Luke - 7.25

7.25mi, 51:50 (7:08)

Mile loops of 7:52, 7:29, 7:21, 7:07, 6:30, and 5:40. Cold hands, but other than that great run.

Luke - 8

8mi, 61:23 (7:40)

Pre's Trail and then two miles of barefoot running on grass. Zack did a little under a mile of barefoot with me, his first barefoot running since he was a kid. It was perfect weather out, sunny and 60, and the whole run felt very nice. Good recovery run.

Luke - 6.75

6.75mi, 49:56 (7:23)

22min w/u, 9x400 in sets of 3, 200 between reps, 400 between sets, 4min c/d. 70,76,75/75,72,75/73,78,73.

My left groin was kinda hurting since a few days ago, and after today's workout it's really hurting. I'm hoping after taking it easy tomorrow it will be fine.

Chris - 4.2

32:59 - 7:51 pace

I made myself go again today even though I was tired. Little rainy. Nothing much else to report. Looking forward to my 3 day weekend as I'll be starting my new Tue-Sat, 11am-8pm shift next week.

Luke - 6.5

6.5mi, 48:51 (7:30)

Started out super slow, but ended strong.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 67:38 (7:43)

Fox Hollow run with Zack. We went the sloppy way up, where one could barely run for one's feet slipping down the hill as one tries to run up. Went down the less sloppy (but still fairly sloppy) way down. Up was 10 flat, down was 6 flat. We both felt great on the way back, dipping under 7-minute pace a few times while still holding a conversation. By the end of the run it was pouring out, so we took post-run pictures of our wet and muddy selves. Good stuff.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 32:54 (7:44)

Mile loops of 7:58, 7:48, and 7:25. Pretty much the same as the morning run, just 12 hours later, in the rain. 4.25 + 4.25 = easiest 8.5-mile day ever.

Chris - 4.2

33:19 - 7:55 pace

Was pouring down rain during this run. I was tired and just kinda trotted along as best as I could. One of those runs where I had to tell myself to not stop a couple times. I felt decent when I got back to work, but I had a little chuckle in the restroom/locker room when I looked at myself in the mirror and my face and eyes were all red and my hair was soaked and dripping. Getting enough sleep seems to be my main issue lately with getting in more miles.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 33:02 (7:46)

Mile loops of 7:58, 7:43, and 7:35 with Zack at 6:30am. So early!

Luke - 4.5

4.5mi, 33:31 (7:26)

Mile loops of 7:40, 7:30, and 6:52. I put a full twelve hours between the morning run and this one. 5.5 + 4.5 = easiest 10-mile day ever.

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 39:43 (7:13)

Ran Pre's Trail at 7:30am, when it was less than 30º out, with Zack. It was actually pretty nice out once I was bundled up, and we kept up a decent pace too.

Steve - 6

49:52 (8:20)

So I scrapped lifting legs and running on the same day. I think it aggravated an injury in my abdomen/groin I have had for a long time. In fact, I'm not going to lift legs at all(excepts calves) anymore. Seems as if I was doing just fine without it, so screw it. It had the opposite effect I was hoping for. Well that 3-year gym membership won't go to waste though. I'll just work my upper body now. I'll look like one of those steroid freaks that is obsessed with how much he can bench press. Anyway, I did 6 miles after taking 3 days off. This week is the beginning of a new cycle where I'm hoping to do like 22, 25, 30, 20. Something like that. Last week was only 11, but I needed to take it easy last week.

(9:06, 8:32, 8:15, 8:18, 8:13, 7:28)

Luke - 5.75

5.75mi, 40:27 (7:02)

Did two warmup miles on Amazon (7:41 and 7:29) then two hard 1600s at 5:24 and 5:33. It was quite windy and my legs felt slow. But the times are okay I guess.

Luke - 7.75

7.75mi, 63:25 (8:10)

Hill loop with The Wall. Felt okay, but the hills were really getting to me and my shoes felt heavy again. You know what that means: I need to run more.

Chris - 4.2

31:01 - 7:23 pace

Just glad I got out today. I've been staying up too late the last couple nights watching Olympics - really saps the running energy. I'm trying to decide between giving blood tomorrow or going to the driving range...

Luke - 8

8mi, 60:01 (7:30)

Pre's Trail; 1.6-mile loop in 12:19, 1.4-mile loop in 10:24. Didn't feel great, but Pre's Trail is in so much better condition during the winter than Amazon or Rexius that it ends up being a lot easier to keep up a decent pace.

Chris - 4.2

30:47 - 7:19 pace

Good run today in the sun. I didn't mean to run very hard but by the end I was more or less sprinting. Good stuff!

splits: 16:02 - 14:45

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 67:47 (7:44)

Did Fox Hollow with Zack, and I really pushed it up the hill. My split going up was 8:07, which I'm pretty sure is my best all-time. Down was 7:36 (it was really muddy so we were careful) and then the way back was just over 7 minute pace overall. At one point ran an 84-second quarter in some soggy bark because I saw a guy on the other side of the creek running pretty fast and I wanted to beat him (I did). Oh and this run was Zack's birthday run so not only was the run a success, but we had Beer Stein afterwards.

Steve - 6

Flyers' track workout. Did my usual tempo run. I forgot my watch, but I was able to get some splits from another runner. My first 400 meters of the tempo run was 1:52 as I eased into the pace. I didn't feel like I was ready to jump right into 6:40ish pace. Waiting for Luke's deluge of backdated posts....

7:10, 6:44, 5:00(.75 miles)

2 mi wup
2.75 tempo in 18:54 (6:52)
1.25 cd barefoot

Luke - 4.25

4.25, 33:42 (7:55)

Mile loops of 8:09, 8:00, and 7:51. Felt pretty terrible after barely running all weekend. And that's why you should never stop running.

Steve - 4.8

44:00 (9:10

Park near my house is finally open again after 10 years of construction. Ran on the grass around the 4 baseball fields. Lights weren't on so I almost twisted my ankle like 30 times.

Zack Weekly Summary - 29.75

I hope I am not breaking the rules of the blog by not giving daily accounts, but I am too lazy to go back and post each run on their respective day. I will get back into the habit though. My stress fracture seems to have healed in my left foot and I had a nice week of running. In summary:

Feb. 7th: 6 miles 46:06 (7:41)
Legs heavy, but beautiful day in Eugene. 55 clear skies, ran the long loop of Pre's Trail.

Feb. 8th: 4.25 miles 31:46 (7:28)
3 laps Amazon EZ pace, legs still sore but good. Calm and 45F, ideal. (7:41, 7:44, 7:27)

Feb. 9th: 4.25 miles 31:15 (7:21)
3 laps Amazon, heavy legs but wanted to pick it up anyways. (7:49, 7:19, 6:38) Smooth on the last two laps.

Feb. 11th: 8.75 miles 74:24 (8:30)
Woke up at 6AM! after 7.5 hrs sleep. Felt awake. Luke and I took on the trails leading to Fox Hollow climb/descent and back. Super slow starting off, and very soft Rexius bark slowed the pace down. ~40 min. out/~34.5 min back! Took the alternate descent back down, super muddy and fun! Climbed Fox Hollow in ~10:12.

Feb. 13th: 6.25 miles 46:26 (7:26)
Had a few too many beers the night before.. 58F ran at 430PM. Rexius loop at a moderate-->hard effort on very soft bark/mud in some sections. Almost lost my shoes in the mud a few times but kept a nice progressive pace. Splits in (7:21, 7:22, 6:50![3:21,3:29], 3:31). Right when I got off Rexius, my stomach started to hurt (probably a direct result of last night's events)! I cooled down slowly back to South Eugene HS, walked maybe .25 miles (hence the 6.25 total) and then was able to run back home.

29.75 miles, 5 runs

Luke - 1

Went to Portland for the weekend and barely ran at all. Went to a park with a friend on Saturday and showed her how to run without hurting her knees (she now calls running "bouncing"). Did about a mile myself, all barefoot. Tons of mud, some grass, some "other". It was quite fun.

Steve - 7

58:56 (9:08, 8:45, 8:32, 8:19, 8:29, 8:21, 7:21)

Easy run on MB trail after a workout in the gym. My legs got really tired in the last few miles. It's tough to do more than 5 miles after doings legs in the gym. Just barely hit 20 miles. I'll try to match this next week, maybe adding a few more miles if the legs will allow it.

Chris - 4.2

30:37 - 7:17 pace

I just wrote this whole post and accidently closed the browser...dammit. Anyway, I ran by myself today. I wanted to break 30 but strong winds on the way out and a lack of sleep during the week kept me from doing so.

splits: 15:58 - 14:39

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 74:23 (8:30)

Got up at 6 and we were out the door by 6:20, while it was still dark. Between the earliness and the soggy bark, it was tough to hold any kind of pace, so we just didn't worry about it. It was still dark when we got to the trail/hill, but just light enough to see our way up. The uphill mile took 10:16, compared to my 12:01 yesterday, and when we got to the top it was fairly light out. The way back was a lot easier, both because of being warmed up and it being downhill (the split was 40:04/34:19). All in all a great way to start the day!

Steve - 6.3

Flyas workout in the cold. The workout was Voimas, which are alternating marathon and 5k pace laps for 2400 meters. I wanted to do my own thing and do a 6:40 pace for 2400. I went way too slow on my first lap, running like a 1:58. Quickly got into the right pace for the rest of it, even running a way too fast 1:33 ish lap at one point. After a quick 400 recovery, I was able to run, a very even 10:07 in the second set, which felt pretty good.

1.85 mi wup in 17:32
2 x 2400 with 400 recovery (10:10(6:56 mile, 800 in 3:14), 10:07 (6:41 first mile, 800 in 3:26)
10:56 cd for 1.2 mi (.50 barefoot) So cold...

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 72:17 (8:15)

Bark trail with a big hill in the middle. Wore my Cascadias again, and my feet hurt again, but I gotta get used to them because my other shoes are not made for trails.

Right when Zack came home, before I told him what run I'd done, he informed me we'd be getting up at 6 tomorrow and running this exact run. Should be fun!

Chris - 4.2

30:03 - 7:09 pace

Ran with Mike today in the rain. He doesn't like to run in the rain and I didn't tell him it was raining outside so that was pretty funny. He also forgot a long sleeve shirt so I felt a little bad for him, but he didn't want to borrow the long sleeve tech shirt I had brought in my bag. Anyway, the run went pretty well based on our time. I didn't feel that great. My left leg was all sore from doing squats on Saturday, especially toward the end of the run my form was gone to crap and I was just kicking it all in so I could beat him and take advantage of the slight downhill to where the entrance to Platt's driveway is. Was happy to hear him say that it was his toughest run so far this year, so I definitely pushed him. They're talking about doing the 15k Shamrock Run, but I don't know if I want to do a 15k this early in the year when I'm not in that great of shape. I might try and talk some of them into doing the 5 or 10k instead....

splits: 16:06 -13:57

FYI, these splits are so huge because this route is basically uphill going out and downhill coming back. Which is nice.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 31:21 (7:22)

Mile loops of 7:47, 7:19, and 6:38 with Zack. Felt slow at first but got better and better, and still nicely controlled. Got DoughCo afterwards!

Luke - 5.25

5.25mi, 39:39 (7:33)

Mile loops of 7:47, 7:36, 7:36, and 7:18. Legs don't work as well early in the morning.

Steve - 3

26:00 (8:40)

3 miles on the 'mill to test out my new black Brooks Adrenaline 9s. Something about black shoes that make you feel faster. Shoes felt pretty good so I will keep them.

Luke - 10

10mi, 72:17 (7:13)

Did Pre's Trail with an extra out-and-back to make an even 10. Finished strong, a bit under 7 pace the last two or three miles.

Luke - 7.75

7.75mi, 66:09 (8:32)

An even muddier run than yesterday. My old hill loop that includes The Wall. I ran in my Cascadias for the first time in a long time, and they felt so heavy. My feet were hurting the first 5 miles or so, until I got used to them.

Steve - 4.1

Redondo Beach was abuzz with runners and running enthusiasts alike. The wife and I arrived early. No more last minute race arrival in 2010, even if it makes waking up at 5:30 am! Got in a decent warmup, despite it being like -20 degrees outside (ok maybe 50 degrees). A bunch of people were wearing costumes for the race. I thought the best ones were a girl that was "gum on a shoe" (a pink outfit and then a little miniature shoe was attached to her head) and the other was a guy dressed like Tiger Woods with a group of angry blonds with golf clubs. There were tons of fast looking people entered in the 5k, so I knew placing was out of the question. I just wanted to run a good, solid tempo pace. My feel for pace is a bit off, so once the race started I wasn't sure if I was going too fast or too slow. The first mile was all uphill (although not treacherous) and I hit the first mile at 6:39. Pretty solid pace, probably right in my tempo zone. Maybe a bit too fast considering it was uphill. Of course the second mile was also a net uphill. It took a bit more effort to push through that mile and I hit the 2nd marker in 6:59. Within my tempo range, but not a good sign that it was much slower than mile 1. By this point, I was wondering if we ever going to get to the downhill portion. Finally after about 2.5 miles, we hit the turnaround point and started on our descent. I lengthened the stride a bit, knowing the end was near. I had plenty of gas in the tank, but I wanted to keep my effort in the 85 to 90% zone. At last, I reached the end in time to look up at the clock and hear the announcer say 21:xx. Pretty slow, but I'll take hit for a mostly uphill tempo run. For those interested, I input the course as best I could on gmaps. The first two miles were pretty tough. So I'm happy with my time considering it wasn't an all-out effort and the course was uphill mostly.

21:11 (6:39, 6:59, 7:34 (6:53 pace for final 1.1))

Luke - 6.5

6.5mi, 51:00 (7:50)

First run back in Eugene! Went for the soggiest bark trail...there were times I thought my shoe might come off. Not being used to bark slows you down too.

46.5 miles this week. (I'll start doing Weekly Mileage Totals again soon, if it looks like everyone is doing consistent runs/posts.)

Chris - 4.2

34:04 -8:06 pace

Ran w/ Mike today. Slow pace cuz we had some BBQ for lunch. One double cheeseburger and one hot dog and 3/4 of a coke. My belly was pretty full. Beautiful day so I didn't mind keeping a slower pace and just enjoying being out.

Steve - 4.1

40:22 (9:51)

My first run on my old industrial dirt route in a few months. Unfortunately, the old path had a surprise in store for me. It parallels the street, so naturally there are street lights every 50 meters or so. Of course a lot of them don't ever turn on for some reason and its pretty dark. So I ended up stepping directly on a rock and turned my ankle really bad. I was able to run, but I moved to the street for the final 2 miles because I didn't want to further aggravate it. It's pretty sore the day after, but I'll be good to go for Sunday's race.

Luke - 17

17mi, 2:13:07 (7:48)
I'm in San Francisco with my brother, so this run started out on the sidewalks of the steep uphills and downhills of the city. Also it is uncharacteristically rainy and windy. Anyway I ran to Golden Gate Park and was feeling good enough that I figured I could run to the beach and the whole way back here instead of just cutting it short and taking the bus back (in my rain-drenched running clothes). That would have put me at 12 or 13, but I got turned around coming out of the park and ended up taking 17th Avenue instead of 17th Street, and went a couple miles in the wrong direction. The good news is I made it back using the maps at bus stops, and I kept my pace up pretty well the whole time (except on the stupid concrete downhills where I couldn't run). So, woo, seventeen miles.

Steve - 5.4

Track workout with the "Flyas". Did my customary 2 mile tempo run and threw in an 800 at a decent clip as well. First mile was slow, but I stepped it up in the second mile. Wasn't pushing, pretty smooth effort. 800 felt OK. I went off with the fast group and they left me in the dust after 150 meters. The leader ran about 2:20 I think, which is hauling for a workout. I just wanted to see how it felt to run a bit faster. Time wasnt as important as just staying relaxed and being comfortable at a faster pace. I'm optimistic for my upcoming race on Sunday, the Redondo Beach Super Bowl 10k/5k. I'm doing the 5k and I'm shooting for 21:00 or faster. As long as I can run this time without pushing really hard, I'll be happy. If not well, they have free Asahi Beer after the race...

1.4 mi wup in 13:39
2 mile tempo in 13:50 (7:09, 6:41)
800 in 5:12
800 in 3:08 (1:33, 1:35)
1 mile cd in 9:18

Chris - 4.2

30:03 - 7:09 pace

Lunch run by myself. I'm not sure how I ran this fast because I didn't feel that good the entire run, and it was raining. The Mike guy I run with told me he ran that route in 27 last year....but I don't believe him. I told him if he's going to start telling me he's beating my times, he needs to get a watch.

splits: 15:49 - 14:13

Luke - 6.25

6.25mi, 48:14 (7:43)

Last run in Southern California for a long time! 17:59 to the softball field, 14:56 barefoot in the grass, 15:17 back.

Hopefully I will be able to run tomorrow while I'm in San Francisco, but I'm not counting on it.

Luke - 9.25

9.25mi, 68:48 (7:26)

Drove to the park I ran in two Saturdays ago, ran the bike path to the wilderness trail, did the 5-mile hilly loop, ran back to the park and did nine minutes of barefoot running on the grass (and mud). Started out super-slow and I'm glad I did because I was able to accelerate throughout the whole run. Just looked at my watch and the way to the trail was 12:48 and the way back, same distance, was 9:26.

My legs are sore now, but it's that really great-feeling sore, if you know what I mean.

Oh and I'm going back to Eugene! Leaving Thursday for San Francisco, then going SF to Eugene on Friday or Saturday. Mmmmmm, bark trails.