Elite Jogging For Dummies

After feeling decent most of yesterday, I had a relapse last night and didn't eat dinner (except a banana shortly before bed).  I felt better when I woke up this morning and managed to get in 8 miles. I ran much of it with John Straley, who was running into work but diverted his course to run with me.  Got to catch up with him which was nice. 

PM: After I got home from work, I had a little bit of extra time and a little bit of extra energy so I pushed Jack for three miles out and back to Memory Grove. 

I ate enough last night and felt decent enough this morning that I figured it was ok to try things out on a long run.  I ran from home to Emigration Canyon via TiTP and then up the canyon to the five mile mark at approximately the Sun and Moon Cafe.  On the way down the canyon, I ran at a slightly elevated pace (no faster than 6:25 per m). Since  I had left the house kind of late (6:40 am), it was getting pretty warm and sunny on the return.  I had just one bottle with me, which I polished off with four miles to go.  However, in front of the Monument Cafe at TiTP there was an unopened bottle of Arrowhead water. There was no one around to claim it, so I helped myself. I will try to return the favor to the universe somehow.

The body felt fine after the run--it just felt the way a longer run should feel.  I think I can try to return to normal training next week.  It's been a very strange week.

Easy out and back run to the southernmost reaches of the VA complex.

Easy run this morning, 10.75 miles. At some point after a little detour up to Ft. Douglas to find a porta-john, I saw Josh and Megan ahead and managed to catch up to them (not easy). We ran the rest of the Avenues/Memory Grove loop with a little detour up City Creek. Legs were moving at a somewhat normal pace and I think I can give a tempo run a go tomorrow.

PM: I detoured to Liberty Park on my way home from work and ran 3 loops around the park, 4.25 miles. I wasn't just riding the relaxy taxi, I was getting passed by it.

This morning I ran my first workout since Deseret News. Last week I felt like it was unlikely I could ever move my legs somewhat quickly ever again, but I felt good enough today to give it a go. I warmed up 4 miles over to This is the Place. At the far east end of the park (close to mouth of Emigration Canyon), I started the seven mile tempo run.  I ran west down Sunnyside, into research park, down to Foothill, over to 2100 E., then a nice cruise down past 2100 So to the gully, then down to Highland High area and then back north on 1600 E. 

The route was generally downhill, but included some flat sections.  I tried to keep the effort in the 6:10 range, even though the route made for some faster splits. Splits were 6:15, 6:10, 5:58,5:50, 5:49, 5:58,6:08. After the tempo, I finished the run with a slow four mile cooldown along 1500 E. to Guardsman, up past Steiner, then through the U, Federal Heights, and home. 

AM: Like running through gravy on legs made of mashed potatoes (12.25)

 PM:  Ran home from work, 2.75 mi version.

I drove to Holladay this morning to join that crew for a run. It's been ages since I have met up with them. We ran the canal route and had a nice morning.  The weather was ideal. Pace was easy, 1:10 for 9.3 miles.

Easy eight miles this morning on the U/Avenues/Memory Grove loop.  It was overcast and slightly humid. Some people think it feels muggy, but I like it.  

 It's been nice to have a couple of very easy days in advance of the Provo River Half tomorrow. Here are my goals: 1) make it to the starting line on time. 2) successfully adapt to unexpected changes in route, start time, etc. 3) complete race in approximately 1:14.
 

Provo River Half.  It's late and I'm ready head to bed, so I'll just give a short entry and maybe improve on it tomorrow.

Ideal conditions for the race--started at about 6:40 am, which is awesome.  Never too hot, finished by 8am.  Good competition today. We had a little pack in the first couple of miles. I surged at 4 to get some momentum on all the steep dowhills.  Adam caught me at about 6.5 on the long climb on the highway.  I was within striking distance the rest of the race, but never could close the gap. He had a very good race. I feel like I had a really good race as well, just about 14 seconds off of a PR and on a somewhat more honest course than Hobble Creek. 

The blog had a 1-10 sweep, which is pretty impressive.  Congrats to all.

Five easy miles with Heather and Jack. We ran out and back to the VA complex. 

AM: Met up with Josh and Megan at 5:45 on 3rd Ave. We ran out toward TiTP like we were going to do the standard loop, but then got all crazy and switched it up and ran south on Wasatch and down into the neighborhood where I grew up. So it was a trip down memory lane. Easy pace. My legs actually feel pretty decent. I think the 10 minute dip in the river after the half on Saturday helped.

 PM:  After work, I drove up to the meadow above I street and ran five loops.  Ideal conditions in every respect.
 

I had a 7:30 am meeting this morning, which meant getting up even earlier than usual, 5:10 am, to get in a decent run before going to work. I ran the U/Avenues/Memory Grove loop, but added a couple of extra miles out and back through Fort Douglas. I was basically asleep for the first seven miles. My legs felt better when I was asleep. When I woke up I noticed I still had some fatigue.

Since I'm still in race recovery mode, no workout today. I will shoot for Thursday for some spiciness.

Met up with Josh at 5:45 on 3rd Ave. We ran a loop, most of it on Bonneville Shoreline Trail, from the bottom of Dry Creek over to the mouth of Emigration Canyon, with a little extension up and down Red Butte. The footprint for the new Natural History Museum is coming into place and it's going to destroy that nice section of trail.  

Workout this morning. I met Josh on 3rd Ave at 5:45. We ran over to 15th E and started the 2 mile Tinman Tempo. Had a little bathroom break in the middle, but the splits were 6:15 and 6:03. The second mile took us into Sugarhouse park where we jogged over to the Highland Track. The plan was 8 x 1000m at CV pace. We were remarkably consistent: 3:24/ 3:25/3:24/3:23/3:23/3:24/3:24. I think that's around 5:15 pace or so, but I should do the math. For the 8th one, we ran back north on the road. It was slightly uphill and a slower, 3:50. We were pretty spent, but glad to have the workout behind us. Cooled down 4.5 miles back home.

I thought I would be pretty sore from yesterday's workout, but I didn't feel too bad on this run.  I just kept the pace very easy and spent most of the run sorting out all the things I need to do between now and Sunday when we leave for Europe.

Easy run this morning with Josh, Megan, Lisa M., and Straley. Derrick and Frank joined us for the first 8 or so and then turned back. We ran out and back from 15th and 15th, starting at 5:30 am. We made it out to some neighborhood in Cottonwood Heights before turning back. Straley told jokes the whole way--it was a fun run.

Travel day. SLC to Paris--Paris to Geneva. Geneva to Chamonix. Long day, no run.

Went to bed late enough to try to adjust to the time change. Woke up at 6:45 and ran on the roads and trails that lead east out of the Chamonix valley.  Connected on a double track paralleling the l'Arve river. Ended up gaining some altitude on a single track that climbed up the mountain side.  Views of Mont Blanc over the glacial mist.  

AM: Another outstanding run in Chamonix. Paralleled the river, tremendous climbs on single track forest trail surrounded by moss covered stones, the sound of rushing glacial water, and overcast skies. Top five, ever. There are trails everywhere. I could run here for a long, long time and never get bored.

PM:  First day of our trek along the Haute Route (Chamonix to Zermatt, Switzerland).  Easy day of climbing up from the village of Le Tour, the highest village of the valley of Chamonix, to Charamillon mountain pasture, 6,076 feet. From there, easy traverse across the mountain until we were met with an amazing view of the "glacier du Tour".  Spent the night in "Albert 1er" hut, height 8,865 feet.  Great view, terrible food and accommodations otherwise. We hiked 4 miles, I'll count it as 2 easy since we're carrying giant packs.  It would be much easier to run 2 easy miles than do this.
 

Haute Route, Day 2. We started hiking before dawn, roped up, put on crampons, and took out our ice axes for the first day of glacier climbing. We climbed up to the pass of Le Tour, 10,768 feet, on the Swiss border. Heather was freaked by the climb and rock scramble up to the pass. Great views of the glacier of Trient, the " Aiguilles Dorées ", and all the summits of the Swiss Valais, including the Matterhorn.

After the pass, we crossed over the Trient plateau to Orny pass, 10,164 feet, and Orny hut. Had our first taste of Croute d'ouef et fromage (basically oil-dipped toasted bread covered with cheese and two eggs ... wow!). Followed the trail across Orny and took the Breya chairlift, 7,178 feet, down to Champex village, 4,724 feet. From there, we shipped some stuff on to Zermatt because we had all overpacked and were burdened like pack mules! Took a mini-bus to the Chanrion hut, 8,077 feet, right in Valais mountains. Had a terrifying ride that made me car sick.

Approx 6 hours of hiking, Length : 10 miles. Difference of elevation: 1,902 feet up, 3,596 feet down.

Haute Route Day 3:  Left the Chanrion hut just before sunrise. Had a three mile hike along great trails to the base of the Otemma glacier.  This is an enormous expanse of ice that apparently  moves down of nearly one foot per day, due to the persistent thrust of the glaciers of its basin.  The climb along the glacier was fun, but very long--10k of basically straight walking with gentle elevation gain throughout. Our minds numbed during four hours of walking, we devolved into playing games like "Name a Fruit ... Any Fruit." There were no more rules than that.

Nearby were the high, sharp peaks along the Italian border (Singla, 12,185 feet, Grand Blanchen, 12,067 feet).

 We had a steep scramble up a boulder strewn ridge and were met with an awesome view of the Vignettes hut, which clings perilously to the mountainside. It has been described as an eagle nest built on the top of a vertical wall.This was unanimously the best hut on our trip. Great food and the hutkeepers were awesome. Our group of six (plus our guide) were the only ones there, except one other couple.

 
Hike duration: ~ 6 hours. Length : 9 miles. Difference of elevation: 2,776 feet up, 492 feet down.

Haute Route Day 4. The plan was to leave the Vignettes hut and ascend the Evêque pass (11,128 feet), on the Italian border. However, an overnight snowstorm and low visibility sent us on a different route. We climbed down the glacier below Vignettes and the Pigne d'Arrola to the bottom of the mountain and then climbed slowly back up the steep side of another mountain along winding single track. From Plans Bertol, we took the trail up along the moraine ridges until we encountered a small glacier. Above us loomed the Cabane Bertol, which made the Vignettes hut location look easy by comparison. We were roped up and climbing along narrow rock ledges with 500 foot exposure to reach steep ladders that accessed the hut. Spent the night in the hut at 10,863 feet.

Duration of walking: 7 hours. Length : 10 miles. Difference of elevationl : 3,770 feet up, 3,268 feet down.

Haute Route, Day 5.  We woke up at 3am and left the hut at 4am.  It was still extremely dark outside, but visibility was good and we were treated to spectacular stars. I saw a shooting star and thought of Jon Allen.  We had to descend out of the hut to the glacier below, which was no small feat. It took about 20-25 minutes to navigate the ladders and exposure and get everyone down safely.  It was thrilling and I felt very alive to be doing that at 4am.

Once we were on the glacier, we had the best part of the entire hike. We crossed the Mount-Miné glacier for about two hours in the morning darkness darkness, under the thick stars and a silvery sharp moon. 

Our climb led us to the highest point of the hike at sunrise, Tête Blanche, 12,218 feet.  To the west was the imposing site the Matterhorn, which we would keep in view all day.

(not my pics by the way--will post ours soon).

With the Matterhorn looming above us or along side of us, wedescended into Zermatt, across glaciers and crevasses, huge expanses of rocky morraine, and then finally nice easy downhill walking along well-developed footpaths. An extremely long day--10 hours of hiking, and it rivaled any long run I have done for its challenge.

Duration of walking: 10 hours. Length : 15 miles. Difference of level : 1,880 feet up, 7,441 feet down.

From Zermatt, more great views of the Matterhorn.

Despite a lot of fatigue from the hike, I managed to get up and go out for a run in Zermatt. I gained 1000 feet during the course of the run. It was spectacular! 

The rest of the day was travel: from Zermatt back to Chamonix to pick up gear, then from Chamonix to Geneva to spend a night before flying home.

No running, extremely long travel day.

Met up with Josh and Megan at 5:45 on 3rd Ave. I bored them to tears with the detailed version of our Haute Route trip. 

I met up with Josh at 5:30 to run a workout. We ran up through the U and over to Resesarch Park. At the end of a three mile warmup we started the first chunk of the workout: 10 x 2 minute fartlek at CV pace with ~ 1 minute recovery.  The first few we did on the road, heading up above the zoo.  Then we hopped on to the fairways at Bonneville Golf Course and ran the rest of the intervals on the grass. This afforded us a nice surface with some variety in grade.  We were running hard and were pretty spent by the end of these. Josh was still coming off his smoking half marathon at TOU and I was coming off, well, not running.  Anyway, we survived.I don't have my watch with me to write down the distances/splits, but we were generally around 5:25-5:30 pace.

Next up was 3 miles of Tinman Tempo. We ran out and back on Wasatch Blvd and then through the golf course again on the return. Splits were 6:04/6:03 and 6:11. The last mile was tough. It started with a favorable downhill but got ugly when we made a hairpin turn and headed back uphill.

Four miles of recovery to get us home after the workout.

My body is still feeling a little jetlagged, but getting better.  I woke up at about 4:15 again this morning (went to bed at 9:20). Maybe it will improve in the next couple of nights.

At 5:20 am, I ran from home over to Foothill Village, in time to get in four miles and catch the 6am group running the H Rock route.  That route includes, of course, the brutal climb from Wasatch Blvd up and up and up 21st South to Carrigan Canyon.  Then its a nice easy descent to Foothill. Hung out with the group at Starbucks for a while.  Caught a ride home from Josh and Megan.

Met up with a group of six at Foothill at 5:30.  We ran north toward the Firehouse on 11th Ave. A couple of folks turned back and the rest of us pushed on toward City Creek.  We turned back at the Capitol and ran to 11th Ave and Federal Heights. I split off from the group as they were only running 13. I had to stop at home to take care of a couple of issues ...  Then I continued back toward Foothill via This is the Place.  Just missed seeing the leaders in the Salt Lake Half Marathon come out of Emigration Canyon.  I ran into Josh, however, who was out watching the runners and he told me he had just seen Adam come through in second and looking good.  Nice work, Adam, considering the injury issues this week.  I watched a couple of runners come through and then headed up into St. Mary's neighborhood and wandered around.  Then headed back down to Foothill. This was a really challenging run, I never felt that great and had to work mentally to stay with it. However, I did get it done and that's the key.

JD came by and picked me up and we headed to Millcreek Canyon. We ran out and back on the Pipeline Trail from Burch Hollow. The sky was threatening rain, but it turned out to be really ideal.  Great recovery run.