Turn your rut into a groove.

pm--8 .5 warm-up and then down to the river trail to do some 2/jog/1 AT miles w/ the varsity girls and Coach. We hit the 3 miles, hovering around 7:00/mile, which is :20-:30 faster than tempo for me. It felt good. It was nice to do a more intense workout w/ a group. The girls are super tough and awesome runners. 

3 More w/ the wif. She's getting faster. 

am--6.25 A moderate morning run w/ neighbor Greg. It took a minute to flush the legs but felt great after that. We went down into Sunbrook and back home.

pm--8 .5 warm-up and long, grueling run in the hot, hot sun. I was really dragging today.

pm--5 From the school to the church on Telegraph and back then 8X100-meter barefoot striders. I actually like striders. 

am--17.5 Ran w/ Bags from above Veyo to the N. Bluff chapel. It felt pretty good to get a long run in. Even though I don't always look forward to long runs, after I feel like poking my chest out and just nodding and saying, "I just ran 17.5 miles, suckas." I picked up the pace the last mile thanks to the little bottle of something special at mile 13ish. Oh and it was beautiful out. 

pm--2 more w/ the kids in Provo. 

pm--3.75 I chose to sleep in a little this morning and chaperon breakfast at the hotel. Spent a long day watching the team run well. Got home and went out for an steady, easy run up Lava Flow to Sunset, down Dixie Drive and back home on Country Lane. This was a good week and gives me a lot of confidence in my running going forward. 

am--14 I ran 3 or 4 times at the PVXC run-a-thon at 3 or 4 miles a pop. Each chunk, except for the last 1 that I ran w/ my daughter--she ran a mile straight and is awesome--I hit 8:00/mile or below, and it felt comfy. It was a fun day, especially when friends and fam came to put in the miles in the midday sun. 

am--4 Easy miles to run the tired out of my legs. It really feels like Fall is coming, temperature-wise.

pm--6 Warm-up and run over to Sunrise Tire hill. Up and down 4 times and back to the school. This is the first time that I have ever finished one of these big hill workouts. It actually felt pretty good.  

am--6.25 A good run w/ neighbor Greg. We pushed it up some hills and took it easy on some flatland. We saw 2 skunks, and I had to take a pit stop. 

pm--.5 Warm-up, core and drills, and a long run in what still seems like the heat. The body was really feeling the miles this afternoon.

pm--5.5 Warm-up, core and drills w/ 4-mile run, and then barefoot striders. I still love striders. Hope the boys do well tomorrow. 

am--6.25 Had a tough time waking up but was all right once I got going. Once again, it felt like a Fall morning. I wish the afternoons would catch up. At first, the run felt labored, but then I was able to hit 2 nice tempo miles--7:3Xs--and bring it on home. 

pm--4 Warm-up and cool-down w/ the kids. On top of that the varsity boys made my day with a call saying, "We won! We won!" Coach and I have to be some of the luckiest guys ever to interact w/ these kids on a daily basis. What smart, hard-working, tough kids they are. Congratulations, guys. 

am--20.25 A nice easy long run w/ Bags. Ran w/ just water and some water w/ some Magma Plus mixed in. No GU. The body was tired, but I was able to bring it down around marathon pace for the last 2 miles. All in all a good run. 

pm--6 2 things I have wanted to do are hit a marathon mileage day on a day other than marathon day and run 80 miles in a week. I was so close after this morning's run that I had to get out for 6 more. I feel lean and mean. 

am--8 This morning w/ neighbor Greg. The body feels like pretty good even after a long week. 

pm--4 Warm-up and cool-down w/ the kids on repeat day. 

pm--4.5 Tempo run w/ the kids. The tempo section was roughly 3 miles at 7:00/mile pace. I really like these runs. The kids work hard. 

am--6.25 A nice run through Sunbrook w/ neighbor Greg. Some chatting about politics and Spanish.

pm--9 Long run w/ 1 mile of barefoot striders afterwards. 

pm--4.5 Warm-up, core and drills, ran on the PV course, and finished w/ a mile of barefoot striders. 

4.25 w/ a few buddies on the Chuckawalla loop. Threw on the new clod hoppers that I got for Father's Day. They felt great. 

am--10 Had to get in a longer run this morning. It felt pretty good even though the legs were sore beforehand. 

am--5 Easy run w/the girls in Salt Lake.

am--7.75 Morning run w/ neighbor Greg. It started off slow and difficult, but then we got the pace up to at least Tinman for nearly 4 miles mixed throughout the run. 

pm--6.5 Warm-up, core, drills, and run up and over Foremaster. The days are becoming nicer. 

pm--5.75 My first run this fall, and, boy, were the temps nice. Easy, light, smooth, fast. I also had a great time today, watching the duel at the PVXC course. It's one of my favorite races. Watching the boys run in the front as a group is AWESOME. The girls ran really well also. Inspiring kids, the lot of them. 

am--6.25 Sunbrook run w/ neighbor Greg. It's really starting to feel like Fall. 

pm--4.5 Warm-up and cool-down w/ the team and one measly 800--3:00. I was huffing and puffing and blowing houses down after that one. 

pm--5.5 An easy run w/ striders at the end. 

am--4.75 A moderate-paced run on the Swiss Days course w/ neighbor Greg. We spoke Spanish the whole time. Que bueno. 

am--5 I woke up and did a little warm-up before the race. The last few days my achilles has had a little ache in it, and I have been thinking back to my last 5k and how hard it is to keep the pedal to the floor for 3.1. So I wasn't sure that I was going for the mythical 20:00s. As I got to the race I was feeling pretty good, so I just went out and ran. 6:30 was my goal for the first mile. But race day got to me, and there were some good runners that I knew to pull me along. here are the splits:

1--6:19 Feeling pretty strong and going faster than expected. 

2--6:27 Starting to wonder what the heck I'm trying to do.

3--6:29 Trying to hold on by visualizing my lungs as a balloon being inflated.

.09--5:40 Dying to finish. At this point I knew I was going to make.

I'm very happy about the race. Talked to Scott Hughes and Amber after. They both ran nice PRs. Races like this are fun to really gauge the fitness level. Training w/ the kids has really helped me get better, especially mentally. Those kids are so mentally tough. This Saturday is a good one. Hopefully, next week will be the same.

 pm--4 Went out for an easy run on the Anasazi Trail w/ buddy Tom. It was a little hot out.

am--4.5 Easy w/ neighbor Greg. The calves are pretty tight from Saturday. I gave them the stick a few times and applied some Wintercrest. This week will be pretty laid back until Saturday. 

pm--4.5 Warm-up and dogpound w/ the kids. I didn't put in the A/T part today. Just trying to run every day and work out the little aches and pains. 

am--3 Went out for a final early morning run before the marathon. I ran my old 3-mile loop. Tried to take it easy, but battling the wind made that almost impossible.