track fan

Whoohoo. Estimated time 1:50. Jeremy Ranch road - I am not sure exactly how far this was, because somehow my watch did not start after I got water (at mile 4) - so I am missing somewhere around 1/2 mile or so of time. Because of this, I was not sure when to turn around, so I turned around when my watch said 50:30 - turns out it was probably 2-3 mins later than I should have, so I am adding on an extra 1/2 mile (though it could have been more than a 1/2 mile more). Actually, for this run, neither time nor overall pace mean very much because of the difficulty of the run. Very hilly, 6500 ft, and coming back is both hilly and uphill and it is very hot (since we never seem to be able to get started before 11:30). Anyway -- no matter how "long" the run is, today I actually "beat" Jeremy Ranch Road. I pretty much didn't run faster than 9 min pace out (there are mile markers sporadically placed until mile 5) - and ran the last 3 miles at 8:30 pace (there are mile markers at miles 3, 2.5, 1.5 and .5). I was suprised and pleased! I wish I had the actual out-and-back times ...

Tomorrow is my off day and then next week I am adding on another day of doubles while increasing my mileage the other days -- it should be fun, I might see 60 coming my way pretty soon. Good thing is no travel until August!

Happy Sunday bloggers.

I forgot -- funny story about the run today.  About 1/2 mile into the run is an area Dean and I call "the bathroom".  It is really one of the few areas that is "easy" to find a private spot right off of the road, although right now it is so overgrown that it is hard to get back into the brush enough ... anyway, I went into the "bathroom" and within a couple of seconds was completely (I mean ALL over completely) covered with huge (not those bity little things) ants!  I actually screamed and ran back toward the road (in a sort of stage of undress) and in my haste came within millimeters of a snake!!!!  It was not poisonous - but hey - it was a snake!  If that doesn't get your heart rate  up what will?  Unfortunately, ants and one live and dozens mooshed snakes were all we saw in the way of wildlife today.
 

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!