Training in Montana

3 miles from my house. Went shirtless, so had to run down the road where there are no houses. It seems pretty steep, but it's only 370 foot drop in 1.5 miles. Decent hill I guess. Coming back up I kept it nice and steady but never stopped. It's a gravel road, and a poor gravel road at that, so the footing is always a challenge. I'm sure I ran 3.5 miles but only got 3.0 to show for it, with all the foot slippage.

Then went and had a great day with the family and ended with a killer fireworks show in Laurel. It really is an amazing show and we had great front row seats. A bit too close for most of the kids and we left early but that meant we also missed the amazing traffic jam.

Went to bed late with the fireworks last night so instead decided to try out some heat running. It was 82-84 while I ran today so I took along a water bottle full of gatorade. I don't normally for only 6 miles but thought it best with the heat and glad I did. The run was uneventful and felt pretty good. From mile 1-5.5 I chased another runner who happened to be doing the exact same loop I was doing, not a normal occurrence. Made me run a bit faster than I would have, but nothing crazy.

AP 9:16, splits 9:46, 9:39, 9:19, 9:05, 8:54, 8:51. Avg HR 145, Max 158. Up 195 ft, down 194 ft.

Woke up just after 6 so decided to go for a run. 65 and humid out, a bit odd for us. Nice slow jog, nothing eventful.

Thursday is my day off, but for the first time in a while I hit the gym and did some upper body weights. I've found that lower body kills me while doing decent miles, so staying away from that for a while.

6 MP miles today, uphill the first half. My marathon pace is an 8:15 so I tried to keep it close to that up and blast it down. I did pretty good up, felt good, slight breeze so perfect. Temps 65 and overcast. The downhill felt pretty good, but at 4.5 miles I was tired and done. My legs were beat and my HR was still too high for downhill miles. I pulled it back, telling myself to just do 8:30 the rest of the way. That trick worked. After a while of not thinking about it I pepped up and finished my last mile fast enough to have my average just under my pace. Saw a bachelor herd of muleys and then jumped a rooster pheasant. Hunting season is only one season away....

AP 8:11. Splits 8:35, 8:27, 8:32, 7:45, 8:02, 7:43.

9 miles for the 9th of July. Dropped C off at his football camp then headed to the Y and dropped off my stuff and went for a run. Man, running in town dragged on and on. Last year I did almost all my long runs in the same spot I ran today and it went forever. I guess it doesn't help that this is where I normally run at lunchtime and my miles are only 3-6 around the same areas. I'll stick to the rural roads around my house for long runs, unless I'm running from home into town. That makes it less painful.

I tried to keep at a 9:15 pace and nailed it - AP 9:14. Not sure of splits at the moment, but they were all pretty consistent. Felt good, ready for my 1/2 marathon next Saturday. Hope the weather holds and we get 50s for the 7 am start.