Tuesday - This morning we ran out at E3 again. I really like this trail for the easy days as you don't notice the uphill on the way out but you can pick up the speed on the way back as you run gently downhill. I ran with Fasil on the way out and then Jordan joined us on the way back. I was supposed to run 85 minutes but I was tired so I just ran for 10 miles and decided to add onto the run later on in the day. I did some drills and stretching once I was finished and then headed back to the house to get a good nap and do some work.

The evening run was amazing as the sky was a mix of every colour you could imagine. I couldn't stop staring all around because of how breath taking it was.. I ran for 9 miles and then got some good strides in so I would nice and loose for the morning's workout.

Wednesday - Fasil and I headed down to Sedona at 7.30 to get our 8*1mile workout done. We arrived a little early so we did an 800m jog around the track and then we did our stretches. As we did this, Greg arrived back from his workout. We headed out for the warm up and I felt a lot better than I did before the stretching. Also, warming up with Fasil is good because he knows its just a warm up and doesn't try to push the pace like some others do. We got back and headed over to the track to finish our warm up. We did all our drills and strides and were ready to go. It was a beautiful day (see pictures below) so we wouldn't have to deal with any issues of wind or cold. Greg wanted us to start out easy at 4.40 to 4.45 pace and work it down so I took the first rep and ran 4.41. I knew it was going to be a good day as this felt very easy. The next rep was in 4.40 so on the recovery I asked Fasil if he would mind if I dropped the pace to 69 second laps and he said that was fine. 4.36 - Perfect. Again it didn't feel tough so Fasil ran the next rep in 4.34. We were now half way through the workout so now it was time to make it hurt. I ran the next rep in 4.32 and Fasil dropped off just a little and ran 4.36. Greg told him to do just one more rep and he said he could manage a fast one so he lead. We hit half way bang on 2.16 but I could tell he was starting to hurt so I passed him at 700m and kept the pace going. He hung on well and we both finished in 4.32. I would now be on my own so it was going to be really tough so I really took the time to get my head ready on the recovery. I had started to get a blister on my big toe but I stopped feeling it as soon as I started the rep. This rep was really tough. I really tried hard to keep the splits even and I managed it but boy did I have to dig deep to do so. I ran another 4.32 and then I knew I was done. I was happy with the workout so we called it day there. I asked if it was ok to do some 200m's just to get my legs going but I had to stop after one as my toe was too blistered. I did this workout before London up in Flagstaff and it was a lot slower (ok so it was 2500ft higher) so I was happy with how my leg speed had come along. We warmed down barefoot for 20 minutes on the fake grass and then headed to Safeway to grab some food and then drove to the creek to ice our legs.







Once we got back to Flagstaff, I passed out for a few hours and then had to get up right away to go run again and then take Jason for workout. That meant running for an hour and then jumping on the bike for 10 miles. I was really tired when I got home so Julie and I went down to Diablo Burger (one of the team's new sponsors), grabbed some food and then headed home for a long sleep.

Thursday - Today was all about work. After I had run with Fasil at the bagel run for 80 minutes, I came home, had a nap and then spent the rest of the day sorting out the house for all the guests we would be having over the next couple of weeks. I cleared 2 bedrooms, put a bed together, sorted out the office, filed our paperwork, sorted some insurance, vacuumed the house, cleaned the kitchen and then mopped the tile floors. Needless to say I was a little tired on the second run but it felt good to get out and run a new route. Julie's parents got into town so we ran some errands and then went over to their house to catch up with them. We were going over details for the wedding and that got my head buzzing. So much so that I had a sleepless night. I fell asleep around 11pm and was in and out of sleep until 1am when I decided just to get up and do something instead of just stewing in bed. I spent an hour on the computer getting some training programs written and then headed back to bed to try and sleep.