165 Min Run (base) --152.5--

EXPOSITION/USC -- Three weeks and three stadiums. Now the Coliseum is under the belt. Pretty simple course almost straight down Vermont all the way, up Fig through downtown and back on Sunset. Makes a triangle that's a very cool route. Not a whole lot to report really. Straight forward and solid. Great luck with the marine layer which held until I was all the way back to Silver Lake. Awesome.

If you wear USC colors down there, people are nice to you. And one of the hottest women I've ever come across said good morning to me at a corner. Howdy, little lady.

Finishing on Sunset is really awesome. I kind of love that street from downtown to Hillhurst. Bustling little street with lots of hills and interesting people.

38 Min Run (base) --156--

LOS FELIZ -- Just a nice, easy loop. Easy pace. Some little stretches of speed up the hills, but generally easy as pie. Nice and cool today, too. Sweet.

35 Min Run (push) --154--

LOS FELIZ -- Did a simulated race without time, but had great pace throughout. Lucky with the weather. Overcast and pretty cool. Awesome. Great stuff, though. Solid first mile, picked up pace around halfway, carried it through pretty much. Not the shuffling that happened with the Thursday loop.

125 Min Run (Base) --149--

LOS ANGELES -- In the continuation of the stadium run series, I took on Staples with a dash down south to LA Live and Staples. They were setting up for X Games down there, so it was pretty cool to see guys with drills and whatnot stitching together the street course ramps and drop-in walls for skateboarding. Surprising number of tourists, too.

Run went extremely well. Beautiful day, sunny but not overly hot. Went down Virgil to Wilshire and edged over to Staples for a loop, Fig north to Sunset and home. Awesome. Didn't on board any water or anything for the entire run, which is easily a new record. Felt strong and steady the whole time. Had to ditch the shirt at a certain point to protect the nips. Yowch.

Uh, also...Los Angeles is the best city on Earth. That is all.

35 Min Run (push) --151--

LOS FELIZ -- Crammed some good pace into the first mile of the loop, did some darn fine hill speed, crawled a long a bit here and there...shuffled and scraped, pushed, scraped, pushed, etc.

Safe to say I got some good stuff and some weak stuff. Not too shabby for a workout, tho. That's why we practice.

37 Min Run (base) --151--

LOS FELIZ -- Pretty toasty out there, but 5 degrees cooler than uncomfortable. Had a good time. Used the very light racing flats and thought they were OK. Legs, ankles, feet seem to be fully adjusted into the new form. Felt pretty light on the toes today, but not as great as Sunday. That was awesome. Same strong finish though...where the wind just starts whizzing past the ears and whistling the chorus of champions.

Also, took the weight prior to run. It was right around 153.5. I always down a big glass of wawa after a run, so possible I lost a full 3 pounds of sweat in a little over a half hour. Wrestling teams rejoice.

36 Min Run (Base) --151--

LOS FELIZ -- Did the traditional loop, but with a decent burst of pace using quicker steps and a different landing than before. An honestly awesome run. Just awesome. Great weather, interesting stuff going on, good stuff. As fine a running weekend as I've had.

80 Min Run (base) --151.5--

ELYSIAN PARK -- In the middle of a little mental nugget and the middle of a great running book...that leads to 9 miles on a Saturday morning. I've wanted to try and run down to the stadium for a while now, but never knew how far it was. I also didn't like the idea of just running there on Sunset and running back.

This morning provided the right formula of motivation, so off I went. I figured I could sneak around Silverlake and cut some of the repeat of Sunset off that way. But as I was going, I remembered Glendale runs near the reservoir and then hits Sunset way down in Echo Park. I did that and turned on Scott up toward the stadium. Huge hills for this whole run. Really awesome.

New book inspired me to try increasing my foot speed and I think this might well be something that takes permanently in the form. Loved it. Great run. As good as they get from week to week, for sure. Didn't see Manny or Matt Kemp out there...half because they are in St. Louis, half because THIS IS MY TOWN.

20 Min Run (push) --151--

LOS FELIZ -- Blazing hot today. But with the wind, it was...still really hot. Mid-90s, but I must be getting somewhat tougher as I just barreled into it for a speed-ish workout. Good stuff. Tacked on another quarter mile or so. Enjoyable, kinda. Was sweating for a good 45 minutes after finishing.

39 Min Run (base) --151.5--

LOS FELIZ -- Got out in a sauna of a day in LA this afternoon and put a decent run. This weight thing is just incredible. I don't know what's going on. I think maybe I've finally cut too many things out of my diet and pounds are just falling off. We haven't had the usual foods around that I like, so maybe that's it. Haven't been hitting the cheese or meats hard. Maybe just need more cals. According to the BMI, this weight is perfectly healthly...but I don't know. Seems awfully thin. Great stuff for running though...less chunk to haul around. Gotta say hills seem easier than ever. Maybe...maybe.

Good things are happening. And piled two In-N-Outs plus some fries into the boilerroom after the run to make sure I'm getting all the supplies I need. Awesome.

38 Min Run (base) --153.5--

LOS FELIZ -- Perhaps a bit too much work, perhaps a bit too much coffee, a birthday party and a decent amount of writing made for a full day. Needed to get out just to blow some steam...like in the DetNews days. Tons o' sweat. Look at that weight. Starting to think the absence of chips from my diet is pushing weight considerably lower...because other than that, I'm eating completely normally. Kind of amazing.

58 Min Run (base) --155.5--

SILVERLAKE -- Did the reservoir with a slightly different course, going up the big hill instead of doubling the entry road. Liked it. Took it pretty easy, stewed on some things, relaxed a bit. Sweated a ton.

38 Min Run (base) --154.5--

LOS FELIZ -- Good run after a difficult stretch of moving (seriously sore after all those stairs...like calves were pulsating. it was weird) and a quick bout with food poisoning. Yowch.

But as you can see from the weight, this must be some kind of miracle diet. And thanks to all those stairs, it didn't feel one bit bad out there today...in fact had some good hill strength -- maybe from my new super calves?

Mismatched black and blue socks. Awesome.