Luke - 6.3

6.3mi, 48:05 (7:37)
1.5-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 11:45.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 33:43 (7:56)
Mile loops of 8:03, 7:49, and 7:55.  Legs were really sore today at work.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 36:49 (8:39)
Mile loops of 8:40, 8:51, and 8:19.  Sets of 2 then 3 pullups on the first loop and 3 then 2 pullups on the last loop.

Hello again, 3:45am.

Luke - 9.7

9.7mi, 73:57 (7:37)
Went to Amazon and did a k hard (3:16), then ran easy with a couple other guys who were doing Rexius, then went up Fox Hollow hard (7:06) and then home easy.  Observant readers will notice that 7:06 for Fox Hollow is tied for my best time ever, which, when I ran it, I called equal to or better than a 4:49 flat mile.  So I guess I have to admit that I'm nearly "in shape" again.
Steeplechase this Thursday and 5k on Saturday...will certainly try to break 10 on Thursday...before today's FH ascent I was thinking sub-10:30, but I now think there's a chance of breaking 10 (a goal of mine for a few years now).  We shall see.

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 41:44 (7:35)
1.4-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 10:41.  Felt really short.  Limiting myself to just this today.

Luke - 10.1

10.1mi, 79:48 (7:54)
Alternate way up Fox Hollow, finished out the 1.6-mile loop at the top, then down Fox Hollow the normal way and back via Rexius/Amazon.  Was going to add the stream crossing on the way down but everything was feeling really tired.  I'll probably go very short and easy tomorrow.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 32:24 (7:37)
Mile loops of 7:41, 7:30, and 7:33.  Sets of 4 then 2 pullups in the middle of the first loop and 3 then 2 in the middle of the last loop.

Luke - 4.3

4.3mi, 32:22 (7:31)
Short loop with Ribbon Trail.  Felt good from the first step.

Luke - 6.3

6.3mi, 47:20 (7:30)
1.5-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 11:20.

Luke - 7.25

7.25mi, 57:43 (7:57)
23' w/u; 5x400m, 200r: 79, 77, 77, 75, 73; 23' c/d.
First speed work in a long time.  It hurt.  It was very very hot, and pretty windy.  I stopped at drinking fountains just about every chance I got on the warmup and cooldown but was still dehydrated and overheated.  While doing strides I was thinking, "This is going to suck."  When I hit 79 on the first one I thought, "Yep, it does suck."  Glad I got faster on the rest of them.  It was difficult.

Luke - 6.8

6.8mi, 52:31 (7:43)
1.5-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 12:00.  Super tired today.  I realize now that 6.8 miles might be a bit too long for a recovery day, at my current level of fitness.  But: "The thing is to get out and run.  Later you can wonder whether you should have or not." - Rob de Castella

Luke - 9.25

9.25mi, 67:22 (7:16)
Headed out for a solid-effort Fox Hollow.  The field between my house and the track is under construction (they're putting in a softball field) so I had to go around on the way out and the way back.  Also my stomach was hurting a bit coming down Fox Hollow so I added the stream crossing so I could take a pitstop off a lesser-used section of trail.  So those two things are where the extra half-mile came from.  7:39 up Fox Hollow and was feeling pretty good, and then after getting my stomach back on track I started out near 6:00 pace on Rexius.  A bit later, though, the beating sun, the headwind, and a few other things all caught up to me and I could barely move.  Felt like my legs weren't attached to my body.  Was pretty dehydrated (I wasn't wearing a shirt, which probably made it worse) even after stopping at a couple drinking fountains in the last mile and a half.  In spite of all that, though, I think this was a pretty good run.

Luke - 6.25

6.25mi, 48:12 (7:42)
Mile loops of 8:04, 7:57, 7:35, 7:36, and 7:32.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 66:27 (7:35)
Alternate route up Fox Hollow, regular way down (in 6:53).  Some stomach issues the last couple miles but the legs are doing all right.  Now heading up to Portland for the Jeeni-Chris wedding!!

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 31:40 (7:27)
Mile loops of 7:36, 7:23, and 7:13, with Zack.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 33:05 (7:47)
Mile loops of 7:45, 7:52, and 7:33.  Did 4 pullups, 30s rest, 2 pullups in the middle of the last loop.

Luke - 7

7mi, 52:46 (7:32)
Same run as Tuesday, including the 1.5-mile accel/tempo on Rexius on the way back, 6:40s down to just under 6s.

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 42:38 (7:45)
1.4-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 11:05.  There was a concert going on at Cuthbert Amphitheater so I got music while on Pre's and got to smell pot every time I went past a group of trees.

Luke - 7

7mi, 53:26 (7:38)
Did the stream crossing without going up Fox Hollow first.  On Rexius on the way back did a 1.5-mile acceleration from 6:40 pace down to just under 6.

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 40:26 (7:21)
1.4-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 10:32.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 67:38 (7:43)
A classic Fox Hollow for the first time in a while.  8:32 up, 7:25 down.

Steve - 1.25

Day 2 of my Corporate Track and Field event. I was told I would be running an 800 in a relay and a 400. It turns out they only needed me for an 800. The relay was a 200, 200, 400, 800. I wore my flats since I'm not sure I'm ready to wear spikes in an 800 yet. There were 5 teams running in this relay. I knew we would be way behind 1st when I got the stick but I was just hoping I would have some runners around me to pull me around. My goal for the 800 was to run <=2:15. I figured I should run 65, 70 on the 2 laps to accomplish that.

As the race progressed, we quickly fell into third place. Watching the runners come in, I saw that I was about 8 seconds or so behind second place once I finally got the baton. This gave me a nice rabbit to chase as I took the stick. I went right into my hard striding pace and started thinking about how awesome it would be to pass the guy in front of me (but not all at once of course). As I hit the straightaway after my 100 meters I was feeling good and felt like I had made up some ground. I continued to work hard down that stretch and by 200 meters I could tell I was closing in. Going around the curve, I continued to make up ground and hit the horrible straightway with a headwind. I could hear a few teammates cheering for me cuz they could see I was closing more on the 2nd place runner. Once we hit the bell lap I was only a few strides behind.

I glanced down at my watch quickly to see a split of 65, right on target. Now I just needed to sustain a similar energy level and I could pass the second place runner. Going around the curve, I tried to maintain the same gap. I figured I should go for the pass no sooner than the 200 meter mark. But once I got through that curve, the legs started getting heavy and the gap started to widen. The runner in front of me was either starting to kick and/or I was slowly down. I tried all I could to prevent myself from slowing down. Once I got to the 200 meter mark, I was behind by about 10-15 meters. I knew it was going to take a massive effort to make up the difference. I surged with all that was left but it wasn't much. I finished 6.5 seconds back of him, clocking a time of 2:21 (low). I figure I made up at least a second or two on him. But alas I didn't reach my goal on this day of 2:15. It will have to wait til another day.

Luke - 5.9

5.9mi, 45:45 (7:45)
1.5-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 11:38.

Steve - 2.25

Day 1 of my Corporate Track and Field event. On Friday night I drove up to San Ramon, which is like a 6 hour drive from Los Angeles.

I at first was told I was going to run an open 400m race and a 200m leg in a relay. Then it turned into a 400 and a 400. Then a 400 and a 800. The  800 was in a relay for a preliminary round, so the time didn't really matter. Fortunately the 400 was up first so I could focus on that. It's been a long time since I have run an open 400 in a race, let alone an all-out sprint 400 in spikes. Despite not having even worn spikes in 3 years, I decided it was time to go for it. I warmed up carefully and did all my old track drills. Made sure I got up to full-speed running for some ~100m build-ups a few times.

Before the race I was talking with one runner entered in the same race who said he had run a 56 recently. I said I would be happy if I was a few ticks under 60. He said he was going to use blocks. There's no way in hell I was going to use blocks. I figured I would just do a standing start. There were 5 runners in the race and I drew a pretty favorable lane, lane 3. It felt weird just standing there waiting for the gun. I didn't know exactly how to do a standing start for it. I have done standing starts for open 800s before but that's totally different. Since in a 400 you basically want to sprint as hard as you can the first 100. You're definitely not supposed to do that in an 800.

Anyway, the gun finally went off and I blasted out of the starting line. I ran a pretty good curve because I heard the announcer say my name and that I was "running well out of lane 3" or something like that. That's always cool. Once we got to the straightaway and I let off the gas a bit and let my momentum take over. I could feel a few runners ahead of me and a few behind me as we approached the turn. Once we got to the turn, I basically accelerated as hard as I could. I didn't really observe any of the other runners going through the curve. With the stagger, things don't typically shake out until the final 100. Once I got there, I still felt strong and I hit the treacherous headwind. There were two runners ahead of me, one about 20m, the other 10-15m. I pushed as hard as I could. I could see that guy who said he had run a 56 was in first place. I focused on trying to make up ground on the #2 runner and I managed to close some ground once we finally hit the line. I heard the announcer say the winning time was 54:xx. I knew must have at least been under 60. The other two runners finished well behind me (more than 10 seconds) so I had an easy third place. I walked over to the timing tent and I got my official time of 58.89! I was pretty happy to be more than a second under 60! First place was 54.47 and second place was 57.04. Running that time in the 400 basically made the whole trip for me.

Later in the day I cruised the 800m in 2:39.

Luke - 5.9

5.9mi, 45:47 (7:45)
1.5-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 11:42.

Chris - 5.05

43:32 - 8:37 pace

Ran 17 miles last week. I'm trying hard to not fall off the wagon considering our wedding is in 8 days and I was out of town this past Tue-Thurs. We're also moving all my stuff to our new apartment tomorrow! Exciting!

Luke - 6

6mi, 49:27 (8:14)
Drove up and parked at the Fox Hollow parking lot, ran Ridgeline to Dillard, over Baldy, back around Baldy, down the fun trail, over to the stream crossing, then finished up by going up Fox Hollow.  Some sections easy, some sections I gave a bit more effort.  7:53 up Fox Hollow and I don't think I could have gone a second faster.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 32:57 (7:45)
Mile loops of 7:47, 7:46, and 7:39.  Iin the middle of each loop did one set of 3 pullups and then one set of 2.

Luke - 6.75

15' up; 2x2400m, 400r: 8:57, 8:59; 14' down.
Wanted to do an easy workout to start getting at least a little speed back, so I decided on twice a mile and a half at tempo pace.  It was really hot and windy, but both of them felt just as they should: comfortably hard.

The plan right now is to do a steeplechase at the all-comers meet at Hayward Field at the end of this month (mostly just for fun), then an easy 5k up in Portland a few days later, then a 10k here in town on August 9th or 10th that I'd like to do decently at...then pretty much figure out where to go from there.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 32:38 (7:40)
Mile loops of 7:41, 7:36, and 7:31.

Oh that news from last week was that I made a crossword that is going to be published in the New York Times.  Pretty much the best thing a crossword can achieve, hey.  It had been a goal of mine since I started making crosswords, in 2010, so I am pretty excited that it happened.  I am very tired because I went to bed a little late last night, so that is why my excitement is not coming through in my writing.

James - 2.4

No time, because I don't have a good timer, and because it didn't seem important.

After spending some time reading skateboard magazines and several weeks of unforgivable gluttony (culminating in dentist trips), I had to get out of the house and run. Skating probably isn't in my future but I still want to hope my ankle will let me run.

This is the first proper run without stopping that I've done in a while, and it was probably too far. I was dead. I'm so out of practice that I forgot 45 minutes after a big dinner is too soon to run. It was a distance I knew on the trail, but I still wanted to measure it on gmaps to jog my memory. I also have been very very tired today, maybe from too much exercise the last few days.

But yeah I sweated so much even at 8pm. It has been hot here but it's also been raining an awful lot. It's hard to decide which is worse. I finished my summer college class last week and while I still have plenty to be busy with hopefully I can get some runs in during the next month.

Luke - 7

7mi, 53:03 (7:34)
With Zack, went out Rexius and did the stream crossing without going up Fox Hollow, then back.  Felt pretty great, we were doing about 7:30s on Rexius on the way out and 7:00 on Rexius on the way back.  I did two sets of 3 pullups on the way home too.  Breathing was a little labored the whole time, but I felt like I was holding back as far as how my legs felt.  Glad to feel sore/exhausted without feeling like I'm close to getting injured.  Gonna keep doing this gradual increase, maybe do one workout this week if I feel healthy enough.

Steve - 2.75

Today's menu was some 200m repeats sandwiched around a 600m interval. Not the most fun workout I have participated in. But alas it went decently. I was a bit disappointed in my 600 time. I faded really badly after 400m. I wanted to average 70 second 400m pace for the whole thing but I was way off that (ended up averaging about 75 per 400m). For the 200s I decided I wanted to cruise the first two of each set and then run the final two fairly hard. I was able accomplish that. We did only 1 minute recovery between the 200s so I think that was particularly notable that I could keep those times down. I don't really know what kind of shape I'm in at this point. That 600m was really tough. I've got a Corporate track event next week in which I hope to run the 800m in 2:15 or faster. I may run some other distances like 400, 1200, and 1600.

7:44 wup

4x200m w 1 min rec in (36, 36.5, 33.6, 32.6)

4:25 recovery

600m in 1:53.8 (73.4, 40.4)

5 min recovery

4x200m w 1 min rec in 35.76, 36.45, 33.5, 33.5

800m cooldown

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 38:15 (6:57)
1.4-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 10:35.  Started the run out fast-ish, then when I got on Pre's I saw Thomas running with his son, his son's coach, and his son's coach's daughter, so I caught him and ran with him for a bit until they turned off.  Started to pick it up again after that, and when I got to 1.5 miles to go I really picked it up and pretty much did a tempo.  Did that stretch in 9:32, so like 6:20 pace.

Luke - 6

6mi, 46:26 (7:44)
Planned on driving up to the trail, but when I walked out to the driveway my car was not there!  Because I left it at a friend's house yesterday after having a lot of beer.  So instead I ran on Amazon and then ran to my car (this friend lives even closer to Amazon than I do!).
Mile loops of 7:35, 7:53, 7:55, 8:03, and 7:38.  A set of three pullups and a set of two pullups in the middle of both the first loop and the last loop.

Steve - 4.39

37:02 (8:26)

Just piling on a few easy miles. I didn't feel particularly great for this one but I got through it. First half in 19:06, second half in 17:56.

Alison/James - 2.0

This was actually the other night at the park. It was so hot and humid, even at 11pm, that it looked like we have been swimming in the ocean instead of running. Quite gross. I think it's that time of year that we hang up the outside running for the season and stick to the treadmill. We pretty much had already, but I don't know what got into us that night.

Luke - 3.75

3.75mi, 28:56 (7:42)
Today was the Butte to Butte 10k, but I knew if I ran it I would try to race it, and probably injure myself, so instead I made a poster and ran out to a couple places on the course to cheer on "my team"--Thomas made up jerseys that say Team Generics Eugene, and wearing them to a race is a fun team experience.  The poster I made ended up looking really cool!

After cheering people on I did a little bit more running on the roads, and then less than 5 minutes of barefoot running on the grass for the first time this year.

Steve - 2.25

My quads were a bit sore still from Sunday's hill workout. So I decided I wanted to do some 400m intervals where I "cruise" the first 200, and then accelerate the final 200 to run a negative split. I usually go in aiming for a 40/36 or something like that. I was a bit short on time so I decided to slash the recovery. Predictably the times got slightly slower as I went. I don't know where I came up with the idea to do 400m intervals like this, but I sort of like it. I'd prefer to not slow down with each subsequent one though. I guess it's sort of like that Oregon 40/30 workout that I'd like to be able to do for more than 1 lap someday. Next time I run on the track with Luke, I will challenge him to see who can do the most laps of 40/30.

6:09 wup
77(41.8/35.66) 3 min recovery
78(41.2, 37.6) 1:30 recovery
81(42.7, 38.6) 1:30 recovery
82.5(44.2, 38.3)
1 lap cooldown

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 33:19 (7:50)
Mile loops of 8:01, 7:46, and 7:39.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 33:14 (7:49)
Mile loops of 7:53, 7:45, and 7:47.  Did two sets of two pullups in the middle of the first loop--no pain! Gonna try pushups tonight.  Ran with my friend Thomas on the second and third laps.

Luke - 6.3

6.3mi, 44:55 (7:07)
1.5-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 11:03.  Last 1½ miles were just under 7-minute pace.  It was something like 94º out, but I felt pretty dang decent during the run.  After the run, however, I felt like I was getting heat stroke.