Elite Jogging For Dummies

Run from Radda.  Jwood actually just spent two weeks on a bike near the actual town of Radda in Chianti, Italy, so we got to hear about that adventure. 

The run was great, but probably not enough for miles.  I would like to try to get in a couple more tonight, but that may not happen.  

As I suspected, no time for a second run last night. This morning I didn't really make up for it, either. I ran out and back to the bottom of Emigration Canyon via This is the Place. It was dark and I almost tripped over a metal chain, but it was an enjoyable run.

Run Like Health 5k. This is a small race organized by my friend (and Black Sheep co-founder) Tek Kilgore. There were maybe 50 runners.  One of them was a redshirt BYU runner named Reagan Frey, however, so I didn't finish at the top, but I had a good race. Last year I ran 17:22 on this course, which means I took off 25 seconds and that's a nice chunk.  The course goes all over the lower campus at the University of Utah and has the topography of a difficult cross country course. It has enough twists and turns to make a spiral staircase jealous.

Adam Wende was third, just right behind me. Nice awards at the end, got a new pair of Asics running gloves. Last year I dropped a pair of gloves in the toilet after this race, so it all worked out.

Congrats to Paul on his amazing marathon today. He's emerged as one of the true stars in our part of the country and is poised to do great things nationally in the seasons to come. 

My heart goes out to Ryan Shay's family. What a tragedy.  It's expected that some people will have good days and some people will have bad days in any marathon, but this kind of occurrence is beyond the pale.  The Shay family is in many thoughts and prayers.

I can't believe Ryan Hall's performance, or Ritz's, or Sell's.  Quite a time to be a fan of American distance running.

Easy run on most of the Ensign Loop with Heather and Jack.  Great weather, nice day for a run.

This morning I decided to abandon all my usual routes and try to run some new terrain. Specifically, I decided I would run up every hill that I would otherwise avoid.  You think you know an area because you've seen the same things a lot, but even small tweaks can lead to new discoveries.  So, I rambled around the U, upper Federal Heights, etc., with a few crazy trail connections (some very steep) in between everything.  The concept for the run worked well.

Black Sheep workout at Liberty Park. Josh Steffen coached. Warmed up one loop around the park (1.4 mi).  Part A:  6 x Quarter Loops around park with 1 min breaks, at sub-5k pace. Part B:  2 x 1/2 Loops around the park, 2 min break.  Part C: 6 x Quarter Loops around park with 1 min breaks, at sub-5k pace.  This was tough and Josh and I were pretty cooked by the end. Cool down one more loop, then we voted.

We were very tight on time in our house this morning, so I had to hurry to squeeze in 8 miles. I ran an extended Avenues loop with a return via Memory Grove.  Pace was 7:01, which is quick considering the first couple of miles are all climbing.

Radda run.  It was light enough to include the canal section, which was very pleasant.  Sam told me about a woman who was hit by a car while running on Haven Lane a couple of months ago.  No one knew what happened for a while, but now it turns out her husband has been arrested in the case.  That's my third-hand understanding of the events.  I'm kind of surprised it's not in the news. 

Out and back to Donner Hill Monument in Emigration Canyon. Added a few frolics and detours on the way back to add a little mileage.

We had our work retreat up at Deer Valley this weekend.  Heather and Jack were up as well.  Heather and I ran (and walked) an easy six mile route, partially on the Mid-Mountain trail, partially on the Sultans trail.  Everything is very brown right now and waiting for snow, but the weather was great and we had fun.

Yikes--no time to blog.  I ran 9.4 this morning on a loop that included the first hole on Bonneville Golf Course. It's good to get back on the fairway now that golf season is almost done.

No black sheep workout for me this morning, awoke too late.  So I ran four miles out through the golf course to Wasatch Boulevard and started a two mile tempo, running south on Wasatch.  First mile, which is has a hint of upness to it, was 5:46. Turned around and ran back to my starting point, mile in 5:30.  The easy run home was punctuated with 6 strides of various distances at 88.5% effort. 

Easy run on the new Bonneville Golf Course route I ran on Monday.  I ran with Josh, Megan, and Amy.  Colder today, but actually still great weather for running.

Limited time this morning, so no drive out to Holladay for the Radda run. Instead, I ran from my house with the plan to do a 4 mile tempo, mostly in Liberty Park.  After circumnavigating the Avenues, I made my way to 600 E.  The warm up ended at 500 So., which was 3 miles into the run.  Target was 5:50 per mile.  Splits were 5:48, 6:02 (lazy . . . asleep?), 5:50, 5:46.  The good thing about this run was that in the last mile I was actually running with some conviction.  It made up for a little bit of sloppiness in the middle of the run.  I ran easy the park back to home to finish the workout. 

I ran the Ensign Elementary loop this morning, a great little local route.  Just enough climbing to keep it interesting, and the distance works out really well for a recovery run like this. 

Met with a group of six at Foothill for a run out to the fire station on 11th Ave.  On the return, I separated from the group after a little porta stop.  I took a longer route back to the starting point, up through This is the Place and the golf course.  I mostly felt listless for the last few miles because I didn't eat enough for dinner last night.  However, with a mile to go, I could smell the barn and decided to run a hard effort to finish.  Last mile was 5:20, aided by some downhill.

We're up at the Bear Lake cabin for some pre-Thanksgiving festivities.  This morning, Heather and I drove down to the Bear Lake Golf Course and ran every hole, some a couple of times.  Obviously, I am a much better at running on golf courses than golfing on them.  It was an easy run, but at one point Heather and I separated and I spent some time trying to find which way she had turned.  For a moment, I thought she may have been kidnapped by a family of moose. 

Out and back to This is the Place Monument, with a few funky turns along the way.

Black Sheep workout. It was my turn to lead the group.  We did a series of hilly fartlek intervals through Research Park, This is the Place and Bonneville Golf course.  I usually just run through these areas and it was a lot of fun to mix it up with specific intervals in these areas. 

Ensign Elementary loop with Josh, Megan & Amy.  The thermometer said 22 degrees. It was cold, but didn't feel that cold.  Pace was easy.  Josh and I decided we liked pecan pie best of all.

Cold Turkey Run 6k.  The race is right near my house, but I've not run it before.  The course starts at the Capitol and heads north on gravity hill, up approx one mile up City Creek, and then back down the canyon for a finish in Memory Grove. 

I ran from home to the start and got in 3.5 before it got underway.  Ringers at the start included BJ Christensen, Josh Steffen, Adam Wende, the Phippen brothers, Mike Evans (pushing stroller), and many high school runners.

It was enjoyable running with BJ and Josh for the first 200m.  After that, I wasn't really close to them.  Adam, however, was right with me and he was definitely out to race. We were stride for stride most of the way up City Creek.  I tried to make a move at the turnaround, surging into the turn and hoping for a boomerang effect on the way down.  It didn't work.  Adam caught me within 50 meters and then left me in the dust.  He was running very strong today.  

BJ and Josh were 1-2. Adam was 3rd. I was 4th.  A 6k is supposed to be 3.72 mi, but my watch got 3.9.  Adam's got 3.85.  There was a wide margin of error for tangents. My splits (based on my watch as there were no course markers) were 5:41, 6:05, 5:09, and 4:32 (for the last .9 according to my watch or so). 

Great day for the Black Sheep: 2,3,4 in the men. Megan Call, Josh's wife, was 2nd behind Carol Cabinillas.

am-Easy 6.2 miles on most of the Ensign Elementary loop. 

pm--Hooked up with Sam and Casey at about 6:30 for a night time trail run on the shoreline trail.  We met at the meadow trailhead and ran on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail over to Dry Creek.  Saw dozens of mule deer along the way. After dropping through Dry Creek, we headed up to Sam's in-laws house for dinner with our spouses (who had already arrived there).  The moon was bright and between that and our headlamps we had great visibility. Total mileage was just over six miles.  Here's a photo of Sam & Casey I took with my cell phone about mid-way, with Salt Lake in the background. It was a fun night.

Adam wanted to run 15 miles today and I agreed to accompany him.  I woke up hungry this morning--after last night's trail run--and I had a feeling it was going to seem like a long run. We met up at 6am in Foothill Village.  We ran a 3.4 mile loop so we could hook up with a second wave of runners at 6:30.  There were about 8 people waiting for us on the return, all with different distances in mind. We ran out to the new footbridge across I-215 and into Tanner Park, down into Holladay, back along some of the SLC Marathon course (Adam's goal race) and finally weaved our way back to Foothill.  By mile 14 the run finally did start to feel long to me.  Overall though, it was an enjoyable run.

Bonneville Loop (Golf Course & Shoreline Trail).  I felt hungry most of the run. I swear I'm eating enough, but I've had low energy reserves the last couple of runs.  My diet has been good too.  

Black Sheep workout at Sugarhouse Park/Highland Track. Casey coached today.  Warmed up with a loop around the park. Then 1 x 2000m around the park. We moved to the track for 1 x 1 mile (5:24); 1 x 1200m (4:07); 2 x 800m (2:41,2:40) and 2 x 400m (72, 68).  Then cooled down around the park again. Nice morning.  

Met up with Josh & Megan for a 5:45 snow n' ice run.  We ran over to Bonneville Golf Course and enjoyed the fresh snow on the fairways. I nearly took a header on some ice during the return at Federal Heights, but I somehow managed to keep it together. Sky was gorgeous this morning. Nice to see some snow. 

Sam and I took a tour of scenic Holladay, trying to lay the groundwork for the ideal 10 mile route. We went a little long, but it was great. Oskar showed us an extension in Walker Woods we had not run before, which was outstanding. 

This morning, despite limited time, I ran over to the University, through Federal Heights, above Ensign Elementary, and then a long climb up to the Bonneville Shoreline trailhead and the meadow. I circled the meadow once and then divebombed back home down through the cemetery. Probably lost 1500 feet in 10 minutes.