"I don't really need a duck"

Apparently I have lost some fitness over the last month, but nothing that can't be found again.  Had I been on top of my game I should have finished with a high 37 or low 38, but, none-the-less it was a great day and a good race.  This is the second year that I have ran this well done race in Riverton (they do a good job on all of there races). 

The good news is that I beat my time from last year by nearly 2 minutes if I adjust for the course length change (6.3 this year : 6.1 last year) and I didn't have any pain in my foot.  My splits were as follows: 6:02 (made an effort to manage a slower start, downhill), 6:07 (downhill), 6:27 (half up/half down), 6:29 (uphill but strong), 6:47 (big uphill (ouch) and long steady uphill), 6:22 (half up/half down - nice recovery from the hills in mile 5), 1:54 (6:16 pace for the final 0.3 miles).  I was 4th place behind 3 cross country kids - Bingham, Herriman, and Riverton (I will get them all next year).

I met James Barnes for the first time and chatted with him for a bit.  I also met up with Kelli (nice job running the stop watch), her husband (nice race), Rachel (gave me a nice race pick-me-up after the turn around), and her sister (definately not last). 

7:30 am - 4.35 miles @ 7:50 pace

I am still tired and sore from the 10k Saturday morning.  This ended up being a good recovery run.

11:00 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:05 pace - 51:22

This run felt a lot better than yesterdays and the light night breeze was welcome. 

FYI - Crocs are kind of annoying when they get wet (Squeaky!)

10:40 pm - 7.5 miles @ 7:36 pace

It was another I was tired and wanted to sleep nights.  I decided to go see what the Herriman track was like and the distance it was from my house (2.68 miles).  I ended up climbing over the fence since they don't seem to want people using the track.  I will probably have to use the Riverton High track for interval training.

10:40 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:11 pace - 52:02

11:00 pm - 4.35 miles @ 7:08 pace - 31:03

This run felt good after a long day.  Some of my form is coming back.

10:35 pm - 7.25 miles @ 6:54 pace - 50:00

I was definately feeling on on this run, especially when I hit the downhill portion of my loop.  My three downhill miles were - 6:45, 6:32 & 6:42.  I wasn't pushing super hard but I was giving it a good effort.

10:45 pm - 7.25 miles @ 7:26 pace - 53:53

Just a nice and easy run before calling it a night.

A big fat zero for the day - Sleep won the battle tonight.

11:00 pm - 7.3 miles @ 7:08 pace - 52:06

Another nice night run.  Took Steffin to see Harry Potter tonight - They did a good job with it and it wasn't as long as I thought it might be. 

6:00 pm - 6.30 miles @ 7:01 pace - 44:11 - So it is kind of hot at this time of day.  I definately could feel the effects of the heat.

7:30 am - I did a workout with Sasha today - Good stuff.  This is the longest training run I have done since before the marathon and the last few miles let me know it.  After a 3 mile or so warm-up we did a mile pick-up to see where I was at - The first quarter was nice, the second was ok and the last two were tough.  I ended up doing about a 5:55 mile which wasn't to bad with all things considered.  We then proceed are way up along the Provo River.  On the way we saw Lilly, Rachel and Kelli running the RHPC half.  Sasha plan was to run 20 miles (which I am not quite ready for yet) and I planned to take a breather at about 7 miles in and wait for him on the return trip to bring it back in.  While waiting for Sasha I ran with Kelli for a bit and had a nice chat.  I picked up again with Sasha for the last half mile of his tempo run (I trailed behind somewhere around 6:00 pace).  We finished the rest of the way at a high 7 minute pace and somehow managed to speed up a little the last 2 miles.  I couldn't wait to get to some water.  I felt that I got some good advice and I will be back for more.

10:40 pm - 6.7 miles @ 7:18 pace - 48:53 - I had some stomach issues and some general fatigue from Saturday, otherwise it was all good.

Noon - 4 hot miles.

10:00 am - 9.7 exhausting miles with several stops - My busy week is definately catching up to me. - I did do my 8x10sec hill sprints.

10:40 pm - 7.45 miles @ 7:10 pace - 53:26.  I got a lot of work on the yard done this weekend (the planter wall is just about done).  A pretty decent start to hopefully an improved week.

- About 60 meters of lunges

Sleep.

10:57 pm - 9.7 miles @ 7:33 pace - 1:13:24

I did the same run as last Saturday and it felt quite a bit better.  I did my 8x10sec hill sprints as well.

10:45 pm - 7.28 miles @ 7:26 pace - 54:09 - Another nice easy run for the week.  I did have to make a pit stop at Smiths, but all is well.

5:47 pm - 6.28 miles @ 7:09 pace - 44:55.  I really need to remember to wear my visor on theese hot afternoon/early evening runs - eyes and sweat don't mix to well.

7:30 am - I did my second workout with Sasha today and I felt much improved from two weeks ago.  At three miles in we did a test to see how long I could hold 5:55 pace (last time I barely hung on for a mile) which I managed to hold for 1.5 miles at closer to 5:53 pace.  We then continued to take it easy through the 7.5 mile mark where stopped off at the park up Provo Canyon while Sasha continued up for the tempo part of his workout (he totaled 20 miles).  I picked back up with Sasha for the last half mile of his tempo run at about 5:30 pace.  We then took it easy again for the next several miles.  Sasha asked me what pace I could go through the last 3 miles with - I told him low seven - He suggested 6:30 pace (I didn't protest or complain).  With 3 miles to go we started my tempo run for the workout and my splits ended up being 6:21, 6:39 and 6:33 (Sasha is a great motivator for me).  I definitely felt stronger this run and I am encouraged by my improvement.  I plan to run with Sasha again next Saturday.  One lesson learned is that I need to slow down my pace on my easy runs so I can put more effort into my hard runs - I will be certain to focus on that.