Tuesday, Aug. 16th . . . interval time

A great 60 minute run with 2 miles at 5:35 ish' pace including 6x400 surges alternating between 5k and 10k pace. Most of last week was good hard aerobic running so it was nice to turn it up a notch.

Harry

Monday, Aug. 15th . . . recovery time . . .

A pure recovery run. Short and sweet . . . 35 minutes. I forced myself to stop. True recovery runs are so important.

Harry

Sunday, Aug. 14th . . . easy long run . . .

Nice easy and relaxed 80 minute run, with the last 3 minutes at 5k pace just to end with some leg turnover. The entire run was so relaxed and effortless. I'm not pushing over 700 miles on my pair of racing flats so who says they don't last :)

Harry

Saturday, Aug. 13th . . . adjustment back to high elevation . . .

After taking Friday off as I had to fly back home, I took out for a nice easy 45 minute run to re-acclimate with high elevation running. After 7 days at sea level, I'm back to the mile high city so I took it very easy.

Harry

Thursday, Aug. 11th . . . running with a smile through Stanford . . .

Awesome 1 hr. recovery run through Stanford Univ. I had tired legs but my form and stride felt great. Perfect weather. Couldn't ask for more.

Harry

Wednesday, Aug. 10th . . . page mill road loopin'

55 min. run up and down and around page mill road to stanford road and a bit of this and that, all of which equaled an awesome run!!!!!!!!!!!! just diggin' Stanford Univ.

Harry

Tuesday, Aug. 9th . . . a stroll through Stanford . . .

A nice 45 minute recovery run all through Stanford University. I ended by running the stadium stairs at the famous Taube tennis stadium then threw in 3 100 meter strides. Overall, a beautiful and fun run.

Harry

Monday, Aug. 8th . . . The "famous" Stanford Dish Loop . . .

After all these years traveling to Silicon Valley I finally had the opportunity to run the famous Stanford dish loop. I've been told you haven't really run at Stanford until you complete the dish loop and it's true. Extremely hilly route but you get rewarded with spectacular views of the bay area. The basic loop is about 3.5 miles but I added some of the off trails (not sure if they have rattlesnakes but I was looking :) to get a longer run in (40 minutes and just over 5 miles).

Lucky for me I come from the mile high city and run in the mountains a lot so the hills were no big deal and I get a big benefit in terms of breathing when running at sea level vs. elevation. Just a breath taking run. When I reached the top of the mountain I was reminded why I run.

Harry

Sunday, Aug. 7th . . . a river runs through Stanford Univ.

Awesome 1 hr. run through the beautiful Stanford Univ. campus. Plenty of dirt areas and trails. Loved it!!! Also visited the best shoe store in the U.S. (ZombieRunner) . . . what an awesome running store. Had breakfast at the farmer's market . . .it really doesn't get better than this . . .

Harry

Saturday, Aug. 6th . . .

65 minutes of running including 5.5 miles at sub 6:30 pace. Felt great and finished right before the heat. Ran in a old pair of Asics Hyperspeed 3's. I think I can run in just about any shoe now.

Harry

Friday, Aug. 5th . . . back to speed . . .

Yesterday's slow run was exactly what I needed as I felt refreshed today and hit a nice medium effort tempo run . . . 5 miles at 6:45 pace.

Harry

August 4th . . . the beauty in slowing down . . .

There's just nothing like nature. I decided this morning to slow the hell down. I found some nice trails and forced myself to run slow. I spent most of my 65 min. run looking at the snow capped mountains in the background, the trees, flowers, and waved to a few coyotes (they looked at me like I was crazy :).

Speed is nice and I enjoy running fast but it was a reminder that sometimes you can run so fast that you run right past the reasons you love running in the first place. I loved this run and I literally felt the inspiration and love for running returning with each stride. It was another reminder about balance. I've learned to "run by feel," and with all my road racing my body adjusted to running pretty hard and fast on a daily basis and it took a concentrated effort to slow down and smell the flowers. Although I wasn't in the mountains, I did pick the most uneven terrain I could which helped me slow down.

There's absolute beauty in running slower.

Harry

Wednesday, Aug. 3rd . . . nice and easy goes it . . .

Nice and easy 40 min. run. Focused on my breathing. This is exactly what my body wanted to do today. This is the perfect easy/recovery type run. I hit my stride in the last 10 min. and before I allowed my body to start to head toward race pace, I shut it down.

Harry

What's my next challenge?

I started running 4 years ago with a few goals in mind. First, enjoy my running and run as injury free as possible. Second, a sub 18:00 5k. Third, a sub 38:00 10k. Well, I've achieved those goals. I haven't been injured in 26+ months and I've achieved those race times. Now, I'm bored :). I can't believe it. I have to find a new challenge!!!

Harry

Monday, Aug. 1st . . . 40 acres and a mule . . .

I don't know, I just felt like saying that. It was a good 45 min. trail run . . . more of a recovery run after yesterday's workout.

Harry