Most Thursday's I run with the Radda gang, but I had limited time this morning and wanted to try to get as munch bang for my buck as possible, which meant skipping the 15 minute drive.
The plan was to run 5 x 1 mile in City Creek Canyon and Memory Grove; 2 uphill miles, three downhill ones, each with .5 of easy running between. Warmed up 3.5 miles from home up to Virginia St and 11th Ave down to City Creek Canyon. First mile up City Creek is tough, its a long slow climb and I was still warming up. Time was 6:43. After an easy .5, started another long slow climb, even tougher in some sections, 6:37. Then another .5 of easy running. At about the 3 mile mark in the canyon, I saw this large, very fast and extremely quiet "thing" dart across the road in front of me about 200 meters. It was like a streaking blur. I have seen mountain lion tracks in that very spot in the winter and I'm pretty sure that's what it had to be. Deer are stealthy, but not that fast, nor that quiet. It didn't bother me much, I know their nature is to keep away from people unless provoked and I don't think he had much to fear from the 8 min pace I was holding at that moment.
For the first two downhill miles, I wanted to stay between 5:30 and 5:35, and I did just that. The miles were 5:35 and 5:30, respectively. Both of these miles felt smooth and easy as far as form goes, though my quads were still singing Saturday's tune a little bit, so I decided to back off on the last repeat and just hold it at 6 min pace down Memory Grove. Cooled down to home via 4th Ave. Not a Big Workout, but a useful one.
PM: Ran home from work, 3.1 miles
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