Grand Canyon Countdown... 18 Days!

On May 18th, Maggie, Trish and I will be hiking the Grand Canyon, taking the South Kaibab Trail down to the Colorado River (4,750 descent, in 6 miles) where we cross the Kaibab Bridge and connect with the North Kaibab Trail (5750 gain, in 14 miles, with 4000 of those miles saved until the last 6 miles.)

For the last month, the three of us have been accumulating essential gear.  We are each buying what we know we will keep needing, and borrowing what we aren't ready to pull the trigger on.  We have all relied very heavily on the knowledge, kindness and supreme generosity of Dave & Jane Baumgartner.  They have a huge collection of ultralight gear and are willing to loan it to friends who will treat it like their own.  I don't know how we'd manage the trip without them.  They absolutely rock and I am super bummed that they had to pull out of the trek...

This morning Trish and I (along with our pal Michelle Silva) met at 8am, for the first gear test:  Hike up the Mt. Wilson Trail to Orchard Camp (7 miles round trip, 1800ft gain)  under full backpacks.  Our goal was to gauge our max weight, work the kinks out of gear, confirm our shoes and clothes, and start getting used to the trekking poles.  First off, I filled my pack to 38#, and while I managed it (just call me Sherpa for the day), I'll be doing the actual hike at 30# max.  Trish loaded hers to about 20# and swears she has everything she needs, so she'll get to carry more of the communal stuff, which will help drop my weight.  Unfortunately, this was the only day Trish and I could make this hike and Maggie had to work, but she has a great hiking buddy who's going with her on a gear test this Saturday.

We hit the trailhead at 8:30, and since I had the heaviest load, I set the pace... which was intentionally at a recreational pace to conserve energy.  While we were hiking Trish kept saying that she really didn't want to hold the group back and that it was okay for us to go on ahead of her and that she'd catch up periodically.  I told her that I fully appreciated her concern about holding us back.  I know EXACTLY what it's like to be the slowest member on a team, and told her to get over it, just like I had to do when I joined the Arrogant Bastards.  Our little threesome is just as much of a team as the AB and we will stick together just like our running team does. Non-negotiable.  Ironically, I was the slow one today, and she had absolutely no problem keeping up with me.

We made it to First Water in 55 minutes... almost an hour to go only 1.3 miles, wow.  The up note was that the time was spent getting used to the weight on our backs, while learning how to control our breathing with the unexpected pressure on our chests.  I found the trekking poles to be quite helpful on that climb, both for the external stabilization and absorbing some of the weight distribution.

Our first real rest came at The Rope where we were able to rest our packs on the ledge and cool off in the shade while we hydrated.  Speaking of hydration, I tried a new electrolyte drink.  Fizzy tabs from Endurolyte... Mango specifically.  It was really nice and salty with just a hint of sweetness.  PERFECT and much better than Nuun in my opinion.  The grape flavor was also quite good, but a bit sweeter.  Although, both flavors are still by far the most palatable of all the sports drinks I've found.  Most of them are almost too sweet to swallow without gagging.

It took about another hour to get to Orchard Camp (total climb 2:15), where we were finally able to drop our packs and take a good long break.  What neither of us expected was just how wet we were under the packs, and as soon as we stripped them off, we started to get cold in the shade.  Good to know!  When we climb out of the Grand Canyon the weather will be a whole lot colder and we will be a whole lot wetter, so we will be keeping our down camp jackets handy!

Orchard Camp is such a cool place.  While we were resting and eating, a runner came up, circled the invisible trail race turn around pole, and took a break to tell us all about the Mt. Wilson Trail Race coming up in May.  His enthusiasm was so contagious that I'm looking forward to racing it myself... without the burden of the 38 extra pounds!

I love having Trish for a teammate.  She has been completely geeking out for this trip.  She knows where all the good rest areas and water stops are, and has been watching countless YouTube videos with her husband Dave who just happens to be a seasoned backpacker.  In fact, Trish is so confident of her research that she has set a wager on how long the Rim to Rim hike will take...  max 10 hours, Final Answer.  I countered with 12 hours, but will be overjoyed if she wins the bet!   

We started back about noon, which was just perfect because the sun had gotten quite warm on the mountain, giving us at least a small idea of what was lies in store.  The return trip was also much easier in the sense that we had adjusted to the weight, and lightened the loads slightly by drinking and eating. Even still, it took 1:45 to get down the 3.5 miles.

By the time we got to the car, we were both amazingly tired.  It's definitely true that the extra weight on feet and knees has a huge impact.  I know I felt a degree of fatigue I don't normally feel unless I covered about twice that distance.  Yet another good lesson I'm glad we both learned!

Next thing to do is test my individual gear items... this weekend I'll set up the tent and PermaRest on the lawn and fill a few water bottles using the water pump from our fountain at home.  What fun.  The prep for the hike is turning out to be just as much fun as the big event!

Tomorrow Starts A New Week!

This has not been a stellar week and my training has suffered accordingly...

Monday:  CrossFit:
Front Squat - 5x5 increasing load.  I stopped at 55# and just practiced technique.  Followed by Negative pull-ups and wall walks, ending with 10 minutes of 90 single-unders, 20 wall balls, 10 negative pull-ups.  Based on my results, not even close to recovered from Ragnar and should have just slept in. 

Tuesday:  

CrossFit - Coach used me as example for mental discipline on choosing loads for lifts, and not letting fear dictate performance. Power Clean 2,2,1,1 - Missed my last lift, increased the weight too high.  Followed by Deadlift TnG 3x3, same thing missed last round, beyond current strength level.  Followed by: 5 RFCO of 10 Russian KBS w/53# and 10 Box Jumps.  Used 20in box, jumped solid without incident.  Learned some things in the afternoon that made me super sad and simply took me out of the game.  Skipped AB Training

Wednesday:  

CrossFit - 12 rounds: Row 30 sec at 85% effort, 30 sec at 50% effort.  Rest as needed.  12 rounds: Airdyne 30 sec at 85% effort, 30 sec at 50% effort.   This was a good session for me, almost completely brainless and solo.  Just what I needed to relieve some angst.  (BTW... our Satan's Tricycle is truly a horrific torture device!)

Thursday:  

CrossFit - Z1 - run, push-ups, dips, ring rows, pull-ups, sit-ups.  Stopped at 20 minutes.  Duty called. Head still not in the game.  Skipped AB Training & Team Meeting

Friday:  

CrossFit: Build to a heavy single - Power Snatch - Hit 65#  Skipped the rest.

Saturday:  

AB Training - East bound Grandview Loop - 4.8 miles, 50:35 time.  First time I'd run in a week, hadn't properly fueled or hydrated, checked historical times, or even knew training in advance.  Someone I usually beat, creamed me by almost 3 minutes.   I definitely have better ability than I displayed on this run. 

Sunday:
Hike up to Henninger Flats (from the bridge) with friends, toting a pack with 4 liters of fluid and food. It was hot and slow (1300ft gain, in 2.7 miles) ... there were 14 of us and at least I was far from the back of the pack for once.  Took us four hours round trip moving at a super leisurely pace.  This was just a taste of what next month's Grand Canyon trip will be like... the climb out of the canyon will be about 3500ft gain in about 4 miles and occur after a day of super hot hiking over about 15 miles with full packs.  No doubt it will also be a bit hotter, but hopefully not too much.  Yahoo, good times coming!

So, I've said my head took me out over and over through the week.  I'm not one of those people who is very good at compartmentalizing their feelings, especially when sad, which means it spills all over my every day life.  This week it affected my sleep, training, eating and friendships (I can become quite antisocial and withdrawn.)  The good thing is that I am nothing if not resilient and a little time and distance makes anything easier.

Tomorrow starts a new week and it opens at 8am with a fully loaded pack hike up to Orchard Camp with Trish Reda.  Should be a very good giggle!

Roadkill's Post Ragnar Post

I finally got home Saturday night about 8:30pm, unpacked my car, put away a few things, showered, caught up with my roomie and was crashed out by 10:30.  Woke up 8:45 well rested and raring to go again, so I spent the day catching up chores, cooking for the week and taking care of personal needs... yet somehow the day turned to night and here I am still up and blogging at the wee hours.

This was my fourth Ragnar, so there were no surprises just lots of great experiences... Eric was our driver and only other veteran Ragnarian in the van.  He would have been the perfect driver had he honored the team's driver dress code of hula skirt, coconut bra and gold tinsel wig, but then no one's perfect. Elise and Courtney were his alternating navigators and I was his back up driver... which only happened when he ran with Elise during her night leg.

I took the far back seat (I usually take the front bench but wanted to try a different experience... going back upfront next time) and shared it with Maggie.  In front of us were Marleigh and Ann, with Courtney on the front bench and Elise sitting shotgun.  First off... we all got along beautifully and I would race with any of these women again.  There was zero bickering, complaining, or short fuses from anyone in any seat throughout the entire race... no matter how tired, dirty, blistered or sleep deprived.  In my experience, that's rare.  There's almost always someone thinking primarily of them self and complaining accordingly.  My hats off to all our first timers.  Way to rise to the occasion!

We were in Van #2, which meant we were just loading to go at 6am when Van #1 launched in Huntington Beach. Yeah, they had to get up at 3am Friday morning to make it happen, but they also finished the race and were happily drinking beers while we still had another six hours of running on Saturday afternoon, so it all kind of evened out in the end.

Our team theme were stick figure caricatures of ourselves with key attributes.  Rose's husband Brian drew them on our team tank tops and I drew them on our vans.  Here was the breakdown, they looked hysterical. (You can see an example on Rose's really clearly on the last photo.)

Corlyn & Elise - muscles
Maggie& Julie - long hair
Ann - glasses
Courtney - pony tail
Kellie - Roadkill (tire track)
Marleigh - boobs & long hair
Linda - boobs
Lynn - Curly hair
Beth - hair standing straight up
Rose - Big booty

I'm not going to really describe the race, if you're not familiar with Ragnar Relay, feel free to follow the link and read up on it.  Bottom line our team ran 198 miles from Huntington Beach to San Diego... each of us running three sections. Lynn gave us an AWESOME spreadsheet to keep track of our individual and team stats through the course.  It was very helpful and insightful and I will definitely use it on the next race!  So, I was assigned the easiest of the legs because I was the slowest runner in our van.  Mine totaled just under 11 miles while Courtney and Marleigh came close to 19 miles. The rest landed somewhere in between.  

Granted I had the shortest legs, but they were still challenging.  The first one was in Corona and included over 775 ft of elevation gain.  It was a long steady climb for the first 2.5 then rollers for the rest.  I fueled with a Hammer Gel about 15 minutes before starting and Nuun in my water bottle during the run.  By the time I hit the 2.5 mile mark I was feeling the heat and ate a Shot Blok but it didn't go down well at all, so I didn't eat anymore through the weekend.

Maggie took this picture to try and capture the feel for the long slog I was chewing my way through.  I don't even think I saw her when I ran by... but I do remember the sidewalk drawings.  lol  When I got back in the van I was happily surprised to hear I'd kept my pace to an 11:02 average thanks to not walking at all.

My second leg was my favorite...  just after midnight, in a quiet part of Escondido, with a few rollers and lots of down hill... 4 miles in 36 minutes.  So much faster than the van expected me that I caught them off guard at the exchange.  It was a GORGEOUS night!  Bright moon, quiet streets, with nothing but the occasional runner to acknowledge.  If I'm going to run on the road, this is the only way to do it...  At night, beautiful area and alone.  Definitely a spiritual experience.

Now, my last leg, that was another story.  2.9 miles... short.  Supposed to be primarily trail.  Turned out to be about a half mile of trail, a mile of bike path and the rest on the streets of San Diego.  It was hot, still and not very pretty.  It ended on a climb with no route markers and I almost panicked and made a wrong navigation decision.  Thank goodness for a runner behind me who signaled me the correct direction.  Boy that leg couldn't end soon enough!

That was it for me.  No illnesses like my last Ragnar or black toenails like my first Ragnar... just a wonderful weekend spent with wonderful people.

My thanks to Maggie for treating us to her guitar and beautiful voice, I only wish we were able to hear more! Maggie was a real trooper, not only did she try to sleep outside with only a blanket, but she sprained her ankle at the end of her last leg... and NEVER complained.

Call outs to Marleigh for sharing her salmon and Nuun, even if she wouldn't share her brush.  To Ann for scouting out Corona Lake with me, to Courtney for being an excellent navigator and helping me take the path less traveled to pick up our runners, to Elise setting a fabulous "paleo on the road" example that helped keep me eating much cleaner than I would have on my own... and to Eric.  I'll admit I was a tad bit leery about sharing a van with my business partner for 30+ hours, but business stayed home and he was absolutely golden.

You were all the best van mates a gal could ask for, thank you!

Special thanks also go out to our supreme leader Beth Collins.  She was a novice captain who pulled it off without any serious glitches.  Not only did she create multiple bonding opportunities for us before the event, she managed the race itself with an easygoing grace that I could definitely learn from.  Both vans were in constant communication and were always where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there.  Not always a given or easy task... especially when dark and fatigue set in.

Lastly, to the rest of the gals in Van #1 and their also almost perfect driver Kevin... Rose, Corlyn, Lynn, Julie and Linda... you are all always great fun to hang out with and it was a great joy to be on a team with you!  

Next Ragnar for Roadkill... Las Vegas - November 8&9, on a course that looks quite different and exciting.  I can already feel the pull to captain another team.  If you're ready to give Ragnar a shot just let me know and I'll help make it happen.

OH!  And, if they have it again next year... RAGNAR Trail Race Series... Zion Utah, next April.  This year's was held at the exact same park where I spent my 50 birthday camping. Spectacular countryside doesn't even come close to describing the place. Now, that will definitely get my vote over another Socal event!

Tricky Transitioning

I posted on Saturday that I was converting to ultra low carb, high protein and high fat. I've been strict with it since last Friday. The challenge now is sustaining my energy, without sacrificing my precious lean muscle tissue, during workouts when my body is used to burning carbohydrates.

Yes, I know it's not a good idea to change nutrition before a race (i.e. Ragnar this weekend) but this is race season and I have something going on every weekend for the next 2-3 months, not to mention CrossFit and AB training on a daily basis.  Which really just brings me to... If not now, then when?

I understand from Eric that switching fuels can take a good 90 days. Ugh.  I already know from having gone cold turkey off carbs in the past that if I don't make the conversion correctly, I could end up with more issues than are healthy for me.  So, I am being careful with the process and doing the conversion over as long a period as it takes.

What that means in practical terms is that all carbs except leafy greens are pulled out of my regular meals, starting last Friday, and starting tonight I've added a post high intensity workout 1/2 medium sweet potato.  On race days, depending on the distance, I'll likely have to add an energy gel, but we'll see how I'm doing as the races come up.  First event... Ragnar.  I'll have both sweet potatoes and gels with me... along with plenty of protein and fat.  I'll let you know how it goes.

As for this week...

Monday - CrossFit:
Tempo Back Squats - 3 second down, 2 second hold, 1 second up, change breath and start over... for a total of 6 reps.  THEN increase the load and repeat it again for 5 sets.  My final set was at 95#... sounds light, but it sure didn't feel light!
Then 3 rounds of:
6 Weighted pull-ups - (I did weighted negs with increasing loads)
10 Push Presses - increasing loads each round - I got to 65#
then:
5 rounds of:
10 Squat Thrusters - I started at 55# and failed at rep 7 round 3, did round 4 @ 35# and round 5 @45
IT WAS ONE LONG ASS TRAINING SESSION!

Tuesday - 9am CrossFit:
Power Cleans - 3,2,1 Increasing Loads - Went 75#, 85#, 95#.  Been quite awhile since I hit 95#  Felt very good!
Followed By 5 rounds of:
5 TnG Deadlifts (increasing loads - I reached 135#)
5 single Box jumps (increasing heights - I started on 10in, moved to 18in and stopped at 20in... first time I've jumped since taking a header a month ago)
I skipped the last piece since I had AB tonight

Enter Arrogant Bastard practice tonight...
Bastards! Tonight's 6:30pm practice will be a little "Speed Play" at Foothill's Middle School in Arcadia. This is locate at the north end of 2nd Ave.. Please RSVP in comments...
In teams of two - unlike ability... I get my favorite racer, Tom!
Given 30 minutes... In team relay style, how many rounds of 800m sprints can your team complete?
OMG this was insidiously wicked because we both had to race at max pace to balance each other.  Of about 8 teams, we came in 3rd with 9 complete rounds.  Tom started us off and finished his laps in about 3 minutes.  I didn't set my watch, but know my first round was about 3:50 and my last round was likely 4:30.  We were in first place during round one, then fell to third place in round three... then held our position through the next six rounds... thanks to Tom pulling out a sub 3 minute 800m on his fifth and last round.  His performance was amazing to watch and truly heroic.

Next up... CrossFit tomorrow am and Ragnar over the weekend.  See you on Sunday!

Goruck Challenge CHECK!

It's done!  On August 23, 2013 I will be driving up to San Luis Obispo for the 10 hour Goruck Challenge to test my skill under duress at leadership, mental discipline and of course physical fitness.

Bring It! I will Be Ready!

Even better... I'm going with a buddy because BUDDIES ROCK!  Welcome Beth Jensen to our next great adventure.  We are long overdo and I am ecstatic to have you at my side once again!

Who wants to join us???

Roadkill Retains Her Title

The Qualifier is over and I've retained the title Roadkill for another quarter, YAHOO!  

Now for the reality... My time was 33:04, a PR by a whole second over last quarter. I knew that despite what everyone was saying, it was not only not a given that I would make it, it would take a huge push to accomplish it.  It was not a pretty race, I walked three times on the way out, tagging the gate at 18:58.  That meant I had NO room for error on the way home.  I was laughing afterwards with some of the girls about that race back... by the time I hit the stream bed, my gut was so churned I was afraid I was going to lose it from one end or the other. Thankfully, I didn't... I've had that experience before and it's miserable.  

You would think there would be more improvement given all my specificity training in the last three months, wouldn't you? Which just proves yet again, that you can't out train a crappy diet.

I have always been a fear based, negative person... seeing what can go wrong, how I fall short and under estimating my ability and potential.  It's how I'm hardwired and overriding my default setting is difficult and inconsistent.  Until I met Eric, I never even realized I had that mind set, least of all tried to change it.  

In the last 7 years with him, I've challenged and overcome my fears and negativeness over and over again, but the default setting is still always there.  When I get too physically or mentally tired, the tendency triples and kicks in to "fuck-it" mode.  Thank God these days that doesn't mean I drink (that was my solution until January 10, 2003), it doesn't even mean I stuff my face with cake and candy (which was still my go to until last year.)  These days it means that more often than not, an afternoon or evening may include sushi, hummus, brown rice, "gluten-free" bread, yogurt, plantain chips, Mary's crackers, or the occasional cookies when I'm with my recovery friends.  I don't eat large quantities of any of these things any longer, but I still haven't killed them off completely.   Oh, and I race with Hammer gels... fueled by sugar.

You get the idea.  They are all still products that pack a huge wallop of carbohydrates.  I haven't been able to convert my body's fuel to fat because I keep reintroducing the damn sugar and staying dependent on it for energy.  It also obviously doesn't matter that I've been making somewhat better choices in the types of carbohydrates, the results are still the same.  High body fat and inconsistent, unsustainable energy.  

So, by next quarter if I want different results, I'm going to need to do things differently.  First, I'm going to be talking to a woman who has proven to be EXTREMELY successful at making the carb to fat conversion, Elise.  And second, it's time to set a goal that will push me way out of my comfort zone and force me to rise to the occasion.  I'm thinking Goruck and I'm thinking soon.  Anyone brave or crazy enough to join me?

My heartfelt thanks again to Kendall for being the most AWESOME race coach imaginable, to Elise for  letting me hang on her heels and to Perla for staying at my side, while still taking care of my friend Rose.

To ALL of my Arrogant Bastard teammates... THANK YOU for your constant words of encouragement.  I heard each of you today and really appreciated it!

Roadkill's Shit Storm

Saturday is almost upon us, right?  So, last Thursday night Erik and Joyce tell me they are running the Qualifier early... last night to be exact.  The same evening someone (I don't recall who) said that veterans can run the qualifier any time up to one week before and one week after the actual date.  I even heard someone say we could clock ourselves.  So, what did I do with all this information?  I decided to run it with Joyce and Erik and I asked Julie, Kathy and Lynn if they wanted to join us.  We all figured worst case scenario, we don't qualify Tuesday night and we come back out on Saturday to do it again.

But, I also figured it would be much easier if we just held our AB Tuesday night practice on the course so the whole team would be together.  So I asked Coach, and was told in n.o uncertain terms that the only day to qualify for the team was on Saturday unless it was impossible to run it that day.  Since I am able to run on Saturday there was no reason for me to break training Tuesday night.  I emailed Joyce, Erik, Julie, Kathy and Lynn to let them know I wouldn't be there.  That apparently created quite the shit storm back to Eric from people questioning the veteran qualifier rules.  He even felt the need to reiterate the rules last night at practice.  Jeez, I definitely know how to stir up the muck.

Aw well, what I did do since I have no idea if anyone from the red team will even be there on Saturday was call in the big guns... Kendall is going to pace me again. Yay!  Why?  because as Coach said yesterday, I have zero self confidence in my ability to qualify for the team on my own.  He's right.  I was willing to pace off my teammates, but since I can't guarantee any of them will be there that morning, I don't trust myself to be able to pull it off on my own. Maybe by July I will, but not yet and that's just the truth.  However, with Kendall barking at my heels, I'm pretty confident I can pull it off as long as I don't do anything too stupid between now and Saturday morning!

Training recap:

Monday - CrossFit - 15 Snatch Balance @ 35#, 75 DB Walking Lunges w/10#, 10 Weighted Pull-ups (negatives w/16#), 75 V-ups - This was the first time I've done a snatch balance in at least 18 months, felt good... as long as I stayed light.  As for the walking lunges, yeah it was only with little 5# weights, but it was only three months ago when I couldn't even do a walking lunge least of all a weighted one... I'll take the baby step.

Tuesday - CrossFit (9am) - 12 Split Jerks (got up to 80#), 40 Bench Press (got up to 55#), 30 Dips (lower outs), 80 sit-ups.

Enter Tuesday night...

Bastards! Tonight's 6:30pm practice will commence at St. Rita's in Sierra Madre. We'll be on the street this evening to prep for this weekend's Time Trial. RSVP in comments...

Sounds benign enough right?  Ha!  Here's the result from our leaders:

Distances for tonight's loops: Small = .45, Medium = .53, Large = .67, and Extra Large = .85. All loops = 2.5 miles. As well, each loop had 20 dips, 20 push-ups, and 20 sit-ups. 60 reps per loop = 240 reps per complete cycle. Raymond = 2 complete loops sub 60 min. = 5 miles and 480 reps. AWESOME. List your distance and reps to comments...

Had I seen this coming I'd have passed on half of the morning work, but in hind sight, I'm very glad I didn't because I was able to hold my own throughout the evening... in my last place Roadkill sort of way!

RK Results:  4 miles & 360 reps... next closest to me was Marleigh with 4 miles and 420 reps... I think everyone else has another lap on us.  Oh and the highlight of the night... 10 days of pet sitting are over and I got to sleep in my own bed, always a bonus. :-)

Welcome Wednesday morning CrossFit!

15 Deadlifts (got to 155 - just over BW), Moderate Effort Power Clean (stopped at 85# which was actually closer to 80-85%).  Followed by a conditioning piece that I considered not doing, but opted in for at the last minute (I ADORE power cleans):

5 RFTO:
5 power cleans (60#)

200m Sprint

Time: 9:18

It was great fun!  I raced my buddy and our old AB veteran Kelley Johnson through the WOD and was hot on her heels for the last round, finishing not even a second behind her.  I am so looking forward to having her back on the team next week!

Roadkill's Week In Review

So, I'm pet sitting for friends and the gig is taking up my free time in the evenings, hence the lack of posting.  Here's the synopsis... I'll try to keep in brief!

Monday - missed training, couldn't get my act together fast enough - 7 animals take serious time to care for!

Tuesday - CrossFit in the morning (push press, bench, dips & planks) followed by AB training in the late afternoon.  I had the MWTR committee meeting that night, so I did my AB training solo:

"It's all track work this week.  400m efforts 7x rest x 6 efforts"

OMG ugh!  I went to Foothills Middle School at 5:00, figuring this was going to take close to 90 minutes with 7x rest.  Results were:

I took 10:00 rests in between each effort, it was all the time I could allow.  It's wasn't enough.

1:38
1:37
1:39
1:43 - stop - 5 seconds swing was too much degrade to bother with two more rounds

Wednesday - CrossFit - Deadlifts, Burpees and 200m Sprints

Thursday - No CrossFit - AB Training:
Bastards! Tonight's 6:30pm practice will commence at the Mt. Wilson Trailhead. This session is perfect for 36 hours pre-Derby Day 5k. RSVP in comments...
Yup, it was still speed work of a sort... we were given an assortment of choices and allowed to pick our own combination:
3xs 1 CC mile
3xs Razorback Loops
4xs Mira Monte Loops
Joyce, Lynn, Dawn and I chose one of each, starting with Razorback, then the mile and ending with an 800m loop.  That was the first time I've ever gone up Razorback and down the back of it.  It's no easier in either direction, but it was definitely great fun!

Friday - REST DAY

Saturday - DERBY DAY 5k

I went back in my photos and cross searched Athlinks...  Check out this photo from my first Derby Day  in 2007... in our bootcamp shirts.  Ha!  Our world has certainly changed since 2007...

Here are my stats from Athlinks:

2007 - 27:49

2008 - missed - same weekend as Great Race of Agoura

2009 - 26:06
2010 - 26:35
2011 - 35:06
2012 - 32:32
2013 - 28:15 on my watch.  My split times were about 9:15, 9:15 and 9:45.  I didn't think I fell off that much in the last mile, but my watch was functioning correctly, so it's gotta be close to those numbers.  We'll see exactly tonight when the times are posted.

I'd like to say I'm happy with my 28:15, but I'm really not.  I'm still a whole lot slower than I want to be and am definitely slower than I'm comfortable with going in to the qualifier next weekend. Oh well.

This week... perfect eating, perfect sleeping and trust my training!