Pretty quick run around was park twice and then back home... Some contender pushed the pace on me and I raced his footsteps for about 5.2 miles... Probably was moving pretty fast as I took it easy on the way home from the park.

DON'T SEND ME FLOWERS, I AIN'T DEAD YET!

Great ride with Mark, Matt and the increasingly bad a$$, Scott! Made a detour at Starbucks/REI for some coffee and a pumpkin loaf (that's what old farts do on long rides)...

Easy evening run out to Wash. Park. My legs felt pretty good considering this was my highest mileage week of the year (69.3 miles).

Ran early and saw a great sunrise today... my legs felt really tired so we ran easy. Ran with Ted "Zoolander" Danielson... who is off to Hawaii to marry his incredibly beautiful fiancee, Kim this week.

My HR was really low for this run... might have had something to do with the cool temps and effort, but it felt much more difficult than it should have felt.

nice run down at the park (2 laps) and back.

Track practice tonight!

I felt really good... Fast too.

2000 meter warm-up with a few strides

Then 5 Yasso 800's with 400m cool downs

Then after Yasso's another 2000 meter cool down

The workout:

800m @ 2:45 AHR 151 MAX 165
800m @ 2:53 AHR 154 MAX 164
800m @ 2:41 AHR 159 MAX 171
800m @ 2:45 AHR 158 MAX 170
800m @ 2:40 AHR 162 MAX 173

I am very excited about these times... I raced on Sunday and I didn't think I was going to be very fast, but I was! Also, This is only my second track workout since early summer. I'm way ahead of my workouts from 2 years ago when I did a 2:54 mary in Cali and WAY ahead of anything I did last fall when I went on to do a 2:56 in NYC... If I'm smart and continue to train well and without injury, I think I can do a sub 2:50 marathon... I'm stoked. The key is to remember that I will be training a longer than usual cycle and I need to be patient so that I don't get injured or burnt out before Cali... YES!

Oh, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but losing weight increases your speed. I am a strong runner... I'm not a bean pole like most fast guys. I rely on my strength to get me to the finish, but since I've lost a little weight, I have seen a big increase in my speed. And, I still feel strong.

I felt pretty slow out there today... my calf is still sore from Sunday's race. I love the cooler temps. I think I'm happy that I didn't get into the Chicago Marathon... I like that the California International Marathon is in early December... The fall is running season!