All it takes is all you've got

A.M. 8.5 miles in 7:03 pace

Legs felt good.  Did some strides after a few miles. Gorgeous 38 degree weather.

P.M. 4.5 miles in 7:19 pace

Dark, peaceful, and slightly creepy at times.  I need to get out the door for that second run before 4 p.m. so I don't have to take my headlamp. 

A.M. Easy 4 miles in 7:11 pace. Nice run around the CU cross country course.  Felt good to shake out my legs. 

P.M. Met my team at Potts field for some running on the creek path.

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

4X90 seconds w/ 1 min jog between (5:16-5:18 pace)

2 minute jog

5 minutes at half marathon pace (5:32 pace)

2 minute jog

4X75 seconds w/1 minute jog (5:14-5:30 pace)

2 minute jog

5 minutes at half marathon pace (5:32 pace)

10 minute cool down.  Great workout with cool people.  Looking forward to seeing Richey for some ART on my calf tomorrow....its a little tight.

11 miles in 7:17 pace

Had a nice run on the East Boulder creek path with the cows this morning.  I considered playing "the ground is lava and you have to step on the stepping stones to survive."  You know, that awesome game we used to play as kids with the couch cushions?  I still play it with my kids sometimes.  But this would have been even MORE awesome.  I easily could have covered at least a mile of terrain using only cow pie stepping stones.  It would have been a record, I'm sure!  I wonder if there is a record in the Guinness book for this exact thing?  I bet there is.

Well, not today....maybe another time.  Today I decided to receive a warm welcome back home by my kids rather than being banished due to the stink. 

A.M. 6.5 miles in 7:14 pace

Now THAT is the wintertime in Boulder I know and love.....WHITE OUT!!  I saw Simon and Colleen run past when I was about four miles into my run.  The blinding snow disabled me from recognizing them until we were four feet apart at which point I spontaneously blurted out "SIMON" just to let them know I was alive, and I continued on my blustery way.

P.M. 4.5 miles in 7:30 pace 

Met Coach D at FAC for a nice chat and to touch base on training for the next few months.  He went over a lot of very important training and racing details and we formulated my specific"plan."  It was great to get some one on one time to pick his brain and make sure I'm doing the right things.   I'm looking forward to another session in the gym with Colleen tomorrow.

After chatting with Coach for an hour or so, I headed upstairs for another easy run on the treadmill while the kids continued to enjoy themselves in child care.  I love the fact that every time I pick my kids up from child care at FAC they don't want to leave.  It means they are enjoying themselves and being enriched while I get my stuff done. 

7 a.m. 5 degrees.  13 inches of fresh powder.  12 screws in my shoes. 11 friends.  8 miles.  35 minute "nomination fartlek."

Coach declared the order (alphabetical) and we each got a turn turn leading a segment of the fartlek.  Some of us got two turns so as to fill the entire 35 minutes.  The rule was that no one could surpass the "leader" of each segment and each interval was the leader's choice of between 30 seconds to 2.5 minutes.  The next person up got to choose the recovery time between 30 seconds to 60 seconds.  I enjoyed the couple of miles of MP or faster paced running, fun time laughing and chatting with friends, and of course the frozen face.

After my run I came home, showered, ate breakfast, got the kids dressed and ready, and went to FAC for a fabulous session with Colleen in the weight room.  New exercises=new sore muscles=good. 

16 miles in 7:04 pace

Couldn't decide whether to wear my screw shoes or not.  Did a 2 mile warm up in them and then decided to change into my regular long run shoes. It was slick in spots, but not terrible.

After 9 miles I did 2X5 minutes at MP with 3 minutes in between.  My 5 minute pushes were 5:53 pace.

Bonked pretty badly the last mile or two so because I don't usually run that far without fuel or water but I keep hearing about the theory of doing an occasional long run sans fuel to train your body to rely on fat, so I thought I'd give it a shot.   It was "fun."  I took a 1.5 hour nap later that afternoon which was heavenly.