Elite Jogging For Dummies

No running today, or at least not as of this morning.  Trying to get a little extra rest to fight the cold. 

No running again today. The cold feels a little better; I have used much less tissue today than I did yesterday. And generally my head feels less like it's encased in an inflatable tube.

Got out a little late, only had time for 6 miles in the hood.

Six miles from 9th and 9th. 

At the cabin. No running. Gale force winds. Stayed inside.

Still at the cabin. Heather and I ran up Richardson Canyon on the snowmobile trail, wearing Yaktrax. Lots of climbing on the way up, beautiful morning. Clear and no wind. 

I'm really cranking out the miles, aren't I?  Late out the door, only had time for 5 miles.

I ran out and back to my old 'hood of my youth, which is turning out to be one of my more enjoyable runs from our rental house.  I actually did something resembling speedwork, or at least a "fartlek," on the snow covered school field and in the surrounding neighborhoods. Nice to move the legs. Cold! But not terribly awful.

Quite cold again, 16F.  Once again, I ran a completely different route than anything I've run before from the rental house. I'm rather surprised I haven't found a loop or two that I can settle into.  I headed east up to the entrance to Tanner Park (2.5 miles from home) and then south through Holladay neighborhoods, meandering back to the house. A lot to like in this route, but need to eliminate some needless meandering along Highland Drive.

From Diva's on 3300 South, we ran the north loop up to 1700 South and back.

I ran on the Pipeline Trail in Millcreek Canyon. I wore the yaktrax on the packed snow, and the headlamp to navigate the 6am darkness. Great to be on the trail early.

From Foothill with a group of six or so. We ran north, out and back to B Street on 11th Ave, and then added a bonus mile at the end. 

Another meandering run through the local neighborhoods. I'm beginning to give up on the idea of trying to settle on a fixed loop. So many endless neighborhoods; one change in direction and it ends up being a totally different run.

My first actual attempt at "speedwork" in probably six months. Along with three others, we cycled through a fartlek workout with intervals of 30 sec, 1 min, 1:30, 2:00, 1:30, 1 min; 30 sec, etc.  We ran these on the rolling hills of 15th East. I felt pretty good, but didn't push it much. I know better than to try to reach for that "other gear" on the first workout after a six month lay off. Hamstring feels good. Plantar Fascitis not so good.

For a while, I thought that the wind would be the most distinguishing feature of this run. Then I thought running alongside a raccoon would take the prize. Alas, it was slipping on a big patch of ice on the trail at Parley's Historic Nature Park that took top honors. I stayed down on the ground for a second because frankly, it hurt. Hip is kind banged up and I'm a little limpy while walking.  The irony is that the ice fall happened when it was 45 degrees out.

It was an icy morning with clear skies, fresh snow and a big moon. We ran from Diva's and did the north loop.

I was in the mood to run parts of my old pre-move routes so I drove to Steiner and ran from there. I headed north through the U campus, up to 11th Ave and then climbed up to 18th Avenue and headed out and back on the snowy meadow trail. I've missed running in that area. I somehow never really got tired of it during the nine years I lived in the Avenues.  Run ended up being a little longer than planned, but it was the right run for the day.

We ran a loop from 9th and 9th through downtown, Memory Grove, 11th Ave. and then zigzagged back from the University area back to 9th/9th.  Half the group ran 15. I ran 11 with the other half; not quite ready to push the increase in miles that much.

I found myself running the same east loop that I've run a couple of times before; it may be turning into an actual route that I can recall and repeat.  I ran in to Julie Thomas on the return route and we ran a mile or so, chatting about kids and running. 

Workout with the Black Sheep, my first in at least six months.  We met at East High, then ran Straley's "Savor the Hill" workout, which basically involves running hard up a hill, backtracking on the recovery and then surging up again, making a little more progress up the road with each progressive interval.  A good re-entry workout, but I have a lot cobwebs to shake out.

I ran the East Loop again, ran into Burke on the return. 28 degrees, no wind. 

Run from Diva's -- north loop.

Boy, it was a long night. It included, at ~3:15 am, yours truly scavenging the house to locate a binky for Luke.  Not only did I search the house, but also the car (to which I ventured in my socks (one of them of the uber-sexy Strassberg variety) . . . in the snow). After 20 minutes, finally found 2 binkies under the changing table. 

 Not surprisingly, I woke up late and ran 7 miles around the hood.

Lots of snow on the ground this morning, and lots of slop and slush on the streets. Iran with a group from Foothill Village to 11th Ave. and B, and back. The group stopped after this 10 mile slushfest. I decided to add a couple more miles because things had dried up a little bit and I was feeling pretty good. So, I ran just over 13 miles, which is my longest run in quite a while. I'll have to check my logs to find out, but it may go back as far as July, maybe June. It was worth the little extra effort. If you could run 13, you can run 15; if you can run 15, you can run 20, etc.

I ran the East Loop this morning. I'm not sure exactly where I shaved off a few tenths, but I did.