April 20-26

54mi. 6 days. My longest run was 14+ on Saturday evening. I was out for about 2:10. My biggest week in a long time, but it was nice to spread things out over 6 days. Even still, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday runs were all 10+ and 1:25+ with respect to time - so I was a little bit tired toward the end of Sunday's run. On Friday, I ran 2x10min at threshold/tempo pace with 5 minute rest inbetween. Hopefully, that little dash of "speed" (plus a shorter effort this week) will make the Sunflower Iron race feel a little bit better for this coming weekend. Then, I'll need to start conciously slowing down on the longer runs.

At Rest

April 13-19

40mi. Another 5 day week. I took it pretty easy for two days after Sun Mountain and then started running again with a 3mi day :) The next four runs were all in the 8-12 range, inluding an very nice run on Saturday morning the Andrew and Eric, and a nice late day jaunt on the community trail last night. Still lots of snow on Rader Creek, but its packed down and very runnable - for now. Its supposed to be close to 80 degrees today.

Also a great 4-6mile hike in Pipestone Canyon on Saturday afternoon with the Bondis. LOTS of outside time this past weekend!

The Sunflower Iron (22mi) is in another two weeks. I'll aim for around 50mpw until after that, and then I guess we'll start to go longer. I should get my Wasatch trail work date figured out pretty soon as well...

The Sun Mt. 50k

April 6-12 51mi. 5 days and one looong race.

Again, all's well that ends well. I patiently paced myself though 50k on Saturday, finished without crashing, and got out for a short run again on Tuesday. The two days off was over cautious (and subject to work schedules) even. 5:06ish and a 9th place finish for the first ever Sun Mountain 50k. James Varner and friends did an excellent job making last minute adjustments to pull this thing off. The course held up well on soft ground and was perhaps even more challenging than the original route. James estimated about 6000ft of climb, so it also qualifies as an excellent hill workout at this point in the spring :)

I'll hope to keep similar weekly totals between now and the Sunflower Rely on May 2nd. After that, maybe I'll finally get in a few long runs with my Wasatch cohorts.

Grounded

March 30 - April 5

40mi. 5 days. After getting ahead of myself last weekend, I put things back in good order by getting two solid days of rest followed by 5 moderate days of running. A longish but slow 14-15mi. on Sunday to keep me in the 40 mpw range, and things have recovered pretty well from the blow-up on Cougar Mountain. Steady as she goes. I also went for a nice family hike at Riser Lake on Sunday morning. Sweet striding in the finally springtime!

Out Like a Lion

50mi. 5 days of running. The highlight/lowlight of the week was a west-side run at Cougar/Squawk Mountain. My family and I took a spring break trip to the big city, so it seemed like a good idea to do my long run with some other people. Indeed, a fine idea. The first four hours were great :) I had excellent company and pretty ideal 40-50 degree running temps. It had snowed overnight, so the trails were a little rough, but it was still very possible to run, and much better than any trail options back in Winthrop at this time of year. The main problem with the run: it was too far. Alas, I had only managed about 2:15 for 14-15 miles on the roads at home. This run was 22mi, and I really started to feel it at about 4:15. Actually, it became a little scary after that. It took me around 1:15 to cover the last 2 miles, and I could not prevent myself from sitting down to rest every 5-10 minutes - even though I knew that I should keep moving. I was wet, cold, and wanting for calories. A couple of hikers heroically ushered me in over those last two miles, even though it certainly interrupted their afternoon of walking in the woods. I'm not sure what I would have done without their help, and that of the woman who eventually drove me back to Seattle Running Co. - and bought me a sandwhich, some pringles, and something to drink along the way. Thank you Julie! (I thought I had missed my ride. Turns out I hadn't, but didn't have the presence of mind to accurately place them in the parking lot upon my tardy return). Live and learn :)

March Totals: 173mi. 21 days of running
YTD: 303mi.