Elite Jogging For Dummies

Finally made it out for a workout with the Black Sheep. I ran from home and met those guys over by the U. We ran back into campus for a little more warm up and then did a round on the Golden Mile. Josh & I finished together in 5:30. Then Straley showed up and had us chase each other fox & hound style up the center of campus. So that was 8 x hill repeats with distances between .20 an.50. I felt great on the short ones, plenty of power. On the longer ones, I lagged behind Josh a bit, couldn't get the turnover. After all this, I ran another mile or so with Josh & Megan and then ran home.

We had some rain this morning, but it stayed very light. I ran down to Josh & Megan's house and we ran their Sugarhouse/11th E./8th E. ten mile loop. It's a nice loop, though all the climbing is at the end. They're both getting ready for Boston, I look forward to seeing their results, which should be very good. I ran home after dropping them back at their place. Total time 1:28.

PM:  Easy four mile run with Heather and Jack. We ran down to Memory Grove, up the canyon a bit, and returned more or less the same way.
 

Sadly, our beloved Radda Cafe in Holladay has closed. It's a tragedy, really.  The bake some of the best muffins and scones around. So the group had to switch up plans.  One of the Radda Crew, Frank Dolce, is now a part owner in RawBean cafe on 600 South and West Temple downtown. So we met there at 5:30 am for a run. We had a big group, like 14 people, and we ran up Main Street through downtown and up into Memory Grove, to 11th Ave., and out past the fire station. We returned via the same route.  Running through downtown with that big of a pack was interesting, I've never done that outside of a race context.  The few people that were out no doubt thought we were a very strange sight. That's too bad.  People are fully equipped to be running everywhere, all the time.  It's interesting that the people traveling by their own power are unusual and the one's safely tucked inside of a vehicle get no notice at all.  

 At any rate, at the end of the run, Frank hooked us up with lots of goodies at RawBean, making it a fun morning.
 

This morning I ran up through the U and up to the gate in Red Butte Canyon.  From there, I jumped on the trail and canvassed the mountainside over to the bottom of Dry Creek.  I hit the metal pipe with a rock and then continued home via Federal Heights and 4th Ave.  Easy, easy pace.

Striders Half Marathon.  I knew this would be the most competitive of these winter series races to date, and appearances by Teren and Aleksander only confirmed that suspicion. Plus Logan and Clyde and Ashbaker, Walter were there, so it made for a really strong turnout.  The race is well timed for those running Salt Lake, Ogden, Boston ... basically any spring marathon.

I arrived at the start and got off the bus with only 20 minutes to go before the start. I got in a warm up of just under two miles.  At the start, I was hanging with Cody and Ben and another guy named Mike, who is an air force lieutenant stationed at Hill Field.  We stuck together for about 4-5 miles and then started to separate. I was running alone behind Walter most of the race, usually within about 50m or so, though that lead fluctuated. I just couldn't make up the ground. Anyway, I was basically on my own for the second half of the race except when Lt. Mike came up and caught a ride. We ran together at about 9.5-11.5 and then he pulled away a bit. Others have documented the wind factor and it was significant.  I had just one mile under 6 minutes in the last five miles.  The wind  probably cost a minute overall when it's all said and done.  It was also cold, though I didn't notice that too much (headband and gloves go a long way when you're wearing just a singlet and shorts).

The course was interesting, nice grade for the first 10km or so, and then it starts to roll for several miles. In fact, once the wind started, it felt like it never really stopped rolling.  No big climbs, just some terrain change. 

So here are the splits:

1) 5:31

2) 5:44

3) 5:39

4) 5:38

5) 5:38

6) 5:42

7) 5:45

8) 5:52

9) 6:03

10) 6:00

11) 6:04

12) 5:53

13) 6:08

.1) 33.39

Overall, I'm actually pretty content with the race. I always want to push more in the final few miles. At about mile 12, I asked myself whether I was really pushing as hard as I could at that point, and I was pretty close. I didn't have a big surge in me at the end today, but one of these days I'm going to find that other gear.  It just requires a more complete acceptance of some temporary pain. 

After the run, cool down for two miles with bloggers. Then a 3 mile cooldown with Bill Cobler.  Then standing around in the cold for awards.  Good job to all the bloggers today in tough conditions.

Jack kept us up for an extended period last night and it was not a restful evening. I woke up to run and it was raining. So I went back to bed for a bit. I woke up and it was snowing. I prefer running in snow to running in rain, so out I went for a quick 6 mile tour. It was very slushy for the first 3 miles, but improved once I got off the trafficked streets. By the time I got to Memory Grove, the snow had stopped completely and it was a nice little tour back to the house.

 PM:  Easy run from home and up into Memory Grove with Heather and Jack, pushing the babyjogger.
 

Ok, 28 degrees on this brisk February . . . err . . . April morning.  The sky was clear and the conditions were actually pretty nice, so I won't complain.  I still feel a little bit of soreness in the quads from Saturday's race, enough to deter speedwork or a tempo run, but not enough to stay home.

I ran from home over to TITP and did a little meandering through a couple of trails before heading over to the St. Mary's hood and the golf course loop.  On the return, I headed back into the farflung reaches of TITP, with observation stops at the Original TITP monument (a smallish white obelisk built in 1921, see photo below), the pioneer cemetery, pond, Smith adobe, etc.  Lots to see. Then more easy running to get home.

It rained this morning, but seemed to finish up before I went out to run.  I didn't make it out until  6:30, so I gave the rain plenty of time.  I ran the Ensign Elem. loop with a little extension up City Creek Canyon before heading down Memory Grove.  The post-rain atmosphere made for ideal conditions.  The pace was easy.  No more soreness to speak of from the race.

AM: With Radda closed, we met at Blue Star Cafe at 2300 E/2800 So.. We had a group of 10 or so. Four of us split off for a little longer route through Holladay--Erik L., Aimee Larkin, Lisa Madsen and Johanna Nielsen. The girls were running strong today. My legs felt dead and I wasn't feeling particularly spicy.

We finished back at Blue Star, which was blasting some bad generic alternative metal band over the speakers. It lacked the Radda coziness. Next week, we're trying Grounds for Coffee at 2100 E/3300 So.

 PM:  After work, I ran from the office up Memory Grove to the horseshoe, turned around and headed back down, then on to 4th Ave. Stopped at Hatch Family Chocolate  and picked up a couple of sweets, then finished the .75 to home carrying the small bag.  Total of 5 miles.
 

This morning I had two thoughts for the run as I was heading out the door: 1) run 10 miles; 2) run a significant portion of it on a trail. As I headed east up 4th Ave, I decided to do the Cucina Loop on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, from Dry Creek Canyon to City Creek Canyon. It takes about 15 minutes to run up to the trailhead at the bottom of Dry Creek (it's a pretty steady climb to that point, though it's only about 1.6 miles). Then I vanished into the womb of Dry Creek. It was still a little dark, but no visibility problems. The trail was still frozen, which was good because I think it would have been muddy otherwise. At the first overlook above the switchback in Dry Creek, there is a great view of the city. I noticed that someone had etched a message into the now-frozen ground with large letters, reading "THIS IS HOW WE MANIFEST IMPERMANENCE." I agreed.

After the overlook, the trail rolls nicely, with only one notable climb and a couple of other little grunts. I descended into the meadow above City Creek and then dropped down through the upper Avenues, Ensign Elem., and the cemetery. I did some drills on the grass near the cemetery offices to finish the run: skipping, knees, carioca.

Long run this morning with the usual cast of characters--there were about 8 or so in the group.  We started at Foothill Village and ran a south loop out on Wasatch to the foot bridges over the freeway, then contining on Wasatch before dropping down to 33rd So. and a zigzagging return to Foothill.  I felt sluggish and just ran conversationally.  Back at foothill, this was the end of the first loop, just over 10 miles. Most of the group is not training for anything longer than this, so that was it for them.  Lisa Madsen and I continued on for the second ten mile loop, a northern route that covered much of my usual TTIP/Research Park/Federal Heights run.  I was feeling better on the second loop, but not as good as Lisa, who was running really strong. I told her she was "kicking my butt today." To which she replied, "I can slow down, if you want."  Ouch!! She's running Ogden and should do really well.  Sub 3:10 seems extremely likely, sub 3, a distinct possibility depending on the conditions and what kind of day she's having.

Easy run with Heather and Jack, pushing the babyjogger.  We ran up to the gate in Red Butte Canyon. It was warm!! We ran into Brian Kamm, who was finishing a long trail run, and chatted for a couple of minutes as we were heading home. 

The thermometer said 42 degrees this morning, which means one thing . . . shorts! This is the first weekly training run I have done in shorts in a long time, probably since 2007. I hear its supposed to dip back down into the 30s later this week, so I'll just enjoy it while I can.

I ran out on the standard TTIP route via the grass going up to the monument, and then did the St. Mary's Golf Course loop (with some fairway running). Next, I jumped up on to the Bonneville Shoreline trail trail access at the zoo and climbed up to the main trail, eventually winding over to the bottom of Dry Creek Canyon. Hit the metal pipe on the third throw (my shoulder hurts from the first two throws ... too hard).

I ran a few drills on the grass at the end; carioca, high knees, skipping.

 PM:  Jack and I ran a few easy miles after work, out and back to Memory Grove.

Arrived at the zoo trailhead at about 5:40, enough time to get in a mile before meeting up with Lisa M. Our plan was to run five easy miles up Emigration Canyon, and then run a five mile tempo down the canyon.  The crazy thing today was that the wind was blowing up the canyon, rather than down the canyon.  It is very rare that I have had a tailwind going up. If it's windy, it's almost always blowing in my face while I climb.   It made for a smoother ride up, but on the way down it was a battle.

Lisa came down with a cold after the weekend, however, so she decided to back off a bit and she ran up to the 4 mile mark and back down easy. That's a good move, as she's planning to do the SL Half and probably needs the rest anyway.

So I continued on up the canyon to about the 5.5 mile mark (about .5 past the Sun & Moon Cafe). Turned around to start the tempo run and felt sluggish from the start. I haven't done anything quick since the half last weekend and I was concerned I would feel stale the whole time, so I just played it by ear and do all I could. First mile was 5:56, which reflected my sluggishness. I picked it up a bit in the second mile, 5:43. At some point I started to concentrate on letting go of the little mental blocks telling me that I was too slow today and that I should just be in bed. Third mile in 5:40. With two miles to go, I was approaching Ruth's diner. The grade in this part of the canyon is very runnable, but it does flatten out a bit. I think that's probably a good thing. During the fourth mile, Kevin Tuck drove up along side me and started talking about running. I love Kevin to death, but I was too deep into the run to slow down and focus on the conversation. I did manage to squeak out a few sentences. Fourth mile in 5:32. Okay, one mile to go. This is the flattest part of the canyon, but also probably the section I know best. I tried to concentrate on my best downhill form. Mile 5 in 5:27. Then a little cool down back to the car.  The headwind coming down the canyon was definitely a factor, but nothing to do about it.

I feel like I needed this workout today to get over the hump of just running slow for the past several days. At some point, there's no such thing as an "easy" day if all the days are easy.  

Well, it was back to being cold again this morning.  I knew the warmth couldn't last . . . though it is at least comforting to know it is possible.  At about 5:40, I ran down to Josh's house and we ran 8 miles together, through the Avenues and up to the 1 mile mark in City Creek. We chatted a lot about Josh's upcoming race at Boston.  I predict 2:38, or faster.  (His PR is 2:45) . After we circled back to Josh's house, I tacked on a few more miles, heading up to the U and back down through Federal Heights.

A group of 7 met at Grounds for Coffee at 5:45. I arrived in time to get in .5 before we started.  This is close to the traditional Radda route, so we did the canal route. I anticipate this will be the new staple as it allows basically the same course everyone knows and it's close to all of the Holladay runners.  I added another mile at the end to finish things off.  

This morning I ran the Ensign loop with a short jaunt up City Creek Canyon to add a little fun and excitement.  The creek is really starting to move now, as the water descends from the mountains.  Easy pace during the run, total time of 1:17 for 10 miles. Then I added a series of drills on the grass--high knees, skipping, carioca, glute kicks.

For the last several days, many people (mostly non-runners) have been asking, well actually assuming that I was running the Salt Lake Marathon. The logic goes something like: 1) I'm a run marathons; 2) I live in Salt Lake; 3) therefore I am running the SL Marathon. I suppose I understand the logic, but there is this strange kind of disappointment that surfaces on people's faces when I tell them I'm planning to run Ogden next month.  They feel sort of let down, or at least that's what I pick up.  It's actually kind of funny, now that I think about it. 

Anyway, although I wasn't registered this year, I did manage to participate in an unofficial capacity.  A couple of days ago I volunteered to pace Adam RW for the last 6 miles of the race in his quest for marathon speediness.  I guess he thought I would help more than hurt, and agreed to let me tag along. 

I left my house at about 8am and ran out to about the 20 mile mark, about 6 miles from my house. I had a pretty serious headwind on the way out and I knew that must be driving the racers nuts. I was a little early to the 20 mile mark , and just kind of ran up and down the street (5th East), waiting for the action to arrive. The lead group, all Kenyans as far as I could tell, cruised through in a pack of about five, though I didn't count carefully.  Next through, about five mintues back, came Sasha, followed closely by Alexander Tomas.  Then Matt Harmer from the WRC team.  Next came Adam, looking strong, and we took off.

The stretch of fifth east is a long stretch, and we had a little tailwind--the opposite of what they had endured in the first half.  Adam caught Matt and Alexander, which says a lot as these are very, very strong runners.  Then we ran into the half marathon/5k crowds.  The SL Marathon does a terrible job of keeping the course clear for the race leaders.  You have to weave around lots of people and it's kind of unnerving. Rather than let it wear Adam down, I tried to put the crowds on the road to his advantage--trying to get others to give him some encouragement, and trying to clear the path when there was a traffic jam.

The splits on my watch for the stretch I ran were between 5:57 and 6:15.  I'm sure Adam's post will give a more complete run-down.

As we got into the Gateway, I bailed out and Adam surged on to the finish--sub 2:40 and a PR. Great job!

Then I ran back along the course to 5th East and 2100 South, where my wife and her friends were gathered watching the race.  So I managed to get in a nice run today with some pace work. Congrats to all the finishers on a windy, warm day!

Easy run this morning, out and back to TTIP/St. Mary's/Bonneville Golf Course. It was cold again--29 degrees. I was wearing my thick Asics Thermopolis top, which is more or less my heaviest running shirt. I always worry it will get too warm, but it breathes well.

After the run, I did about 10 minutes of drills on the grass--high knees, butt kicks, skipping, carioca.

 PM:  Easy run pushing Jack in the babyjogger.  We ran up and over to 9th Avenue, dropped into Memory Grove on the switchbacks (a little treacherous pushing the stroller), and then return via 4th Ave.
 

This morning I planned to get in a five mile tempo run, but keep the intensity moderate, i.e., Tinman Tempo.  So I headed over the usual route to TITP.  After four miles of easy running, I started the tempo while still in the TITP parking lot.  From here, I would have a grunt climb up Crestview behind the Zoo, then a descent on Wasatch through the golf course, then some flat/rolling terrain along Wasatch, as I headed south.  The initial climb was no problem and the downhill through the golf course was nice and easy. Mile 1 in 5:59.  Then it flattened out and climbed a bit. Mile 2 6:08.  I had a 180 degree turnaround in the middle of the third mile: 6:00. The fourth mile had a nice easy grade: 5:53.  Mile five took me through the golf course up along Wasatch, peaking at Crestview. Ugh. I run this hill all the time, but never at tempo pace. It's a gut-kicker.  Like mile 6/7 the Ogden 10 miler. Well, not quite that bad--but it is a steady half mile climb nonetheless.  Anyway, even with the .3 of downhill after the climb I only managed a 6:42 for that mile. Then an easy 4 mile run home, trying to keep my form together--thinking about the drills.  Total time: 1:34.

 Oh, at Boston yesterday, Josh Steffen ran 2:36:53, an awesome time on that course.  His wife Megan ran 3:14. Great finishes.


 

The weather was fairly warm this morning and I decided I would run the trails to celebrate. I ran the Cucina loop (City Creek Canyon to Dry Creek Canyon via Bonneville Shoreline Trail). Lots of climbing in this run--at least 1500 feet, most of it within the first 3 miles--but I took it nice and easy. I ran a few drills on the grass when I got home: butt kicks, high-knee skipping, quick feet, carioca.

 After work, Heather and I ran a couple of easy miles while I pushed Jack in the babyjogger.  Heather dusted me at the end.
 

Met at GFC at 5:45 and ran the canal route with the Radda crew.  We had some nice weather, and then rain mixed with snow. I was pretty wet by the end, but it wasn't too bad. I'm conditioned to accept less than ideal weather this year.

Easy loop run via the U/Federal Heights/11th Ave/Memory Grove this morning. It was a "warm" 30 degrees. This morning I really emphasized putting one foot in front of the other.

Striders 30k this morning, the last race in this five race series.  It was a little chilly when I arrived  (28 degrees), but looked like it was going to get warmer without too much weather craziness.  I ran a couple of warm up miles out and back on the course. 

At the start, we had the core series competitors, I didn't recognize any new faces that looked like they were going to want to push the pace.  As could be expected, the  pace was easy from the start as Cody, Jon, Ben and I chatted.  At the first mile the Garmin said it was low on memory and couldn't store more data. and I messed with it trying to clear data, but ultimately I stopped and reset my watch and the bottom line is I don't have splits for some of the race. Oh well.

Cody and I pulled away from those guys around mile 4 or 5.  Pace was still easy.  Cody says we were averaging 6:13 through these miles.   The wind was a little bit persistent, but it wasn't  much of a factor, except that it seemed to be blowing against whatever direction we were running--but not bad.

At about mile 9, Cody started to drop off the pace a bit, or I might have picked it up a little.  Soon enough we were heading back toward Eden and I did pick up the pace, running around 5:45 for a handful of miles between 10 and 13.

The last five miles are filled with rolling hills (the same hills that we ran in the half M, and also add character to the Ogden Marathon).  I felt like I had some distance on Cody, but didn't spend a lot of time worrying about the gap. I just settled into my race and didn't focus on much else than moving forward and keeping my form together.  I didn't have much incentive to push the pace, beyond simply trying to run an honest thirty kilometers at approximately marathon pace. So I just followed the Sherriff's truck to the finish and that was that.  I thought about the series in the final stretch, and how fun it has been to be competing with my friends on the blog, and how I appreciate the support from a lot of different kinds of people in my life.

I watched Cody finish and then Jon (battling it out in the final half mile) for second and fourth respectively in this race.  My race today was enough to wrap up the series win as well.  More significantly, it was a 1-2-3 sweep for the blog in the race series overall.  We all left with a little more cash than when we arrived.

It was agreed before the race that the series winner would buy breakfast for the others.  So Jon, Cody and I had a nice breakfast at "The Oaks" in Ogden Canyon.  Stop and check it out during the marathon if you think you need to catch up on your carbo loading.  Try the "Canyon Cakes."  Jon couldn't finish the short stack, but we won't hold that against him. 

Each part of the series--the ups and the downs--was a lot of fun.  It's a pretty substantial commitment, but it does allow you time to build fitness and check your progress over a couple of months.  It also strikes me as pretty effective preparation for the marathon.

Cody was in Salt Lake and agreed to drive over to my house at 6am for a run. We ran the U/TiTP/St.Mary's/Golf Course route, out and back. Nice to have good company on this run. We added a little bit at the end to make it eleven miles even. Cody was impressed with the number of porta potties that line this route intermittently, and noted that Jon would be even more impressed. We had great weather today.

I don't really have any particular soreness from Saturday's race, just a little less spring in the legs. I was far more beat up after the half marathon, leading me to believe that fighting that wind took a lot more out of me than I realized.  I did come down with a little head cold on Saturday night (better after the race than before), so that's a little annoying. But it's not terrible right now. I'm planning to keep it easy an consistent this week.

I hooked up with the Black Sheep at East High this morning, but I can't really call what I did a "workout."  With this little head cold and just enough race-fatigue, I simply wanted to do some up-tempo running without too much stress.  The main parts of the run were 2 x 1 mile and 5 x 800. I didn't time anything so I don't have specifics, but it wasn't too quick or too hard. I just ran by feel and focused on keeping everything moving with decent form. I think this was the right thing to do today.  

Met up with Josh on 3rd Avenue. We ran a meandering route up through the U, to Red Butte Canyon Gate, and then back north via the Shoreline Trail.  After the trail, we headed west on 11th Ave, dropping down from 9th Ave. via the concrete switchbacks in to Memory Grove, then home via 4th Ave. Easy pace, nice conversational run. I was pretty congested at the start, but things improved after a couple of miles.