What a crazy week!

Well, my Internet service has been down since I last posted, so I have not been able to report anything since Monday's trail run at the State Park. However, I have had a good week of running. I have not done as much speed work as I had planned, due to the winds...sometimes, you have to be inventive when living in this part of Texas. So, today, I did short high speed 30 second intervals on the treadmill. It worked out better than I thought it would. I ran a total of 4 miles, and I did 8 of those short intervals, all at top speed, resting for two minutes in between.

The rest of the week was pretty good, despite the wind. I am looking forward to a good 6-8 mile run on saturday morning, though, and hopefully, that will go smoothly, if I can get out of bed on time.

Hills, Trails, and the Deer

Today, I woke up early, wanting to get a good run in since I abandoned my long run this past saturday. Mentally, I was not into it on Saturday, and ran a short distance before realizing I just didn't have it. I decided to rest saturday and sunday, and just take it easy, and it was great. I had a great re-bound this morning, and went to the State Park to run hills and trails. That place always lifts my spirits, especially when I see the deer standing in the road as I run by. I did a good 6 mile run in both directions, twice, incorporating the longer hills in each pass, so it was a great workout, and I feel much better.

Good run.

Tempo run

Today, I decided to do that ever important tempo run, and it was great. I went farther than normal at my race pace, which was the goal. I need to do more of these, and increase as much as I can each week, but am now running out of time...I needed to be doing these several weeks ago, and did not do as many as I had planned.

I was hoping that running at altitude last week would help me....maybe it did....ha! The workout was great.

800's on the track

After doing a mile warmup, I did several 800's at race pace. It was an interesting workout. My speed doesn't seem to be improving any, but I did these 800's easily enough. I think I need to do more tempo runs, as they may help my speed issues a little more. Right now, I am doing well just to complete my workouts as they come up. I am a little tired, and I want to run well in the Dr. Pepper 10k, but I am not improving on my speed, and it's been so hot, I have not had good workouts to speak of.

Maybe next year, I will not compete at all during the summer months, and just run early and keep some basic mileage up.

Running with the wind at Canyon De Shelley, Arizona

Well, I finally returned from the Navajo Reservation, and I have to admit, it was one of the most inspirational trips of my life. It was full of good conversation, service work to the Navajos, a lot of great road trips, eating Navajo tacos, and just enjoying life. I got to do some real trail running for a change...not the San Angelo State park, or the short, and not very challenging trails out at Abilene State park. I was actually able to run at Canyon De Shelley, and with that, one of my dreams came true. I have always wanted to do that, but let me tell you, the trail we ran was intensive and one of the hardest runs I have ever done. The trail was mostly rock and hard packed gravel and some soft sand in places. To make it even more interesting, it started raining midway down, which made the rocks slippery. The friends I was running with were younger, stronger, and faster, but I stayed with them, even though I thought the pace was a dangerous one considering the conditions. However, the payoff was at the bottom of the canyon, and once we hit the bottom of the canyon, we came across an ancient Pueblo (Anasasi) ruin that was at least a thousand years old. We stopped and took some time to look, transfixed with what lay before us! Then, we had to run out of the canyon, and that was no easy chore, but it was exhilerating.

We also got to do a lot of hiking in such places at Mesa Verde, Colorado, and climbed rocks at Shiprock, New Mexico, and Chaco Canyon in New mexico. It was an unforgettable trip, and we finally arrived last night, and as we approached Sweetwater, we encountered the most intense rain storm I have ever driven through. What a way to end a trip!

Jerry

Heading to the Mountains

Well, today is my last day in Abilene this week, so I wanted to get a good workout in. I went to Redbud and it was sort of cool, but humid. The clouds came up and there was a nice breeze. I got in a good 10-mile run, and was able to stop and hydrate every 2.5 miles. That helped a lot. I just kept a smooth easy pace, and it felt good to get a few miles in. I will be traveling all day tomorrow, going to Shiprock, New Mexico, and will soon be running in the mountains. Looking forward to it all.

Running with the Navajo

Well, this has been an interesting week. I have concentrated on doing more speedwork, even in the heat, and all is well. I did some one-mile intervals the other day, and tomorrow, I am trying something new: 2-mile intervals. I will take a small rest break in between, but will run them at race pace, just like the one-mile intervals. It should be a tough, but good workout. Then, on friday, I plan on doing a ten mile run out at the state park, running the hills and trails in the early afternoon before heading to the Navajo Reservation. Saturday, I will head toward Shiprock, New Mexico and will spend the week out there working with the Navajo, and I will be taking 20 McMurry students with me, so it should be interesting. There are several other runners that will be going with us, so I should have some company to run in Navajo land....I am looking forward to that. It will be my easy week, or cut-back in mileage week, so I won't have to run that many miles, but it will all be at 5,000' and above, with lots of hills and mountains, and desert heat.