El Burro Blanco

17 miles in the morning.

4 miles in the afternoon.

This morning was probably the hardest and best workouts I have had in a long time.  I met up with Dave and Clyde again (I can't enough of them; especially Clyde's stories!) for a big workout at the DC.  We did a 4 mile warmup and then did 4, 3, 2, 1 miles worth of marathon pace with a 2-min. recovery jog in between each set followed by a 2 mile cooldown.  Here are my averages for each of the sets: 4-5:22/mile, 3-5:20, 2-5:12, 1-5:08.  I felt really good and the legs didn't feel too bad during the run.  During the cooldown I could really feel how heavy my legs were.

A nice easy 4 miles this afternoon which included a slight breeze.  I was beat because I did yardwork all day again today.  It was fun because we borrowed a big Bobcat tractor and ripped up dead trees and fences.  It was a adult size Tonka truck and I loved it.  Big start to the week.

12 miles in the morning.

8 miles in the afternoon.

Kept it nice and easy both runs today.  My legs were pretty heavy from the big workout yesterday.  I almost had to wear a shirt this morning because it was pretty cold.  I will make sure I stretch extra long tonight and get plenty of rest for another big workout in the morning.

12 miles in the morning.

8 miles in the afternoon.

The plan was to do a big workout this morning with Clyde and Dave but I decided last night that we could use another day of easy running before the big one.  We will do it tomorrow morning.  Yeah!  I ran this morning through Kayenta and it was nice and relaxed.  The temps were really cool.  I was actually cold at the start of the run.  I thought I would never say that down here.

I ran easy 6 miles with the XC team and then tacked on 2 more to call it a day.  My legs were thanking me for the extra day of rest.  Tomorrow morning should be tons of fun. 

16 miles in the morning.

5 miles in the afternoon.

Big workout this morning at 4:30am with Clyde and Dave again.  We met at the DC and it was pretty chilly (60 degrees; I know I am a wuss!)  We did a 4 mile warmup, 2 miles at tinman tempo, 6x1 mile repeat at LT with 200m recovery in between, and 2 miles of cooldown.  My mile repeats were as follows: 5:16, 5:05, 5:12, 5:04, 5:00, and 5:11.  The first one was a touch slow because I had to slow down for people walking their dog.  It was on a leash and almost impossible to see them that early in the morning.  At least the dog was on the leash.  I was happy with the workout.  My times are right where they need to be.  I can't complain too much.

I did a few more miles than planned this afternoon because we are heading up to the BYU Invite tomorrow and I don't know if I will have much time for a run in the evening.  Kept it nice and easy with the team.

11 miles in the morning.

I started at the high school this morning and went out into Washington Fields.  It is really flat and nice out there.  I really enjoyed the change of scenery this morning.  Now for a fun bus ride up north for the BYU Invite.

Clyde came up on the bus to Provo with the XC team last night.  Dave, Clyde, me, and Greg got up early and ran all the way through Provo.  We started over by the freeway and then up into the canyon for a couple miles.  It was a little windy but the conditions were not bad.  All three of us were complaining about our legs being sluggish.  We didn't need to push the pace until the 5 progresssion miles at the end.  We hit the first progression mile at 6:25ish and then worked our way up to a 5:39 last mile.  It was nice to run in a different area and get a change of scenery.

The BYU Invite went well for the team.  The course was long which made the times much slower than they should have been.  The kids are improving each meet though.  I am glad to be home where I can now relax and not worry about too much for the rest of the weekend. 

12 miles in the morning.

8 miles in the afternoon.

I had an unusually cold run this morning.  It felt nice but I was pretty chilly.  I had to stop 2 times in order to get rid of yesterday's food intake.  It was nice and relaxed so I felt pretty good.

I did a ladder workout with the XC team this afternoon.  They were really pushing it today which was great to see.  I am excited to see what they can do for the rest of the year.  I tacked on another 3 miles with the team after practice.  I got a bloody nose 1.5 miles into my run.  I knew it was bad so I hurried back to the school.  I had a couple kids look at me and say, "Your nose is bleeding!"  No kidding.  I got back to the school and looked at myself in the mirror.  I was a wreck.  I looked like Rocky after each of his fights.  I survived and got all cleaned up though.  Yo Adrian!

12 miles in the morning.

8 miles in the afternoon.

A nice run this morning out into Kayenta again.  I thought I was going to get rained on but it never happened.  It was really dark so it was a little hard to see where I was running.  My depth perception was really bad.

Ran with the XC team this afternoon.  It was a nice and easy run.  About the same as yesterday except no bloody nose today.

16.10 miles in the morning.

5 miles in the afternoon.

I was not feeling the best for some reason going into this workout.  Clyde is sick so it was just Dave and me at the good old Dixie Center.  We did a 5 mile warmup and then the plan was for 3 miles at tinman, 4 miles at MP, and 3 miles at LT with a cooldown at the end.  The miles went as follows: 6:12, 5:56, 5:58, 5:26, 5:25, 5:26, 5:25, 5:19, 5:34 (BLAH!), 5:41 (EXTRA BLAH!).  The wind picked up the last two miles but it is still no excuse for the slower miles.  I did a mile cooldown and called it a day.  It was an okay workout but I would have liked to finish much stronger.  Oh well!  You have got to roll with the bad times every once in a while.

I had the kids on the XC team do hill repeats today.  It is nice to see a ton of them pushing it.  I ran nice and easy with them to and from mini Webb hill.  It was a good time had by all.  Maybe?

10.75 miles in the morning.

9 miles in the afternoon.

I was really enjoying the run this morning out in Kayenta until I heard a dog barking.  I thought it was in its kennel but it came sprinting after me and was nipping at my heels.  I went anaerobic for 3.5678910 seconds while barking back at the dog.  I survived but decided to go back to my house on Highway 91.  What an eventful morning!

I explored around the high school again for a decent XC course.  I am getting closer and closer to figuring something out but there are still a few places along the course I would like changed.  I kept everything nice and easy and my legs were very grateful for it.  Thankfully no dog encounters this afternoon on the run.

8 miles in the morning

13.10 miles in the afternoon.

A nice and easy 8 miler this morning.  The weather was once again nice and cool which made it quite enjoyable.

We did a fundraiser run this evening for the XC team.  We ran from 7-11pm around the high school.  Each runner went out and got donations per lap or mile.  I did a half marathon nice and easy and called it a night.  I knew I had a big workout in the morning.  It was nice to see all the kids run.  Everyone on the team averaged about 13 miles tonight.  Most of them broke it up and took breaks but it was a great motivator for many of them because now they know they can wrong more miles without worrying too much about it. 

Big workout with Clyde this morning.  I met up with him and Steve.  Steve drove up to Snow Canyon and ran 13 miles this morning.  It was great to see him out and running.  Clyde and I ran from the store up through Snow Canyon and then hammered it back down the marathon course.  We kept it nice and relaxed up through the park.  I decided to push the pace a little bit up the last big hill.  I ended up hitting a 6:15 mile right before stopping to get some water and taking a gel.  Clyde had some wonderful stomach issues this morning which made the run quite eventful.  We got started on the last 7 miles to really hammer it.  Here are my last 7 mile splits:

1- 5:12

2- 5:08

3- 5:08

4- 4:45

5- 4:39

6- 4:55

7- 4:59

I was happy to finish the run like this.  I know I am not running St. George this year but it was really nice to get some great leg turnover for the last 7 miles.  I have done a lot of hill work and flat land speed work so I am feeling more confident about Twin Cities in a couple weeks.  Clyde hammered it as well and is ready to go this year.  We did a 1 mile cooldown and then called it a day.  I am very happy for the finish to this week.  3 weeks to go!

16 mile in the morning.

3.40 miles in the afternoon.

Big workout with Clyde this morning.  I guess Dave slept in this morning until 4:45!  What a lucky guy.  Clyde and I met at the DC and did a 7 mile warmup and then did 7 miles at MP tempo with a 2 mile cooldown.  Both of us were really dragging during the 7 mile warmup and were both contemplating to just bag the tempo all together.  I had 3 potty stops and was not feeling that great.  My legs were still a little heavy from Saturday's workout.  We both said to heck with it and went for the tempo.  I hit the first mile in 5:21 and was not feeling that great.  I wanted to pull out but I fought through it and kept telling myself that this is the end of the marathon and I need to finish strong even though my legs were trash.  I ended up hitting 5:28/mile overall for the 7 mile MP tempo.  I was very happy with this because it was on dead legs.

During the 2 mile cooldown I puked twice and Clyde had to witness it both times.  We both had a good laugh and kept on trucking on.  I actually felt a lot better after this.  It was quite the eventful run this morning.  Not to many more of these until TCM.

I did a very easy 3.40 miles after XC to finalize a course for tomorrow.  Dave is bringing his team of Pineview Panthers over here to battle the Desert Hills Thunder.  It should be a lot of fun.  Meet time is at 4pm and should be a lot of fun if anyone wants to come.

10 miles in the morning.

5.25 miles in the afternoon.

I found a new 10 mile route through the Santa Clara Heights.  It is kind of fun going up and down the streets.  It was nice for a change of scenery.

Dave's team came over and we had our dual meet.  It was lots of fun and I think the kids enjoyed it quite a bit.  The wind and rain started coming down pretty bad when the boys started but only lasted for about 10 minutes.  I love the weather down here.  It can be bad for just a little bit and then be great again.  Their is a lot of work that goes into putting on a meet though.  I'm tired!  I did a nice 5.25 miles up along the Arizona Strip.

10 miles in the morning.

8.5 miles in the afternoon.

I did the same run this morning as yesterday morning.  It felt really good.  I like the slow and easy runs.  They make me happy.

I had a good talk with the XC team this afternoon.  We talked about the team goals and how we need to really grit down and focus in order to achieve them this year.  It went well and I hope they continue pushing hard for the rest of the year.  We did just over 4 miles pretty easy and then I tacked on another 4.5 miles afterwards.  Another big workout in the morning.

I am happy to report that Parent Teacher Conferences are going well.  Yeah!

16 miles in the morning.

Another one in the books. Papa Bear was not there this morning so I was a little sad. Dave and I did a 4 mile warmup into Green Springs and then did 2 miles at Tinman tempo back to Pineview. We then did 8x1000m with 200m recovery. Here are the splits: 3:08, 3:05, 3:06, 3:05, 2:59, 2:58, 3:01, 3:04. I was happy with this workout. I got a little antsy on the 5th and 6th one but they felt fine. Dave and I did a 4 mile cooldown. I am happy to now be done for the day.

I still miss you Papa Bear! We need to go too the mountains.

6 miles in the morning.

4 miles in the afternoon.

I slept in a touch this morning and was only able to get in 6 miles. Oh well! I really needed the extra sleep.

4 easy miles in the afternoon in the wonderful St. George heat.

Katey, me, Clyde, and Mik'l stayed up at Oak Grove Campground last night and had a really good time.  It was fun camping over night and then waking up for a nice long run.  Dave met up with us this morning for our long 23 mile run.  It was a long, rolling, dusty road but it made the run quite enjoyable.  We weren't try to kill this run so it was nice and relaxed.  We ran right along Pine Valley Mountain.  It was all on the trail.  I wanted to be careful at times because it was fairly rocky terrain.  I had a really good time with this run but I was pretty tired and not feeling well on certain parts of my body towards the end.  Life is good and I can't wait to enjoy the next 2 weeks.  The Twin Cities Marathon is right around the corner.  I am ready to go!

The joy of tapering.  I might get emotional.  I told Katey this morning that I don't have an afternoon run today and she almost passed out due to shock.  I wore the Saucony Fastwitch 3s this morning.  I am contemplating if I should wear them at Twin Cities or stick with my Banditos.  I really liked them on my run this morning.  The roll on them felt great.  I finished up the run with 8x100m strides.

7 miles in the morning.

5 miles in the afternoon.

I ran an easy 7 miles this morning. It was a little chilly. The temps were right around 59 degrees! I am such a wuss now. Everything felt great except for my hamstring. It is a little tight. I am glad to be seeing April tomorrow so she can get me all squared away for the marathon.

A nice and easy 5 miles with the XC team. Most of them were a little beat up from the big workout yesterday. They are really doing great. I am very impressed with them.

15 miles in the morning with the boys.

Met up with Dave and Clyde and the DC for one last decent workout.  We are all tired of running on this trail.  We did a 5 mile warmup and then 4x4:00 fartleks at CV pace with 2-min. recovery in between each one with just over 5 miles for the cooldown.  It felt good pushing the legs again this morning.  Decent workout and happy to be done for the day.  Ran into Scott Hughes on the trail.  It was nice to see him out and about. 

Hopefully I survive tonight with my massage from April!

2 miles in the morning.

5.30 miles in the afternoon.

Yes, 2 miles in the morning.  My massage with April went well but she beat me up really bad.  My legs were sore still so I only did 2 miles.  I got home and made Katey breakfast.  The only problem was she had to eat it at 6:30am in the morning.  The legs were grateful for the short stuff.

I ran real easy with the team this afternoon.  My legs felt much better and I am thrilled about that.  I might try and make up some miles tomorrow but if not, oh well! 

7 miles in the morning.

5.60 miles in the afternoon.

7 easy miles this morning around the wonderful town of Santa Clara.  The legs felt much better this morning.  I just need to keep drinking plenty of fluids and stretch in order to work this massage out.

I did a couple strides during my run this afternoon just to see if the legs are going to be okay for the 5k in the morning.  I felt okay and I think I should live to tell about it.

I ran 2.25 miles of a warmup with Clyde and Dave.  They weren't running in the race but came over for support.  The race went good.  I wasn't trying to overdo anything but rather get a good race to keep me focused for next week.  Hayden, Aaron, and me went out and led the entire race.  Aaron, who ran in college back east, went back and forth with me.  We hit a fast 2nd mile, 4:47.  I was leading and had to completely stop because the cop who was driving the pace car literally stopped right in front of me.  I stopped and slapped the back of his trunk because I was a little frustrated.  It through off my rhythm a bit but oh well.  Aaron and Hayden took off the last half mile and I decided to keep it nice and relaxed to finish because I didn't want to hurt anything.  I was feeling the effects of April's massage still.  

I am happy about the race.  I almost PR'd by :30 seconds and I didn't feel like I taxed my body too much.  I averaged 4:58/mile overall which made me happy.  I finished and then ran another 9.5 miles with Clyde and Dave for my "cooldown."  Great race by Aaron and Hayden.  I realized once again that I don't really like the 5K.  This gave me some real confidence for next weekend.  I will be mixing it up with the big guys at TCM. 

5 mile in the morning.

9 miles in the afternoon.

5 miles around really dark Ivins this morning.  I saw a really big shooting star this morning.  It was pretty cool.  No turtle but still cool nonetheless!

I did my mini speed workout with the XC team this afternoon.  It was 90+ degrees again!  Where is the cool weather?  We did a 20 minute nice and easy warmup and then did 5x :30 sec. @ race pace with :30 jog and then did 1 mile at threshold pace.  We did a cooldown back to the school and then I added on a couple more miles to make it 9 for the afternoon.  I didn't want to overdo today.  No need.  Just need to really get physically and mentally ready for the race this weekend.

Planned day off. The legs will be grateful for it. I will use the foam roller and take another ice bath this afternoon and then stretch really good. Legs feel good.