Turn your rut into a groove.

am--6 Some barefoot w/ a little extra. After we went into Hell's Hole and did some bounding. My ankle/lower leg was a little tender during the rest in the bounding bouts but has disappeared since. Nice. 

am--5.5 We ran the dirt mile today. 8:30 on the first loop and 8:00ish on the second loop. Added a bit @ kids club w/ my girls on warm-ups and cool downs. 

am--6.5 Scouted a route for Friday's practice w/ my wife. I added a bit at home. We didn't get out until 9ish and it was getting warm. 

am--7.5 Hiked, swam, and ran a bit on the Subway trail. This was my first time. It was quite enjoyable. I'm not a huge fan of swimming in dark waters but do love the adventure and the climb out of the canyon. I'm counting this on the blog because it plays somewhat into my end goal.

On a side note, I skipped one of the rope sections by scaling down a huge boulder and jumped into a pool that was more shallow and harder than expected. I felt the landing in my heel. When I got home, I had a swollen and discolored heel. I iced and elevated and wintercrested. We'll see what happens. 

am--5.5 Practice @ Tonaquint park. We ran up the trail, turned around on to the road, and, finally, went over the hill to the intermediate school. It was an enjoyable run. My foot felt fine. 

am--7 Went exploring on Santa Clara Hill w/ Tom. Last weekend when I ran up on Sidewinder, I noticed some fresh trail cut up the side of the mesa over. So Tom and I ran down into the wash to try to hook into it. We had to bushwhack and follow a small wash and scramble over some boulders until we finally spotted some ribbon and, eventually, came to a slightly groomed trail. It's obvious that someone has done some work w/ a shovel and maybe followed the trail on a bike. The trail leads onto the top of Santa Clara Hill, which is the tallest mesa in the River Reserve. We followed the trail about halfway across the top of the mesa before we turned around--Tom had to get back. On the way back we traversed the saddle between that mesa and the Sidewinder mesa only to stumble upon a partially cut trail leading to the top. Consequently, we hooked into Sidewinder and rode some familiar trail back. Great exploring. Next week, I would like to get out and finish exploring the trail to the end of the mesa and, perhaps, find a way to the top of Boomers. 

am--5.5 Had a nice run to the green pole in Middleton w/ a nice little group. Even had Danny out this morning. We have some kids really stepping up this summer. I'm excited for the season. 

pm--3.5 Easy-peasy run after a nice evening at the Veyo Pool @ Crawdad Canyon. 

am--5 Barefoot, dirt mile, and kids club. We played car lot w/ the kids. 

am--6.5 Parkway w/ bounders. I really love the bounders. The Parkway slapped me around a bit. Stayed w/ the boys until they turned to add but just dragged after that. 

pm--3.5 A nice progressive run that ended in th mid 7s. Once I got started, I actually felt peppier tonight. 

am--5.5 Some nice grass stuff w/ striders. Taylor was w/ us the whole time. That was great. Didn't get a 2nd run in tonight. I'll hit it tomorrow. 

am--5.5 Nice run from VW park up the last few miles of the marathon course. The morning was beautiful--a bit overcast and cooler. 

pm--3 More as promised. Nothing spectacular. 

am--7 We had sick kids all weekend and, consequently, disturbances in the middle of the night. That really diminishes the restfulness of my sleep. So I ended up missing practice but still got in some good miles later. 

pm--3 A nice little jaunt w/ a buddy, catching up on the past. 

am--5 Dirt mile and kids club.

pm--3 An easy 3 while watching the kiddos. 

am--5.5 We've been sans internet for a few days, so I'm just catching up. We did some hill work today--3 x 1 min. and 4 x 30 sec.--then added to the gas station. The kids we're strong, and the girls made the most of their first "workout" of the season. 

am--5.5 A short jaunt followed by some grass. The temperatures were very nice. 

pm--3 Arctic Circle w/ the crew. Apparently, I was running too fast. Need to figure that out.

am--5.5 We had practice at the Bloomington North Park and hit some hill work on Webb Hill--2 x 30 sec. and 4 x 1 min. The hard part was that we recovered continuing up the hill. After the hill work, we dropped off the other side and finished w/ some grass loops at the park. It seems like running in deep grass works some of the same muscles that hills do. 

pm--8 Got in a nice run w/ 3 miles @ tinman pace, which for me is 7:30ish. For the first 3 miles or so, I had a little pf irritation. The pain hits in the back of the heel, and the Asics seem to exacerbate the problem. It has bugged me on-and-off for a while. Things worked back to normal. I've been thinking about my running a lot this week and have come to a decision or 2. Stay tuned. 

am--4.5 A nice run in the wonderful, humid weather after a summer storm. After, we headed off to Pine Lake for high-altitude camp.

pm--4 A shakeout run @ ~8,500 down the Pine Lake road. My body always feels slightly off up here. 

am--9 Long run on the Great American Trail. The varsity girls ran strong on this one.

pm--3 Easy run down the Pine Lake road. I ran w/ a few different groups.

am--5 Long hill run. This one is killer and really allows the "strength" runners to strut their stuff. Needless to say, Stoner killed it. 

am--4 Around Pine Lake to the campground. We might have pushed the hill on the way out a bit. Good week up in the altitude. The kids did great. 

pm--I didn't get out this morning, so I had to hit an evening run. Warmed up for 3 then went into a 2-mile tempo (14:43). For where I am with my fitness, this felt decent. After, I cooled down for 2.5. 

am--8 Ran from Kayenta to home @ a nice pace w/ the wife. My body feels a bit tired and achy. 

am--8.5 After the barefoot warm-up we headed toward Grapevine Springs and into Coral Canyon. On the way back we hit a 2.5-mile tempo. The girls did great even though a few of them weren't feeling well. Nice run today. 

am--5.5 Nice run w/ a good group on the dirt mile, followed by striders and kids club. I'm getting excited to see how the kids respond to racing next week. They'll do great.