track fan

1:47:28 - ran on Jeremy Ranch Road -- what a great place to do a long run. Reminded me a lot of Magnolia Road in Boulder (except that it is downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back - and Magnolia road is the opposite).

Ended up running way too fast on the way out (when I realized there were some mile markers it was between mile 3 1/2 and 4 and I was running about 8 min pace) -- this was not good as I died on the last 2 miles -- it got hot and I was a little oxygen deprived (it is about 1500 ft higher than what I am barely "used" to in Salt Lake City). My return portion was nearly 2 mins slower than the going out and I felt really sick to my stomach (I think I was a little dehydrated). I really was not able to judge my pace well, despite Randy warning me that it was slightly downhill, I think it was in part because I LOVED the surface and got carried away and in part because there was a really strong headwind on the way out and I thought *that* was the reason I was breathing harder than I should have!

Anyway, I think next time we will drop water at the turn around point, and I will be more careful. All and all I really like the run and am trying not to judge my fitness level too much on one lousy run.  Very appreciative of Randy for pointing this place out to me!!!

ran for 50:17 -- probably a long 5.5 miles, but not quite 6 miles.  Ran to Liberty park did 1.5 laps on the grass (outside perimeter of the park). 

Legs felt suprisingly good after my horrid run yesterday.  I think I am losing my heat adaptation after leaving Nashville and running so early in the morning during the week.

Dean and I decided not to go hiking today - I really have too much work to do ...

1:28:37.

Ran Bonneville Shoreline Trail to Dry Creek Canyon up to just above the water tower/Terrace Hills trailhead. Felt pretty good, but it was pretty warm today -- I have gotten spoiled by the cooler mornings of last week, the past few days have been on the warm side. It is made even warmer by the fact that I am still wearing a brace on my wrist - I fell on this same route 2 weeks ago and cracked my wrist.  The swelling in my hand has gone down, and my arm is no longer black&blue, but my arm is still a little deformed.  The wrist brace feels weird and I hate to wear it, but until this heals I can't take the risk of falling on it ... so I am just going to have to live with it. 

Funny tidbit, upon reflection of my blog from Sunday - where I compared the Jeremy Ranch Road to Magnolia Road in Boulder -- well, not only is Magnolia road more uphill going out and downhill coming back, it is also much steeper, and at 8000ft versus 6000ft -- I guess really the only way that these two courses are the "same" are the fact that they are both dirt roads!

I am having track withdrawals ... after 9 wonderful days of 2 hours (or more when I had time to watch my wcsn coverage) of track per day ... alas, no more track on TV.  The womans marathon was pretty cool -- they said it was over 80F and "humidity through the roof" at the start!!  I guess it was cooler than the mens marathon though. 

On another note, the USATF 20K championships this weekend saw the debute for Greg McMillan's new post-collegiate running team (http://www.mcmillanelite.com/) --  with two of the athletes on the team coming in 11th and 14th; congrats to them and the champions Dan Browne and Alicia Shay (formerly Craig)!

Results can be found here: http://www.newhavenroadrace.org/NH20K07.htm and the USATF write-up here: http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?duid=USATF_2007_09_03_10_17_59.

Today is my standard day off ... I used to run every day with sporatic days off, I did not get faster, all I got was more tired.  So, now I take a day off every week ... my body generally appreciates it (and I can schedule really early morning meetings!!). 

I am battling plantar facitiis  ... a soft night splint (when I remember to wear it) works wonders, as does the painful tennis ball self massage ... but sometimes after I have been sitting at my computer for a while and I get up, I can't even put my foot on the ground.  I can't really tell if there is a specific shoe (running-wise) that seems to be worse than the others.  I rotate 3 pairs of shoes, going  from really low/lightweight trainers to moderate pronation control (Mizuno Inspire - for roads/sidewalks and after long runs when my legs are tired and lazy!).  I am a bit nervous to go back to my racing flats tomorrow - when I go to the track for my first speedwork in over a year!  I have done hill repeats and fartlek work, but I have not done anything faster than tempo pace in so long!  I can't seem to find any good articles that talk about what type of shoes might be "worse" (e.g., low profile versus more cushy) in terms of inflammation ... I am hoping someone on the blog might have some experience they would like to share.

1:30:13

  6 x 1000 w/200 recovery
(4:34, 4:30, 4:31, 4:31, 4:28, 4:31)
(average 7:12 pace)

3 x 200 w/200 recovery
(:52, :53, :49)

26:10 wu (my office to East High track)
23:38 cd (this was uphill mileage, very slow - took a slightly different route back to the office, evidently the shorter route!)

Not sure if the speed was threshold or speed -- somewhere in between I imagine (Greg calls these cruise intervals).  First time I have run faster than 1/2 marathon pace in over a year!!  Was a little nervous this morning, mainly because I did  not know what to expect. 

My schedule called for 6 - 8 x 1000 + 3 x 200, I wanted to do 7, but gave myself the option to do 6 if I felt like I was red-lining.  The pace was supposed to be around 10K pace (or a little slower 4:25-4:31 wo altitude adjustment) -- I was shooting for 4:37 high (adding in a little altitude adjustment - more like 3 sec/lap, working out to ~ 2%/mile based on NCAA altitude adjustment tables)  - somehow forgot what the final 1K split was supposed to be by the time I was on the track and thought 4:34 was slow (I did have my first 100, 200 and 400m splits right but did not do the math past that - I am a statistician not an accountant!!!) ... whoops. Ended up with 6 x 1K and then 3 x 200

 On my way to the track I was telling myself, "it is ok if you don't run fast, you don't have to race, you can just run to stay in shape - it is not as though you are headed for the olympics or anything" ... As I was finishing up my last K a PE class came out to the track.  The teacher/coach told me he had a class that was going to do 50m's - I asked if I could finish my last K and he said no problem.  I finished and was doing my 200's on the opposite side of the track from where the class was sitting ... I would run 200 and then jog back to my start.  Well, on my last one the class started doing their "warm up" lap -- the were about 30-40m's on me when I started my last 200.  I did not see it, but I was bound and determined not to let any of them pass me -- so here I am an woman with 34 years on most of them (at least) running like heck not to let them pass me, even though my legs felt like lead.  I am happy to say that: 1) they did not pass me - I still had about 20 meters on the closest kid, and 2) I guess my competatitve nature is not gone yet ;-).  silly, but I am sure it was funny to see the stupid determination on my face!

Anyway - I feel ok about the workout.  I am happy that I was able to run that fast for the first time in over a year, but I realize that it was probably a little faster than I should have been running (for this workout) -- I need to focus on slower pace for more time, next time!!

40:17 easy -- probably a little more than 4.5 miles, but certainly not 5.  Super slow and easy run on Bonneville Shoreline Trail towards Emmigration Canyon.  Fell again -- wasn't wearing my wrist splint because this trail is generally so easy -- but today I was scouting out new "trails" and somehow got on a steeper slope than I have been on, somehow my ankle turned and down I went.  I was so scared about protecting my wrist that I almost fell off of the trail and down the side of the hill!!   I think I successfully protected my wrist, but my hand is messed up (again!).  I really feel like a klutz ...

Work has been pretty tough the past couple of days, I am mentally exhausted ...

Have a great weekend everyone!

1:03:07

Ran down to Liberty Park and did 2.5 laps on the outside of the park.  Kept it really really easy.  I am very excited - this is the first week I have hit 50 miles with some "faster" miles.  It took about 1.5 miles to loosen up, my legs are a little tight.   All in all, feeling pretty good.  My hip hurts from my fall yesterday - and so does my arm - I might have to go in and see someone, just to make sure I did not do much more damage to it yesterday -- I am still kind of mad about it (the fall).  

 Have a lot of work to do today -- but my hope is if I get a lot done today I can take tomorrow off from work, enjoy my run and relax!!

 Hope everyone is having a good weekend.