Relentless

morning - 15.5 Twix/Rim Trail. Ran around 3 with he dog. Then a bunch of the team went over to Hurricane and ran the Rim Trail. Awesome run as always. (Riders 697)(VertK 648)

AM - abs, 25 min walk with the dog, and weights. 

afternoon - 6.5 Middleton/GS.  Just an ehh run.  One of those that feels like it takes forever 'cause you don't really feel great and we were just kind of exploring around with no real destination.  However, the route was pretty cool - under the new overpass, into Middleton and to the pond, then connect over the red cliffs to Green Springs.  (Cumulus 276.25)

AM - 10.25 Twix/AC/DI.  Hit the Parkway with Twix and then the usual morning run with the team and extended around the DI.  Felt a little better than yesterday as far as fatigue goes.  The morning temps are nice right now.  Finished up with abs.  (Peg oly 275)

afternoon - 5.5 track.  Warmed and then started into the CV workout.  Noticed that the right hammy was feeling pretty tight.  But didn't stress; things tend to warm up.  However, by the 4th 400 the leg was pretty tight and on the recovery I just lightly stretched.  As we went into the 800, it still felt tight and coming down the homestretch the 1st time, I felt a twinge.  So I pulled out and was bummed out.  Tried to join the boys for their cool, thinking some light jogging would help it out.  It didn't.  I got 1/2 mile out and had to walk back to school.  Pretty lame.  Just when I was getting into some sort of shape.  Hopefully it is just a little setback.  I'll probably take tomorrow off.  Don't know if I'll run DogTown, wasn't totally sure if I would anyway... but I'm guessing I won't have to make the decision now anyway.  (Pace blue 137.5) 

AM - no running today (or even walking the dog).  Just woke up and did abs then went to weights.  Can still feel a bit of weirdness in the leg.  

AM - Leg still feels a bit off.  Had thought about going a little this morning, but decided against it.  Did abs and yoga.

afternoon - 5.5 Panorama. Just wandered around a bit. For me it was a test of the hammy. Tons of tightness and weakness in there. I really thought I could do a solid half tomorrow, but that is very much in doubt. Ended with 6xstriders - very controlled pace. (Peg grey 289.75)

AM - 2.5 Twix. Ran a little with the dog to make my final decision on racing. Pick it up to race pace for about 1/4 just to see if it was even possible. Still very iffy, but I decided to give it a shot anyway. 

DogTown Half Marathon     1:14:29

Didn't warm up any more, just taped up my leg and threw in some pain patches and hoped for the best.  A little change in the course this year - start out by DATS and didn't go all the way up Majestic hill (made for a faster course - I had hoped for a solid 1:13 after running a mid-high 1:15 last year, but now just prayed to finish). Started off with a group of my boys in the 3rd place pack. We set a solid pace around 5:40-:45 and clicked off the miles.  Every now and then we would dip into the :30's and thing felt okay aerobically, but I was very worried about my hammy - it really felt like it would pop at any minute, so I didn't dare push it any more; that's okay, though, because it helped keep the boys under control and able to finish strong. Our group broke up at around 10 and now Alex and Julien and I yo-yo'ed back and forth about 5 times. I was proud of all of them: Mitch finished very strong, Alex really responded each time I moved up to him, Julien fought like a beast the last couple miles, Carson battled stomach probs to finish solid, Logan really ran solid, and so did Mikey and Nathan. Then I ran down to finish with the girls and they were just doing awesome!  They are such a tough group. I ran the last 1 1/2 with Ry. She wasn't feeling great, but fought on in for a 3 min PR. I've said stuff like this before, but I really don't think too many hs's in the country could match what we did today - 3 boys under 1:14:30 with a fourth who would have if not for his stomach and a fifth who could have if he was in town, then 2 (and a 3rd who didn't run and would have) at 1:18; then 5 girls under 1:31 (with two more who would have if they had run... recovering from injuries, well one is an 8th grader but I'm counting her!). (Peg black33 84)

Survived the week, dang hammy though.  And completed my first race in 1 year (last was DogTown last year).  If it wasn't for this hammy I think a very solid 1:13 would have happened; so progress.

Goals for next week: I really want to enjoy the Red Mountain 30K and hit a decent time, but I gotta get Gus leg better  it is very sore and painful right now.