Training (Week 5)

After seven more days of running, I've finally finished my highest mileage week ever. Not much excitement occurred this week as I just did mileage, one speed workout, and an uphill race which was incorporated into my long run on sunday. The only speed workout this past week was a fartlek workout at Bullhead park. The usual 5-4-3-2-1 done twice was a nice bit of change from the usual intervals done in the past. Bullhead park is a nice 2 mile loop (1.8 miles to be exact) over wet grass, dirt, and very few bits of pavement. This speed session was done on Wednesday with a pretty decent group of guys. After that workout, the rest of the week was just mileage leading up to the famous La Luz Trail Run on Sunday.

When the Trail Run came around, I was planning on warming up a few miles, then racing the 9 mile up-the-mountain "race", then add on at the top. The race starts at 6000' and climbs up to 10,678'. This was my second year doing it, and it's a very nice thing to be a part of. Kris Houghton won the race, of course, and I have trouble climbing and running over the rock slide but ended up finishing 4th overall. The Dukes cleaned house with a 1-4 finish on the mens side! It was pretty sweet, even though we didn't have our new uniforms yet... Well, once we got some fluids and food in our systems at the top, we added on about 5 miles then headed down the mountain to an after race party, which was very nice with more delicious food and beer with great people. Later that afternoon, I added on 5 more easy miles to shake out the days work, and ended the week with 137 miles! Now begins a slight taper for a very exciting race...

The exciting race was kind of a last minute thing as I've been selected to represent the US at an unofficial USA verse Canada international challenge road race! This will be my first time putting on a USA Jersey and competing on a USA team! The race will be held in Edmonton, Canada, in the Providence of Alberta. The race distance will be a half marathon, and it's suppose to be flat, fast and cool on August 21st. I've checked out the course, and it looks promising! But, what's more promising is the fact that I get that coveted USA jersey. Since this isn't an "official" USA team, I don't get to wait for the elusive brown boxes that arrive on your doorstep full of USA Gear... I just get a pair of shorts and top, but that's all I need to race in!

So, all in all, this has been a great week and now I start to freshen up.

Mon - am. easy 10 / pm. easy 5 w/4xhill strides

Tue - am. easy 10 / pm. easy 10

Wed - am. fartlek 2x 5-4-3-2-1 total:12 / pm. easy 8

Thur - am. easy 12 / pm. easy 8 w/3xhill strides

Fri - am. easy 10 / pm. easy 10

Sat - am. med 12 / pm. easy 8

Sun - am. 17 up La Luz / pm. easy 5

Total: 137