Going With The Flow

AM - Hiked Highland Mary Lakes Loop in the San Juans, 9.3 miles and 2500ft. One of the best hikes I've done!

PM - Ran in Silverton with the crew for 2 miles.

AM - Trail run up at Molas Pass (starting at 10,910ft!) with Jake, James, Allie, and Amiee. Ran 9 miles! The trail went up 500ft in the first 5k then leveled off a bit. I felt pretty good on the way out but my adductor didn't like the downhill too much - too much jarring. Amazing run!

PM - So Jake, Allie, and James ran 400s yesterday on the track to see what they could do at 9300ft without Amiee and myself, so we were feeling left out. After a couple of strides and strapping down my sandals, I somehow pulled off a 71.4 second 400m. Lungs hurt from breathing so hard at that altitude! I was quite pleased.

Hiked Mt. Sneffels (14,158ft!) with Jake and Amiee, 7.5 miles and 3500ft of elevation. Jake and I did this hike three years ago when we were doing a ton of hiking/mountaineering so we both remembered it being easy and straightfoward. Apparently we lost quite a bit of our toughness because it seemed to have a lot more exposure than I remember! Still a really fun hike - I enjoyed the challenge and really liked the scrambling sections. 

Whew, what a vacation! Back from our trip to the San Juans...I had such a wonderful time and was so happy to enjoy it with great friends. I was able to do all the hikes and runs (35 miles worth in 4 days) with only a little discomfort. I'm taking today off, with maybe some arm weights and a cruise on the bike this afternoon. 

PM - Strength training - upper body weights and single leg lower body. I decided to go out for a jog just to see how I felt. Legs were very tired, but in a good way!

AM - Horsepark loop with Jake, 5.2 miles. Right leg seems significantly more fatigued than the left but otherwise felt okay. 

3.2 miles with Jake around the neighborhood. Friday!!

AM - 5 miles with Allie, James, Jake, Kassi, Dave, and the Weber crew (for a short time) on their cooldown of the Layton Classic race. Fun! Planning to walk/jog Alta Peruvian race this afternoon with as much compression gear on as possible.

PM - Alta Peruvian 8K! I decided to run this race in an attempt to get a free night at the Alta Peruvian for winter skiing (age division winners get free night). I was not willing to "race" because of the soreness horror stories and ruining my recovery, so I ended up not winning my age division. Still happy thought because I got a nice dinner for two at the lodge in the winter which will be great after a full day of backcountry skiing!

I knew that this was a ridiculously downhill course (1700ft in 5 miles!) but was still surprised as to how downhill it really was. Super uncomfortable for running and honestly not much fun. I ran at an 8 min pace effort for the race and that resulted in 6:08 pace with the downhill. Michelle Simonitis and I met up around mile 3 and ran the rest of it together chatting casually. At about mile 4, a huge storm came in that was quite scary - lightning and thunder way too close! That definitely made the race quite an experience. I am quite pleased with how great I felt on this run - no groin or adductor pain at all. Really tight compression helped a lot!

By far the best part of the race is the after-party. There is a great BBQ with tons of food, a nice band, hot tub, and great company. This made the race totally worth it! Jake and I stayed the night up there with several others and really enjoyed ourselves. 

I am sad that this is the last year of the race, but Rob and Jake are really working to transform this into a 1 MILE downhill dash. Hopefully they can make that happen!!

JAJA RUN! They are coming back :) We ran up the summer road to the campground very slowly (~1000ft) then back down. Luckily we hit the 1 hour time window when it wasn't pouring rain. I felt super tight as soon as we stopped but the post-run hot tub worked wonders. My legs feel like I ran a hard half marathon yesterday but otherwise feel good. Seems like I do a lot better when I'm running uphill/downhill then running flat these days. Or maybe I'm just not thinking about how I feel quite as much when I'm running with people. Doesn't matter - 35 miles this week!

PM - 9 mile bike ride with Jake. Best-feeling bike ride since last year. 

AM - 5.8 miles around Millcreek with Jake, 8:15 pace. We ran a hillier course than usual since I seem to feel better on hills than on flat terrain. I'm going for 40 miles this week! :)

Interesting summary of a study about interval training in Sweat Science - "Jog or walk the Recovery?". 

4.1 miles around the tempo loop. Ran 1/2 mile and 1/4 mile hard during the run just for kicks (3:00 and :82, respectively). I could feel a lot of fatigue in my legs from increasing mileage, but it's a good fatigue. 

Does anyone know how to fix the weird formatting of my blog entries?

7 miles (!!!) with Jake up to Sugarhouse and back. It was raining the whole time and we both got completely drenched twice from car splashes.

Great read by Science of Running: "State of the sport - Rescuing running from life support"

5 miles up and down the hills close to home, 8:15 pace. 

I just had a conversation with a new coworker of mine that was apparently into cycling racing back in the 70s. The topic of doping came up and she said that she used her share of steroids and EPO at that time. It was all so nonchalant and casual - she even mentioned that it was "just what you did back then". I'm still unsure what to think of this conversation...

Easy recovery day - 3.3 miles around home.

I can't decide between running a 5K tomorrow and doing a long (10 mile) run. I am really interested to see how I have progressed since Draper Days 5K two months ago and get an idea as to where I'm at with six weeks around 30 mpw. But I am a little nervous about trying to run fast and how everything will feel. I am planning to run TOU 5K next weekend, so I don't know whether the extra week of slow running will help or not. It would also be nice to get in a 10 mile run on the trails...I am way overthinking this. 

Flat as a Pancake 5K! Great race today - I am so glad that I ran it. The race was a fundraiser for the West Jordan XC Team, and the kids did a great job putting it together (except for maybe promoting the event to get more people to race). The course is as flat and accurate as you could hope for with about 1 mile on the road/track and 2 miles on dirt.

I ran a short warm-up with Allie and James (1+ mile) then a couple strides. The race started and a large group went out fast. I tried to hang back, knowing that going out too fast would be detrimental because of my lack of speed work. The first 1/2 mile is on the road then it's an out-and-back on the dirt canal trail. No mile markers and I forgot to start my watch, so I have no idea how fast/slow I was running. I passed several of the early sprinters then was solo for the last 2 miles. I got to see Allie and James duking it out right before the turn-around and wished that I was in better shape because they were already a good 45 seconds in front of me! My breathing was pretty out-of-control, and I just couldn't get my legs moving faster (not surprising). I hit the road again at 2.5 miles and got a boost from the faster surface. The last 350 meters are around the track and I finished in 19:13.

I had absolutely no pain and felt very much like my old self, except for slower time :) I am so thrilled with this - I ran what I thought I was capable of (my guess was 19:15) and seriously no discomfort! This is 2:15 faster than Draper Days 8 weeks ago.

I asked Allie and James how they did, and Allie ran an 18 second PR (17:30)!! James ran his best 5K in over a year....so a satisfying day for all of us. We cooled down for 2+ miles. Our rewards were the choice of a jug of orange juice, grape juice, or milk! You had to be there, but this was just hilarioius. You can see how happy Allie is - she chugged all 100 grams of sugar in that healthy chocolate milk.

AM - 10 MILES! Ran up and around Tanner Park then back home. It was so pleasant outside, and I spent the entire time appreciating the fact that I can enjoy running again. I really do love to run!

PM - 4 mile bike ride with Jake.

My first 40 mile week since the week of July 29, 2012. I'm planning to stay in the 40 mpw range for the next month or so and continue to do short mini-workouts once a week. I have several 5Ks this fall and am hoping that I'll be able to pull off a sub-18 by November.

No running. The groin area got pretty achy last night and there is still quite a bit of residual achiness this morning. I need to get into the routine of taking a day off from running every couple weeks anyways - it's good for the body! 

PM - Strength training, upper body weights and one-legged lower body exercises.

Horsepark loop with Jake, 5 miles at 8:10 pace. 

Does anyone else have a heart rate that is lower at night than it is in the morning? Mine is consistently 5-10 bpm lower right before bed. My only explanation is that my body has to work really hard to wake up...

Good to know that the Jordan High School track by work is open in the mornings. 5 miles with co-worker Jake. We ran my "get back into workouts" workout of 2 x (4 x 200m) with equal recovery and 400m between sets.  The 200s were an average 40.8s. I love 200s because they make you feel fast! Coworker Jake is just getting into running so I'm helping him train for the Saltair Half in November. I'm planning to rope him into joining FRB as well.

AM - JAJA Run! 6.2 miles, 7:50 pace. I did not pick a great route this morning so there was lots of car-dodging and turning. This week is going by sooo slowwww.

I decided not to run the TOU 5K up in Logan this weekend, but if anyone would like to go out for an easy 10 miles with me while waiting for the marathoners, let me know!

PM - 6 mile bike ride with Jake.

I supported National Run at Work Day and ran 3 miles during lunch. Today was a good day for a short run since I felt lousy and my abdominals were cramping.

AM - 8 miles around Logan while waiting for the TOU marathoners to get down the canyon, 9 min pace. Then I drove around the course to help support Allie, Jake, Devra, and Scott. Great performances all around, really proud of them today!

Horse park + Kings Row Loop with Jake biking along, 8.5 miles at 7:40 pace. I had another Super Sunday run - felt strong and smooth throughout. I may have to attribute this to our 45 min hot tub/pool soak before the run because yesterday's run was not nearly as good. I have had a little knee/IT band discomfort for about a week now. I'm not super worried bc my body is still adjusting and working out the kinks. Can you believe that Jake biked instead of running this morning?

Typical 4 mile loop with Jake. A little sore / weak on the right leg and groin from the weekend miles. My stomach still hurts from the monster burger at Red Robin last night!

Easy 6 miles around Millcreek with Jake. 

Too bad this study wasn't available 6 months ago when I was still injured! - "NASA Seeking People Willing To Stay In Bed For More Than Two Months". Honestly, I don't think I would do this for $50,000...I would be a total mental case. But I could definitely see Rachelle doing very well :)

Met Jake A for a workout. After a 2 mile warm-up, we ran 3 x (400m-200m-200m) with 200m b/w reps and 400m b/w sets. Times were 87-41-41, 88-41-43, 85-39-39. I felt pretty strong throughout with only a little knee instability towards the end. It's great to have someone to do these workouts with!

6.5 miles with the JAJA crew. The 8 min pace felt faster than my body wanted to go this morning, but that's just part of getting back in shape. I'm really happy with how my hip has felt this week.

Short afternoon run. Needed a recovery day in hopes that I can run a lot this weekend!

Sunday group run at Highland High, 9am? Easy pace, 8-12 miles...let me know if you want to join!

Casual 6 miles around the XC and horse parks, 9 min pace. Held back today for a longer and faster run tomorrow.

Super Sunday Run! 10 miles with the JAJAFNSPSJK crew, 7:30 pace. It was really great to have such a big group come out this morning - I am excited for more group runs in the coming months. Jake got dropped in the last mile so I decided to hang back with him :) I had a very solid run and am happy to be steadily progressing each week.

Scheduled day off. After 4 weeks ~40 mpw, this is a good week to back off a little and give my body a chance to "catch up". I've made a lot of progress in the last month, but the mileage is still a challenge for my right leg/groin. So, I'm planning to take Mon-Fri super easy and focus on isolated right leg/hip strengthening and other PT exercises. Hopefully, this will set me up stronger and healthier in the following weeks. Long term goals > short term miles.