Psalm 91:1 NKJV He who dwells in the secret place

No Running... Soccer Tournament, and headed back home on our 6-7 hour trip.  We arrived back in Pocatello at 10pm.  I was kind of sore from all the driving.

I ran this morning for 8.2 miles at a 6:52 pace.  Nothing really special...  I did take the dog for the first 4.5 miles and we average under 7 per mile.  I wanted to run at a faster pace so I tried to stay under 7 minute miles with the dog.  Only one small hill in this run which was an overpass.

I was sore when I first got up this morning from all the driving from the day before, but once I got going I was fine.  Now I need to get my focus back and focus on what races I want to do this summer and the training.  No more Soccer trips,  now were moving into fast pitch softball for my daughter which starts tonight.  I believe none of these games are out of town.
 

Morning ran 5.5 with the dog.  He's really getting into this running, and can't wait till I wake up in the mornings.  He gets all excited and wants to go every morning.  I wanted the rest of the run to be finished under the 7 minute mile guy and I did it.  I  averaged 6:58 per mile.  Total miles 9.  I do still have a little bit of soreness on the inside of my thigh from the marathon, but nothing that's affecting my running.

Lunch: 5.3 miles at a 6:18 pace.  Each mile I dropped the pace until the last mile and did a cool down  (6:39, 6:34, 6:12, 5:37, and 6:26).  This was a very hilly course and my effort felt fairly easy in 82 degrees which surprised me.  I ran with my new shoes the Ohana Asics Racers for the first time and I love them.  They fit awesome and really make me feel light on my feet.  I still haven't decided if I'm going to run the Des. News marathon or not.

Easy run today. I ran 8 miles with the dog and 2.8 miles on my own. I wanted to run slower today, and I knew if I took the dog longer today I wouldn't change my mind and try a faster pace. Very hilly course I ran today. I call it the Satterfield loop.

Lunch I ran 1.5 miles at the gym and did some strength lifting on my upper body.

 Next week I need to get back to the track and do some 400's and 800's.  I took a couple weeks off, because of the marathon.  I feel I can run my next marathon lower than 2:50.  I just need to focus and train harder.

Today was one of those runs where I didn't have a clue what I was going to do. I was real tired when I woke up, because of the late nights the last two days. I was trying to get stuff done around the house after my daughter's softball games. Then being gone all weekend didn't help so I had to caught up on the yard work. My life always feels so busy, but that happens when you have kids.

I didn't want to wake up this morning, but I knew I had to run, because I wouldn't be able to get any running done on my lunch hour or after work.I ran the first three miles with the dog (7:21, 6:59, 6:48) then dropped him back home and did a whatever run. (6:39, 6:27, 6:11, 6:08, 6:04, 6:06, and 6:38) Total run 10.3 miles at a 6:33 pace in 1:07. I would consider this a mini tempo run. I was tired today so I just decided to make the run up as I ran. I mostly ran on rolling small hills. The temperature was around 55 degrees

I really have a strong desire to start running more consistently in the 5 minute mile range. I know this will just take me stepping up and running faster. To get faster you have to run fast.

Tomorrow will be an easy run, than Saturday I plan on running a portion of the Pocatello Marathon course probably 14 miles...

 Ran a little tonight to make 11 miles for the day.
 

Very hilly run the first 4 miles were uphill totaling an ascent of 400 ft reaching American Road. I ran 11.5 miles at a 7:13 pace in 1:23. I ran this at a very slow pace for a good easy run. Most of the rest of the course was rolling hills except for a mile downhill, which was going back the same way I came from my house.

I think I've convinced myself not to run Des. News Marathon, "even though I want too bad", but this will allow me to train hard for our local Pocatello marathon on September 1st. Then I will run TOU on September 15th. Hard decisions to make on which events to run. I still think I can run hard in TOU two weeks later. I did this last year two weeks apart, and I was actually faster at TOU.

Question:  Do you feel you get better results doing double runs a day vs.  one long run.  For example, running 12 miles one time, or a double run morning 8 miles, lunch/evening 6 miles.  I'm curious if any have seen an improvement either way.

Morning:  I ran the Pocatello Marathon course today, 14.5 miles at an overall 6:38 pace.  It starts on Crestview Rd.  and about 5400 ft is the altitude.  I ran the first 7 miles at marathon pace and I really wasn't trying to stay at this pace, because it was more really of an anaerobic run today.   The effort was real easy so that's promising (6::29, 6:25, 6:24, 6:34,6;:33,6:30,6:34). 

Lunch ran 4.1 miles with the dog later at a 7:23 pace.  This run felt  good even after the long run this morning.  The double runs really seems to boost my performance overall, and the second run of the day I seemed to already feel ready to run with really no warm-up.