AZ Run Dad

8 miles easy. First time having fresh legs on a Monday in a while.

10 miles: Warmed up 2.85 miles including drills and strides. Workout was 5 x 3/4 mile with 1/4 mile jogs on the road. Splits were 3:42,3:44,3:41,3:43,3:42. Jogs were about 2:05. This was a tough workout but one of my best ever. Good way to start the day. Just a couple more days and then we're off to Carlsbad!

8 miles easy around the neighborhood. My legs felt surprisingly fresh this morning. Can't complain about that!

10 miles: This was more of an up tempo run. I was running at a decent pace and then ran the last four miles in 23:37 as an actual tempo segment. I felt good this morning and the faster pace was coming easily. Always a good sign. Tomorrow is my 10 year wedding anniversary. My wife and I are headed to Carlsbad for the Carlsbad 5000 and a mini vacation. Definitely excited for this one. 

Easy shakeout run in Carlsbad with Allison along the Ocean. I always appreciate running in different places especially when the ocean is right there. I did 4 x .25 mile pickups at 5k pace toward the end of the run. We absolutely love it here.

15:44 was my official time and I'm not sure of my place exactly but I was somewhere around 10th. The races are all divided into age groups so I was running with only 30-39 year olds. This is our second year in a row doing this race and we love it. It's very well organized and the city is very into the race. It's also not a bad place to be hanging out by the ocean. My workouts have been going well lately and I knew I could run somewhere in the high 15s. It was just a matter of executing. I actually got really nervous this morning about being able to put it all together but everything worked out. I convinced myself I would not look at my watch and I would just compete. I've never been able to do that but it paid off. I set my watch to split at each kilometer but I only looked at the 4th one. There are a lot of fast people at this race and there was a group of about 15 that I was at the back of. I felt good and went with it just trying to hang on to the lead group. I had a feeling we were out quick and I hit the mile (clock on the course) in 4:54. Instead of telling myself I was too fast I told myself I was having a good day and kept getting after it. The second mile is the slowest mile on the course and I was able to pass a couple of guys there. I hit the two mile marker at 10:04 and I knew I would break 16. I have no idea what my third mile was but I first saw the clock when it said low 15s with a little more than 200 to go. I was able to have a strong kick and I was really happy with the result. My 1k splits on my watch were 3:05, 3:10, 3:09, 3:11, 3:07. This was an 11 second road PR and 19 seconds faster than last year. If I'm still competing next year I will be back for this race. It's a good one! We stayed around and watched the elite race afterwards. Amazing how fast they were running. The Olympic silver medalist at 5000 meters (Gebremeskel) won in 13:21. They were so impressive. 

6 easy miles in Carlsbad along the ocean before we head home. I added a few slower strides at the end to loosen things up. I'm going to miss the place.

8 easy miles around the neighborhood a few times. My hamstrings were sore from Sunday's 5k. 

AM: 8 miles easy around the neighborhood.

PM: 4 miles easy + 6 x 10 second hill sprints.

LT Mile Repeats 12.3 miles

This was my best threshold session ever. I warmed up 2.5 miles with some drills and a few strides then did 8 x 1 mile repeats on the road with 1 min jogs between. Splits were 5:26,5:25,5:25,5:25,5:24,5:25,5:25,5:21. Very tough towards the end. Cooled down about a mile to finish it off.

10 miles easy + strides. Legs felt great this morning and weather was perfect. It was hard to keep the pace slower than 7 min this morning. Great sign I guess. I'm getting pumped for all the people running Boston this year. Looks like some good weather this time around.

17 miles: This was supposed to be 18 with the last 8 cutting down in two mile segments. I started out with 9.5 miles feeling good at about 6:45 pace then I went into the faster portion. First two were 11:55, next two were 11:38, next two were 11:26, I was supposed to run the last two as hard as I could go but all I had was a 5:39 and I felt a bonk coming so I just jogged it home until I hit 17 miles. Overall this was a good run but I wish I had more at the end. I did take two GUs during the run but I only had one sip of water. Not sure why I got so tired but I think I did the right rather than going to the well for one more mile under 6.

8 miles easy: Roller coaster of a day. Pumped and excited following Boston and my teammates who won the team masters competition then the tragic events and hoping everyone was ok. Knots in my stomach all day. This kind of stuff is unthinkable. All of my Arizona friends were safe and accounted for. 

AM; 10 miles: Felt good today and once I got going I decided it would be a faster day. I didn't look at my watch once so this one was all effort based. My plan was to run the last 4 as a tempo effort. The run turned out to be a lot faster than I thought. Last 4 were 5:40, 5:42, 5:20, 5:16. I was giving a very hard effort the last mile. I seem to run better when I don't look at my watch. AP was 6:04.

PM: 4 miles easy Freestone Park 

8 miles easy in the neighborhood. 

AM: 13 miles: Big workout today. Warmed up with drills and strides then did 12 x 1k with 200 jogs on the road. Averaged about 3:15 per kilometer which I was really happy with. There were a few 3:17s and the last one was 3:11 but the rest were all 3:15/16. Great strength workout. It was a tough one for sure but this is the fastest I have been able to do this workout. A week and a half until the Eugene Half!

PM: 4 miles with my 5 year old daughter riding along on the bike. Our first run together. Very cool.

8 miles with a little speed workout this morning. Warmed up about 4.25 miles then did 8 x 200 on the road with 200 jogs. I set my Garmin to .2 kilometers so accuracy just isn't as reliable as the track but every time I go to the track my hip pain flares up. Anyway I felt really good this morning. Splits: 30,33,30,30,32,31,30,30. Have a great weekend everyone!

Mostly easy run on soft surfaces this morning. I pushed just a little the last 5 or so. My main goal was to not work too hard and I feel like I accomplished that and still got a nice run in. Weather was great and I was out as the sun came up which is my favorite time to run.

8 miles easy around the neighborhood.

8.75 miles: With a half marathon this weekend I needed a lighter workout but one that still got me moving pretty good. I did 5 x 3/4 mile w/ 1/4 mile jogs. Splits were 3:55,56,55,55,57. I was in control and didn't have to push too hard but it was still a challenging workout. I would say 10k effort so I got what I was looking for today.

8 miles easy around the neighborhood a few times.

8 miles with a light workout today. Warmed up a few miles then did 4 x 1/2 mile with 1/4  mile jogs. Ran 2:37,2:40,2:39,2:38. It wasn't too hard but I was working a little bit. I pictured just cruising along at 5:20 pace and that wasn't the case. The point was to get one last little bit of turnover without too much stress on the body before the half this weekend. Overall I feel great and I'm ready to race.

4 easy and strides in Eugene.

1:11:40 for a 45 second PR today. Ran with a nice pack for much of the race and competed well. Great crowds, great weather, and a good course. Ended on the track at Hayward Field which was awesome.

Finally got some race details up on our blog.  

6.75 very easy miles with Allison along the river and Pre's Trail in Eugene before we left this morning. Very nice run. Back to the heat now. 

10 miles around the neighborhood a few times. My legs were a little sore from the race but I have no hip pain which is a great sign. A couple of easy days before another workout. Looks like I'll be running Mountains to Beach Half Marathon and a 5k in Tucson before ending the season/cycle with the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon at the same place as the US Half Marathon Championships. I'm still a couple minutes short of qualifying for that race.