"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail"

6 fairly easy miles after work. Another humid day. 81 F - 66% humidity - 12 MPH Wind (the wind actually felt good when running into it..for a change)

Ran w/ Eric, Darin, and Sergio.

AP: 7:58

The Mayfest Run (5K and10K) that was scheduled for tomorrow, has been cancelled - due to the Swine Flu scare (can u believe that??). I guess they're leaning way toward the side of caution. Oh well...my boys have baseball and soccer games in the morning anyways, so I wasn't going to be able to run. But, thought I'd record it for posterity's sake.

Ran 3.9 miles with Jo at lunch. She hasn't run in about a week, so she wanted to take it easy. We ran between 8:00-9:00 pace. Felt really easy--barely broke a sweat. I think I'll run again with the speedsters after work.

It's a little tough being between races right now. My next scheduled race is a 50K in July -- I ran it in about 8:50/mi pace last year. I might give it a little harder effort this year. We'll see how hot and humid the next 2 months are...and if I get any good, quality long runs in...or if they're all going to be "survival" runs in the heat of Texas!

I find out in a week if I made the 2009 St George Marathon Lottery. I've got my fingers crossed!

Part Deux:
Darin and his 15-yo son, Zachary ran with me after work. Zachary is turning into quite the speedster, but has yet to beat his dad or me in a race. He runs track and cross country and has gotten quite a bit faster this year -- he's gotten his best mile down to about 5:20, but he seems to run out of gas in anything over 2 miles. He was talking a lot of trash, when we started out today's run at a "pedestrian" pace of about 7:30-7:40. He was saving himself to kick us old guys' butts in the last mile. We were planning on 5 miles -- so we toyed with him until the beginning of the 4th mile, when I decided to kick it up a notch. He stuck with me as we did a 6:36. But, then he started fading fast. His dad passed him, too. I coasted to a 6:56 last mile -- with Darin finishing about 30 seconds behind, and Zachary loped in about a minute later, with his tail between his legs. :-) (I'm going to enjoy it while we can..in no time he'll be kicking our butts)

2nd RUN: AP 7:17

A hot, steamy 5 miles after work with Darin and his son. Today Zachary wasn't feeling up to racing. It was 85 degrees, and very humid. It's going to be a long hot summer.

AP: 7:45

Went to Stillwater, OK this weekend to watch my sister-in-law graduate from OSU. Had a small party on Saturday. Stayed for Mother's Day. Ate way too much at Red Lobster (can you say Admiral's Feast?!)

Only got in 3 miles this morning before it started raining, and lightninging (had to call for a ride back to the in-law's). 

Back home now. Will try running a little tomorrow.

Got a free offer to run the Steam Boat Marathon in Steamboat Springs, CO (2 nights lodging and 2 race entries) on June 7th (it's a Sunday...good thing I run on Sundays :-). Thinking of taking the family out West during the 2 weeks before that and possibly heading through Utah before heading back to Steamboat. From the looks of it, Steamboat is only about 250 miles east of SLC. If anyone wants the other entry, please let me know ASAP. :-) If I do run this, it will be quite a challenge. It starts at 8100 ft elev. -- but ends up around 6400...so that's a good thing. It might be like running Park City -- go for the scenery, not the PR. 

I ran a fairly easy 3 miles after my daughter's award dinner at school. I only had time for 3 miles before it got dark, and I was running on a full stomach. Not a great run, but I got a few miles in.

On the brighter side, I won the lottery and am official entered for the 2009 St George Marathon!!!! Time to start training for about a 3:15 time. If I can maintain my fitness throughout the summer, my 3:19 at Boston -- and good race conditions in October could make it possible. I ran St George one other time in 2007, and ran a 3:20:02 -- while sick with a sinus infection. I need to stay healthy, and 3:15 should be within my reach...and best of all, I get to run with Huans and Jeff C -- on the way to their BQs. At least that's the current plan!!! :-)

I'm a little bummed that Teena didn't get in...I'm sooooo sorry Teena.

Ran a quick 4 miles w/ Eric at lunch. 

That's 3 days of running in a row...short runs, but still running.

Time to figure out how to do a short rampup and taper for Steamboat Marathon on June 7th. Probably a 15 miler on Saturday morning, then a 20 miler the following week. No big goals for Steamboat, but would still like to be around 3:30. 

 84 degrees, 54% humidity, wind S 16-20mph

Lunchtime run.
Started out with Eric and Darin. Eric dropped back almost immediately. Not sure what happened to him. Darin and I kept conversational the whole way, even though we were running mid 7's.

I felt pretty good (probably due to 2 days without running).

6 miles, AP: 7:24

Laps: 7:21, 7:21, 7:25, 7:26, 7:45 (uphill into wind), 7:06

Going to try to get in a 15 miler early tomorrow morning...before helping my buddy with cement work on the pool he is building---by himself.(he's braver than me).

My plans to run on Saturday were washed away...too rainy.

Ran 14 miles after church today. Nothing very note-worthy. This is the longest run I've done since Boston on 4/20. It felt pretty good. Though I've gained a couple pounds, I haven't lost much fitness. (HR was good for the pace). AP: 7:52

It was a beautiful day. 71 degrees, low humidity, light winds..ah..

I'm having fun reading everyone's Ogden race reports.

Our first morning workout. Ran with Jo and Eric before work. Jogged the 1.6 miles to the local track. Decided when we got there to run 400 M repeats. (or are they intervals?) Ran 6 x 400M with 200M walk in between. 

Fastest was #6(last): 76 seconds

Avg lap: 82 seconds (~ 5:30/mi)

The weather was perfect. About 55 degrees, no wind. Would have been a good day for a race. :)

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I'll be participating in the 1 mile walk around the Ft Worth Motorola Facility at 11AM.

Hill repeats w/ Jo and Eric. 

Jogged the 1.5 miles to "the hill". Did 5 "fast ups", "jog downs".

Splits (.15 miles up hill): 0:51 (5:38/mi), 0:54 (5:52), 0:53 (5:38), 0:47 (5:17), 0:57(6:25)

60 degrees, no wind, low humidity, nice running weather. Great way to start the day!

 Still trying to figure out the logistics of running Steamboat, CO on June 7th. Entire family+dog? Just me and wife? Drive/fly? Just me? Stay home (save long trip for SGM)? I need to figure out pretty soon what we're going to do.

 

6 miles at lunch w/ Eric and Darin. Nothing interesting. Felt very humid today. We all felst sluggish today. I'm still recovering from yesterday's hills, I guess.

AP: 7:38

83 degrees, 50% humidty, Wind 12 MPH.

MEMORIAL DAY 2009

Hung 'Ole Glory in the morning.

Slept in our friends' borrowed travel trailer with the boys last night (not quite the same as tent camping. The boys loved playing Uno before bed, then converting the table and sofa into beds. We might actually try going to a campground next time we borrow the trailer. (with a little more pre-planning and perhaps a RESERVATION. :)

Got to the trail at 7AM. 64 degrees, foggy, no wind. Felt nice and cool. Very sluggish to start out. Probably due to the 2 days off - doing manual labor (and eating too much)

Took the boys for a bike ride to the lake, swam for a little while, then walked around a local botanical garden. It was about 90 degrees later in the afternoon. I'm going to sleep well tonight!

8:20, 8:11, 8:05, 7:58, 7:36,7:57,7:13,6:59,7:03,6:46

AP:7:41

TUESDAY TRACK WORKOUT

We had quite the crowd this morning. Met Jo, Eric, and Darin at 7:15 at work parking lot. Jogged the 1.5 miles to the track. 72 degrees, pretty humid, no wind.

10 x 200m w/ about 50-60 seconds recovery between each.

Splits: :37, :38, :38, :39, :36, :38, :39, :40, :41, :34

Max HR: 162

AP: 8:53 (includes recovery walk between repeats)

Less than 2 weeks until Steamboat, CO Marathon -- this will be a long training run. Not enough miles logged between Boston (4/20) and now to give it a valiant effort (and it is way to high in elevation anyways :-) Maybe I'll carry my camera along.

Thursday hill workout. Nice weather. Felt like staying in bed, but met Darin and Eric for the 7:15 workout (I know 7:15 isn't too early for most of you). Was glad when it was over. 

Ran a 2-fer. Ran 7.5 w/ Eric at lunch. AP: 7:50

Ran another 6 after work alone.

Heading to CO next weekend to run a nice, easy 26.2 miles down a mountain in Steamboat. Not sure what to expect from myself. I've been taking it easy with the running lately, and been swamped at work. It will just be a long run with benefits (finisher's medal, event shirt, and breathtaking scenery)