Artichoke's Running Blog (Ken Spence)

5 miles at 5:10 a.m.  Very easy with Matt1 and Elaine.  No rain as was predicted, so it was good.  Nice morning.

7 mile run at 5:10 a.m. with Matt1 for the first 5.  Pretty slow, but a bit faster than the last couple of days.  10's.  Then last 2 in 8 min. range.  Nice morning.  54 degrees.

Biked 9.43 miles on my mountain bike at 1:15 p.m.  Up into Middle Canyon and up Smelter Road part way and back home.  Not in biking shape right now.  Quads were a burnin' and my seat was a hurtin'.

5 easy miles at 5:10 a.m. with Matt1 and Elaine.  Nice morning at 62 degrees.  Felt pretty good considering running, biking, and walking yesterday.

5 miles easy with Matt1 and Elaine at 5:10 a.m.  Nice morning once again.   60+ degrees.

12 mile run in 1:41:00, 8:24 average pace.  8 with Tina.  I always run faster with her.  8:00 a.m., much too late and too warm, but overall a good run.  Splits: 8:25, 7:35, 7:48, 8:04, 8:41, 8:54, 8:56, 8:18, 8:23, 8:19, 8:41, and 8:47.  Good effort with 2 miles on up hill finish.

5 mile early morning tempo run at 5:10 a.m.  Nice temperature.  Solo, since Matt1 and Elaine didn't show.  Skyline up to gate and back via Loma Vista and Upland loops in 42:35, 8:31 pace.

5+ miles at 6:10 p.m.  Trail run behind Little Mountain and back down to Skyline.  Bevan Way and Upland.  Coming home along SR 36 and loop in Canyon Rim sub-division.  Pushed last mile or so, otherwise easy.  10 miles today.

5 miles at 5:05 a.m. with Tina in 43:07. 8:37 average pace.  A nice morning run.  Rain last night.

5:10 a.m. run.  Matt1 and Elaine didn't show.  5 miles in 45:06, 9:05 average pace.  Nice morning to run.

5 miles with Elaine at 5:10 a.m.  Slow and easy and in the rain. 

5 miles on trails and hills behind Little Mountain at 5:50 p.m.  45:25 or 9:05 pace overall.  Splits: 9:55, 10:23, 9:33 on the hills and 7:49 and 7:38 on the pavement coming back down Skyline.  A nice run.  Started with a hint of a calf pull or charley horse, but felt okay after a mile or so.

5 miles easy running with Elaine at 5:10 a.m. on Skyline route.

10 miles in SLC from 1300 S. and 1000 E. up into the avenues on 11th Avenue down into City Creek and through Memory Grove.  Back up 3rd Avenue to and back along 1100 E. and along McClelland Ave.   Loop to the south and back to complete 10.  With Tina.  Helen with us for the first couple of miles, but she wasn't feeling well and returned home.  A great hilly run.  Rain off and on, but tolerable.  I feel ready for Ragnar next weekend.

5 miles in 46:00.  9:12 average pace.  Fairly easy solo run at 5:10 a.m.  Easy running until the Wasatch Back on Friday.

5 miles with Elaine at 5:10 a.m.  Matt1 met us at 2.5.  Very easy running.  Tapering down for Ragnar on Friday.  I'll be running 21 total miles for legs 1, 13, and 25.  A 6:00 a.m. start means I need to leave town by about 2:30 a.m.  I will be totally sleep deprived.  Maybe I'll get a hotel in Logan if it's not too late.

5 miles with Matt1.  48:58.  5:10 a.m.  Easy running.  Nice morning.  Wind let up enough to make it enjoyable.  It blew all night.

4 miles solo at 5:10 a.m. in 35:00.  Fairly easy effort for last run before the Wasatch Back Relay tomorrow morning.  Weather is looking pretty good.   They have now lengthened my 3 runs to equal 21.2 total miles with one non-supported 8.5 mile leg.  The Ragnar folks are getting a bit paranoid about safety concerns.  Why do we even sign those waivers?  Perhaps they should start by not allowing 1000 teams to register.

RAGNAR Wasatch Back Relay Friday and early Saturday.  Team: Green Eggs and Sam.  A fun time in Van #1.  I was runner #1 starting at 6:00 a.m.  Nice weather and great running.  We finished in 31:14:27 which was 303rd of 658 in the Mixed division.  My legs (1, 13, and 25) went well.  My first leg was shortened by a full mile and they didn't tell us.  It was scheduled for 7.9 but marked the course without going all the way to 1000E.  They probably realized this was long enough, having extended it enough already from the previous years first leg.  But it would have been nice to know ahead of time. 

My times were: 6.9 miles at 6:00 a.m. in 52:30, 8.5 miles at 3:30 p.m. in 63:37, and 4.8 miles at 3:27 a.m.in 39:35.  Garmin splits:  Leg 1:  8:22, 7:40, 7:41, 7:20, 7:31, 7:39.  Leg 13: 9:12, 6:52, 6:50, 7:41, 7:45, 7:32, 6:54, 7:19, 7:31.  Leg 25: 8:32, 8:05, 7:19, 8:18, 8:11.  All things considered everything went very well.  Two consecutive nights of 3 hrs. sleep each, but we had a solid 3 hours staying at a house in Oakley right before my final leg.  A near tragedy when our alternate driver lost the van keys at the Ogden Valley exchange.  Fortunately a good soul turned them in at the lost and found.  We were pretty sure they were dropped somewhere in that hayfield they turned into a parking lot, so we were very fortunate.  

5:10 a.m. run solo.  To Grimm's Gate on Skyline route and back via Upland, 5th, 200 S., Broadway, Cemetery, and along 400 S.  A very nice morning and recovery run.  A bit more stiff and sore than I ought to be from Ragnar.

5 miles solo this morning at 5:10 a.m.  45:56 easy pace along Skyline and back via Loma Vista and Upland.  A nice morning with some breeze and 60 degrees.

5 miles at 5:10 a.m.  Ran with Liz and Roland for a short distance.  Skyline to Grimm's Gate and back via SR36 to Canyon Road and home.

Trackwork:  Yasso 800's, first session.  2x800 in 3:21, 3:19 with 400 recovery after each.  Easy run to and from track.  8:00 p.m.  3 miles total.

5 miles at 5:10 a.m. in 45:51.  Skyline route to gate and back via SR36.

5:10 a.m.  5 miles very easy.  Felt a big sluggish but a nice, quiet morning.  Skyline to gate and back via Loma Vista and Upland loops.

7:00 a.m. 8 mile trail run loop with Tina.  From Settlement Canyon guardhouse up past Camp Wapiti in Left Hand Fork and up trail into Bear Trap.  A lot of uphill running.  One mile was 17:00.  Steep downhill back into the canyon at about 5 miles.  I took a tough fall at 4.5 and sliced my right palm pretty good, blood spurting all over the place.  Gashed my knee and some road rash on the side of my lower leg from the rocks, but no apparent damage to my knee otherwise.  Then 3 fast miles down the gravel road to the Dark Trail and to the finish.  7:20 fastest mile.  A nice morning run on the trails.  I always seem to have memorable runs with Tina.

6 miles at 6:30 p.m.  Quite warm.  Needed to get my 14 miles in.  My ribs are hurting some from my fall this morning, but not as bad as when I hurt them in January of 2009.  53:57, slow easy pace at 9:00 minute mile average.  Skyline to Grimm's and then along canyon rim into mouth of Middle Canyon and back home direct via Vine, 100 S., and 200 W.

5 miles very easy with Elaine at 5:10 a.m.  A bit sore from Saturday still.

4 miles in 37:34, 8:38 pace at 8:15 p.m.  Very warm.  Ran the alleys wandering from 50 East and 200 West plus around the high school.  Ribs still hurting a bit, but not bad.

5 miles very easy with Elaine, 5:10 a.m..  She's slowly getting back to 5 mile runs.  Nice morning.

5 miles at 5:05 a.m. solo in 45:18.  9:05 average pace.  Easy pace until a more moderate pace last mile.  A bit of a case of Billy-territis set it in.  That's my name for the condition that happens when you see someone out ahead of you and you just have to catch and pass.  Named after my old running friend Billy-bob Terry.  Extremely warm for an early morning run.  Near 80 on my thermometer.  Light wind helped when the shirt came off.  An unsightly scene, I'm sure.