El Burro Blanco

7 miles this morning in between weights and running with the TEAM. Timed the kids in the workout this afternoon.

4 easy miles this afternoon with the TEAM and then added another 3 marking the course for Brooks Barney's Eagle Scout Project.

Have finally been getting back into a pattern and routine since the new job started in January. A lot less stress and am very happy with the direction I am going. Decided to do the Red Mountain 30k today. Love the trails out there and I knew it would be a lot of fun. A lot of the TEAM did the half so it makes for a very fun day.

Started out and just decided to relax the first couple miles and not stress too much. I ended up being in 4th place for the first two loops. I got to the aid station after running Barrel Roll and got passed by the 5th place guy (ended up being Zac Marion). He started to hammer the downhill and so I went with him. He gapped me quite a bit but I could still see him. He started running up Santa Clara Drive and I closed the gap on him quick. He was checking his phone (changing his playlist) and I asked, "Candy Crush?" He got a little chuckle and we talked for a bit. He was hurting so I pushed it on an uphill section. This cost me because he got his second wind and caught me on the downhill section with just over 2 miles to go. He gapped me again and I kept trying to close on him. I was within about 20 seconds of him when we crossed the highway but it was too much. Finished the race in 2:22:55. Not bad all things considered.

I felt pretty good throughout but I think I was a little too conservative at the start. I just need to trust what I am doing and continue to move forward. It was a lot of fun racing today and felt good to pound the quads again. Realized why I had blisters on the inside of my feet. I ripped the inside on both of my Hokas. Lucky they didn't rip more during the race. Time for a new pair now.

Lots of fun seeing James and Cody Draper today. Both good dudes. Talked with Zac Marion after the race and he said he was happy trying to chase me down for the first half marathon of the race. Glad I could help with that. Also, a good dude. 

I went over and helped Brooks Barney's 3 mile race for his Eagle Scout Project. Got in another 2 miles. Pretty tired now. Time for a nap.

7 miles this afternoon with the boys towards Sunriver. 7:14/mile. Legs a little sore still.

5.5 miles this morning with the TEAM along with weights.

6 miles easy this afternoon.

5 easy miles this morning along with weights.

12 total miles this morning. I went from the house to SunRiver and back. I did 10 x 1:00min. hard/1:00min. easy + 4 x :30sec. hard/:30sec. easy on the way back. Felt good to get some fast turnover in the legs. 7:04/mile.

Looped from the house out around the parkway and back around by the high school. 70+ degrees on my run. 14.5 total miles. 7:14/mile.

Went up to the high school to do another Fartlek workout on the track. Did a 3 mile warm up and then put on my Type As. I haven't worn these in years so it felt a little weird putting them on. Glad that I did though. Made me feel fast again. 1:1, 2:2, 3:3, 4:4, 3:3, 2:2, 1:1 and then did 1.5 miles worth of barefoot cool down. 9 total miles. Starting to feel in shape again.

11 miles this morning along the River Trail. 7:22/mile. Overcast and cloudy with a slight breeze made it perfect running weather. Thought I was going to get rained on but it didn't happen.

4 more miles this afternoon right after the rain storm.

Ran from the house over to my parent's house. 10 total miles. 7:19/mile. Felt good. Sat in the pool after ward to wake the legs back up. Felt great. 

Helped with the food drive this morning so I couldn't join Dave on his epic run. Ran from my house over to my parent's house again but took the loop longer into the fields. Decided to push 4-5 miles in the middle with some uptempo stuff. Miles ranged from 6:05-6:25. Felt really good. 6:53/mile overall for 11 miles.

Solid ending to the week. Wish I could have joined Dave on his really long run though.

8 miles this morning around Bloomington. 42 degrees made for a perfect morning. No watch. Good start to the week.

6 miles this afternoon helping the girls with the workout. 12x400m with 90 second recovery. Little toasty made the workout slightly more difficult than it needed to be.

5 miles this morning along with weights. Slightly cooler temps again.

Did a mile running around at the track meet in the freaking cold weather in Cedar.

6 miles total this afternoon doing the workout. 6x800m with the girls with 3 minute recovery in between. Solid stuff from the girls once again.

4 miles this morning and then spent the rest of the day spearheading our big Day of Thunder at the high school. Lots of fun but it was a lot of work. 

10 total miles this afternoon. Ran 5 with the boys along River Road and then ran with Spencer because he had a lunch date so he was a few minutes late. Did another 5 over to Little Valley and back.

7 miles total this morning at Dixie High School with the TEAM for practice. Had to go over here to do the workout since our track is getting fixed. 20 minute progression run with the girls and then 3x150m finishes. Solid stuff. Boys ran well today as well. Love being around this group.

9.10 miles later this afternoon after putting in sod to fix my grass. Ran from the house over to my parent's house. Just relaxed and ended up running 7:09/mile. Didn't feel that bad except for the heat. I had to soak the hat and shirt because it was so warm. I had a nice white, salty mustache on my shirt when I finished. Sat in the pool afterward. Loved this a lot.

Met up with one of my former XC and Track runners, Ben Powell, to run some of the marathon course. I have this crazy idea to try and break 2:30 again. Ben ran 2:38 last year for his first marathon and he has the same goal. Should be interesting. 

We started at the top of Veyo Hill. The plan was to do a progression run. I really wanted to focus on the latter part of the run with at least 6 miles of solid progression. The temps were absolutely perfect. We started and just were enjoying a good conversation and talking about fun stuff. We were working on sub 6:30 miles for a while and it felt surprisingly comfortable. Got to the top of Winchester and started moving. I ended up doing 7 miles of solid progression. 6:30, 6:24, 6:04, 5:55, 5:46, 5:32, and 5:25. Cooled a little to the finish line. Ended up with a 6:35/mile overall. Probably one of my best runs in a long time. Very happy considering that it was a busy and long week. Happy to end the week with this. Huge confidence boost. 

On a side note, we had 8 roadkills. Now time for staying awake during Conference.