Elite Jogging For Dummies

Feeling 80% today. I ran a loop in the snow around the Aves and Federal Heights.

Finally felt something like normal today after a tough week of recovery from the gastro problems.  Met up at Radda with Casey & Kathryn and we ran a loop around the streets of Holladay.

Family run with Jack and Heather.  We had Jack quite bundled up as it was pretty cold. While out running, we ran into a high school friend of mine who was out running and pushing her twins! We chatted for a bit, then went home, dressed, and had a big breakfast at Avenues Bakery. nice morning.

Extended Ensign Elementary loop.  Surprise . . . it snowed again last night. As a result, the run was again slow. I feel like I have not run fast in weeks. I am certainly not ready to race yet, I need at least three weeks of consistent training.  Hopefully I can get in 50-60 miles over the next few weeks with a little speed mixed in and some consistency. January was a tough month for running for me.

A cold run with the Black Sheep. There were only about 7-8 of us. The temperature was very cold.  We started out running on Bonneville Golf Course, but the snow was too cold and we were post-holing.  So back to the roads and over to This is the Place for some hill repeats, then a run back to Steiner.  Josh and I pushed the hills nicely. 

Met up with Josh and Megan at 5:45. We ran up to City Creek, up to the one mile mark and back down.  We saw Adam right at the mouth of the canyon, moving at a good clip. We didn't see any animals like he always does.  I added one more mile after dropping Josh and Megan at their place.  It was really snowing hard by the time I was finishing my run. 

Radda run. I showed up ten minutes early and ran a mile on my own before connecting with the group.  A handful of us opted for a modified Mansion tour.  We started a 3 mile tempo at mile 4 into the run.  However, the first mile crossed the field of an elementary school and involved much trudging through snow for a quarter mile, so the split was 7:25. (I really can only count that mile as .5 of tempo considering we couldn't really run hard).  Then two miles in earnest along the wandering hills of Wander Lane, 6:11 and 6:07.  These times are fine for this time of year on these rollers.  I would like to get down to an even 6 minutes though. Lisa Madsen was about 45 seconds behind me, looking strong. 

I ran from home up through This is the Place and to the Donner Party monument in Emigration Canyon.  A stunning morning for running, cold but clear.  I saw two moose (cows, no bulls) at the base of This is the Place. They were just hanging out, staring at me.  I get a little nervous any time I'm within 100 feet of a moose, but this was fine.  The coolest image of the morning was watching these two horses corralled at the stables at This is the Place, both with long blond manes (basically twins), running around and playing in the snow with the sunrise and mountains in the background. 

Run from 15th/15th with a group of 8 or so.  I hooked up early with Jan and Lisa and we ran 3 miles (seemingly all uphill) before circling back to meet up with the 10 mile group at 6am.  We ran through campus to Federal Heights/Avenues/Firehouse.  Return via Fort Douglas.  Added a couple of spicy miles on the return (some nice downhill) at about 5:40+ pace.  I think this was my longest run this year.

Heather is representing our family in the SLC Track Club series. She ran 49:48, which is great, just under 8 minute miles.  I think I'll be ready to jump into a race within a few weeks.  I'm still working out some winter kinks.

No running today. However, Heather and I did take Jack snowshoeing on the Grandeur Peak trail in Millcreek. It was a beautiful day, very warm.  We hiked 4 miles. I'll call it 3 miles worth of easy running since it included a lot of climbing while carrying Jack in the pack on my back.   There are a lot of words that rhyme with Jack.

AM: 7.75 miles, out and back to the Harvard/Yale/Gilmer neighborhoods. Some nice real estate on this run.

 PM: Ran home from work, 2.25 miles.
 

Didn't get out of the door in time to catch up with the Black Sheep. Decided to run from home down to Liberty Park for a four mile marathon pace tempo run. As usual, warmed up three miles from home, through the Avenues, and over to 600 South and 600 East to start the tempo.  I ran conservatively in the first couple of miles, just observing everything going on with the body and the form, trying to get a gauge on where I'm at right now.  Miles were 6:09 and 6:12.  Having made it around the park once, I found a little more groove in the third mile, 5:58. In the last mile, I knew I was running faster but my pace was not terribly consistent. When I focused on what I was doing, I ran well. When I thought about how far I had to go or what my pace was, I slowed a little.  I had to concentrate on bringing my mind back to what my body was trying to do! Anyway, the last mile was 5:50--a little better.  It's been at least two months since I've run this kind of effort.

 So I  guess that's 6:09 pace for four miles on a flat course.  That's where I'm at right now, folks! I'll continue to focus on the base miles and the tempo runs to check the fitness and steady the mind. 

Hooked up with Josh and Megan at 5:45 am. We ran nine miles together, easy pace, around the U, back to the Avenues, around the horseshoe at the top of Memory Grove, over to the Capitol, and returned via 4th Avenue. I added another mile after we went by Josh & Megan's place.  I had to make a quick bio-stop but otherwise it was a good run at a nice even pace. 

I'm sure James Barnes would love the mileage total I've entered here.  Anyway, I was out the door at 5:30 but spent the first 20 minutes shoveling snow, so I started running about 5:50.  So even though the road conditions were poor and there was a lot of snow and ice, I still had time to get in a decent run.  I ran the St. Mary's/Golf Course loop.  

Ensign Elementary loop.  Much colder today, 16 degrees. But clear skies and the roads were only a little icy.  I went skiing yesterday afternoon and I'm still feeling that in my legs.  I'm planning to run the Striders series, 5k is tomorrow.  I view it as a workout. 

Striders Series 5k. I decided to run this race yesterday when Sasha encouraged me to take the comp to run the whole series. I was vaguely planning to run a couple of the races, but I had not anticipated starting this weekend. I ran this 5k last year and it's pretty painful so I knew it would just make a good workout, particularly because I haven't yet raced this year.

The race was much different than last year when we had a bunch of ringers in the race, Corbin, Bob, Paul, Sasha etc. To give you an idea of the difference in the field; I took 10th last year running just one second slower than this year. It's all about who shows up. On that note, I was glad to see Cody, Jon & Andy there. I imagine there were other bloggers as well, but I didn't get a chance to see/talk to any. I hope all had good races.

We started slow, in my opinion. Tim Wight was out front for the first mile. I kind of sat back and tried to figure out what kind of race this would be. At the top of the hill at 1.4 I made a move into first. Jon Allen surged and caught me briefly. He would do that several times on the descents. I held the lead from 1.5 until about 2.75 when Ben VanBeekum caught up to me. I made another move and again held the lead for another .10. He surged at about mile 3 and I didn't respond well. Jon caught up to me and put on a move, at which point I realized I actually did have a kick in me. I nearly caught Ben, who finished .06 ahead of me in 17:53.6.

I didn't come to the race expecting a win, and I didn't get one. Figure that out. I suppose I'm happy with the race considering I haven't been in a race mode so far in 2008. It did feel good to move the legs, however, and I look forward to subsequent races in the series. I think I can find a little more in the tank.

Easy family run with Heather and Jack. We did a nice loop through the University, to 900 South and back through the U to home. Heather kept a nice pace the whole way, her fitness is continuing to improve. She was pushing it in the last mile as I huffed along with the baby jogger.

Out the door at 5:40 with a plan to meet up with the group running the HCI (med school) loop from 15th/15th at 6am.  I had to make a stop at the Top Stop and missed them at the point I planned to run into them. So I played catch up once I saw they had crossed Foothill and eventually met up with them. I ran about 5 miles with them before turning from 900 South toward Guardsman to run home. Got to hear about Casey's trip to Paris over Valentines. 

This morning I ran from home at 5:40 am over to Red Butte to meet up with the Black Sheep for the hill workout.  It was brutal.  We did three loops of a circuit that included four different hills, each with its own special flavor of punishment.  Short recoveries between each effort.  Then a cooldown around Fort Douglas, then I ran home. 

This morning I ran from home out to Sugarhouse Park, return through the Country Club neighborhood, north to Foothill and through the U. It was slow, 1:29.

Radda run.  There was some new snow on the ground this morning, but nothing too serious, and not enough to keep me from driving to Holladay at 5:30am.  I ran 1.3 on my own and then met up with the group at 6am. We did the 'gas station' loop, as opposed to the canal loop.  Not a very sexy name, but the name reflects the fact that we diverge from Holladay blvd. at a Sinclair gas station and hang a right. Lisa M and I included three spicy miles.  They were uphill and not terribly fast, but the effort felt right. I don't have my splits--but I was running 5:50's on the flats, 6:30-6:45 on the long uphill Casto section. 

34 degrees this morning, which was great, but pretty much means snow is on the way.  I ran the St. Mary's Bonneville Golf Course loop, which works out to exactly 11 miles on the Garmin.  I ran into John Straley on 4th Ave on my way home and we ran together until I got to my house.  Tonight I'm planning to drive up to the cabin at Bear Lake.  I don't know what kind of run I will be able to get in tomorrow morning before skiing--I'm hoping for five miles or so. 

Up at the cabin at Bear Lake.  Very little time to run before going skiing. I'm amazed at the snow on the roadside, up to 7 foot drifts in places from all the snow removal. Quite different from when we were up here over new years.

After unwinding (and unpacking) after getting home from the cabin, I managed to squeeze in a little run from home up toward City Creek. I ran into Adam Wende on the way and reversed course and ran back toward Popperton where his car was parked. It was good to catch up with him and hear about his training. 

Though I didn't get out the door as early as I would have liked, I did manage to run over 10 miles-- which was the goal.  Around 6 miles into it the snow started to fall fairly hard and I thought I was going to end up soaked, but it didn't last very long.  Easy pace today, slow. 

Started easy from home, ran downtown, around Temple Square, up 1st Ave to 600 E.  I started my tempo run after these three easy miles, heading toward Liberty Park.  First mile was 5:59, second mile--in the park--was 6:05. I was asleep, not paying attention, etc.  Third mile in 5:54, fourth mile in 5:48.  I decided to tack on another .5, which I backed off the pace a bit, and ran in 3 minutes.  The second mile is always toughest for me--early enough to feel like I've got a ways to go, and late enough that I can project the feeling of fatigue.  I'll try to work on that more.  After the tempo run, I finished the loop around Liberty Park and returned home through the Avenues.  I ran into Brad Phippen who was out doing a fartlek run and I talked with him for a moment.  He'll be in Moab, with a sub 1:20 goal. 

Half mile on my own, then 6 miles with Josh & Megan, and then 3 more miles with Josh, then a half mile on my own. Lots of deer out this morning. One was standing in the middle of the road in Federal Heights.  This prompted Josh told some crazy story about a guy he knew whose grandfather kept a deer as a pet.  The end of the story wasn't pretty, and basically highlights the risks of being a deer around people. 

Arrived at Radda at about 5:40, ran 2.25 by myself and then joined the group at 6am.  Several of us ran the canal route, which was surprisingly clear of snow and ice.  It was nice to be on that road again.  On the return, Lisa M. and I ran 2 spicy miles on Wander Lane from Blue Spruce to the Mafia House.  Total of 9.2 with the group.

PM: Ran home from work, 2.6 mile route.
 

Easy 11th Ave. loop.  Fairly warm out this morning.