Winning Back What I Lost

6AM: Short easy recovery run. Not alot of sleep last night but I wanted to get this workout out of the way so I could to work early, so that I could leave work early and head to the mountains. That's alot of work to avoid working.

Hiking in the Sawtooths w/ my 15 yr old. 2k + total elevation gain. Just a day trip but I brought in the float tube, fins and waders so the pack was probably 30 lbs.  Still a ton of snow and the first lake we hit was actually still mostly frozen over. I knew that this was an above avg snow year but I've never seen it so deep this late into the summer. 

Noon: Slept in as a present to myself on Independence Day. It's what the Founders would have wanted. Easy + speed (10 x 100m strides at 5k pace). Very warm, near 80 degrees, but the strides and concrete made it feel much hotter. First 5 miles just above current MP and then my Garmin gave me a mssg that said that its memory was full.  I ignored it and just finished the run.  Estimated the remainder on Google maps when I got home. 

830PM: Easy medium-long run in the heat (high 80's when I left the house).  Should be doing all my workouts in the morning but I'm too lazy to get up early enough to run that far before work.

Noon: Lunchtime easy recovery run on the Greenbelt.  Bright sunshine and hot. Spooked two young deer (bucks) near Municipal Park. Very cool. 

6AM: 2M warm; 5M @ LT (had to work into it but finally got to the desired pace the last 3 miles(7:35, 7:24, 7:16, 7:16, 7:05); 2M cool. Tough workout. Got to bed late last night and woke up w/ stomach problems that didn't abate until I emptied the chamber after the run. 

630AM:  Easy recovery + speed (6 x 100m strides). 

630AM: Easy run.  Probably shouldn't have run at all this morning.  Came home with the flu after Friday night's campout.  Had some leftover antibiotics that helped get me upright again but I'm still feeling really lethargic and achy. Hopefully, I be right again very soon. Don't have much time to gear up again for Poky in less than 8 wks. 

9PM:  Tough interval workout. Temp in the upper 80's when I left the house. I delayed this workout a day and a half because I just didn't feel right over the weekend. I'm still recovering but much better than Saturday.  Ran over to the Mt View HS track as a warmup then did 6 x 800m @ 5k pace w/ 400-600m jogs as recovery.  Ran home as a cooldown.  After the first 2 intervals I didn't think I would be able to finish them but to my surprise I got stronger toward the end.  I also ran the first two repeats a little faster which probably had something to do with it. Nonetheless, I was encouraged that I was still giving the same effort all the way through. 

Noon: Easy recovery run on the Greenbelt. Warm & sunny but w/ a nice breeze.  Hips feel a little tight. I did some pullups for the first time in quite a while yesterday and I could feel some mild pain in my lower abs and hip flexors. I take that as a sign that my core is a serious weakness.  I'll have to remedy that.

6AM: 8.67 easy miles. Temp was pleasant and actually had a little drizzle to start the run. I'm supposed to get in a mid-week medium long run but, as is often the case, I don't get to bed early enough to get up at 5am.  Plan on running a short 4 miler this afternoon to get to 13M for the day. 

1230PM: Short MP run on the GB from Municipal Park. .5M warm then 4M @ current MP. 

620AM: Very pleasant morning. Sun & temp in the low 60's.  Easy + speed (10 x 100m strides).  Serious nipple chaffage these days. Time to get some more Body Glide before I turn into shirtless runner guy. 

930AM: Long, slow run on the GB from Riverside Park out to WS Golf Course and back. Battled some GI distress but otherwise felt pretty good. Kept the pace slow and then picked it up w/ some MP miles for 17 and 18.  Ran by the horse stables at Les Bois Park. Some really beautiful animals and good to see the place making a run at a comeback.

630AM: In the Cit of Angels for the next couple of days. Had to resort to the TM because there really aren't a whole lot of route options nearby (downtown).  Forgot just how difficult it is to run in place for an hour.  The fitness room and TMs were nice but I just wish they would have turned the temp down a couple of degrees. It had to be 80 degrees in there.  That and the lady next to me who cleared her throat every 5 secs for a 1/2 hour straight made this a particularly painful workout.  Easy + speed (9 x 100m strides at 5k pace).

630AM:  I ventured out of the hotel for a truly urban experience.  Headed straight up Figeuroa through downtown to Sunset and over to Elysian Park and Chavez Ravine.  Wasn't able to run by Dodger Stadium as planned. I could see it but the stadium itself is surrounded by a huge fenced parking lot that they closed off w/ security. The best view of the stadium was probably a half to 3/4 mile away atop the hills overlooking the stadium.  Very hilly run which surprised me.  Most of the climb was on the way out. 

630AM: Easy run on the TM. Decided not to brave the downtown sidewalks again. It was fun to get outside and explore yesterday but not fun enough to want to do it again.  Workout room was incredibly hot. I was soaked from head to toe.  Can't wait to get back home tonight. 

615AM: 8.1M easy. Ran to the MVHS track; ran 2.75M; ran home. I don't particularly enjoy running on the track any more than I have to but sometimes it's nice to avoid intersections/traffic w/o having to run on a TM. 

1230PM: I needed to get some more mileage in due to my unusual travel/work schedule this week.  I could have waited until the evening but my wife probably wouldn't be done w/ her workout until late and I just wanted to get it over with.  6.09M easy on the GB from AM Park to Willow Lane Complex and back. Very stiff and sore the first half of the run but I loosened up on the way back.  Warm and sunny w/ no breeze.

6AM: Easy + speed (6 x 100m strides).

9PM: Went camping yesterday w/ my girls so I had to push my weekly long/big workout to Sunday.  I wanted to wait until it cooled off but I could only wait so long.  When I left the house it was 90.  Felt pretty good until mile 11 when I had to stop for a Gatorade.  Downed it in record time.  12.5M @ current MP (7:40/mi).

9PM: No workout yesterday. Had to take my wife to the ER last night after she had a gall stone attack.  Not as warm today. Temp in the mid to low 80's when I left the house.  Speed workout: 1M warm; 6 x 1200m @ current 10k pace w/ 800m jogs in between; cooldown. 

Lunch: Beautiful afternoon, temp near 80 and sunny. Easy run on the GB from AM Park to Willow Lane and back. Felt queasy, out of breath and lethargic but I got through it. 

930PM: Sometimes I really regret not getting my arse out of bed and getting my run in before work. Today was one of those days.  Just couldn't stomach the 5am wakeup so I told myself I'd get in my mid week medium long run in the evening instead.  As is often the case, life intervenes. Got a call to help a young single parent family move their belongings into a storage unit which meant that immediately after a long day of work I'd be: a) on my feet lifting heavy objects; b) sweating in the 90 degree heat; and c) unable to run until really late.  This combination sometimes leads to a missed run but I hung in there and pounded out another easy, medium LR.  I've got a 20 miler planned for early Saturday so we'll see how well I recover in the next 36 hours.  Back up over 200 miles for the month after a 1 month respite for June. 

Lunch: Easy GB run on a very hot afternoon. Out and back from Municipal Park.  Supposed to get up to triple digits tomorrow so hopefully I'll get out of bed early for my weekend LR.  Getting down to crunch time w/ just over a month until Pokey.  I've only shed a pound or two since Utah Valley in mid-June but I do feel lighter and tighter. 

8AM: First 20 miler of this mini-training cycle. LSR on the GB from Glenwood Bridge to Barber Park and back.  Temp was warm but not as hot as it's going to be this afternoon (102).  More or less pleased w/ this run. Started to fade around 17 mi but then I picked it up and finished strong w/ the last mile at current MP.