This week in running 11/22 - 11/28

Sporting my new Thanksgiving 5K shirt

Day	Mileage / Workout	Comments
Sunday	Off	Hiked about twelve miles
Monday	7	Easy tonight. Legs were dead from the hike
Tuesday	9.25	Solid run throughout. Beautiful night for a run
Wednesday	Off	Resting up for the 5K
Thursday	3.5	Bountiful Thanksgiving Day 5K
Friday	6	Chilly and Hilly run along the Utah / Nevada Border
Saturday	13	10 miles at a solid clip, final 3 I was pretty gassed
Total miles for the week: 38.75 - YTD: 2189

Week's Summary

This week I decided to dial back the mileage a bit.  It was also a week with a 5K race in the middle of the week.

I really wanted to do well at the 5K and I felt like I ran a pretty decent race.  However, I think the elements were a bit against me.  With a strong wind, it made it extra challenging and I figure that is what cost me my chance of getting under 24 minutes.

This race does serve as a painful reminder that I need to buckle down and do the following two things:

1) Drop a bit of weight.  When I was 165-ish is when I raced extremely well.  These days I am pushing 175+. Ten pounds may not seem like much, but it is 10 pounds of extra blubber.

2)  Work on my speed.  I do a lot of runs between half marathon and marathon pace (which is a comfortable pace for me for 5 - 7 miles).  I should be doing a few more workouts where I actually push myself a bit.

Scenic Run

Our annual Thanksgiving tradition these days is to held out to West Wendover, NV.  We don't have any family here in Utah and so my obligations are minimal.  We take advantage of that by heading to the casinos across the border.  They have a wonderful buffet for Thanksgiving.  We also get to stay for cheap and in general get a chance to blow off some steam for a day or two.

One of my favorite things to do is to go exploring in the desert north of town.  Friday morning, my 46th birthday by the way, I decided to throw on a pair of paper thin gloves, a windbreaker, a hat and shorts and head out into the desert.  The problem was that it was 23F with 20 mph northern winds.  Guess which direction I was running?  North.

I managed to survive the run and I did dip into an adjunct canyon where I was sheltered from the wind for a bit.  I tried climbing a trail that led to what I presume is a scenic overlook but the snow and ice were sort of bad.  I was starting to get worried that I was actually going to freeze to death out there (note there is no cell phone service just minutes out of town).

Luckily the run back into town was all downhill and with the wind to my back.  The 3 miles back were awesome.

I did manage to get some wonderful pictures of Leppy Peak and the surrounding snow covered canyon:

Upcoming Races

12/12: Elko Snowflake Festival 5K (Elko, Nevada -- maybe)
02/06: Winter Striders 5K (Confirmed)
02/20: Winter Striders 10K (Confirmed)
03/05: Winter Striders 10 Mile (Confirmed)
04/02: Winter Striders Half Marathon (Confirmed)
04/23: Winter Striders 30K (Confirmed)
11/13: Las Vegas Marathon (Confirmed)