Turn your rut into a groove.

am--5.5 Ran down into Hell's Hole to do some rolling hill work--4 x 1 min. & 5 x 30 sec. The girls really dug deep on this workout. And I'm not going to lie; this is one of the tougher type of workouts for me. On another note, I need to get an evening run in today. I've been having some sciatic nerve pain the last few days, so I've taken it easy. It's starting to feel better. 

pm--4.5 A nice, easy run to recover from earlier running activities. 

am--6 A nice recovery run out on the Tortoise Road followed by striders. I added ~1.5 barefoot miles after the striders. I'm feeling kind of flat today and realize I need to work on top-end speed. 

am--6.5 We went to Little Valley Park and did some hill work--3 x 30 sec. & 5 x 1 min.--in a neighborhood near there. The hills felt extremely hard for me today. Maybe I'm getting old. We finished w/ ~3 miles barefoot @ the park. 

pm--3.5 A real easy recovery run. 

am--9.5 Tom & I finished a really cool loop that we discovered a few weeks back. It heads off from Sidewinder and climbs up Santa Clara Hill. It's a steady, if not fairly relaxing, climb to one of the highest points in the South Hills. It will be a go-to in the future. 

am--9 Ran w/ some the varsity girls on an 8-miler w/ 2.5 tempo. We went out through Middleton and back. We hit a decent pace on the tempo. The girls are working hard. I'm excited for the race on Wednesday. 

pm--3 Nice run to AC w/ a tiny bit of plyos after. I need to figure plyos and weights out. It can only make one better. 

am--4.5 Dirt mile @ a good pace in the low 8s. No miles during kids club. 

am--10.5 We did some running on grass today, which is always a treat. Followed that up w/ striders, and I added some at home. Nice morning of running. 

am--6 Old morning route before a meeting today. For some reason, I'm feeling a little beat but happy for the kids and their first race of season. 

pm--5 A later afternoon practice before team night @ St. George Running Center. I got a mile in before practice and a mile after on the warm-up loop. 

am--4 A nice short run on the DC trails w/ all the ornery bikers. 

pm--7 Headed out a bit before sundown for a nice run. It was still warm but tolerable. I ran up to the Canyons and then down Dixie Drive to my in-laws and arrived just in time to see the last 800 of the 5,000. I've decided to go with a couple of pairs of traditional trainers to see how it will affect my training and leg fatigue. Another side note, I had a chance encounter with Darrell Spencer, a great author. 

am--6.5 Ran up to the end of Lava Flow, back home, to the Dixie Drive junction, and back home. I started out feeling terrible but perked up when the rain came. 

pm--3 AC w/ the great ones. It was a bit of a scorcher out. 

am--6 Usual morning run, Han Solo. It was nice this morning. On another note, I feel like I'm on a fitness threshold. 

pm--3.5 A nice easy run after I got roasted on the after-school run.

am--5.25 I went out w/ the intention of throwing some faster work into the mix--3 x 2 min. w/ 1 min. recovery and 4 x 400 w/ 30 sec. recovery. I made it through the first set w/ a bit of extra recovery before the last but only made it through 2 of the last set. I haven't run a 5kish pace for such a long time that I think I might have nearly forgot. The faster sections today were a bit ambitious--I wasn't wearing any kind of pace-keeping mechanism--so I was toasted near the end. 

pm--3.5 An easy run to Greensprings w/ the varsity girls. It seemed hot, and I am beat. 

am--6 The usual morning run. I'm dragging this week for some reason. 

pm--4.5 Hot Nails w/ striders. It was a bit cooler out. 

am--4.5 I slept in a bit to see if that would help rejuvenate me. Alas, I felt much better this afternoon. A nice run into Green Springs and back, followed by 4 x 200 on the track. 

am--6.25 I had a real flat weekend after the meet. The whole family was a bit blah, so it's good to get back at it. Today, I joined the girls for a morning workout--my first this season. We did 6 x 3 min. @ a mid-to-low-6s pace. It was great to see the girls go for it. And, I won't lie, it's fun to get the legs going. We sandwiched the workout w/ a warm and cool to PH. Nice way to start the day and the week. 

pm--3.5 Nice run over to Sandburg's and through the desert. After did some weights and plyos. They were pretty fulfilling. 

am--3 An easy, easy run w/ lots of crudola to flush out of the legs after everything they went through yesterday. 

pm--6 A nice run out past the church on Telegraph for a warm-up before the PVXC time trial w/ a Harts cool-down after. We had the parent meeting afterward. The run this afternoon was pretty enjoyable. 

am--5 Rainy fartlek workout w/ the varsity girls. We had a pretty good turnout on what was an abnormal day for us. We ran to Target and back w/ all of our pick-ups near 7-min. pace except for the last one, which was speedy. Proud of the girls. 

pm--3.5 We went on a new 3-miler. Followed the AC route for a mile and then turned back on to Telegraph. We had to add a little detour around Sportsmans. It was nice, and it's not often that you get to rain runs in a day in sunny St. George. 

am--5.5 Nice and easy morning run Han-style. It was perhaps the best morning of the summer. Nearly, dare I say it, autumnal. 

pm--4.5 A nice run up into Green Springs w/ striders, weights, and plyos after. 

am--4 Nice AC run w/ many of the girls, followed by 4 x 200. I'm slow and old in that order. 

pm--3.5 Hot nails in a relative scorcher. We've been spoiled the last few days by the cooler rainy weather. We had a pretty good group of girls who all stuck together. 

am--6.25 A very early, very perspiring run on the usual morning route w/ a tiny extension. 

am--6.25 Nice, tough workout w/ the girls this morning--6 x 1000. We warmed up to Pizza Hut and jumped into the repeats. I seem to be fairly consistent w/ these. 3:40ish is a good effort for me. Last year, that put me right in the mix w/ the top girls. Now, it's just good enough to float off the back of them. They are getting so fast. The next pack of girls pushed themselves and came through w/ some solid times. We're working on closing the gap between the 2 groups. We had a fairly successful meet on Sat. and the tighter grouping will continue to help us push for a Region title. 

pm--3.5 We made up the run as we went, followed by weights and plyos. 

am--4 Morning run on an unusual route. This might become my go-to 4-miler. The mornings are starting to take on a crisp Fall feel. 

pm--6.5 Shoe run. As much as the mornings have a Fall feel, the afternoons still have a Summer feel. It was toasty today. We finished w/ striders. 

am--5.5 PH warm w/ 3 x 2min. and 4 x 400 w/ 1 min. and 30 sec. recovery respectively. We were able to pack up a bit more today. The girls ran well. We had a slightly bigger group than normal. It's good to see the girls out working hard. I left the girls at PH and extended to the DI loop. 

pm--3.5 Easy afternoon to Hot Nails w/ the crazy girls. 

pm--5.5 Slept an extra hour after I woke up w/ a killer head ache. It made for a bad morning. In the afternoon, did 4 up to Green Springs, followed by striders. Weights and plyos after. 

am--6.5 Warmed-up to Harts before the kids came. Did AC, followed by 4 x 200, which actually felt pretty good, at least in the legs. I feel like I'm getting a bit quicker. Last year, a good split was 39 seconds, and that was with a push at the very end. This year, I'm hitting 38 seconds every time. Finished off w/ PH cool-down. Seemed a tad bit overcast as I was finishing. 

pm--7 A nice little run w/ some tempo in the middle--~7:40 pace. I wanted to go a few more miles, but I was as drained as drained can be. I'll get some more miles at the run-a-thon.