Artichoke's Running Blog (Ken Spence)

10 a.m. New Year's Day 5 mile tempo run in 41:43, or 8:19 pace overall.  Some hills as well.  Nice to have some dry roads.  Moderate going up the hills but pushed tempo pace coming back.

5 miles at 11:30 a.m., same route as yesterday, but at easy pace.  44:31, 8:54 pace overall.  Legs feel really tired and hamstrings are a bit sore.  I don't feel ready for a 12-14 miler tomorrow.  It was quite warm today, nearly 50 degrees.  The warm before the storm coming.  Weather is supposed to change tonight and be bad in the morning again.  Temperatures are supposed to drop and be very cold on Sunday.  I go back to 5 a.m. runs on Monday, so I'm not looking forward to that.  I've been off work for the holidays since December 20th.  It's been great, but the time flew by! 

14 miles LSD on frozen tundra.  6 to 7 inches of fresh snow overnight.  The roads were icy and frozen most of the run.  With the sun out, the cleared roads began melting and I had to stop and remove my spikes after about 9 miles.  It really turned out to be a beautiful and clear sunny day, even though it was quite cold still.  We must have had lake effect snowfall overnight, because not that much was reported from yesterday's storm.  Really slow and easy.  I'm feeling stiff and a bit sluggish, but I was glad to get in a 14 miler two weeks before Painter's Half-marathon in St. George.  40 miles this week.  It's supposed to be even colder tomorrow with another storm coming in Monday morning.  Tomorrow is a rest day and I may be doing 5 on the treadmill early Monday morning.

5 miles in 43:21 on my treadmill.  Too wimpy to go outside at 5:00 a.m. in 5 degree temperatures and icy roads.  Varied pace from 9:15's to 7:30's.  Mostly easy.

5 miles again on the treadmill this morning in about 43 minutes.  Varied pace from 9:15's to a closing pace at about 7:00's for the last half mile or so.  Felt okay, but still don't like the treadmill much.  If he roads aren't loaded with black ice tomorrow morning, I may hit the asphalt at 5:10 a.m.  SLC, Bountiful, and Provo really got hit with snow this afternoon, worse than yesterday, we didn't get much here at all tonight for some reason.

Hit the roads this morning.  It was quite warm compared to what it has been.  There were a few spots of black ice on the roads, so I had to be a bit careful and our sub-division is the worst in town with snow still on the roads for the final quarter mile or so.  Nice to not be on the treadmill.  But, I may return to it on Friday morning if the next storm comes in when they say.  Very sluggish and slow 5 miler today.  Only about a 9:51 pace overall.

Another 5 miler slow and easy on the roads.  Only about a 9:36 pace overall.  Slick in one or two spots.  More snow coming tonight.  Maybe hit the treadmill in the morning again.

5 miles on the treadmill at 5:00 a.m. in 41:31.  Pushed it a bit the second half.  Felt okay.  Roads were slick and icy this morning.  Should be fair tomorrow morning for my last 14 miler in preparation for Painter's Half Marathon in St. George next weekend.  Right now they're predicting sunshine there, at least on Friday, with a high in the mid 50's.  That would be a lot like last year.  I ran 1:35, but not sure I have that in me this time.  We'll see.

14 miler.  Preparation for Painter's next week.  8:36 pace overall.  Fairly easy to moderate effort.  Sunny but 40 degrees.  Felt good.  Fastest mile was 7:49, slowest 9:31 on the Smelter Road hills.

5 miles on the treadmill at just under 9:00 pace.  Ran late Sunday evening instead of this morning since I had to go into work early for a conference call with the Mexico office.  Today is my youngest son's birthday.  21 years old and now legal and living in northern Argentina where he reported it to be 112 degrees last we talked with him.  Going to run easy all week and take Friday off before Painter's Half-marathon on Saturday.  They're still predicting sunny weather and in the mid 50's for a high.  That should make it about mid 40's at race time.  The weather could be just perfect.  Let's hope!

Slow and easy this week.  5 miler in 48 minutes, or around 9:36 pace.  Two more runs and then a rest day before Painter's.  60 degrees and sunshine is predicted for a high.  Race ought to be in the mid 50's.  Looks like it will be perfect if the weather dudes don''t start fudging on that great forecast!  Good luck to all of you who are running it.

5 miles at 8:49 pace.  A decent run until the very end.  I need to vent here.  This is my sad tale:  I have this concrete waterway (gutter) across the street from my house that is out to get me.  Last February on an early morning run with almost totally dry roads, I started out on my run, slipped on some black ice in that waterway, falling down very hard on both knees.  My knees have never been the same since.  After 25 years of running with few injuries, and never any knee issues, I can no longer say that.  Inspite of the fall and the knees hurting some ever since, I have still be able to run very well this past year.  Although there is knee discomfort, it's only about a .5 or a 1 on a 1 to 10 scale and I've been able to run quite well.  I just have never felt like things are that good in those 2 joints anymore while doing it.  I ran my best of 3 Boston's in April.  Ran my old man PR of 1:32 at Hobble Creek Half-marathon in August and then a 3:23 old man PR at St. George and have generally trained pretty well.  (I was only 2 minutes shy of what I ran SG in 1985.)  The left knee had started to get better and then came on this past summer evern worse and I was diagnosed with patellar tendonitis, which the Doc said shouldn't be related to the fall.  The therapist felt that with some proper stretching, etc. it would eventually go away.  It has generally improved, and usually feels better along into the run and even went totally away during the last miles of the St. George Marathon in October.  Of course, the next day was another story.  At any rate, I continue to run well even with the knee issues and probably suspect that something else is going on in the right knee that probably should be looked at by an orthopedic specialist.  So.......anyway.  Here it is, this morning, 11 months later and this time getting back from my run and in this very same concrete waterway across the street from my house, I go down again on some black ice.  Didn't see any ice anywhere the entire 5 mile run and then literally at the end of the run as I was forced to make a tighter turn than ususal due to a car coming up the road.....I go down on my right side with my right arm underneath me.  It feels like I have either cracked or separated ribs in two places, high and low.  I'm really hurting and with one run left to test it out tomorrow, I don't know whether I'll be doing Painter's or not at this writing.  I have had more rib injuries than anyone I know.  This is the second time from a fall while running.  Two times while straining to pull something like a refrigerator on a hand truck up some stairs or pulling a root out of the ground.  One time by a chiropractor as I tensed up during a manipulation.  One time reaching over the arm of a couch to pet my dog and another freakish one while laying face down on the floor and then having to sneeze.  So, here I am with yet another rib injury, that will surely take at least another 6 weeks to feel good again, as they typically do.  How's that for a story?  I'll probably still be at the Painter's Half-marathon on Saturday in St. George, either running or at least cheering everyone on. 

No running.  The ribs on by right side are very sore from my fall of yesterday.  Painter's looks very doubtful

No running.  Still hurting from my fall, but was going to take today off anyway.  Still going to St. George, but most likely will not be able to run.

Well, I didn't know for sure until just before the race if I would try running or not.  I tried a warm-up jog in the parking lot prior to the 1/2 marathon and my ribs just couldn't tolerate my lungs expanding.  It is still tough to breathe in fully and between that and the bouncing up and down, I just was in too much pain.  I thought I would just watch the race or maybe help out at an aid station or something, so I began walking from the very back and just kept going.  I was almost at the very last, only passing 3 other walkers all within the first mile, then I thought I would just circle back on the other trail to the starting line, but changed my mind a walked the entire distance.  I managed about 16 minute miles walking and I have never really been a very fast walker.  This is the first time in 26 years of running that I chose to walk the entire race, just to see what I could do.  It gave me an interesting perspective that I have never quite appreciated fully.  I got to the first aid station and saw all of the hundreds of paper cups being picked up by the volunteers.  I thought that I had always appreciated race volunteers, but when I saw all that they had to pick up and how far along the trail the cups had been spread, I really had a better appreciation.  They were still in very good spirits, however, still holding out cups and shouting WATER or GATORADE as if I was in the middle of the pack instead of near the very end.  They were real troopers.  I also had a greater appreciation for walkers, in general.  I have run both the St. George Marathon (2008) and Boston (2007) in serious rain storms with shoes that were soaked and never got a single blister, yet walking those 13.1 miles at 16:00 minute pace I got HUGE blisters on each foot.  A lot of things learned yesterday and a new appreciation for those at the very back of the pack and for those behind the scenes at the aid stations.  I hope to back running once I heal up.

Finally able to run.  Made 5 miles in 46:05, or 9:13 pace at 3:00 p.m..  Sore ribs are still bothering me, but I'm finally able to breathe in deeper without as much pain.  More annoying than anything else. But, it felt good to get out and run.   Not as smoggy here at 5,000 plus feet.  Clear and sunny but the inversion is getting close to us out here.   Next race is in 2 months at the Moab Canyonlands Half Marathon.  Hope I'm back in good form by then.

5 miler this morning at 500 a.m.  My ribs still bothering but not as bad.  I was paranoid about black ice when I saw anything unusual on the roadway in the dark.  The headlamp helps.  Can't wait for spring and the Canyonlands Half Marathon is next on the schedule in March before the Ogden Half marathon in May.

5 miler on the treadmill in 43:50.  9:00's going up and 8:00's or better coming back.  Tried to avoid the bad air this morning, although I don't think we have it as bad out here as in SLC.  Good to be running again.  Still feeling sore ribs, but at least I can get the air in without too much pain.

5 miles in 48:36 at 5:00 a.m..  Didn't feel quite as good this morning, but still manageable.  30 degrees.  Standard route.  Saw Liz and Roland out this morning.

Very slow run this morning in the fog.  5 miles at a slow 9:45 pace.  Try to get back to a longer one tomorrow 10 miles or so.

12 miles in just under 1:43, about 8:34 pace.  Felt fairly good.  Still feeling it in the ribs, but is more tolerable by quite a bit from what I felt a week ago.  The weather was a bit strange today.  I went at 11:00 a.m. and it was almost 55 degrees out and some sunshine.  By the time I got up the hill and turned around at 6 miles, I came back down into the valley in fog and then light rain with temperatures dropping to 40 degrees.  I saw a lot of walkers out this morning, but no runners.  They must have gone earlier.  11 o'clock is a bit late for me, but I wanted to sleep in and have some breakfast before heading out.  Monday morning is supposed to be a mess, I may hit the treadmill.

5 miles at 5:00 a.m. on treadmill in 44:28.  Snowy and icy roads this morning.  Probably the same thing tomorrow.

Another treadmill day.  5 miles in 42:43, about 8:33 pace overall.  Using 2 ot 3% incline for first half and then 1% for second half to simulate my standard route which is uphill going out and downhill coming back.  I still set the incline at 1% coming back as a minimum for air or wind resistance.  Ribs are improving each day, but are a bit sore after running.  Probably on the treadmill for at least two more days.  I'm going to get bored of that really fast.

5 miles in 43:00 on the treadmill.  3 days in a row.  Maybe one more, the roads are still a bit icy here in a lot of places.  Hope the roads are better by Friday and for my long run on Saturday.

Another boring 5 on the treadmill this morning.  43:24.  Took it a little easier, incline between .5 and 3.0 maximum.  Got to get back to the streets tomorrow for sure.  The ice is generally gone.  Just need to be careful.

5 miles on the roads again finally.  Not much ice left, just in spots.  I was totally sick of the treadmill.  Slow running, ran with Liz for a mile or so.  Easy running, maybe 9:50 pace.  10 to 12 miles tomorrow.

12 miler today at 9:00 a.m., in 1:44:50 or 8:43 pace overall.  8  miles with Tina.  Nice sunny day today.  I can't believe we only saw one other runner.  Maybe they all got out earlier than us.  Got up early and had breakfast at 7:00 a.m., so needed a couple of hours to digest and wait for it to warm up a bit.  37 miles each of the last two weeks.  Ribs are feeling about 50% better.  I think it will take another 3 or 4 weeks.  Feels kind of like a light side stitch for the entire run right now, so it's tolerable.  I can't believe I did 20 miles total this week on the treadmill.  Yesterday I received my confirmation card from the Canyonlands Half-marathon in Moab on March 21st.  Bib number 19.  It will be good to get away for that weekend and do the run and hike some in the afternoon with my son, Mark.  Planning on doing Delicate Arch or Corona Arch.  He'll go mountain biking on the slick rock and Porcupine rim while I do the race.  It's been a great father and son activity every year for the last few years.  I'm looking forward to it.