track fan

AM: 5 miles (45 mins) - my battery is dead in my watch! I ran with Brent (about 3.5 laps on the grass at Liberty Park) - it was SO fun! It was a little earlier than I usually run, but it was warm out so it was a good thing that I got out early. Brent is doing so well with his knee, and he runs pretty fast for an easy run. I hope we can meet up again before he gets too fast, because it was great to have company and we actually have a lot of things in common - not the least of which understand the frustrations of aging in body but not mind. Thanks Brent!

PM: 4.5 miles (38:43) - whew this was a tough run. Not only was it hot hot hot (about 92) but I was tired.  Running with Brent was the highlight of an otherwise tough day (3 hour conference call, headache most of the day ...).  Ran from Poppington Park to City Creek Canyon and back. I really felt like I was crawling the 2 miles uphill back ... but when I got to the car I realized I was actually running much faster than I should have been!  I have noticed that my afternoon runs are actually faster than my morning ones, but they also are harder for me (I am really not used to them and they are more uncomfortable).

1:03:29.  Ran to Liberty Park and did 2.25 laps on the perimeter of the park.  Took it pretty easy, since I am going to the track tomorrow.  The greatest news is that I have a battery in my lucky watch.  Almost 2 years ago my battery died and I did not replace it because I had another pretty nice watch that I had received at a "running camp" we participated in.  Well, yesterday that battery died so I finally was forced to get a new battery for my "favorite/lucky" watch!  Yippee.  I have missed it!

Happy Wednesday bloggers. 

1:22:30.  Ran 4 miles warm-up from my office to 1500 E and then to the track then did 8 x 400 "ins-and-out" (sprint the straights, jog the curves). Very hot because I did not get started until late (the sprinkler guy came today to help fix our sprinkler system).

 Did better than I had expected based on some of my 200s in the past (leg turnover is really one of my weaknesses - hence why I am doing this workout).  My fastest were about :20 and my slowest were :23; most of my curves were about :36, but there were a couple almost :40 in there because I ended up in lane 3 to avoid sprinklers and other runners doing longer runs in lane 1).  All and all it is a baseline to work from and these are really fun to do!

I hope everyone has a nice 4th of July!

1:02:51.  I actually felt really good the first 50 mins of this run - just in time for the really hard uphill climb home!  Got a late start because we had an emergency plumbing problem had I had to wait for the plumber to get here before I left for my run (yes, it was very expensive for them to come out on th 4th of July).  It was easily in the 90's in the sun ... but I must be getting acclimated - I still negative split the uphill home by about 10 secs.  

Happy 4th of July bloggers - congratulations on all the great races out there today! 

AM (5.5 miles; 46:42). Went to Liberty Park ran 2 outer loops on the grass. Ran 15` at 7:50 pace (I logged 1.5 miles "fast" but it was probably a little longer than that). Legs were pretty tired today, I hope they wake up a bit before this afternoons run! Next week I my mileage will be increasing quite a bit with 3 days with 2 runs.

PM (3.5 miles; 32:43). Hot (probably about 95F in the sun), hilly (last 1.5 miles are uphill), not very pleasant but I got it done!

1:45:24 (52:54/52:30) -- Jeremy Ranch Road ... so last week was not a fluke!  Wow.  Todays run was actually a little better than last week, even though the negative split was not as impressive, nor was the run as long.  I was much more tired going into this run and there was a strong headwind (blowing in the nice cooler weather into town, which made the run a little more tolerable) the first 3 miles from the turn-around. I wonder how this run would feel if it weren't at 6500ft?

Happy Sunday bloggers!


 

AM: (1:00:03, 7 miles, hilly) -- actually a little longer than 7 miles (2:06 to bathroom!). 5 x 1.4 mile laps in Sugarhouse Park. I am actually quite suprised with this run. I really tried hard to take it easy, and by the last two laps the uphills were hard ... but the reason was because I was running them too fast ... 11:59 (8:33), 11:42 (8:21), 11:31 (8:13), 11:35 (8:16), 11:10 (7:58). I think it was the day off ... or Jeremy Ranch Road paying off for hills! I will see this afternoon if it was really too fast, I need to have 4-5 more miles left in my legs for the day.

PM: (38:37, 4.5 miles) -- 3 laps on the grass at Liberty Park.  This was the best 2nd run I have had so far ... the fact that it is cooler than it has been helps a lot, as does the fact it is nice and flat at Liberty Park! 

I am tired, but I felt ok on the runs ... I need to really make an effort to run really slowly tomorrow ... not that it will be hard to run easy after today!

Happy Tuesday bloggers
 

1:03:42 - recovery day, 2.5 laps on outside grassy loop at Liberty Park.  All and all I felt ok today.  My legs felt suprisingly good, but my head was not into it ... which means I had to really concentrate to stay slow (because my head wanted to get it over with and the best way to do that is to run fast).  My legs did start to rebel on the long uphill home - however, I was reflecting on how much easier the climb is now compared to this time last year (we drove into town on July 5th of last year).  Man, it was just such a struggle up the hills with the altitude and daunting uphill view ... though I still don't exactly "enjoy" them, the hills are not nearly as painful anymore.

1:20:14 - hilly run from my office to Wasatch Drive to Foothill (the freeway) and back. Went pretty easy on the way out, worked up Wasatch to Crenshaw and Donner Park. Felt stronger than this winter when I ran this route.

 I am a little out of it today, I found out last night that a friend and colleague from Vanderbilt died on Sunday. It makes me sad and homesick for my friends from Vanderbilt. He ran almost every day, and many times in the middle of the day during the summer (which in Nashville is pretty brutal) ... he loved the Boulvard Bolt race (very competative Thanksgiving Day race) and ran it many times.  He was a very kind person, and a brilliant and amazing scientist.  I generally don't like to put personal things up on my blog, but since this news is affecting my day I decided I had to write something down, if for no other reason as a personal tribute to someone I will miss.

1:03:38 - recovery run on the grass at Liberty Park ... I was very tired the first 3 miles, so much so I was feeling sorry for myself ;-).  By the time I was heading home I felt much better.  I do think I ran a littler harder yesterday than I should have ... but no damage done, I think I compensated today by running so easy.

I have to work all weekend, but I hope to get a little more sleep too ...

AM: long 5 miles; 44:35 (~8:45 pace). I ran down to Liberty Park and did 1 lap + about .5 miles on the outer grass of the park. I am running in the afternoon too, so I was trying to run easy even though I got to the park about 15 secs faster than usual. So, I am on my way home and I was thinking that I needed to slow down a little, tomorrow's run is going to be hard and I have already had two pretty hard days this week (getting to the starting line healthy is my first priority). Then, I suddenly remembered!! I was supposed to run my last 5` fast today ... DRAT, I can't believe I had forgotten -- what I had intended to do was drive to the park so I could do the fast part on the flat! Instead, I had to run the last 5` fast uphill!! (any of you who are running DesNews will see first hand the uphill to my house, luckily we will be running the opposite direction!) ... felt good though, finished strong (not a sprint but a solid pace, I was running about 7:50 effort) and I think my form is actually better uphill than flat ... anyway, back to work!

PM: 3.5 miles; 30:45 (8:47 pace). Bonneville Shoreline Trail -- ouch, the hills hurt bad tonight ... I felt like I was just crawling ... Interesting, there were 4 wagons (like old fashioned horse-drawn carts) on the trail, not just in the immediate area around the park (This Is The Place) either, plus horse droppings! I was on the lookout for snakes, I have only seen one so far out here in the evening (it wasn't a "dangerous" one), but I am pretty sure they are around. I have heard that it is a problem in the grassy areas right around my building at work, so I am ever vigilant getting up to the trail.

I did not get out for my PM run until 7:30, what a difference a week makes, it was SO much better today than last week, at least 10-15 degrees cooler!

1:48:07 (53:30/54:36) - actually a long 12, I hit the 5 mile mark at a little over 44 mins (about 8:45 pace) and then ran until 53:30 when I turned around (farther than last week, but not quite as long as the week before).  I actually knew I shouldn't work to negative split this run, I had a good solid week last week, will be increasing my mileage this week, and wanted to make sure I took it easy on this run.  My goal was make sure I did not breath hard on this run (except on the steep uphills).  I did that, and did not even look at my watch on the way back until there was only 1/2 mile to go.  I only lost about 10 secs/mile - I was pretty happy.  There were no "slogging" miles, it felt easy and I finished feeling like I could go longer.  Which is good because I am pretty sure my long runs will be increasing to 2 hours here in the next week or so.  

Happy Sunday! 

AM: 1:13:21 (8.5 miles). 3 mile w/u + strides then 5K @ 90% effort and 2.5 miles c/d (28:37, (:54, 7:36, 7:30, 7:21), 21:16). Ran to Sunnyside park as a warm-up and then went to Eastside High track and did a couple laps and a few 100 m strides (Greg told me to warm up as if it were a race). I wasn't sure what my exact pace should be since this was supposed to be effort based. But I didn't think I should be much faster than 7:25 pace. I started on the 5K starting line at the track - just as if it were a race. My first couple laps were a little fast, so I slowed down, and I actually slowed down a little more than I wanted - but I did not want to panic and go too fast to make up the time, because that usually doesn't work for me, instead I just settled into to an easy first mile and hoped I would just speed up as the laps ticked by. Luckily they did! This was a really good workout (it was more of a mental race simulation), the last 800 was hard, being by myself, but the pace held up and I felt pretty strong. I felt good on my cool down, like I had worked, but had plenty left in the tank (probably because my first mile was too slow!). We will see how I feel for my run this afternoon!!

PM: 40:40 (long 4.5 - I had to dodge sprinklers!) - ran 3 very slow 1.5 miles loops on the grass at Liberty Park.  My legs felt like Jello when I stopped!

I am pretty sure tomorrow will be mighty slow!

64:36 (might have been a tiny bit more than 7).  Recovery run on the outer loop at Liberty Park -- as you can see, I take my recovery runs very seriously.  I was running so slowly that I could barely stand to run with myself ;-).  I ran 2 + a tiny bit at the park and then added on a block near my house to ensure I ran for 60 mins.

Felt much better than I had anticipated, fought the urge to run faster. 

Happy Wednesday bloggers! 

AM: 57:44 (6.5 hilly miles). I wanted to get in a hilly run this morning, so I ran from my office to Sunnyside toward Wasatch Dr. I debated on going up Emmigration Canyon but as I ran along Sunnyside there were so many cars flying down and a lot of cyclists, so I decided to run up to the golf course instead. The run was supposed to be 50 mins, but Myriad is doing construction near my office and the smoking section seems to have moved right onto my "shortcut path" - I had to dodge nearly 1/2 dozen smokers on the way out! I tried a "different" route on the way back and it added about 1/2 mile up a pretty steep hill to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. My run tonight will be pretty late (nearly 7PM) because I am meeting with a realtor about our house. That is ok, plenty of time to recover from this morning!

PM: 42:35 (4.5 miles).  Geez, it took me 2 miles to warm up this afternoon.  I rolled my foot on a tennis ball all day, ouch.  It still hurt this afternoon, but I am hoping it will help.  All I can say is I hope I feel better next Thursday than I do today ;-)

1:14:31.  3 laps on the outer grass at Liberty Park.  Pretty sure this was longer than 8 miles, but not quite 8.5.  My legs felt ok ... but my mind is really exhausted right now.  Too many work hours with not as much sleep as I need.  Have another double tomorrow, I hope I can get some work done so I can leave work at a decent hour and get some sleep tonight, I am sure it would help a lot.  

Happy Friday bloggers 

AM: 46:58 (5.5 miles). 8 x 400 100 on 100 off (:21-:22 secs on :32-:33 off). Was supposed to run for 40` but it took me a little longer to warm up and then I cooled down a couple laps with an older man who was on the track getting ready for the Senior Games. I saw him do a jump and shouted some encouragement to him, and he was doing the same for me while I was doing my workout, so after I was finished and he was warming up to do some sprints, I decided to cool down a bit with him. He is doing the long jump and a bunch of sprint events -- he doesn't do distance ;-). He was so nice I figured it was worth a few a minutes of extra running to hear his stories. Only 30 more minutes tonight and this week will be done -- if all goes well I will have close to 60 miles this week. I did have to go to see my ART therapist last night, my left leg is sore today from it, but the muscle does not hurt as much. I am going to have to get some consistent work done on my right foot, my PF is getting really bad, it is taking longer and longer for the pain to go away when I start my runs.

PM: 32:51 (3.5 miles).  Very hot, I tried to wait until it cooled off some, but at 6:30 it was still in the 90's so as I was whining Dean told me to "get to it" and "you aren't going to expire in 30 mins" - so I just got out and did it!  Ran to Liberty Park and a little on the grass and back.  I wish I had driven to the park and done the whole run there, it was shady there ... not one bit of shade on the rest of the run.

Now I need to recover in time for a longer run tomorrow!

Congratulations on the great races today bloggers!
 

1:59:02. Ran on the Rail Trail in Park City. Did 1.25 round trip from the trailhead to the park bathrooms then back to the trailhead and ran 6 miles out and then back. The last 6 miles are definately uphill, but quite as bad as Jeremy Ranch Road because there are no rolling hills in the mix. I ended up running about 1.25 miles longer than I meant to, because I saw this portapotty off in the distance and I had to use it (instead of turning around just past the mile 5 marker)... I really had no choice, and it was worth every step!

Favorite things about this run/course:

1) nice surface, hard gravel is great.

2) scenery was pretty cool, lots of wildflowers, I saw two huge Sandhill Cranes

3) mile markers

4) bathroom at mile marker 6

Least favorite things about this run/course

1) deer flies - ouch, they hurt when they bite

2) headwind on the uphill stretch from mile marker 6 back to mile marker 3

3) combo of headwind + deer flies -- I have a bruise on my forehead from being struck by the flies that got blown into me ;-).

4) getting started too late - it was pretty hot at noon, even in Park City, especially in the sun.

Happy Sunday bloggers.

57:12 -- probably about 6 1/4 miles with extra run to bathroom (today is my lucky day because I actually made it to the bathroom at Liberty Park instead of finding a spot on the way!) .  I feel pretty good today - although my stride looked/felt particulary choppy (not the long, graceful, flowing stride I am going for ;-) ).  My goal for Thursday is to at least feel as good as I did in February (at the SLTC 10K).  Although it is a training run and I know I won't be close to my PR, I would at least like to think I got some benefit from my winter training and the past month or so.  With our upcoming move I will probably actually be focusing on the PF Chang's 1/2 marathon as my next "key" race, but I will be running the Top of Utah 1/2 and some cross-country races in Tucson this fall as workouts.  I am looking forward to participating in Des News - and looking forward to seeing some of you bloggers there and having spectacular races!

63:51 - ran down to Liberty Park, did two laps on the grass and then added on a 1/2 mile near my house.  Ran at about 65-75% effort today, not hard but not easy either.  My stride was much better than yesterday, but I certainly did not feel fast!

I have to work tomorrow after the race - but I hope to at least get a holiday nap in, I am feeling super tired this week (I am sure getting up tomorrow at 4:00AM is not going to help matters!).

Happy Wednesday bloggers. 

4 miles wu/cd + 10K race

It was so nice to meet all the bloggers today!  Michelle stayed with us last night, it was so nice to visit with her.  She had to wake us up this morning because I must have set the alarm for 4PM ... whoops, just was I had a nightmare about.  Thankfully we still got to the start with plenty of time to warm up.  

My back has been hurting this week (weird it is kind like a cramp - but I think it is muscloskeletal).  So I was little apprehensive about this race. It felt pretty good though, and I am happy with it.

Mile 1: 7:14 - I am trying to stay on the slow side here, this is the steepest downhill

Mile 2: 7:00 - hmmm maybe this was the steepest downhill

Mile 3: 7:24 - a little uphill and I slowed down after my last split, I did not want to be breathing really hard yet

Mile 4: 7:12 - really good pace, feeling good and only 2.2 miles to go

Mile 5: 7:09 - more flat, but I wanted to pick up the pace here

Mile 6 + .2: 8:54 - missed the mile marker (7:25 average pace) - the uphill to the finish was tough but Dean and Michelle were yelling at me and I could see the finish line so I finished probably the best I have ever finished a 10K (10K's are tough, I think). 

nice cool-down with my friend Anna, talked with Jody and Paula (it was so nice to meet  you ladies, and great races) - saw Sasha finish and then came home.   Oh, one thing I forgot, last Saturday I wrote about meeting this nice man at the track who was training for the Senior Games -- well, today I found out that it was Chad's father!!  Isn't that the coolest thing?

Happy Pioneer Day everyone.

 

47:16.  I am so happy - I feel pretty good today.  Took a nice easy run (since that is what Greg told me to do ...), I could have run longer.  It is good to know that I ran exactly the right amount of effort yesterday - enough to get training benefit, but not hard enough to affect my training for the rest of the week.  And - the downhills did not trash my legs as much as I feared - yippee.

Happy Friday bloggers

AM: 44:33 (5 miles). Ok, so I was naive yesterday to be all glib about how good my legs felt. Ouch, by about 2PM yesterday they hurt like crazy. I can only imagine how much MarcieJ and Josse's legs hurt after Bryce! I used the foam roller (double ouch) and stretched like crazy and although I was worried, my run this morning wasn't too bad. Now I have to stay loosened up for my run this afternoon. I can tell that Jeremy Ranch Road will be a little hard tomorrow ;-).

PM: 31:35 (3.5 miles).  I waited as long as I could to do my PM run, but it just did not seem to be cooling off ... so at 7:00I finally just went.  I just ran slow in 98F weather. I ran in Liberty Park, it is flat and there are trees, so at least the sun was not too bad.

Whew.  Pretty tired today, I am not planning on working at all tomorrow.

1:35:58 (48:05/47:53; 8:43 average) ... great run!  I can officially say this was an "easy" run on Jeremy Ranch Road (I did not think I would ever say those two words together).  I did not want to run more than 1:40 today - I always run by time (versus distance) but Greg usually gives me ranges of time (like today was 90 - 105`) and I almost always hit the high end or just over.  Because of the race last week, and the way my legs felt yesterday, I really wanted today to be an easy day.  I felt so good with 3 miles to go that I picked it up a little (even though it was uphill most of the hard climbs are over by then).

It was really hot (we did not get started until after 11:30), there was  headwind for the first 2 miles after the turn-around, but it was actually a coolish breeze and it felt good (probably because I was not running very fast).  Tomorrow is my day off, I hope to get a good walk in to keep my legs fresh because I have a hard workout on Tuesday.

Happy Sunday bloggers.

AM: (59:25 7 hilly miles in Sugarhouse Park + a little jog cd). The goal for today's run was to run about 75-80% effort with equal effort up and down the hills (5 laps of 1.4 miles each). After a first l lap wu (and emergency pit stop) in 12:21 (8:42), 11:31 (8:13), 11:28 (8:11), 11:14 (8:01), 10:49 (7:43) + 2` on the grass to cd. Sweet! I did not charge up the hills, I just focused on my form and shortening my stride. The hard part was keeping the flat/downhill portions equal effort to the uphills. I am excited because this run was actually easier than when I did it a month ago, and with the exception of the first lap I was faster on my last ones by quite a bit. Let's see how I feel on this evenings run!

PM: (40:13 4.5 miles).   3 laps on the grass at Liberty Park.  Took a while to warm up but felt pretty good by the last lap. 

1:03:46.  Recovery run to Liberty Park.  Super tired today - mind and body. Felt ok on the run, but could tell I pushed it a little hard yesterday, took the hills super easy today, but still felt like I was dragging!

I only have two more days to finish a big project that is already late and get some other commitments finished.  Next week we will be in Denver for a conference (it is the biggest stats conference of the year and is always in August).   Lot's of stuff going on with getting ready for  our move, things are very stressful here as of late.

Happy Wednesday bloggers.
 

AM (44:27, 5 miles). Ran about an hour earlier this morning so I could get this run in and get to a meeting. Ran in Liberty Park, felt much better than yesterday despite the continued sleep deprivation and long work hours. Beautiful morning - perfect weather, felt really lucky to be out and running.

PM (40:15, 4.5 miles). Poppington Park up 11th to City Creek Canyon and back.  Almost 8:30 before I got started, it was cooler, but I was very tired and stressed by the end of the day.

Have a good day bloggers.