Monday - Noon: 7 miles (1,500') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy: Falls long.
Tuesday - AM: 10 miles intervals. City Park group: 3x800 w/20 sec rest, 2 mile, mile on/off (lampposts), mile: (2:50, 2,46, 2:39), 11:16 (5:45, 5:31), 5:35, 5:13. Wasn't sure how I wanted to run these, so went with the flow and picked things up as the workout progressed. Ran with Chris M, which helped keep things honest, and started feeling decent by the second mile of the two-mile interval. Despite a general feeling of lethargy, I had a nice background hum of strength and a feeling that I had extra gears if needed, even on the last 5:13 mile. Always hard to get those 800s cranking first thing in the morning.
Weds - AM: 5 miles (1,000') easy: Falls long.
Noon: 8.5 miles (1,800') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Herrington - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long
Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') tempo. 1:14:12. Out easy in 41:25, back in 32:47 (7:55, 6:42, 6:36, 5:49, 5:44). Kyle, Scott, Sarah and Tim in attendance this week. Felt like we took a step backwards with regards to temps, which were well below freezing, but at least there was very little wind. Wanted to keep things somewhat under control for this one, given the Antelope Island 50k in two days, but went a little faster than anticipated after giving Scott 30 seconds at the turnaround, as I answered nature's call, and then having Scott blaze the trail the whole way back (for a 90 second back-half PR). I finally caught him coming down onto the last dam, and then settled in for the last mile and half. Aside from the 5:45 start and the asphalt surface, this has become one of my favorite workouts of the week. Good company, challenging route and it feels like it's over before I'm properly awake.
Noon - 5 miles (1,000') easy: Falls long
Friday - 5 miles easy on the bike paths from Rick and Rae Jean's house in Kaysville.
Saturday - 32.5 miles (4,000'). 3:47. Antelope Island 50k.
Sunday - 8.5 miles easy on neighborhood streets in Vegas. Felt okay after the first couple of creaky miles, but the pavement and dreary surroundings made this an exercise in near pointlessness. Couldn't take any more, so quit at just over an hour.
Total: 96.5 (11,700')
In Vegas until Friday, so will look to get into the desert a bit and explore some of the canyons in and around the Red Rock/Blue Diamond area. Hoping to find some time to get up Mt Charleston, but seems unlikely considering I brought work with me.
Anyway, hopefully I can keep a lid on the volume this week and then again next week as I get ready for American River. The thought of running a fast marathon and then jumping on the trails for another 24 miles of rolling has me nervous enough that I should be able to keep things under control. Just heard that Lake Sonoma has been cancelled, which means that there could well be a few guys switching to AR, making an already stout field that much more interesting. Guess we'll find out in due course on that one.
