Elite Jogging For Dummies

From home, I ran a loop that went through the U, past Steiner to 13th So., up to Wasatch Blvd, Bonneville Golf Course, the Zoo, Research Park, Fort Douglas, Federal Heights and home. This was a nice loop that puts together bits and pieces of lots of other routes. Kept the pace easy, but added some surges on the downhill stretch through Federal Heights at the end just to practice the downhill form.

Bear Lake. Heather and I drove up to the cabin last night and got in fairly late, just enough time to eat a bit,chat with the rest of the family, and go to bed.

I wanted to get out the door before 6am, but Heather wanted to run with me, and she doesn't like the early hours on the weekend, so we didn't get out until before 7am. We drove down to Pickleville and parked, then ran for an hour on some lonely roads. It was cool and already sunny. We got in about 7.5 together. Heather headed back up to the cabin, and I headed north along the lake road through Garden City and turned around just after crossing the Idaho border. It was then a long 6.5 back. I got very hungry and stopped and bought a banana and a gatorade. That helped me avoid a bonk, as I don't think I ate enough carbs last night. I pushed the last couple of miles to 7 minute pace. Came back to the cabin, took an ice bath, then had a massive plate of eggs, pancakes and potatoes. I always say, the best part of running is the overeating!

From home to Liberty Park for three easy laps and then back home.

Track workout @ East High. Today was was not a "speed" workout in the true sense, but it was a long workout that tested threshold stamina, endurance and attention to form. Bud James, the Chicago coach who designed my marathon plan, described it as an "important workout for the mind as well as for the body."

Here's the design of this ladder workout:

1 mile, 1200m, 800m, 600m, 400m with 400m jog recovery between every interval. Three sets of this. All done at 6 minute pace. So, not fast but pretty long.

I started with a mile warmup and then 4 x 100m strides.

For the first mile, I went out slow, as usual: 6:10. After that, I didn't fall off 6min pace. Most of my splits were at 87 seconds or so. It would take me too long to write all the splits for every interval, but here's what I did on the second set:

Mile: 5:55

1200: 4:28

800: 2:57

600: 2:13

400: 1:27

I did a one mile cool down after the third set.

The biggest challenge in the workout for me was finishing the 400, jogging easy, and then digging back in for the mile. The pace was not a problem, it was more a matter of breaking down the workout into individual laps instead of thinking about the length of the workout as a whole. That approach seemed to work today.

From home, I ran the U/Foothill/Zoo/U loop, easy. Sort of stale, definitely feeling yesterday's workout.

From my house, Jed Burton and I ran to City Creek Canyon via the Capitol. We ran easy up to the top of City Creek, but kept a pretty honest pace even as it got steeper. We ran into Brian and Casey shortly after we turned around at Rotary Park. They had started at the Sunnyside post office and were out running 22. Brian's pacing at Wasatch this weekend and Casey's headed out of town, so they're getting in the long run today. Anyhow, after chatting with those guys for a minute, Jed and I started our descent in earnest. The plan was to run at marathon pace (or faster) for four miles, from miles 12-15. We hit mile 12 in 5:56, mile 13 in 5:47, mile 14 in 5:46 and mile 15 in 5:18. That last mile was certainly not my marathon pace, but it felt good to get that kind of leg turnover. We cooled down the last 1.4 back to my house.

Avenues loop, easy.

Lake Tahoe. I arrived Friday for the wedding of two of my good friends. I got up at 5:30 and headed out into the dark Sierra morning at about 5:50, running south from Tahoma to Sugar Pine Point State Park on the bike path. Ran part of the General Creek trail, then headed back north through Tahoma to Tahoe City, staying on the bike path. The sunrise over the lake was unforgettable. The bike path alternately hugs the lake shore, parallels the highway, or weaves through tall stands of towering pines and redwoods. The elevation is about 6300 feet, so that added some challenge as well. I felt pretty good through 10, suffered a bit through mile 14, and then picked it up from about 15 to the end. My pace was not quick, about 7:30. I was pretty beat at the end. I waded out into the cold, cold lake for a few minutes after the wedding rehearsal and that helped a bit.

Lake Tahoe. Adam & Helen's wedding was last night; it was a blast. Stayed up late, but not too late. So I got up at about 7am and ran for an hour. Headed south again from Tahoma to Sugar Pine Point, around the grounds of the Pinewood Lodge, and along the path on the lake shore. Another gorgeous morning. Climbed back across the road and onto the General Creek trail. I wish I had more time to explore that area; it's double track and fireroad with pine needles underfoot. This area was also the site of the cross country ski events during the 1960 winter olympics. After exploring the General Creek area a bit, I headed back to Tahoma on the bike path.

From home, I ran to Liberty Park (via downtown) for three loops and back home.

East High track workout with the Black Sheep.

Started with a 1.2 mile warmup around the neighborhood, followed by 800 meters with strides on the straightaways.

The workout went like this:

Part A: 6 x 800 m. Wanted to keep these @ 2:40 pace.

1. 2:40 w/ 200m recovery

2. 2:39 w/ 200m recovery

3. 2:37 w/ 400m recovery

4. 2:41 w/ 200m recovery

5. 2:42 w/ 200m recovery

6. 2:37 w/ 400m recovery

Part B: 3 x 400 at sub 80 seconds.

1. 80 w/ 200m recovery

2. 78 w/ 200m recovery

3. 76 w/ 400m recovery

Part C: 1 x 1 mile:

1. 5:27

One mile cooldown on the track afterward.

Refresh your browser to see a picture of me in my new macrame track suit wearing my iPod.

From home, I ran about 3.5 miles to Foothill Village to hook up with a few folks, and then we ran about a 7 mile loop up around the Zoo, to Steiner, through the Yalecrest neighborhood and back to Foothill.

Added another 4.5 tonight with Heather.

Tried another variation of the run Jed and I did last Thursday. From my house, I ran up to City Creek Canyon via the Capitol. Took it easy up to the mile 2 mark and then started a 5 mile tempo run. I ran the first mile uphill, gaining 150 feet, in 6:50. It felt hard, but I was not very fast. Turned around and started the descent. Next miles were in 5:50/5:39/5:39 and 5:23, dropping about 700 feet over these miles. Cooled down back home via 4th Ave.

Title for today's run: "Sorry I'm late, I got caught behind a couple of skunks"

My friend Sam and I met at 6am to run the Pipeline trail in Millcreek. We parked at Burch Hollow and headed out into the darkness. It rained a lot last night and was still raining when we started. So it was dark and wet, though we had our headlamps to help us see the bigger puddles.

We ran easy out to Rattlesnake, turning around before the lookout point because we were a little short on time. We ended up being very short on time, but for an unexpected reason. After turning around, we were running up-canyon looking at the changing colors and the low hanging clouds filling in a few of the side canyons under the overcast sky. After a mile or so of this scenic beauty, we rounded one of the bends in the trail and came up on a pair of skunks wandering casually on the trail in front of us. Ok, no big deal, we thought we would just wait for them to wander off the trail and we would pass them. Since there are no bail-out points from where we were on the trail, that was our only choice. But these skunks were apparently dedicated trail runners, as we followed behind for about 10 minutes as they trotted along the trail (I've been sprayed once before and lost a pair of good shoes to it, so I knew we should keep a little distance.)Finally, one skunk stopped on the right side of the trail, and the other on the left side. But they were still right next to the trail. It became clear we would just have to make a run for it and hope for the best. So just as a crack of thunder echoed through the canyon, we yelled like a couple of madmen and sprinted at top speed past the skunks and into the rain. (see VO2 max mileage) We didn't get sprayed and enjoyed the rest of the run back to Burch, laughing our heads off.

Met up with Aimee Larkin at 5:30 at 15th/15th. It was not raining when we started, but that didn't last long. After a few minutes the rain started and we figured it was going to be a very long morning. At about 4 miles out, it started to hail. We actually decided it would be a good idea to turn around and maybe go to Aimee's gym and finish the run on a treadmill since we still had a couple of hours of running ahead (it sounded like a good idea at the time). As soon as we turned around, the hail really started coming down and it stung our legs and faces. It hurt! So we took cover briefly under some trees and waited it out. We then headed out onto the road, which was now covered in an inch of slushy hail. After a few minutes, the weather improved. By the time we were within a mile of our starting point (15/15), the rain was gone. So we decided to turn around and continue back south again. We had covered about 6.2 at that point. So, we ran from Sugarhouse Park through the gully to 20th East and through East Millcreek, into Holladay. We ran Hollady Blvd, stopping briefly at the Carmelite Monastery where they had set up some of the cleanest porta potties I have ever seen in my life in preparation for the Carmelite Fair today. We then ran straight into the Old Mill area, picking up some extra mileage before turning back via the same route.

Aimee looks really strong. She's running for Wasatch Running Center now and hoping to make a good showing for her team at St. George (she's run 2:47 there and run the Trials). She sure looked strong today.

I felt pretty strong for the most part. Aimee actually kept the pace harder than I would have if I were alone; we were running most miles at about 6:40, many were faster.

From home, I ran through the University over to East High. I ran over to East for two reasons; first, I needed to to recalibrate the speed/distance footpod that connects to my Suunto. Second, I thought I might see my friend Casey who started from East this morning to go 23-24 out and back over Emigration Canyon. Casey's car was at East, but he wasn't. So I ran two easy miles on the track, both at 6:57, and reset the calibration. On my way back, ran into Casey near Steiner. He had a great pace coming down 500 So. and was on his way to finish the last couple of miles at marathon pace on the track. We chatted for a minute and I headed on home, easy.

From home to Liberty Park for three loops, slightly faster than usual.

East High track workout. Another "ladder" workout on the schedule today.

Ran 1 mile warm-up followed by 4 x 100m strides.

The plan was then three sets of the following: 1 mile/800m/400m at 5:35-5:40, 2:35-2:40 and 73 seconds respectively. All with 400m recoveries between each interval.

Here's how I fared:

Set 1:

1 mile: 5:38

800 m: 2:41

400 m: 73sec

Set 2:

1 mile: 5:30 (too fast)

800 m: 2:41 (paying the price)

400 m: 73 sec

Set 3:

1 mile: 5:37

800 m: 2:37

400 m: 75 sec

The second set was very tough. I really blew it on the mile. I came through 1200m in 4 minutes flat and had to slow down substantially so I wouldn't blow the rest of the workout. That sort of creamed my momentum and form in the 800, though I recovered in the 400m.

The last set was fairly solid, but not great. I thought I was going to nail 73 again on the 400m, and was surprised I was 2 seconds off the pace. Oh well, it was steady and I held my form. I briefly considerd doing another 400m to get the pace right but thought better of it.

One mile cooldown at the end.

Easy 8 this morning in the rain.

Heather and I added another 5.8 tonight. Great weather, cool and misty.

From home, I ran 3.5 miles easy through Federal Heights, the University, and Research Park, over to the post office on Sunnyside where I began a 5 mile tempo run into Emigration Canyon. The first mile has a nasty climb but levels out some, the next 1.5 is a steadier climb, but still a bit rolling--with a little bit of construction work to negotiate. I gained 350 feet in the 2.5 uphill miles. The uphill half was 16:10, the downhill half was 13:46 for a total time of 29:56 for 5 miles. Then recovered 3.5 easy back home.

G O O D L U C K

T O P O F U T A H

R U N N E R S ! ! ! !

It was a dark and stormy morning . . .

Sam & I took off from the Morris Meadow trailhead on the Bonneville Shoreline trail above the avenues at about 6:10. It was already raining, and a little windy, and a little cold. And still dark. We dodged puddles for a couple of miles, following the Steeplechase route, to the 6-Way Junction. We continued east on the easy part of the trail for another couple of miles. We noticed a little bit of snow on the ground, but didn't think much of it. When we turned around at 4 miles, the weather turned pretty ugly and we had some very wet rain/snow falling on us and the temperature dropped about 15 degrees. I was in shorts, of course, and soaked to the bone. So my easy trail run turned into a bit of a tempo workout trying to get back to the car. We took a shorter route back, finishing with 7.

I remember running Top of Utah in the snow in 2000 (I think it was 2000). It was a freak storm. Well, I guess at least the runners tomorrow should know what to expect. Start with a long sleeve shirt you can toss, and maybe go out with a couple of pairs of cheap gloves if it's coming down hard. Hopefully it will be just cool and overcast and nothing more.

Heather and I added another 2.5 before dinner tonight.

Out the door at about 6:30 am, thinking about all of the TOU runners shivering at the top of Blacksmith Fork Canyon. But if the sky down here was any indication, at least there wouldn't be any precipitation.

I ran from home through Federal Heights, the U, Fort Douglas and Resesarch Park, past the zoo, and up Emigration Canyon. I was going to turn around at 10.0, but added just a little more to get to the Pinecrest turnoff. The run back down the canyon was steady, I worked on form. Once I got to the post office, I slowed down for an easy 3.5 back home.

It turned out to be a bluebird morning down here and good running temperatures. I look forward to hearing about how it went for folks up in Logan.

Easy tour of downtown with Heather.

From home to Liberty park for one loop, then up 900 So. for some neighborhood touring on Gilmer Dr. before heading back to the Avenues via 1200 E.

I decided not to go to the track this morning, but to do a fartlek workout instead. I wanted to work on leg turnover on the roads and generally break things up a bit as the taper begins. I ran from home to the U, where I began the first of ten 2-3 minute surges, followed by 2-3 minutes easy. Ran south along 15th East for a bit, and then turned back north and into Mt. Olivet cemetary where I did several more intervals. Mostly felt strong, a few started to hurt. Tried to keep the pace honest and consistent even as the terrain varied.

Headed to Las Vegas for work this morning on an 8:20 flight, so little time to run this morning. Out the door at about 5:15, I did the Fort Douglas/Research Park loop. Sped up to marathon pace on a couple of miles. Return flight is tonight, but I don't think I'll have time to run again this evening.

Bonneville Golf Course loop. Ran a few miles at a tempo-esque pace, chasing Sasha's 6 minute guy.

H-Rock loop with a few Black Sheep.

This morning I ran the Jeremy Ranch Road toward East Canyon with Mark Holland. It was dark and cool when we started. As it got lighter, the stellar fall colors appeared and we had a gorgeous run. We talked a lot about SGM.