Same Time, Same Channel

I'm just writing to say that Golden Ticket played really well at Battle of the Bands but they did not win.

Also, I shaved Shaggy today. Can you see the hairs on his chinny-chin-chin? (He really hates when I call him Shaggy, but isn't he cute?) BTW, this picture was taken on the trek. He's wearing his pioneer clothing.

Easy run + 5 x 8 sec. hill sprints. Average pace: 9:30.

4:58 am, 65°F, 50% humidity, winds calm, party cloudy, as if that made any difference in the dark.

I stayed up too late last night watching track. I saw the finish of the women's marathon, the women's 1500, and the men's and women's 4 x 400 relays, which the Americans dominated.

In the 2nd mile this morning, I was running along a street approaching a point where a trail that goes through a green belt meets the street. I don't run on those trails in the dark because they're too dark and lonely. And they're paved like sidewalks anyway, so they don't offer any better surface than the roads. Anyway, I saw two headlights of what looked like a car approaching me on the trail. I thought that was odd because cars don't normally drive on the trail, though it is not inconceivable that a park service truck might drive on the trail, but even that seemed unlikely at just past 5:00 in the morning. Then one of the headlights moved in front of the other as they got closer to me, and I realized that it was two bicyclists. It was just kind of weird how your brain can tell you you're seeing one thing when you're actually seeing another.

This was just a typical run. I made a pit stop at a gas station in mile 5. That seems to be my new routine. In any case, splits on the easy part were 10:12, 9:28, 9:29, 9:02, 9:10, 8:34. Paces on the hill sprints, for what they're worth, were 7:10, 6:23, 6:08, 6:36, 5:52. I was really pushing it on that last one.

Fartlek Run. 1 hour w/ 8 x 20 sec. @ 5K-3K pace. Average pace: 9:14.

5:01 am, 59°F, 74% humidity, winds calm, partly cloudy again.

I gave myself 3 miles to warm up and then I started the intervals. The training plan doesn't say how much rest to take between intervals. I thought about 1 minute, but thought that maybe that was too short, and I thought that 2 minutes was maybe too long for such short intervals, so I decided to put 1 1/2 minutes of active recovery between the fast intervals. My pace on the intervals was 6:39, 6:47, 6:08, 6:34, 6:47, 6:37, 6:22, 6:59.

I was running along and I saw two guys running  up ahead of me. They weren't going very fast and I was gaining on them even while I was running my easy pace. But then it came time for one of my fast intervals right before I passed them, so I picked up the pace and really blew past them. It was kind of fun. Now thinking about where I was when this happened, it was probably that third interval, which was my fastest, probably not coincidentally.

A little while later, I saw a fox. It crossed in front of me, and then I think it was scared by my headlamp, because it turned around and crossed back in front of me and went up a hill and stood at the top of the hill and watched me as I went past.

I did the level 1 shred after the seminary drop-off this morning. And then I had to drive my oldest son to school because we bought him a string bass and it came yesterday and he was taking it to school today. It's huge. My husband has a 3/4 size bass, which is considered full size. This bass my son got is a 7/8 size. It's a good 8 inches longer than my husband's bass and is bigger in other dimensions as well.

Easy run. Average pace: 9:24.

4:52 am, 56°F, 77% humidity, wind 5 SSW.

They had a Parents Day at seminary this morning. Parents were supposed to go to seminary instead of kids. So instead of my just needing to be done with my run in time to take the boy to seminary, I had to be done with my run and had to have a shower in time for seminary. I went to seminary with wet hair. I probably looked like I had rolled out of bed just in time to take a shower but not dry my hair, when in fact I had been up for 2 hours by the time seminary started. Oh well.

I was obliged to run through some sprinklers this morning. Later in the day, I would welcome that opportunity, but at 5:15 in the morning, I'm not too keen on it. But it wasn't a problem. Splits today were 10:00, 9:50, 9:33, 9:17, 9:21, 9:11, 8:40. That last mile was a dash home to the bathroom. I should have stopped at the gas station in mile 6, but I chose not too. Lesson learned.

Progression Run. 8 miles w/ last 20 min. moderate. Average pace: 9:03.

5:05 am, 58°F, 57% humidity, wind 3 SSE.

Busy morning as usual. I got a slightly later start than I should have.

I ran the County Line Road to Quebec route that I first did a couple of weeks ago. Splits were 9:41, 9:29, 9:32, 9:20, 9:41, 8:54 (for 1/2 mile), 20 minutes (2.48 miles) @ 8:04, and then a little bit more (0.12 miles) @ 8:57 to get home.

Shaggy was supposed to walk to seminary today, but he hadn't left yet when I got home, so I drove him. Next time I tell him to walk, I'm going to make him walk, even if I'm home before he leaves. I was a little cross with him this morning, which is probably not a very nice thing to do to my son as he starts the school day. I was a little cross with everyone last night.

I did the shred level 1 after the seminary drop off.

Easy run. Average pace 9:30.

5:11 am, 58°F, 41% humidity, wind 3 SSW.

Just another easy six on my standard six-mile route. I neglected to turn auto lap back on after my progression run yesterday, so I don't have any splits recorded today.

My husband woke up several times during the night with coughing fits, so I woke up too. But I'm sure it was worse for him than it was for me. I hope I don't get whatever he's got.

My little toe is still giving me grief. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. And last night I walked to and from the middle school for back-to-school night. On the way home, it was dark and I was walking on the dirt path the kids have created across the green belt. I had to jump over a little tiny stream. I couldn't really see exactly where it was and where to jump to, and I kind of landed bad on my toe when I jumped. Tomorrow it will be 2 weeks since I hurt the toe.

Progression Run. 10 miles  w/ last 20 min. moderate. Average pace: 8:57.

7:32 am, 55-63°, 57% humidity, winds calm.

Another Saturday morning spent pounding the dirt on the Highline Canal Trail, but all by myself this time. The other regulars from the group called me last night and said that they couldn't make it today. But in other news, I've talked them into running the Canyonlands Half Marathon next March, if we can get in.

I slept on a recliner in my living room last night to avoid the noise and the germs that are in my bed. I slept better than I thought I would, so that was nice. I'll probably slept there again tonight. My poor husband is not feeling well at all.

My splits today were 9:47, 9:18, 9:17, 9:16, 9:13, 9:17, 9:03, 9:07 (0.55 miles), and then 20 minutes (2.53 miles) at 7:54 pace.

I'm thinking about those of you who are racing today. I'll check in later for race reports.