AZ Run Dad

8.43 miles w/8 easy then some strides. When I finished at 6 am my daughter was just waking up so she came out and did strides with me. She's just 4 yrs old so it's cool that she wants to come out and run with me.

AM: 8 miles nice and early. Legs felt great but rough conditions. Extremely humid this morning. I was drenched and had to change clothes in order not to puddle up the floor during pushups and core. Avg. 7:01 pace

PM: 5 miles easy on the canal. This heat is wearing me out. Hopefully I'll feel fresh in the morning. I've got a tough workout planned.

AM: 11 miles: Tough workout today. Warmed up 2.7 miles w/drills and strides then did 5 x 1 mile on the road w/3 min recovery jogs. Splits were 5:17, 5:16, 5:18, 5:20, 5:20. First couple were comfortable, third one was hard, and last two were extremely difficult. It's not good to have to work that hard to hit the goal time (5:20) but my competitive side kicked in. I cooled down 2 miles after and felt good and wiped out which actually felt good:)

PM: 5 miles easy on the way home from work. 7:33 pace.  Ran in the heat but it wasn't too bad.  I was surprised my legs felt as good as they did after the tough workout this morning.

AM: 8 miles easy 7:17 pace. Felt okay.

PM: 4.5 miles: No watch today. Didn't really want to do this run but I decided to stop on the way home and just get it done. I ended up feeling really good the last two miles and then I did strides on the grass which felt awesome. Sometimes you've just got to get started.

AM: 13 miles:

Did 6+ miles outside then came in for a hill workout on the treadmill. The workout was 10 x 2 min on/jog at 10.5 mph and 3.0 incline w/2 min jog at 7.5 mph. After a few intervals the buttons on the treadmill were sticking so I had to hop off after each fast interval and reset the treadmill. I wasn't jogging during this time but the rests were probably less than two minutes. All I know is that I did do 10 x 2 min at 10.5 and 3.0 which was a good solid workout. After that I went outside and cooled down about 2.5 miles. My best estimate is 13 miles for the day.

Planned off day. Honestly it was kind of excruciating to be up in the mountains and not run. However my history tells me I need one day off a week to run my best. At 6 am I had been up for two hours, had 3 cups of coffee and wasn't quite sure what to do (I guess I'm not very good at the no running on vacation thing). Then he kids woke up and took care of that.

AM:18.44 miles: Yes we're in Show Low once again. Our last time this summer. Can't beat the 60 degree running temps and the kids love the forest. I got out before sunrise because Allison and I both had 18 miles today and that's almost 5 hours of running between the two of us. Someone has to be at the cabin w/the kids but that's just what we have to do. Anyway had a great run and watching the sunrise over the mountains is always awesome. I planned on taking this one easier but I always seem to push up the hills. Oh well, great training especially at 6300 ft. I was pretty tired by the end of this one. Can't wait to watch the 10k today. Go Rupp!

PM: 4 miles: Wow! That 10k was awesome! One of the better races I've ever watched. I was on the fence about running again and that race pushed me over the edge. Hard not to be on a high after that. I found a new dirt road to run on out in the forest and I heard a ton of gunfire which had to have been from hunters. During my third mile it was getting too close for comfort and I sped up to get out of the area. Anyway, it was a mostly easy 4 and put a nice topping on a great running day.