El Burro Blanco

8 miles in the morning into Santa Clara.

8.25 miles in the afternoon with the kids.

I woke feeling great this morning.  I was really loose from the massage and I could tell a difference.  I went into Santa Clara and then back.  I was locked into 7:30 pace and just enjoyed the nice weather.  Beautiful morning.

First day of afternoon practice for the team.  Happy to say all the kids survived the heat.  I ran 6 miles with some of the boys and then went around making sure everyone else felt fine.  Slight breeze made the run somewhat bearable today.  Decent start to the week.

Met up with the guys this morning for our Tinman tempo workout.  We did a 3 mile warm up and then did 9 miles at Tinman pace which ended up being 5:51/mile overall.  We finished with almost a 3 mile cool down.  This workout was one of the better workouts I've done in a while.  Dave, Clyde, and me stayed together and helped each other out.  I can a difference with being in much better shape compared to when we first started these workouts.  Happy to be done for the day.

8 miles in the morning over into Santa Clara.  The cool breeze this morning actually felt cool.  I love running in the morning when it is like that.  No watch.

4 more miles in the heat this afternoon over to my parent's house.  Glad I didn't go any farther.  Nice and easy.

Big workout this morning with Dave and Aaron.  We met up at the DC and worked out the trail this morning.  We did a 3.5 mile warm up and then did 1 mile at Tinman (6:01).  We then did 5 x 1 mile repeats with 200m recovery.  We just went back and forth on the trail.  The goal for me was to hit 5:10-5:15 for each one.  5:08, 5:15 (headwind), 5:08, 5:18 (headwind), and 5:10 is how it went down.  My stomach was acting up from something I ate last night.  We cooled down back to the car and I got rid of dinner last night.  I felt much better after wards.  Much cooler temps made the workout bearable.  Happy with the times but know I could have done a little better feeling closer to 100%. 

I saw Clyde and Paul running so I decided to do about 2 more miles worth of cool down.  Excited to be running up in Pine Valley for the next couple days with the kids.  It should be fun. 

We made it up to Pine Valley with the team and I gave them a lovely hill workout at 7000 ft. elevation which they all enjoyed :)  It ended up being right at 5.5 miles.  I already enjoy the temperature up here.

3 easy miles this morning with the kids in Pine Valley.  We went over past the ranger station and into the park for a little bit.  Nice and cool this morning.

Most of the team went fishing this afternoon at Pine Valley Reservoir so I decided to go and explore some trails.  I went along the canal trail and then caught the Brown Point Trail over to the Whipple Trail.  I was cruising along and all of a sudden a huge 4 point buck ran right in front of me.  It stopped on the trail, gave me one good look, and then bounded up the mountain.  It was cool seeing this.  I came back around and it was a total of 4 miles.  It was fun to see some of the kids catch fish today. 

Later this evening I took the team up on some of the same trails I was running on this afternoon.  The kids were loving it.  We ended up seeing 5 more deer.  All of the kids said they loved running up through the trees.  I am really glad I could take them up there.

I went over with the team to the start of the race this morning so all of the kids could help volunteer at the aid stations.  It was fun for them to see me running.  They seemed to have a really good time.  I did a 1 mile warm up and then off we went.  This course was extremely hilly so I knew I was going to just be using this for a workout.  Dave and Clyde took off and I caught up to them 1.5 miles into the race.  It started to rain a little bit and Katey was coming towards us after dropping some of the kids off so we decided to drop our watches off with her.  It made the run more enjoyable not having to worry about the pace and how fast we were going.  We kept the first half of the race very conversational and then really "enjoyed" the hills on the way back.  Clyde and Dave were pushing up the hills pretty good and I decided to sit back and not worry too much.  I was about a .10 mile behind them and eventually caught up and passed Dave on the 2nd major section of hills.  We got to the top and I started to pick up the pace in order to reel Clyde in.  I was coming up on Clyde when Dave caught up to me and we decided to finish the race together.  We moved up by Clyde and finished the last 1.5 miles together.  It was fun to cross the finish line together and hear everyone try and figure out who won the race.  It was an emotional feeling crossing the line together with Dave and Clyde.  I almost shed a few tears.  We do everything together!  The cross country kids were really excited to see me finish.  I think it was the short shorts I was wearing.  They are not used to it.  I did a 2 mile cool down and then went back to camp and closed down shop with the team so we could hurry back to St. George.

Very happy with the week.  I hit some solid workouts and had a good time the last few days in Pine Valley with the cross country team at our camp.  Just need to stay healthy and continue hitting solid workouts for the next couple of weeks.

8 miles in the morning over into Santa Clara.  The cooler weather made it quite enjoyable.  No watch on the run.

6 miles in the afternoon with the cross country kids.  Slight breeze felt alright in the heat.  It is nice to see the kids pushing each other more and more each day.

3 mile warm up.

10 miles at 5:51/mile overall.

3.10 mile cool down.

The weather was amazing this morning.  It was in the low 60s which felt like heaven today.  I can't believe it was that cool this morning.  Clyde was feeling a little frisky so we had some faster miles thrown in there.  I felt really relaxed and comfortable for the run which made me really happy.  It feels like the body is coming around to what I need for the big race this fall.  Nice to push with Clyde and Dave again.  Put it in the bank.

Easy 6 miles this morning.  No watch as I went over into Santa Clara.  I am going to be done for the day since I have the cross country meet this afternoon.

The meet went well today.  My top girl took 1st place overall in the girls race.  This was really fun to see.  The boys ran awesome as well.  I am ecstatic for what lies in store this season.

Big workout this morning with Clyde and Steve at Desert Hills High.

2.75 mile warm up.

8 x1000m (goal is 3:10 for each one) w/ 200m recovery.

3.5 mile cool down.

One of the better workouts I have had in a long time.  Here is how everything went today.

1- 3:11

2- 3:08

3- 3:07

4- 3:06

5- 3:07

6- 3:05

7- 3:06

8- 3:03

It was nice to push with Clyde and get into a good rhthym.  I felt really strong through out the work out.  This is really encouraging.  I really enjoyed the cool down listening to Steve and Clyde banter about which weekend a race was 2 years ago and also learning about Clyde's dreams.  Fascinating stuff!

Nice and easy run with Clyde this morning.  The weather was awesome and I can't complain about anything.  The lower mileage this week has been good for the body.  Nice to look forward to a good 20 miler tomorrow up north.  I will try and run with Ben.

I ran with Ben Vanbeekum this morning in the North Ogden area.  We didn't get into town until about 11pm this morning so I was a few minutes late to his house.  I was really tired but knew it would be a good workout.  We started at his house in Harrisville and then climbed up in to North Ogden and then went over towards Weber High along the mountain.  It is not an easy first 10 miles climbing for most of it.  I wanted to hit at least 4 decent quicker miles on the way back but with how windy it was I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out.  

We started picking it up at mile 13 and I hit 5:29, 5:21, 5:25, and 5:44 (wind was right in my face and ready to blow me over) for the 4 quicker miles.  It was a flat section of our route and very windy so I was glad to get some okay miles in at the end.  We just cooled down for the rest of the run.  The cool thing was we saw 2 huge bucks along the mountain.  Sweet!

Happy to get in a good 20 miler while I was up for my cousin's wedding.  Mileage was a little lower than I wanted but my legs feel more fresh and I am feeling strong for St. George.  We will see what happens.

Thanks again Ben!

3 miles in the morning with the kids.

7.15 miles in the hot afternoon with the boys.

It was a nice turnout of about 15 kids for our first day of doubles.  I think this will really benefit the team as the season goes on. 

It was so stinking hot this afternoon.  I put out water for the kids and I am glad I did because I would have had a bunch of roadkill to clean up.  All the kids on the team are running very well right now.  I am excited for what lies in store for the rest of the season.  Kept it nice and easy both runs.  I was planning on doing a little more after practice but it was way to hot.

Big workout this morning starting at Clyde's house (13 total miles).  It was 80+degrees at 4:50am.  Yikes!  The plan was 2 miles-1mile-2miles with 2:00min. recovery in between each one.  I was a little worried about the heat but I knew I could get through the workout.  I pushed with Aaron for the first two and hit 5:12 and 5:18.  The third mile was 5:11.  The last set was 5:18 and 5:17.  I was happy with the workout but was extremely dehydrated after the run.  I tried to drink water throughout the day at work.  Still could do better with this.

5.15 miles this afternoon with the kids.  I did a short warm up and then had the kids do 1:1, 2:2, 3:3, and 4:4 intervals on the track.  I ran with the girls today so I could help push them.  Everyone is running great right now.  I am really excited!

6 easy miles into Santa Clara this morning.  No watch.  Katey got mad at me when I got home because I was dripping sweat all over the tile.  Oops!

7 miles this afternoon with the kids.  A little bit of cloud cover made it nice to run this afternoon.  I finalized the time trial course today.  It should be fun to see how the kids do.  I had another girl join the team today who has been dealing with pneumonia lately.  She will help the girls team out a ton.

12 mile run this morning with Clyde.  It rained quite a bit last night so it was really muggy.  Of course I was sweating everywhere.  It never really cooled down at all.  Kept it relaxed.  The only problem today was that Clyde's watch kept beeping because it was needing to be charged.  You have to love the Garmin.

Nice 2.5 miles and then had them do a 2 mile time trial.  It went well.  I will be missing two of my top varsity boys on Saturday so it will be interesting to see if others step up.  We will see.

3 easy miles with some of the kids and then 7 more miles when I got to my parent's house.  I was feeling great and ended up hitting the run with 6:38/mile overall.  Not bad considering all the heat.  I got into a nice rhythm and just kept it going.

Up at 3am this morning in order to be running by 4am.  We needed to get done early because of the XC meet today.  It was not hot but it was not as cold as I would have liked.  The usual St. George morning throughout the summer.  We met up at Clyde's and did the parkway loop.  I tried to make the run enjoyable by taking about an original episode of A-Team I watched yesterday.  After watching A-Team, I got some good dance moves on an original episode of Soul Train.  I used some of those moves this morning to lighten the mood with the guys.  Everything was nice and relaxed for this morning.  We picked it up the last 5 miles to finish up for the day.  I hit the last 2 miles really quick and caught up with Aaron at the end.  Another solid week.

Happy to be getting closer to the race this fall.  I just need to stay healthy and see what happens.

3 miles in the morning with the kids.

10 miles in the afternoon.

Nice to have quite a few kids continue to come out and run in the morning.  I ran 7 miles in the afternoon with some of the boys.  It was nice and hot but manageable.  Everyone is running good right now.

I did another 3 miles by my parent's house.  I ran with my little sister for a bit and it was fun having her along.  Really windy but it felt nice to get into the pool right after I finished.

Big day of running.  Ran with the guys this morning.

3.5 mile warm up

7 miles at MP

2.5 mile cool down

The route was not easy this morning.  It was flat with some small climbs.  I was not looking forward to the run that much due to eating Chicken Lime Enchiladas my mom made last night.  It was sitting well!  Once we got going I was hitting the times but my stomach was not feeling well.  I ended up having to stop on the side of the trail to take care of business.  While doing so, Clyde and Dave ran by and had a little chuckle.  Here are the splits: 5:37, 5:29, 5:24, 5:32, 5:27, potty stop, 5:24, and 5:26.  Really glad to hit the times despite being uncomfortable.  A little cooler morning helped make the run great.

I did "Mini Meat Grinders" with the team up Webb Hill today.  If you don't know Webb Hill, you are missing out.  I had water at the top and the bottom which helped keep the kids hydrated.  The kids did 800m repeats up to the gate and then came back down.  I ran with some of the girls today and then finished the last one with the boys.  The kids did great with the workout and I was happy to see them pushing up the big hill.  6.5 miles total.

Slept in this morning so I got all of my miles in the afternoon and early evening.  I ran 6.5 miles with the girls this afternoon and then did another 2.25 miles after practice.  It was really hot today.  I had to do a bunch of work and then I hit the roads again right around 8pm.  I did 6.25 miles around Santa Clara over into Ivins.  I finished at my parent's house and then jumped in the pool right after.  What a really hot day!

I did close to 6 miles with the team today.  We did an easy warm up and then did 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 1-1 up on the grass field above the football field.  The kids did great.  It was fun hearing everyday (everyone at the school watching the freshman football game) say how crazy we were for running in the heat.  I told the kids they are all fat and lazy so they can be proud.  Way to go team!

Another 6.5 miles after practice around Little Valley.  I got really dehydrated.  I need to drink more fluids.  Happy to be done though.

Easy 3 miles this afternoon with the team.  I am tapering for tomorrow's run :)

Woke up at 3:15am to meet up with Clyde, James, and Dave for a 20 miler.  We all went to dinner last night at Red Robin and were feeling the effects still this morning.  We started at Clyde's house and then went out towards Warner Valley and back.  The wind was blowing but still 81 degrees outside.  We kept it nice and relaxed which was nice since all of our stomachs were jacked and we were all basically asleep still.  We had to be done since we had the cross country meet in Cedar today.

Results for the SUU Invite:

Boys -

1st- Pineview (way to go Dave!)

2nd- Mtn. View

3rd- Canyon View

4th- Desert Hills

5th- Cedar

Very happy with the boys team results today.  Everyone on the team ran great today.

5 miles in the cool morning (62 degrees!)

I ran 2 miles before I met up with the team and did another 3 with them.  A lot of them were happy to be running in cool weather.  I couldn't agree more.

I did another 8 miles with the boys this afternoon.  We did an out and back from the high school over towards the new airport.  The temps were amazing and we got into a nice little clip.  I am so excited to see the boys pushing each other.  The girls are doing great as well.

Happy to not be doing a ton of mileage this week due to the half this weekend.

13 miles in the morning with the guys.  

6 miles in the afternoon with the team.

The temperature was 60 degrees this morning.  Absolutely perfect.  The workout called for 3-2-1 at MP with 2:00 min. recovery.  I got to bed at 8:45pm last night so I knew I was going to be fresh this morning.  The first 3 miles were 5:24, 5:20, and 5:13.  The next 2 miles were 5:25 and 5:24.  The last mile was in 5:08.  I felt really strong and was happy with the workout.  We cooled down back to Clyde's to finish the run.  What a spectacular morning!  I wish the weather was like this more often.

The team did mile repeats this afternoon.  I hopped in with some of my girls to push them and then did the last one with one of our faster girls and did the mile in 6:05.  The kids did great today.  Another day in paradise!