10K

Yesterday: 45 min on elliptical. I had a good amount of muscle soreness from yesterday's race. Hills! Not used to them!

Today: 10K racewalking in St. George, Utah. We came here on Thanksgiving, in the afternoon, so that Calvin could play in a soccer tournament. It's warmer here than at home, but it's cold here too. Today it was 34F (1.1C) to 37F (2.7C) during my walk, but it was sunny and not windy, so that was good. It was actually decent out. It's quite hilly where we are staying, so I got another hill workout in. I was pretty fast considering the 110m (360ft) of elevation gain (and loss) on the out and back course. I went downhill to 2.5km, then uphill to 5km, then the same on the way back. The first and last km were ridiculous --- so hilly I could barely racewalk up on the way back, but I managed to walk legally.

Total time 1:03:02 for 6:18/km with ave HR 146. That's pretty good on those hills!

Photos are from today's walk. It's pretty here with all the red rock.



Garmin data here. 

Cold Turkey 6K - 2015 edition

Thanksgiving Day! Time for the annual turkey trot. Ours starts at the State Capitol and goes up City Creek Canyon before turning around and descending through Memory Grove. It's a net downhill, but a tough course. I figured if I could do 6:00/km that'd be good, in my current shape. The race is billed as a 6K, but every year my Garmin says 6.22 or 6.23, and the course isn't certified, so I figure it's long and usually go with my Garmin for distance (I know Garmin is not as accurate as a certified course, but I know the race director and he measured it with GPS once, so...yeah...).

Calvin came with me and was hoping to get 1st in his age group like last year (though I repeatedly told him it's all about who shows up!) or at least a PR. The latter seemed entirely feasible, as he's in good shape from soccer and enjoys a good hard run.

We did a short warm-up because we were a bit late (dog puked on carpet...sigh....good thing I have a carpet cleaner!). The weather was much warmer than expected; not that it was warm, but it was predicted to be 18F (-8C) and was actually 30F (-1C). With the sun out at the race start, I removed the sleeves from my jacket and pocketed them, wearing just a long-sleeve with the now short-sleeved jacket. I was warm enough, though in the canyon with no direct sun it was chillier.

When we started off I knew this wasn't going to be easy. It's a slight uphill to start but I was very slow off the line, with my first 500m in 3:12. Ugh. I sped up and did two 3:07s before the real hill started, and then all bets were off because I've done ZERO hill training! I tried to keep it a little under what I was capable of, knowing there would still be 3k after the turnaround. I did 3:15, 3:19 (!) and 3:15 up the hill...geez, slow. But the downhill was reasonably fast, and I finished in 37:12 by the chip for 5:59/km with a low ave HR of 156. I felt I was pushing hard, but I think I could've pushed harder up the hill and a bit after the turnaround (my HR went down after the turnaround so I guess I should've gone faster). The problem was that I wasn't confident enough on the hill to push that hard and know I'd have something left. Too cautious. Oh well! It's still my 4th best on this course, and given where I'm coming from I think it's reasonable. It was fun to be out there.

Calvin did a PR of 31:27, but the competition was stiff this year and he finished 6th with a time that would've won 1st in the age 9-11 group last year. This is his last year in that age group, so he was hoping to do better, but he was pretty good about it and said he had run a good hard race and was very happy with his time, even if he was disappointed with the fact that all the fast boys showed up. The male overall winner did just under 20 min (wow!!!) and the female overall winner did just over 22 min (and was only 17! wow!).

All in all, a great way to start our holiday weekend.  Photos below, including one of the hilarious costume of a hunter...in camo tights with flannel hat and reflective vest and fake gun and nothing else --- brrrr!

3x1000 = 1x1170m, 2x878m (indoor track)

Yesterday: rest day! Ahhhh...but I was very busy with the usual: work, violin lessons, cooking dinner, getting shoes for Grace, continuing to unpack/organize new house, laundry, dishes. Still, it was nice to have a day off training.

Today: I was to do 3x1km at the track. I opted for the indoor track. It wasn't *that* cold outside this morning, but it was dark, and the indoor track is both light and warm. Not a tough choice :). 

I did a 5-lap warmup with strides on the last lap, and felt really good. After some dynamic stretching and bridges to activate my glutes, I got started on the workout. I decided that as 3000m is about 10 laps of the track that I'd do 4 laps, rest 2 min, 3 laps, rest 2 min, 3 laps; that way I'd still be doing about 3km of intervals. Close enough!

The workout went very well. My 1170m was 6:31.6 (adjusted 1km time 5:34.6), and my 878m were 4:50.9 and 4:48.8 (adjusted 1km times 5:31.4 and 5:29.0!). HA! Got under 5:30 :). OK, so it wasn't quite 1km, but I am sure I could've done it that fast. My speed is coming back. And my HR recovered into the upper 100s after each set - very nice. 

It's hard to stay motivated in the winter, so I'm glad things are going well with my training, and grateful for the indoor track. I have been feeling pretty guilty about not doing the last 5km of my workout on Sunday, and have been thinking a lot about how to make the long, cold days better...but there are not any easy answers. Dress warmly, maybe stop more often at the car for hot water, something? I know my water bottles froze solid on Saturday, and we had to stop at the one open restroom with running water (Winchester Park) to thaw them out and get more to drink. That's pretty demoralizing. Now I remember how hard winter training is and I am just going to have to figure out how to toughen up a bit and also how to make it easier on myself for the small things, like water. 

Garmin data from today's workout here. 

cold...cold...cold...20K...no, 15K...

I will admit it: I totally wussed out today. It was so very cold, and I am so not used to it, and it was dark, and very very early. Met Kelly at the JRP at 5am (!) because she had to be at work early, and I had been to the symphony the night before and up until 10:30pm, so...yeah...no sleep, cold, dark, and tired. Legs were fine until 12K, and they did get tired then, but not dead tired. Just tired. By 15K I could've kept going, but I was so.stinking.cold. And Kelly had to leave. And I wanted a coffee and I wanted to be warm. So yeah, I quit at 15K. And I got a coffee, and I took a hot bath, and life was good again.

This amuses me, because my friends were in Santee, CA, doing a 50K in brutal heat, and here I was, wimping out because of some cold. Geez.

Well, at least I made 15K. It was only 20F when I finished, according to my car. That's -6.7C if anyone cares or is still reading :).

I wasn't fast either. But it wasn't a death march; 6:29/km with ave HR 143.

Right now I hate winter. And it's just started...

Garmin data here. 

6K

Today I did 6K at the track; Kelly had a 10 min time trial, so we met there so she could see how far she went more accurately.

I started off slowly with her for her warm-up, and sped up a bit as I went. My legs felt totally fine, and this was pretty easy. Even with the slow-ish warm-up, I did 38:30 for 6:25/km with ave HR 141.

Tomorrow is 20K. I'm trying to rest up a bit today. For some reason I'm really, really sleepy...maybe a short nap?

Garmin data here.

cross-training; 3x1463m, 3x585m

Yesterday: 30 min elliptical. Legs felt good.

Today: It was really windy again this morning, or at least that's what the weather forecast said. So Kelly and I decided to work out separately, me at the indoor track and Kelly on the treadmill at her work.

The weather at the indoor track was awesome as usual :). Bonus: when it's cold outside, during the 2' rest intervals I can go outside to cool off. Ahhhhh!

I warmed up for 5 laps with strides on the last lap. I felt really very good on the warm-up.

I was to do 3x1500m and 3x500m but on the indoor track the closest I could get was 3x1463m (5 laps) and 3x585m (2 laps). Close enough!

The whole workout went fantastically well. My 1463m were 8:20.4, 8:17.3, and 8:19.0 (converts to 1500m times of 8:33.0, 8:29.9, 8:31.6) and my 585m were 3:14.3, 3:13.4, and 3:11.5 (converts to 500m times of 2:46.0, 2:45.2, and 2:43.6 (!)). Total time was 34:35.9, which is more than 6K; for 6K it would've been 33:47.0. Fast! Happy me :).

My heart rate was pretty low on the recoveries - low 110s mostly, even in the 100s. It was low 160s on most of the intervals; I was trying hard and pushing hard but the HR was just lower today, which is fine.

I feel great now (dinner time) and legs had no stiffness or issues at all today.

Garmin data here. 

10K w/3x3' at 10K race pace

Today: very windy again. Headwind for first 3.5km; tailwind for next ~5km, then headwind for last 1.5km. Ughhhhhh....it wasn't that cold but with the wind it felt so cold! It was 2.2C (36F) but 19kph (12mph) steady wind with higher gusts. So I was slow to start, but with the 3 fast segments (all done with the tailwind for obvious reasons) of 2:56, 2:55, 2:51, my overall time was still decent despite the wind. I did 1:03:57 for 6:24/km with ave HR 142 and max 159 during the bursts.

I felt good during and not really very tired at all. Afterward, my legs feel fine :). Yay! Surprised that I felt so decent the day after a hard 8K fartlek, but I guess I'm getting better :) :) :). Happy Happy Happy!

Garmin data here. 

great 8K fartlek

I'm happy!

Yesterday: rest day

Today's workout: 8K fartlek. Weather was threatening cold and windy so Kelly and I nixed a planned meeting at the outdoor track at Taylorsville High. Kelly opted for the treadmill at her work, and I went to the indoor track at the U. I'm so grateful for this facility. It's hard enough to get psyched to get up in the dark and go do a hard workout, but when it's dark and cold and nasty out, it's darn near impossible. The indoor track removes the weather factor, which is a beautiful thing.

It does make calculations more awkward, but that's what Excel is for, and Excel is also a beautiful thing :). The track is 292.6m per lap, and so for my 8K fartlek that is 27 laps for 7900m. Close enough. I did 3 laps hard, then alternated 2 laps medium, 2 laps hard to the finish. The 3 laps hard was in 4:58.5, which works out to 5:40.1/km. Good start. Then 2 laps medium effort in 3:34.3 (3:03.1 500m equivalent, nice!), 2 laps hard in 3:18.1 (2:49.3), 2 laps medium 3:37.5 (3:05.8), 2 laps hard 3:17.2 (2:48.5), 2 laps medium 3:37.4 (3:05.7), 2 laps hard 3:18.2 (2:49.3), 2 laps medium 3:37.9 (3:06.2), 2 laps hard 3:19.9 (2:50.8), 2 laps medium 3:41.2 (3:09.0), 2 laps hard 3:20.9 (2:51.6), 2 laps medium 3:41.5 (3:09.2), 2 laps hard 3:22.1 (2:52.7).

Total time 46:44.7, and adjusted to 8km it would be 47:20.1. That is the fastest 8K fartlek I've done since 2012!!!! Woooohooooo! Very excited about that. Granted, in 2012 I was in the 45 minute range (sigh....) but we have to keep things in perspective here, and be happy for my recovery and that I feel good and can train again.

Speaking of feeling good, I did feel good during the whole workout, though obviously got a little tired at the end and slowed down a little on the last couple sets. My legs feel a bit tired now (at lunch time) but nothing too awful. Seems like a normal post-hard-workout tiredness.

My heart rate was a bit low this morning for the perceived effort; average HR was 157 for the workout and usually I'm maybe 160-161 for this workout. I was pushing it really hard though, and was in the mid to upper 160s for the hard parts at the end, so I am not sure why the HR was lower at the start. Maybe I'm getting fitter? Maybe I should've pushed harder to start - but that can't be right because I slowed a bit at the end so if anything I should've gone a bit easier to start I think. Anyway, no matter, just interesting.

Garmin data here. 

The views from the track were lovely this morning - the air is super clear from all the wind yesterday and it's beautiful today. Cold, but beautiful. I took a few pics of the view (excuse the reflections in the glass...sigh...) and of the facility.

windy 16k

Yesterday: 45 min elliptical.

Today: It was super windy, but warm, as it always is when a storm is coming. It's going to snow a bunch, so they say. This morning it was 6.1C (43F) with a constant 21kph (13mph) wind according to Garmin; 16 mph or 25kph according to Kelly's phone. Either way, it was very windy, and it was a headwind going out and a tailwind coming back, thankfully. We were so tired at 8km when we turned around, just from fighting the wind. Coming back we were tired for a few km but then recovered and had a nice finish. Kelly's watch was 0.08km ahead of mine at the turnaround, so we called it at 15.92km, which split the difference between our Garmins. Our total time was 1:43:10 for 6:27/km with ave HR 144 (nice!). With the wind, I think that was very good. On my watch I had 52:23 for the first 8km, and for the last 7.92 it was 50:48, which adjusted for the distance difference (if in fact it was different?) would still be 51:19, a good negative split.

My legs felt fine when we were done; no weird soreness despite a good amount of sitting at the piano and sitting in church this morning. A slight bit of stiffness but barely noticeable.

It's windier now...glad to be inside...storm's coming! Good to have the day off tomorrow, unless I decide to get out the cross-country skis?!?

Garmin data here. 

3x1k; 4x500

Today I met Kelly at the track for 3x1km, 4x500. (Kelly was just doing easy pace and there for moral support!). It was seasonably cold at 30F (-1.1C) with a slight breeze, which I could have done without! I didn't get that cold in tights, gloves, headband, long-sleeved shirt and jacket, so that was good.

My warm-up felt a little sluggish but my strides were good and I got in the groove eventually. I did some dynamic stretching and then glute activation drills and got going on the workout.

My first 1K was the slowest at 5:43.8, and I chalked that up to legs that were still a bit tired from yesterday. I had 2 min rest between every interval today; after my first rest I then did 5:41.3 for the next one and 5:41.0 for the 3rd 1km. I wasn't sure about the 500s, but they went pretty well - though on the last one my legs were definitely getting shaky and Jell-O-like, though it was still the fastest. In fact, these are the fastest 500s I've done in a while at 2:47.9, 2:46.1, 2:46.4, and 2:45.6. Yep, 2:45! OK, slow compared to what I could do before the past few years of fatigue, but good for now. The 1kms weren't that good today, but they weren't terrible either, so I'm happy.

My HR was about mid-160s at the end of the intervals, and went down to 100s or 110s in the rests - pretty good.

All in all, good progress is finally happening. Photo at the track after the workout as the sun was coming up; note pretty snow-capped mountains behind my head over the stadium seats :).

Garmin data here. 

cross-training; 8K w/3x3'@10K race pace

Yesterday: elliptical 40 min

Today: 8K on the JRP with Kelly, including 3x3' at 10K race pace. I was really tired for some reason this morning; got an OK amount of sleep but could've been more (7 hr). Plus it was cold outside - 32F (0C) but at least calm and clear. My legs were sluggish to start but then perked up and felt fine for the whole workout. The fast intervals went fine too; 2:53, 2:58 (but Kelly's watch said 2:52 and we felt faster than 2:58), 2:52. Total time 51:00 for 6:22/km with ave HR just 144. All seems well.

Edited to add: Garmin data here. 

10K kickdown

Yesterday: planned rest day.

Today: 10K kickdown. I've only done one of these in the last 3 years - in April this year, and didn't do any in 2013 or in 2014. This is a reminder of just how sick I was, and just how far I've come to feel good enough to do 10K kickdowns again :).

It was raining and cold this morning, and up at the U it has been snowing all morning (not sticking, but snowing), and so I opted for the temperate clime of the indoor track. Seriously love the indoor track - it's a lifesaver when there's weather like this, which is a good portion of the year here.

The indoor track is 292.6m, so 34 laps is 9948m, more or less. Close enough!

Jim wanted me to start nice & easy, at about 16:20-16:30 for the first 2.5km. I did start really easy, but that pace ended up at 16:02.8 for 8.5 laps, which converts to 16:07.8 for 2500m, and my HR was in the low 140s - very easy for sure. For the next segment I did 15:35.8 (15:40.7 for 2500m) with HR high 140s-low 150s. My mouth was super dry (indoor in winter! dry!) so I quickly got a drink at the water fountain before doing the next 5km, and adjusted my music :). The next segment was 15:12.8 (15:17.6 for 2500m) with HR upper 150s, and I was starting to feel it - definitely pushing comfortably hard by the end of that segment, but still feeling I had another gear. The last segment I did in 14:30.9 (14:35.5 for 2500m) with HR in upper 160s, and really giving it a lot. I am very happy with that time! It's 15 sec faster than I did it back in April, and a great start to serious training again.

Total time: 61:22 (10km 61:42, adjusted) with overall ave HR 152. Nice!

Garmin data here. 

1:30 easy RW with Kelly

This morning Kelly had her long day; she was going to do 100 min (1:40) but ended up cutting it to 1:30 when her legs (and mine!) were very tired after yesterday. We tried not to push the pace, and because Kelly's legs were so tired, we went a bit slowly. I could have gone a bit faster alone, I think, but honestly, I'd have been hard pressed to go faster than 6:30/km. I think I'd have been more like 6:35/km. We did 6:39/km so finished 13.54km in the 1 hr 30 min. Edited to add: my ave HR was only 144 so it was a nice easy day!

Oh, and we met really early....at 5:15 am because Kelly had to get to work at 7:30. It was dark but very pretty with the moon and planets out. I snapped this photo at the turnaround point.

Did I mention it was cold yesterday? It was only 27F (-2.7C) on the Jordan River Parkway yesterday; today it felt a lot better though it was only a bit warmer at 1.1C (34F), and at one point the wind kicked up a bit making it feel colder, but mostly it wasn't too bad today.

I'm resting tomorrow!!!

Garmin data here

whoops!

I was supposed to do 20km today. Kelly was supposed to do 10x5 min at 6:10/km with 2 min recovery jogs. I mistakenly thought I could do her workout as part of mine. Well, after yesterday's workout I wasn't up to that. Add in not getting enough sleep after going to the symphony last night, and well...yeah...it was interesting. Kelly's workout was much harder than I expected, and by the time we finished (at 11.42km on my Garmin) I was mentally done. The 5 min intervals had my HR up in the low to mid 160s by the end of the workout...yeah, not good. I did another 0.58km to get to 12km, but then I quit.

Whoops.

Well, at least there's not an important race until the 1 hr postal Dec 19th. So the fact that I screwed up my schedule isn't a big deal, I don't think. Though I probably need to get in some more km. Kelly has 110 min easy tomorrow, which I think I'll go do with her. I'm going to move my schedule to have Sundays my long day again, since that's how her schedule is, and that should work a bit better. Maybe, for now anyway. If my long day gets over 20km then that won't work so well. We'll see...it's just so much better to work out with someone else.

Whoops.

Garmin data here.

day off; 4x1km

Yesterday: had a friend over for dinner the previous night and then stayed up late installing a new thermostat (ecobee3, smart thermostat, at left - so awesome!) so I didn't even try to get up early to do my track workout. I was exhausted and needed the sleep. Plus my resting HR was up to 56...high for me...so I decided it was better to take it easy and take a day off.

Today: woke feeling good and went to do my 4x1km. Weather was good for the season at 3.9C (39F) and calm and partly cloudy. I saw a few snowflakes but I can't say that it was actually snowing much. It was too warm for it to stick anyway! After my warm-up of 1600m plus strides, I did the 4x1km. I felt good and strong on these, and was able to go a bit faster on each. I did them in 5:42.0, 5:40.2, 5:40.2, and 5:39.4. My HR was in the upper 160s at the end of each 1k, which seems appropriately hard, and my HR during the 2 min recovery period went down to the low 110s each time, which is also good and normal for me. So all seems well.

Hopefully I'll be good for my 20km tomorrow! It's supposed to get very cold tonight (27F) so I'll have to dress for the occasion. Oh yay...winter is coming :(.

Garmin data here. 

cross-training; 10K

Yesterday: elliptical, felt fine. Was glad to not work out outside - it was WINDY and nasty out. Brrr!

Today: 10K with Kelly and Sugar (my dog) on the Jordan River Parkway. It was 38F (3.3C) but not windy, though it was raining lightly on and off. Still, I wasn't cold in my long-sleeved technical shirt and tights; I felt fine. I was grateful that it wasn't windy after the past couple of days of wind.

Met Kelly really early (5:50am) so she could get to work afterward, and that was rough as I stayed up until 11pm last night doing stuff around the house. Loren and I got the claw-foot tub all set up (see left; plumber did the drain and faucets but we did the shower curtain ring and the shower plumbing) and it's working well, though the shower head that came with the shower kit was really lousy and leaked a lot, so I went to get another this morning before work. Moving is a lot of work...before AND after. I had forgotten all the stuff that you do when you move - next up on my list is replacing the thermostats with smart thermostats. It's going to be a while before we are fully settled in.

Anyway, I was VERY tired this morning and my resting HR is back up to 56 (from 50 when fully relaxed) though I'm not sure why, as I don't FEEL particularly stressed or anything. I will keep tabs on this though, and make sure I'm not pushing too hard. The workout went fine; we just tried to keep it very easy, and because I forgot my Garmin (duh!) I didn't know my 500m splits and we were a little slow. I know where 5K is on the trail, so the out and back was no problem. Plus we used map my run on our phones to track things; though that said 6.45 miles instead of 6.22. I know it's GPS and it's off a bit, but my Garmin is much better than that. Hmmm. Anyway, no matter. It took 1:05:10 for the 6K, and yeah, that's a bit slow, but it's done, and I was tired, so there :). Here's a link on map my run. Oh, and I had extra time on my phone because I couldn't stop it a couple times when we stopped for a drink/my phone rang/etc. Kelly timed it too and hers was the more accurate 1:05:10. HR was about mid-140s to low 150s, typical for this workout, so that seems good. I'll try to get some extra sleep tonight and monitor things and make sure I'm doing OK.

catching up!!! 3x800/200; 20 min w/strides; PA-USATF 20K racewalk (regional champs); 10K; 6K fartlek

I got very behind on my blog due to traveling to Chicago for work for 6 days and then to California for the 20K race just one day after I got back from Chicago. After that, it was only 5 days until our housewarming party, and to make matters more complicated, I pulled an abdominal muscle lifting a bag of dog food and was incapacitated for a day. Geez!

I know that my readers (all two of them ;)!) are completely fascinated with my workouts, so I wouldn't want them to miss any. Here's a recap (more for me and my coach...!):

Thursday 10/22 3x800/200 - could NOT catch my breath this morning; freshly back from Chicago, which is much closer to sea level. Maybe I'm a little de-acclimated to altitude? Seems fast, but...anyway, 800/200s were 4:38.4, 1:01.2, 4:38.8, 1:00.5, 4:37.3, 59.6. HA! Faster on each one, even though they were about 5 sec slower than last week's. Oh well.

Friday 10/23 elliptical for 30 min

Saturday 10/24 20 min with strides, at 6:01/km (fast! with Stevie...!). Pulled my left hamstring just a touch on 2nd stride; rested and iced it and it was fine for the race. Whew. Felt good being at sea level, or something :).

Sunday 10/25 PA-USATF 20K racewalk. My apologies for the brief race report...but...well, this is what happens when you get a bit too busy. Something has to give, and I guess it's my blog. We drove to California on Friday (after I did the elliptical) and stayed with my brother in Davis. We being me, Stevie (16yo from Orem), and Stevie's dad, Jim. Jim drove (yay!) and just asked that I chat to keep him company. No problem! We then had all day Saturday to chill, visit the Jelly Belly factory - I brought Calvin too, and Stevie also wanted to go - and try not to do too much. That was easily enough accomplished. Played some Scrabble, helped my brother assemble a dresser, hung out with everyone. Then on Sunday we drove the 30 min to the race in Sacramento, registered, and did the 5K (Calvin) and the 20K (me, Stevie). I am obviously not in shape for a fast 20K, but was at least in shape to DO the distance, and I am soooooo sick of just racing 5Ks that I really wanted to do the 20K, so I did, even though my coach Jim recommended that I do the 5K. I almost always listen to his advice, but this time I just couldn't bring myself to do 5K.

Anyway, in a nutshell: first 10K felt great (31:04 5K, 1:02:15 10K) and then my legs started to tire but still made it to 15K the fastest I've done in a while, and faster than my 15K race in May by a minute (1:33:42 - thought it was:33, but it was :42!). Then the last 5K I really ran out of steam and got a cramp in my left calf which made me very nervous about maintaining form. I was able to hang on and finish in 2:06:03 though, and I'm happy with that especially given my lack of conditioning (hadn't walked 20K since June) and my HR was only an average of 151 for the race! So I think I'm on track for good things if I can stay healthy. Weather was good - 65 at end of race; 55ish at start, humid. A little warm but really very nice.

Monday 10/26 rest day

Tuesday 10/27 elliptical; bike to work

Wednesday 10/28 muscle strain from lifting bag of dog food :( - took off work; didn't work out

Thursday 10/29 muscle strain - better; back at work; didn't work out

Friday 10/30 30 min elliptical - felt fine :)!

Saturday 10/31 easy 10K; muscle strain hurt a bit at the start but was OK after 1k or so. Total time 1:03:10 for 6:19/km. Happy with that.

Sunday 11/1 rest day

Monday 11/2 6K fartlek. This went great! Some muscle strain pain at the start but then all was fine. The weather was nice and warm for November - 49F (10C) and calm and clear early in the morning, with a beautiful sunrise as we were finishing the workout. Kelly met me and did 60 min easy while I did the fartlek; I did the last 7 min with her, jogging slowly, after I finished my workout.

500m fast times were all 2:50-2:53 and medium effort 500m were all 3:05-3:10. Total time 35:41! I'm happy with that. My legs got pretty tired for the last couple km but I held it together fine and finished well.

Jim actually gave me a real program going all the way to our 1hr postal on Dec 19! I'm so excited to be feeling good enough to have an extended training program. Hopefully I'll be able to follow it.

Photos: sunrise this morning, and Kelly and I at the track.