I could do to keep up w/ those girls. The back is improving. Felt good most of the run. RHR--51.

am--5.25 Normal Tuesday run, around the neighborhood and loops on grass w/ striders. The body is feeling better. Now, we'll see how much progress I can make in Crime and Punishment. RHR--49. 

am--6 Good mid-distance run. We're still trying to figure out loop routes so had to add a bit at the end. RHR--52. 

am--5.5 Hilly Run towards Dino Tracks. Maycee stuck right w/ us. It was a little warmer this morning. RHR--53. 

am--5.75 Mayor's Loop w/ 6x barefoot striders. Decent Friday group. The weather was beautiful, and I get the feeling that we have some kids who are ready to make the jump to greater things. RHR--53. 

am--9 Wasatch Blvd. I spent the night w/ my wife's family in SLC for a reunion. I started on the Blvd near the elbow of 215 & just enjoyed the view up to the Millcreek Township, then flipped. The pace was a little quicker because I didn't have anyone to listen to me jabber. Perhaps, the cooler temps negated the higher elevation.

am--10 Green Springs long run w/ 5x pick-ups in the middle. Very nice run w/ the group for the 1st time this summer. I enjoy these wonderful human beings who make room in their schedules for awesomeness. RHR--51. 

am--6 Half Bitumen/Half Grass w/ 8x striders after. I got some other running while setting up the race course for the kids. It was hot this morn. RHR--51. 

pm--1.5 Shakeout run followed by 4K (17:30) on the erg. Rowing is an approximation of deadlift w/out the heavy lifting on the way down. This will be a good way to strengthen my legs & back.

am--7 Dirt Mile Loops to build stamina--mid-7's for 25 min. Another good run w/ the top group of girls. They stick together well and encourage each other. Great kids. I'm lucky to work w/ them. I felt surprisingly good running on tired legs. RHR--51.

am--6.5 Hilly run into the north desert. We just explored. Everyone was feeling pretty beat from the week so far but pushed on regardless. That's what I love about these kids; they continue to work hard. RHR--51. 

pm--1.75 Shakeout after weights. I erged instead of lifting. The workout today was 4x 500 (2:03, 2:02, 2:00, and 1:57) w/ 1 min. rest. Hard but good.