All it takes is all you've got

9 miles in 7:03 pace

Felt great this morning.  6X50 stride pick-ups.  Did some pu-pu-su after my run just for kicks.  Also did my foot intrinsic exercises.  Thank goodness my achilles is feeling better! 

8 A.M. 4 easy miles on the TM at the gym.  Did some dynamic stretching too.

5 P.M. Met my team at East Boulder Community Park.  I arrived a little early because I had left early to take a check to one of Aaron's investors and it didn't take as long as I thought.  So I jogged a mile before everyone showed up.  

With the group, 20 minute warm up, stretching, strides.

5 minutes in 5:37 pace

2 minute jog

5X3 minutes with 90 second jog between each.  The idea was to get progressively faster.   (my pace was 5:37, 5:31, 5:23, 5:19, 5:20)

2 minute jog (actually 30 second jog and a visit with a tree)

5 minutes with coach blowing his whistle each minute cuing us to go faster each minute (5:26 pace)

Another visit with a tree (I probably shouldn't have taken that liquid iron supplement with lunch today) and a 3 minute cool down.  That is all I had time for because I had to get home, shower, grab something to eat, and give three girls a ride to our 7:00 p.m. young men/young women's activity night. 

9 miles in 7:35 pace

Ran early (5:45 a.m.) Saw hot tub man.  Its been quite a while since I've seen him.  I guess he gets up earlier now.   

Had to be at the Jefferson County courthouse in Golden at 8 a.m. for Jury Duty.  I thought it strange that I got a summons since Aaron just had Jury Duty a few months ago. He was selected to be a juror on a case where a guy was intoxicated and got in trouble with a police officer as he wrecklessly drove his scooter around his neighborhood.  Why some people deny their own wreckless behavior while they were drunk is beyond me.  Pretty selfish to decided its worth wasting a day of time for the judge, two attorneys, all the court room workers, as well as six juror's, simply to deny what was obviously a drunken mistake.  Anyway, luckily I didn't get selected to be on the jury today, so it only took a few hours out of my morning.  As a family, we've served our civil duty to serve as jurors for the year and hopefully longer. 

6 miles in 7:54 pace

Nice and easy, cool run this morning.  Did some foam roller, foot intrinsic exercises, core work, push ups, and pull ups afterwards.

Thursday is normally my long run day but I'm postponing it until Monday in conjunction with my race so as to save my legs. 

My last "work out" before New Haven.  Did it on my own when Aaron arrived home from HIS FINAL SERVICE DAY!!!!  HALLELEUJA!!   Not that giving service isn't great or anything, but 100 hours within a 3 month block was pretty straining on his time.   And now hes FINISHED!!  Yeah! Maybe I should bake him a cake or something.

Anyway...

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

4X5 minutes at marathon pace (5:56, 6:00, 5:43, 5:50).  Probably a little faster than marathon pace, but my legs felt great.

20 minute cool down

Spent the rest of the afternoon taking Bre to the dentist to hold her hand as she got to breathe through a cool darth vadar-like mask, get sleepy juice squirted on her tooth with a high tech squirt gun, clean up the sugar bugs with a flashlight, and then be rewarded with a shiny princess crown in her mouth.  Now doesn't that sound a lot more fun than going to the Dentist to be gassed with nitrous oxide, poked with two local anaesthetic shots, then having the entire pulp of your tooth dug out with a sharp, light-guided drill and covered up with a small cap of tin?  Its all about how you present it.  She behaved perfectly and felt like a princess as we left.   $425 later and her toothache is gone.

5.5 miles in 7:40 pace

Aaron went to run in the mountains early this morning and then we met him in Boulder Canyon afterwards for some rock climbing with friends.  The kids got to enjoy their first experience actually putting on a harness and climbing.  They loved it!  After the climb I took Aaron's car, went to the park at the mouth of Boulder Canyon, and ran on the Boulder Creek path nice and easy with a few strides mixed in.  Stood in the river for a few minutes afterwards.  It wasn't very cold, refreshing though.

I'm off to New Haven early tomorrow morning.  The race director notified us that the race will be broadcast live on  www.usarunningcircuit.com starting at 8:40 a.m. E.S.T.  I'm looking forward to a fun time meeting and racing with the elites!!