5:30am runs in sideways snow: Mar 7 - Mar 13

SUN
10 miles at Horsemans w/ Jon and Jake. Pace stayed chill, but legs a bit rough off of the miles from last week.

MON
11+ solo along the BLC route. Actually didn't mind running all alone. Took a GU at about mile eight because it felt like the body used all its glucose again and was going to stagger out. That shouldn't happen in an eleven mile run. Roomie: "Dude, you can do eleven mile runs no problem. Maybe you just need to quit complaining and run through it - not all runs are going to be easy." Sack up and suck up.

TUES
8 w/ Jake through Rancho and UNR at 5:30am. Not bad once I got out of bed and moving. 5.5 in afternoon to help Tegan with her workout. Did 1200, 2x300, 1200, 2x300, 1200. The girl worked hard on an overcast and pretty windy day and hit all her splits! She started the 300's before me and thus I could run a quicker 200 before catching her. Went through at 34's - the muscles were a bit confused: "Um, dude, I know we can go this fast but what are you doing? This isn't natural man." Really fun to train in a comfortable zone with the purpose of helping someone else.

WED
8 miles w/ Jake on short BLC at 5:30am. Started this run thinking my thin under armor and nike windbreaker were too much. Finished with one eye open because the snow was blowing sideways. And later in the day it was sunny and warm. Go Reno.

THUR
12 miles w/ Sean around Huffaker and Lakeside area. Felt pretty strong - mentally prepared the body to run through a similar situation as Monday. This time the energy levelled out for the whole run. Some guy in a big Dodgee 350 decided to play chicken and drive a foot and a half away from the sidewalk (in a residential neighborhood with HUGE streets) while coming at us. I didn't move and so he slowed to almost a complete stop which forced me to move a bit closer to the sidewalk. Guess the man was in no mood to share. Nothing like proving the size of your sack in a huge metal vehicle against a combined human weight of under 275 pounds. Rock climbed in PM.

FRI
11 miles w/ Ronnie along an Anderson-Bartley loop. Felt surprisingly good off of yesterday. New hypothesis - arms really relaxed while ankles felt stretched/wobbly and I'm guessing the results are from rock climbing. But only time will tell. Ran in a t-shirt and shorts and DIDN'T get blown over the by 30mph gusting winds. At least we ran before they gusted up to 55mph.

SAT
8 miles w/ Ronnie at Horsemans. Blue sky. Sun. Chilly. Could have added a few more but already reached enough miles on the week and wanted to give body a slight break before stepping back into double digit runs the first part of next week. Plus I'm getting tissue work done tonight (providence in life) which will also help the body heading into the third, and final, week of this current cycle.

WEEK:
73.5 miles. Second one in a row. Boo-ya grandma. Body felt much better compared to last week, for which I'm grateful. Starting Thursday a few sore points began to linger which led me to schedule some tissue work. When I first met my D.C. (Adam Spindler - South Lake Tahoe if you ever need a guy in the area) the appointments came every week, and then every two weeks. However, I'm now running more miles compared to those appointments and going less. Coming off the ack-illes injury of Fall '08 meant I did much more x-training which led to using different muscle groups and putting my body on awkward machines. Hence the body needed more attitude adjustments (aka more frequent D.C. visits). Now that I'm back to 98% running the muscles are readjusting to what they know. Go muscle memory! At this current mileage level I've been surprised not to feel the need for more tissue work. But it is a positive sign that the body is handling the stress and responding.

NCAA DI 5k indoor champ Lisa Koll (Iowa State) recently cited the strength base she built during the 2009 cross-country season as a big reason for current success. The more a person follows the good runners (Koll, Chico alum Scott Bauhs) the more they hear the same thing - build that strength base and the body will just adapt and push to a new level. I like to think of it as a reassurance cookie.

Need to do more core. Slouching posture = suckage.

Introduced kale and quinoa (pronounced keen-wa...must be French) into the diet this past week. Props to Amie from Portland and Cardenas for the suggestions. Eating new things is fun.

Visited with the Master's program advisor at UNR Thursday afternoon. I knew everything would be okay when, upon entering her office, a jar of M&M's and a rocking chair greeted me. Looks like I'm going to take a learning theories course this summer already! Excited to get back into the classroom. Even completed my fafsa this morning. Steps in the right direction. Trust God all will work out in a timely manner.

Awesome musical artist - Jon Schmidt. Pachelbel Meets U2.

Stay patient. Stay healthy.

Thanks for reading,
tim