Elite Jogging For Dummies

Happy New Year. I ran out to my friends' Margey & Hans' house and ate their cabbage.  Then I ran home. 

Cross Training miles. I headed out the door at 6:00 and drove up to Mountain Dell and skate skied for 50 minutes in the dark, with a headlamp.  Not surprisingly, I was the only one there!  It was actually a lot of fun. Even though I have terrible form, the activity is fun and my technique is slowly improving.

Run in the snow from Diva's in Holladay.  It was a pretty good turnout for such poor conditions.

Skate skiing at Mountain Dell. I know I shouldn't probably use a 1:1 equivalency for these miles, but the total time and effort are actually pretty similar between the activities, except that if I were any good at skating then I could cover twice as much ground in the same time.

Neighborhood style.

Early meeting so no chance to run with the Black Sheep. There was a bit of new snow, but not too much. 

Run up around the U/Avenues.

I mixed it up slightly on this run, doing a loop that took me over to TiTP and then back to the Avenues through the U campus.  A decent option.

Complete goose egg. I set the alarm and then slept throught because the volume was turned down all the way.  I woke up at 7:10--too late for a run.  Oh well! Try again tomorrow.

AM: Run with a group of 10 or so from Foothill Sbux, out and back to the Firehouse on 11th Ave. I was fine cutting it short at 8 miles, since my ab problem actually felt pretty good and I didn't want to push it.

PM:  I went out skate skiing with Alan, one of my partners from work.  He's a great skater and helped me a lot with technique.  The whole point of the V-1 became clear to me. We skied 10k, but I'll only count it as five miles because the improvement in my technique made it less taxing.

Skate skiing at Mountain Dell with my buddy Dave.  We skied 6.75 miles. We're both right at the same level, which makes it more fun.  Total time was 1:12, including several minutes of stop time after the grunt climbs. 

Easy run up through the U and down through the Avenues.  I've got some IT band tightness from the skate skiing and I'm trying to roll that out.  Also, the abdominal problem was not significant today. That's two days in a row of not much pain, which seems like progress. I'm not sure how it will react to a boost in mileage and intensity, so I should probably keep those gains modest.

I headed out the door at 5:47 am, arrived at Mountain Dell at 6:10 and skate skied for 50 minutes, covering 6.5 miles. I made it home by 7:35. 

This morning I drove my car over to the VW dealership and then ran home.  Heather then drove her car to the dealership, dropped it off for service, and drove my car home.

Easy neighborhood tour. 

Eight miles easy--abdominal pain subsiding. 

In San Diego with Heather, Jack and several friends. My buddy Dave and I ran on the beach along the Silver Strand in Coronado down to the Imperial Beach pier, and back.  Oh, man it was such a nice break from Salt Lake in January!

San Diego, run #2.  I headed south on the bike path that parallels the highway. A little noisy, but I can't complain. It was flat and sea level and great weather--65-70 degrees at 10am. On the return, I felt good enough to throw in several surges. These were actual, meaningful tempo efforts consisting of 2-4 minutes of hard running.  It's been a while. 

Back in Salt Lake. The abdominal pain didn't give me any grief over the weekend and I have felt pretty good overall.  Neighborhood tour. 

Another easy run around the U/Avenues. 

Josh and I drove up to Emigration Canyon to escape the gunk.  We ran into Casey and the ladies and ran with them as well. It was less gunky than running in the valley, that's for sure. 

Another day running in Emigration Canyon with Josh, Casey and other inversion refugees.  It was surprisingly warm ... like 40 degrees. 

No running today. Work started at 6:30am and did not stop. 

I got out the door later than I wanted today and didn't really have time for anything longer than 7 miles. 

No running. 

I needed the sleep, cold coming on. Goose egg. 

Not feeling great with a cold, six miles easy. 

I've got a pretty obnoxious cold, but its mostly in my sinuses, so running doesn't hurt.  Although my energy is a little low, so only 5 miles easy today.

Ugh. Totally sick.  Excuse me, I just sneezed all over the keyboard. Neighborhood tour via Memory Grove. Easy. 

I felt better yesterday and slept well last night, but woke up with some throat congestion I didn't have before.  I debated about whether to run and decided I would just go for it.  I met up with a group over at Foothill Sbux at 6:30 and we ran the Firestation route, out and back.  I'm glad I ran, though I felt pretty low on energy and out of shape.  Perhaps getting over the cold will help. 

Skate skiing at Mountain Dell. My technique was decent today.

Easy tour of Fort Douglas/University. Limited time, limited run.

I had big dreams for an 8 mile run today. But since I woke up late, I had to settle for six. 

I met up with Josh and Seth Wold at 5:45 on So. Temple and N Street.  Seth was looking for guys to run with and he lives pretty close to Josh and me, so it makes sense. We ran the U/Federal Heights/Avenues loop with the Ensign extension (and a little bit of packed snow trail running).  Pace was brisk for this hilly route, but manageable. I had 1:05 for 9 miles, and that included the minute or so Josh and I were waiting to meet up with Seth. I actually felt better today than I have for a while--with my cold in retreat and the ab problem not giving me too much worry.  Good run overall.

Limited time this morning (had to roll out of the house with Jack by 7:30 am and then go to work). So, even though I was out the door at 5:45, I only had time for 6.5 miles.

Goose Egg. My cold seems to have come back, particularly in my sinuses.  Ugh. I needed the rest. 

The rest yesterday seemed to do me some good. I managed to hang in for 10 miles this morning with a crew that met at Foothill Sbux at 6am.  Got dusted by Johanna and Emily on the return. 

Skate skiing at Mountain Dell. Conditions were a little sloppy and the snow was thin, but my technique wasn't too bad. 

I woke up to rain mixed with snow. I headed out the door and ran up to TitP before circling back through the University. The roads were very wet, and so were my clothes, but I enjoyed this run. 

Workout (yes, a workout!) with the Black Sheep.  We met at Popperton Park. We ran 1 minute on, 1 minute off for a couple of miles. Then we did the classic "up and over" through the Avenues. Josh and Casey kicked my butt. 

Seven miles.

Eight miles. 

A remarkable 4.5 mile effort this morning.

Another remarkable 4.5 mile effort in the snow. It was supposed to net me more time for our planned roadtrip, but we ended up bagging it because of the storm. 

Skate skiing at White Pine in Park City.  Track was covered in wind drifted snow so it was more like hiking than skating.  It was fun and a nice day, but the skiing part was not so great. 

I had planned a monster 8 mile run, but I ran out of time. 

I ran a loop that took me out to This is the Place and back through the University. It was really icy out this morning and I nearly fell a half dozen times.  Interestingly, every time I was catching myself as I was about to fall, my little abdominal pain flared up.  The sudden tension on those muscles really triggered it.  Fortunately, it didn't last beyond the near-fall.

Yes, another 7 mile run. I really pack in the miles these days (not).  I had a decent run up around Federal Heights and then up to 12th Avenue. Usually, I would run this route up through the University I cut it short today so that I could head over to Memory Grove.

I have been thinking a lot about racing plans recently. Mostly, I have been thinking about not racing all. However, I do have a very slight inclination to run the Wahsatch Steeplechase in June. It seems like every year around this time I start to think about Steeplechase. It is a fun race on a very unique course. Since I live less than a mile from the start, it is also easy for me to train regularly on the course. Right now, it is a very snowy/muddy up there and it will be a while before I can get in any decent runs up toward Black Mountain, but I suppose the seed is planted. Also, Heather is due with baby number two the week after the race so perhaps the timing makes sense.

 For some reason, I cannot seem to get my head into training to race on the road right now. work is crazy and I do not have as much time as I would need do it right. So, maybe if I can get motivated to do something a little bit different, it will keep me going. Why do I still feel like I'm recovering from St. George?

Eight miles around the hood.  Still feeling okay this week. 

Another 8 mile run around the neighborhood. 

I met up with the usual cast of players at Foothill Starbucks at 6 AM. we ran the northerly route up through the University and up to 11th Ave. From there, we ran down to 11th Ave. and B street before turning around and heading back the same way. Spent much of the return route talking to Johanna about solving all of the world's problems. 

Six miles of skate skiing at Mountain Dell. I must be getting a little bit better because the hills that used to completely kick my butt now only partially kick my butt. I also don't have to stop at the top of every hill, which is a refreshing change. Still, it is very anaerobic. Also, I struggled a bit with balance issues at the start but seem to get better after a little bit of time on the skis. the thing I keep discovering more and more every time I ski is that the rhythmic aspect of skating is just as important as the power aspect. Being fit is not enough, there is a lot of fine motor skill that is required to skate well.

I managed to make it out the door at a reasonable time, 5:40 am, which gave me a little bit more time to get in a decent run. The weather was surprisingly warm this morning. In fact, my thermometer said 46° when I left. So it was my first run in shorts in 2009 (at least in Salt Lake City). I was breathing like a wheezing mule during the first 4 miles. After a pit stop I felt much better. 

workout with the black sheep. We met at 15th and 15th at 5:45 AM and ran over to the East side track. We did a very gentle workout on the track: 6 x 300m with 100 m recoveries followed by 2 x 800 m, hard on the straights and easy on the curves.  Then we did a bunch of drills followed by an easy run back to 15th and 15th. It was nice to be on the track for a few minutes and stretch the legs a little bit. I had occasional glimmers of the potential possibility that I may someday, perhaps, conceivably consider running fast again.

I ran a nice loop route is mourning the company up through Fort Douglas and over to TiTP monument. I ran up toward the mouth of Emigration Canyon and then back down Sunnyside before heading north through the University and the Avenues to home. 

I headed up toward Red Butte and ran the icy road up to the gate. I ran into a guy from Minneapolis who was in town for some computer training. He was running up the road as well. we started to chat on the way back down the road and I took him on a little tour of Research Park. we ran into Brian Kamm and Brian ran with us until we got back to the University, where our Minneapolis visitor headed back to his accommodations. I ran with Brian for another mile or so and chatted. Then I headed home through the University.

Very sluggish this morning, I don't know why. I was also pretty limited on time so it all came down to a short run. 

A 12 mile "long" run. I ran from foothill Starbucks with a group of 10 or so. We ran the lead route up to the fire station in the avenues and then down to the gate at the top of memory Grove and a little bit toward the capital. Then we turned around and ran the same thing back to Foothill. It felt good to run more than 8 miles and I didn't have any problems with the abdomen. Still, I feel horribly out of shape.

Skate skiing at mountain dell.  it was warm and the snow was soft and slushy. The snow was incredibly thin and places. At one point I was snaking my skis across a 10 inch wide swath of snow on the asphalt golf cart path trying not to destroy my bases on the gravel. Until we get snow, I am going to keep my skis at home. Still, it was nice to be out.

What a great morning to run, 43° and overcast skies. It feels like late March or early April. I did not do a good job of time management and had to settle for a short run.

Workout (yes, workout) with the Black Sheep this morning. We met at 15th/15th and ran down to Sugarhouse Park. We ran three loops of the park; alternating hard on the flats then easy on the hills for the first two and then reversing that (hard on hills, easy on flats) on the third loop. this was followed by four hill surges that got the legs moving.  I felt kind of slow as I watched Josh ditch me on every interval, but so it goes. 

Met up at Foothill with a big group of about 12 or so.  At the turnaround, there were about 6 of us, the others having done shorter routes.  Josh was running 20 and had already been out for seven miles, as had a few others. I felt surprisingly decent today--probably because I was so light on miles most of the week.  With the legislature in session, Heather has lots of early meetings to cover and that requires me to be home earlier. Plus, I just need to get out of bed sooner.

Neighborhood tour, short on time.

Workout with the Black Sheep.  We met up at Red Butte and ran multiple hilly intervals with some easy running in between.  More or less a fartlek-style workout, now that I think about it.  I woke up with a sore throat, but it didn't slow me down too much.

I met Josh at 5:45 on South Temple. We ran a loop that took us up to TiTP and then back through Research Park and the U.  I felt like complete crud.  The cold that came on unexpectedly really took the life out of me this morning.

No running--trying to get some extra sleep to get over the little cold I've picked up. 

I had a nice run up through Federal Heights and then the big climb up to the meadow on the shoreline trail. It's clear up there now and the trail was frozen, so good for running.

Easy run with the JoHo crew from Foothill, out and back. 

This morning I decided to run up to the Shoreline trail and see if I could create a loop from my house that would be about 8 miles long and include a decent amount of time on the trail. It took me about 30 minutes to run up to the meadow trailhead and then I ran east on shoreline over to the Terrace Hills access point and I started to head downhill from there. I limited some of the downhill brutality by switchbacking on some of the residential streets, but it still felt a lot like a straight shot from the mountain down to my house ... not something I would necessarily want to do every day. But nice to mix it up. I even added some strides at the end. 

Workout with the Black Sheep. We met at 15th/15th and ran north to East High track. We did an 800m with speed changes and then the workout was 13 x 400m. These were broken up in sets so the first 400m was at marathon pace, then half M, then 10k, then 5k, for three sets (plus a bonus lap). It was a fairly gentle workout, with Josh getting ready for Canyonlands and all.  Nice to move quickly on the track, though. 

Met up w/Josh and Megan at 5:45 on South Temple/N Street.  We ran the "old fashioned" loop, up through the U, Federal Heights, Avenues, Memory Grove.  Legs were slightly stale, but we ran easy so it was ok. We watched three young buck mule deer cross 11th Avenue at about H street, heading back toward the hills. That was interesting. 

I ran up to shoreline trail above the University but didn't have much time to go very far before I had to head home. I need to wake up earlier. 

Short run again, this time an out and back up to Ensign for a couple of loops around the asphalt trail around the soccer field--which is 1/3 of a mile around, provides a great view and is a nice place to run.

After thinking about it for two weeks, I finally ran the Cucina loop on Shoreline this morning.  I met up with Johanna, Mark and Kim at 6:30.  Johanna took it easy on us on the run up to the trailhead, but after that she was running with a vengeance I haven't seen in a long time. She dusted me completely and I was running pretty hard.  If it were race day, I would have been scared for any of her competitors. 

Weather was great and we had terrific trail conditions. It should be muddy up there still, but it's really dry.  Makes it great for running, not so great for the state's water supply.

Wow, incredible winter conditions this morning.  The wind was blowing me all over the road. I literally had to turn around on 11th Ave as a giant wind gust smacked me in the face. 

I had a 7:30 am meeting, so I headed out at 5:45 with the hope of running 8 miles in less than an hour. Since I couldn't make the black sheep workout, I figured I would do a fartlekesque run, out and back to Bonneville Golf Course. It worked well. There was a little snow on the course, but not enough to slow me down. I ran some solid surges and kept the easy pace sections honest.  Finished in 57 minutes and change, not too bad for this hilly route.

Five miles ... that's what happens when you leave the house at 6:45 am instead of 5:45 am.  I ran into Adam RW on 11th Ave, it was good to catch up with him a bit. We talked for a second about whether the "blog is dying" and the discussion thread on that subject. I have to agree with Adam's comment that St. George 2008 was a very tough race and may have zapped some motivation from some folks, me included. I never thought that would happen.  Anyway, I'm still blogging semi-regularly but am a terrible blog friend to all of my buddies that I have enjoyed getting to know and run with over the last couple of years.

Woke up to wind and blowing snow, about an inch on the sidewalk.  Met up with Josh at 5:45 and we had a sloppy run up to Bonneville Golf Course and back. The conditions were pretty ugly, so it was nice to have company. Props to Josh on his 3rd place finish at Canyonlands Half this past weekend. 

I need to get out of the house earlier.

Small group this morning. We ran a twisty variation of the run to the firehouse on 11th ave that included trips up and down Red Butte, as well as lots of other hilly fun.

It was snowing like it was December and blowing like it was March.  Surprisingly I made it out the door in time to run 8 miles and actually did so.

Met up with the Black Sheep for the first official workout on the track this season.  Fortunately the track is clear notwithstanding the storms. We ran a ladder as follows: 2 x 1000m, 2 x 800m, 2 x 600m and then 4 x 400m.  Times felt slow, 3:30's for the 1k's, 2:43 for the 800s, 2:40 for the 600s. The 400s were 78,77,76,75.  That shows it is early in the season and my pace sense is still hibernating. 

'round the hood.

'round the hood.

Travel day--no running.

Los Angeles. I arrived to do some work on Friday ... staying through Sunday and running around some of my old stomping grounds. I ran on the Dearing Trail in Wilacre Park off of Laurel Canyon in Studio City. My all time favorite run.  I headed over Coldwater Canyon into Franklin Canyon and down to the Hastain Trail. Took a slightly different route on the way back, up around the pond. So nice to be out there. Beautiful and 60 degrees. 

This morning I met up with the Trail Runners Club that I used to run with every week during '98 and '99 when I lived in Los Angeles.  I was glad to be able to have the chance to be down there this weekend in particular because the group was running one of my favorite routes, the Ray Miller Trail.  The meeting point is about 15 miles north of Malibu, not too far from the Ventura County Line. The trailhead is directly across the road from the PCH.  We ran the route that takes us up the Guadalasca trail, down to Wood Canyon and then finishing on the Ray Miller Trail itself. It's spectacular. Huge views of the Santa Monica Mountains on the way out and huge views of the Pacific Ocean on the way back.  I felt pretty good coming from 4000' to run at sea level, which was good because there are some substantial climbs.

No running--had an early dentist appointment.

Workout with the Black Sheep:  met at Popperton Park. We ran up and overs through the avenues. 

Up to the meadow and back down. 

Totally soaked for seven miles, up and back to the Red Butte gate.

Up to the meadow and back down.

just updating entries. no details at the moment.

just updating entries. no details at the moment.

black sheep workout.

just updating entries. no details at the moment.

just updating entries. no details at the moment.

just updating entries. no details at the moment.

just updating entries. no details at the moment.

just updating entries. no details at the moment.

just updating entries. no details at the moment.

Black sheep workout. just updating entries. no details at the moment.

just updating entries. no details at the moment.

No running. backpacking trip into Coyote Gulch outside Escalante

no running. stil backpacking. took a hike up the river, probably covered 6 miles.

No running. Long hike from the escalante river to the confluence with Boulder Creek. Covered about 14 miles for the day.

just updating entries. no details at the moment.

Black Sheep workout. just updating entries. no details at the moment.

I dragged Josh and Megan out to Murray with me to drop off my little red car at 6am and we ran home from there.

Ran a little bit with Jack in the jogging stroller.

Law Day Run. My fust race since St. George Marathon.  One of the conditions of my employment is recruiting the fastest possible team to keep the "Speed Team" tropnhy in this event for my firm., Manning Curtis Bradshaw & Bednar. We've won it the past ten years. There is never any telling who will show up to challenge us. Last year it was BJ Christensen and friends. This year it was the Olson Shaner team of Teren Jameson and his wife, Sue Nielsen  tand a couple of the young super speedy bloggers, including Thatcher Olson. Our "A" team consisted of Josh Steffen, Sasha, Jeff McC, Emily Bates and Aimee Larkin (teams of five, must have at least two women).  [I put myself on "B" team since they are all much faster than me].  Incredibly, our team beat Teren and friends by three seconds.  Amazing performances all around and I couldn't be more proud of everyone's effort.

For my part, I had a decent race. It felt good to run hard. It was raining and slightly windy but good conditions for a 5k.  I ran as hard as I could given my current fitness. I was about 30 seconds slower than last year, which seems about right given where my training was then and where it is now. I would have liked to run under 18 minutes but it's a tough course.

Our "B" team was third overall and I think we did great. Kevin Tuck, Casey Kleinman, Kathryn Connor & Megan Calll were my teammates. I am very fortunate to have so many fast, fit friends that are interested in doing this event.  Thanks to all, and great job to the Olson Shaner team--you guys made an amazing effort.

Black Sheep workout. John Straley led us through the paces on the U of U campus.  Ran the "Golden Mile" around campus alternating hard/easy on each quarter. Then the meat of the workout was 4 x 90 seconds, starting on the flat and running up hill on the center of campus. With a piece of chalk in hand, we all marked our finishing spot and then tried to beat it on each subsequent interval. Then 4 x 1 minute up the same hill, only without any flat part, same chalk drill. Then another "golden mile" alternating minute on/minute off. My hamstrings are toast. I need a massage.

I ran a new trail segment in Red Butte canyon. More uphill than the traditional route but I enjoyed the change in scenery. I don't know why I chose a hilly route after yesterdays uphill brutality.

Cucina loop on the shoreline trail. I was running at record pace for this route until I stopped and checked out a couple of yard sales in the last mile. Didn't buy anything.

Black Sheep workout, the "Penny Run." Brutal.

I ran the shoreline trail at 6am after dropping my brother off at the airport at 5:15.

Red Butte canyon, out and back. I listened to the podcast of the Radio West show about the new book "Born to Run."

Once again, I headed up toward the Red Butte gate via shoreline trail. I ran into Adam RW along the way and he joined me for my route and we had a chance to catch up on life, which we haven't done for a while. Great weather today, a nice run.

My third run in ten days.  Let me recap the reasons for my absence: On Friday, June 29th my SI joint on the left side in my back somehow "slipped" while I was pulling on a pair of socks (...sock injury ...!!!) and I was hobbling around in pain for the next several days, doing the SI manipulations that Dr. McIntyre taught me and doing no running.  And this seems to have been connected in some way to the case of "runners knee" that had flared up over the prior two weeks--the apparent result of letting my left hamstring stay way too tight for about four months.  I think the back problem had something to do with overcompensating for the knee problem.  The knee hurts most when climbing and descending, the two things I have been doing most recently.

ANYWAY  ...  after a lot of rest, a very painful "massage" torture session, and no small amount of brooding, I am able to run a little bit. This morning I ran up to City Creek and ran a couple of miles on the trail, which felt nice ... it's fairly flat. The knee did bother me, but not the back.   I know what I need to do to improve the knee and it starts with keeping the hamstring loose and untying the knots that currently pass for muscles.

Today I ran at lunch from work. I headed up City Creek Canyon on the trail, turning around at the trail junction that takes you toward the radio towers.  It was warm today, but pleasant running conditions overall. I had my shirt off on the trail, blinding two hikers.  I put it back on as I returned to the city as I didn't want the glare to cause any traffic accidents.  I'm a good citizen, see.

 The knee was somewhat bothersome, but as I've tested it out while running I think there is a general problem of being very "right side" heavy in my stride and footstriking.  My left leg just feels "weaker" in some way. I did a couple of drills in memory grove that sort of tuned me into this fact. Something to think about and work on.
 

An easy tour of the neighborhood, still just testing out the knee. It certainly had its painful moments,  but mostly performed well. it is really hard to say if I can continue running on the knee like this or if I really do need to give it a lot more additional time to heal.

I am doing some additional stretching and massage and I think that helps.  Keeping the mileage low and the terrain flat should also help.  Frankly, however, I just want to sprint up and down mountains

This morning I had big plans to run up Red Butte Canyon (albeit on the road) but at about 2.5 into the run, I noticed that my knee was hurting with every step. This bothered me. So I stopped and stretched for five minutes or so. This helped but I was still being pretty careful and kept the run short. 

Another ~6 mile run. This seems to be about the right distance for my knee to handle, so long as I stop at mile 2 and stretch out the hamstring.  Today I actually had fairly decent aerobic energy and felt pretty good other than the intermittent knee pain.  

 I think I've decided what I need to do is go swimming more.  We'll see!
 

Nursing the knee. I swam 800 meters in the indoor pool at Steiner.

I swam 900 meters in the outdoor pool at Steiner.

Parked at Steiner and ran 2 miles, then I swam for about 20 minutes. I mainly practiced my bilateral breathing, as I'm terrible at breathing on the left side and I would be a much better swimmer if I were comfortable with breathing on both sides easily. 

 As for the run, the first mile was ok, the second mile had the predictable knee pain in virtually every step. It did ease up when I altered my gait, but I really shouldn't have to do that.  More stretching and rest required.
 

two mile run and then a swim. This is more interesting: 

http://antonkrupicka.blogspot.com/2009/06/mt-massive.html

Dusting off the blog following a long absence due to (in no particular order): birth of second child (a boy! Luke-he's awesome), injury (problems with the left knee arising from tight IT band and hamstrings), work (work), etc. (understatement). I have been running 2-3 times per week, usually between 4 and 7 miles. Most other days, I have been in the pool working on not drowning. I can now do so for a mile at a time.

I have been trying to solve the injury problem by completely reevaluating my form, literally starting from the ground up.  I have abandoned my beloved Asics Kayano's and have been training either in barefeet, my Teva watershoes, or in my Asics Hyperspeed racing flats. My focus has been to get off of my heels (which causes the knee pain) and on to the midfoot and forefoot. My big Kayano's have lulled me into indifference about my footplant and I think this has, over time, contributed to some bad habits in my running form. In addition to footstrike, I am concentrating on cadence and more rapid turnover. Most importantly, I have just been trying to be conscious about what I am doing while I am running and decreasing the amount of cushioning between my feet and the ground. At least psychologically, this has helped me to think more carefully about my form. And though I can't yet say I am healed, I do think I am healing. Using the massage tools and continuous stretching have helped loosen up the IT band and hamstrings and that has contributed to a significant reduction in knee problems.

Although I am not completely pain-free, I did feel good enough to hook up with Josh and Megan this morning for a little tour of the Avenues and City Creek canyon. Nice to run with them again, it has been a while. Josh is on fire this season (1:08 at Bryce half??) and I hope he continues to run well. Megan has big big plans in the works as well and I think she can get there. Oh, I did run a 3 mile race (3.06) this past weekend at the Utah Bar Convention in Sun Valley. I finished first in 17:56 on an out and back with a slight climb on the out and a slight down on the return. No real reason to push the pace much but the final mile was 5:34 and it felt good to move quickly.

I know the thousands of devoted followers of my blog have missed my daily one sentence entry about running around Federal Heights and I cannot assure you that I will immediately resume providing daily updates. This running season, as far as I am concerned, is simply about getting healthy and getting back to basics. My life is so full right now that the most I can ask is that running be a compliment to life--rather than a duty to be fulfilled. I do, however, wish all the best to all my friends on the blog and hope that everyone keeps up their speedy speediness and demolishes their goals, whatever they may be.

Since the pool was going to be closed today, I decided to see how my legs would do on back to back days of running.  Turns out they did well during the run but I have had some residual problems the remainder of the day.  I ran up through the cemetery to 11th Ave, dropped off Emily Bates' check for winning the Law Day Run and then headed over to City Creek Canyon. I was feeling fairly well rested, and a little plump so I decided to see if I could run the first mile up city creek canyon at a relatively hard pace.  I was shooting for 6:30 but ran 6:34, which is not bad since it is a difficult uphill mile. It felt pretty good overall. I ran easy back down the canyon, had a drink of water, then headed over to gravity hill where I decided another relatively hard mile was in order.  This one finished just north of the capitol, in 5:36.  Again, a respectable effort  in my opinion all things considered.  Then just an easy jog home over on 4th Ave.  

Was this a workout? No, really just an attempt at fat burning while working on good, sustained running form.  Perhaps I was feeling a little spicy since Des News was this morning and I am on the sideline. 

The knee felt fine during the run but I have had several twinges of pain throughout the rest of the day--usually while walking up or down stairs.  A strong reminder that it's too early to get all crazy with the running.  Most likely back to the pool tomorrow morning.

No running, though it was nice to have a couple of back to back days on the road.  I swam for a while at Steiner, probably 800m before I decided that was enough.

The plan was to run for five miles and then swim for a while. I partked at Steiner and then ran up and around the U, into Fort Douglas.  I  ran on grass quite a bit on campus, wandering through areas I don't usually run over there.  On my way through Red Butte I ran into Lisa Madsen and ran with her up to HCI and then down to Miller Park, nice to catch up wth her.  After I got back to the car I realized I didn't have time to swim after all, so that was that.

No running--I went up to Steiner and swam a mile. I did the workout as 4 sets of 400m each. That helped the swim go quite a bit more quickly. It took about 35 minutes to complete the mile, that seems pretty slow.

Headed up through the avenues to the mouth of city creek canyon and then on to the 1.5 mile mark from there. On the return, I headed around the capitol before dropping down the stairs to cross over to 4th Ave.

 I had some twinges of pain in the left knee on the way up City Creek, but nothing terrible.  It was just enough to remind me that I still need the rest days. On the flat stuff, it didn't bother me at all. I wish that there were more flat routes right from my house. I suppose I could head to Liberty Park more often ...
 

It is not often that I get up at 4:40 am on a Thursday.  But last night I got swept up in a plan to go for an open water swim at East Canyon Reservoir and so I was up very early.  We had a total of 7 or 8 people.  This was my first open water experience. I borrowed a wet suit and was amazed at how buoyant it was. Also the water was very warm. I thought I would be shivering, but it was probably 72 degrees.  I swam one "triangle" out to a series of three buoys.  The sun was just coming up over the mountains and it was very peaceful.  Compared to swimming laps in the pool, it was like running outdoors after being stuck on a treadmill for several weeks. I was very slow, of course, but just went my own pace and enjoyed the experience.

The plan this morning was an easy run out to This is the Place monument and back. As I ran up to Red Butte amphitheater to get a drink of water I thought instead I would try to head up Red Butte Canyon and then onto Shoreline Trail.  This seemed like a good idea, but once I got onto the trail it was apparent that the steep ascents and descents were too much for my knee.  So I bailed out off the trail and ran back toward home through the U.  After stopping to stretch for a minute, the knee felt much better.

That's right, I'm cracking the double digits for the first time in I don't know how long ... but it has been a long time. I actually felt really good on this run, all things considered. I hooked up with several people over at Foothill Sbux and we ran the "south" loop out to the Millcreek area and then back up through the neighborhoods of sugarhouse.  Virtually no knee pain, which was a welcome relief.

The plan was run and swim, but I ended up just doing the run. I headed out from 15th and 15th and did the Huntsman Cancer Institute loop, which is the old Monday standby. Of course, I was running at 6:45 and those guys ran at 5:30, so I didn' have any company.  Somewhat typically, I had some twinges of knee pain in the first three miles, especially while climbing. It was enough of an issue for me to stop a couple of times to stretch out the hamstring and IT band.  On the return route I really concentrated on keeping my form correct, and this extra attention meant that I was virtually pain free for the last few miles and actually felt quite good, though still out of shape.

Out the door by 5:30, arrived at Steiner and in the pool by 5:50. It was still dark but the pool lights were on so it was like nightswimming until the sun started to come up.  I had a good swim, 1700 meters with about 400 meters of "hard" swimming spread out among the swim. Well, it's all hard for me, but usually I don't kick much and I was kicking on those harder efforts. 

I had a 7:30 am meeting, so had to get out the door early.  I ran up to This is the Place Monument.  I made the executive decision to run a couple of tempo miles in the middle of the run. The first one began at Fort Douglas and continued up into TiTP.  On the flat section I felt good, but the little grunt climb at the south end of Research Park was tough, resulting in a 6:06 mile. After recovering for a mile up to the end of the monument, I started another tempo. This one began slightly downhill for the first half mile but then climbed for the rest of the mile, including the long dirt road to the north gate and more of the grunt section at Research Park.  I was doing this old dude shuffle as I suffered in agony trying to finish the mile. I did so, in 6:18. All things considered, that was not a bad effort. It was good to reach beyond the comfort zone. I ran easy to recover my sanity for a while and then did another surge of about .70 to the steps on the Legacy Bridge.  

The run made me seriously consider, for many reasons, changing the title of my blog to "Shuffling Through the Blackness." 

I swam a mile at Steiner.

Goose egg. I have excuses but they're not very good. 

Another double digit run ... that's two weeks in a row! I felt good during the run but had some residual knee soreness afterward. That seems to be the cycle: the knee warms up nicely during the run and then the hamstrings and glute get all knotted up in the hours after the run.  Stretching and massage do help, but there seems to be no magic bullet other than ... um ... not running.

I swam about 1/2 mile at Steiner; concentrating mostly on drills. 

Arrived at Steiner at about 6, parked the car and did a 4.6 mile route around the U and Research Park.  This was my first run in my Ecco Biom shoes I picked up on Saturday. These are a minimalist trainer.  Despite their techy-looks, it feels like a racing flat with a stiff sole. The last is made of polyurethane that is supposed to last a long time. The shoes did support a more neutral position.  They lack any meaningful cushioning, which I am apparently willing to pay a premium not to have. I will continue to give them a try and report appropriately.

After the run, I swam 1000m in the pool at Steiner. My form was much better than on Sunday. 

This morning I ran my first workout with the black sheep since probably early May.  It was retro day, meaning everyone was sporting old school shirts from as far back as their wardrobes could take them, i.e., John Straley's 1982 Salt Lake Classic shirt and his brother Jeff's 1977 East Cross Country shirt. I was sporting an American Apparel reissue of a vintage design--a white tank with red piping. But it was made of cotton and that was plenty of retro for me. 

 I was pretty concerned about running hard on the track since it's been a while. We warmed up 1.20 miles and then did a timed mile, with each lap accelerating.  My watch died before this so I didn''t have a split. Josh ran 5:15 and I was close to 30 seconds behind him, so I would say 5:40-45 or so.  It felt ok.  Then we ran 8 x 400m with 200m jog recoveries.  These I ran in 75-77.  Again, these felt ok and I am glad that we didn't do more than eight because I just don't have the fitness for much more than that right now, not to mention concern about aggravating the knee.

 Part of my objective in doing this workout is a test of where the knee is at in terms of recovery.  Right now it feels ok, but we'll see how the day unfolds. I plan to swim tomorrow to give it a break.

 

I swam a mile at Steiner. The last 400m of this swim felt as good as any bit of swimming I have done. I also picked up a wetsuit yesterday so I can hopefully get into the open water a bit more.

I pulled myself out of bed at 5:05 and drove my body to Holladay to meet at Divas to run with the group that meets there each week.  It's basically a few dudes like me and 6-10 of the fastest women on the Wasatch Front.  They are relentless. It was a good run with several long surges. Overall pace was in the neighborhood of sub 7 minutes.  The knee, per usual, felt unstable in the first few miles and then loosened up and didn't bother me the rest of the run. I did quite a bit of massage on the hamstring when I got home. We'll see how it holds up the rest of the day.  Two speedier sessions in the same week is something I haven't done in a long time and I am wary about boosting mileage and intensity at the same time. Tomorrow I'll likely hit the pool again.

I swam a mile this morning in the pool at Steiner.  This was the most relaxed effort yet for this distance. I could have gone another 400m or so but was a little short on time.  I almost enjoyed it.

Met up with a group of 6 or so at Foothill at 6am. We ran an out and back to B street and 11th Avenue.  The weather was hectic but overall pretty nice. Not too windy and not too rainy--but definitely a little of both. It felt like late October.

 I wore the Biom's for the first time over 5 miles.  They felt fine, but the toebox is a little roomy and I didn't close the laces as tightly as I should have. I can't say that these shoes are going to solve my hamstring/knee problems on their own but I do appreciate that they make me pay more attention to what my feet and legs are actually doing while I run.
 

I ran 5.2 from Steiner and then swam another 600 or so in the pool. I was only concentrating on developing the freestyle stroke and not on distance today.  It is amazing how much of the ability to swim well depends on very specific technique. I wish I could succeed at it by just getting in the pool and windmilling my arms and kicking my legs wildly for an hour but it doesn't work that way. I have a lot to learn but I feel like I am making progress. 

Workout with the black sheep--that's two weeks in a row, folks! I was a little late and ran my warmup (1200m) on the track with Bruce H while the rest of the group was on the road. Once the group arrived, we ran an 800 m of speed changes (easy on the curve, accelerate the straights) for additional warm up.

The meat of the workout, courtesy of coach Josh Steffen, was 20 x 400m with 100 walk/jog recoveries. It sounds like a lot of running and it is -- especially for a runner on the mend. The goal pace was "somewhere between 5k and 10k pace." The first few were a little slow, between 84 and 88. After that, the pace settled down for the next 7 or 8 intervals to a pretty consistent pace of about 80-81 seconds. For the last 7 or 8 the pace dropped again, averaging about 78-79 seconds. The last two were faster, 76 and 72. Then a mile cooldown.

I felt good overall--I kept the pace moderate and just tried to be consistent in term of the effort over each interval. This worked in the sense that I didn't die in the middle of any of the intervals. I had decent closing speed on the last interval which was encouraging.

No problems with the hamstring or knee during the workout, but things are a little tight now. We'll see how it goes.

No running--I did play golf with a client, using a golf cart. I will count it as .005 of easy running. 

I had big plans for a run/swim this morning. However, yesterday the power went out and took my alarm clock down with it. When I reset it I somehow fell into the ol' AM/PM trap.  As a result, my alarm should be going off at about 5:30 this evening.  When I did wake up the room had that "it's a little too light in here to be 5:30 am" feeling. In fact, it was 7am. This was a problem for my running plans.

Without much time, I got out the door and ran a little route around the Avenues and Memory Grove. It was a nice morning, but my knee hurt a fair amount -- particularly climbing the stairs up to 4th Ave.  It made me think I shouldn't be running much. 

 I've taken a little IB and I think I'll try the run/swim option tomorrow and see how things feel.

I parked at Steiner and ran an easy 4.6 miles around the U campus and Research Park.  I had no knee pain, due perhaps at least in part to the masking effects of ibuprofen.  After the little run, I swam 1200m in the pool. That felt really good -- I wish I had time to swim the full mile.

Met up with a group of 5 at Foothill Sbux and ran the north route to 11th Ave and B.  That's the turn around point for 10 miles, but being eager to tax  my injured leg further, I decided to head down Memory Grove and up 4th Ave w/ Derrick and Megan.  It's a long slog up 4th Ave. 

All in all, a decent run. My leg/knee felt decent overall--just some warm up pain in the beginning of the run.  It was nice to run a little more than 10.  Would be nice to run 15 again and not think much about it. 

No running today, but I did hike up to the upper meadows and ridges above the U hospital/JCC. I imagine the climb was greater than 2000 feet over a couple of miles--it's quite steep.  On the way up I could hear the Pretenders doing their sound check over at Red Butte Ampitheater.  

This morning I was actually looking forward to swimming. That's a fairly significant change in outlook.  I swam 1800m, which is the longest swim for me so far.  It's not much compared to my friends that swim 3 miles in a workout, but it's a start. 

Workout with the Black Sheep.  After a 1 mile warmup we did 800m of speed changes and then the meat of the workout designed by our own Bruce Herman.  Here are the results:

1 x 1 mile (5:55); 4 x 400 m (84, 83, 81,81); 2 x 800 (2:50; 2:45); 8 x 200 (all at 39, one at 38); and then another 1 x 1 mile (5:34).  The recoveries were minimal within each set (15-30 seconds) and about a minute between sets.

Josh was blowing everyone off the track and was a half lap ahead of me the whole time. I ran with a guy named Kevin who is new to the Black Sheep this week, a former DIII runner from New York.  It helped to have someone to push with, particularly on the last mile.

One mile of cool down followed at the end.

Wow, 7am meeting meant I had to get out the door at 5:15. Josh and Megan didn't have a 7am meeting but decided to join me anyway. That's commitment. We ran around Federal Heights and 11th Ave and Memory Grove. We saw Senator Bob Bennett on 11th Ave out running. Perhaps he was ruminating on the loss of his senate colleague Ted Kennedy.

OK, so here's the deal, you can easily enter to win a Madsen cargo bike by clicking this link:

These bikes are locally made by Jared Madsen and co. Jared's wife Lisa is a diehard member of the local running crew. They are good people and this is a very cool bike. Check it out!

I got up at 5am, but not to run. Instead I met up with some other freaks at the mouth of Parley's canyon and we drove up to East Canyon Reservoir for an open water swim. This was my second open water excursion and the first in a new wetsuit I recently obtained.  The wetsuit fit a little big, with some pockets of water in the shoulders and in the small of my back. Those aren't great things to have and I may need to return it.

 The swim was enjoyable but unlike last time I did have a couple of minor freakouts where I started to think a little too much about the fact I was far away from anything that could save me in the event I got into trouble.  This is a part of the learning curve in open water, I think.  The important part is just to keep calm and keep swimming.  It turned out fine. It was a beautiful morning and what a nice way to start the day.
 

I started this morning with a little six mile tour of memory grove/avenues on my buddy Casey's bike (a very nice Specialized Roubaix with Dura-Ace components). Then I practiced taking on and off his cycling shoes and getting on and off his bike.  Then I put on my running shoes and did a little 1.5 mile route during which my legs felt like cement pylons even after such a short bike ride. Why am I riding a bike and then running? Good questions -- ones I hope to answer tomorrow.

This past Wednesday night I mentioned to my brother (in town from So. Cal.) that there was a triathlon going on at Bear Lake this weekend. I mentioned it for two reasons: 1) he is a triathlete; 2) we were planning to go our cabin at Bear Lake this weekend.  More or less on a lark I agreed to race the triathlon. I have never done a triathlon before. I guess my recent swimming gave me just enough confidence to think I could survive the swim and make it through the rest as well as I could.  We signed up for the Sprint, which seems like a logical place for a newbie like me to start -- the distances are 750m swim, 20k bike ride, 5k run.  

I spent the last couple of days picking the brains of my triathlete friends about how to do handle the transitions and some other basic triathlon etiquette.  Perhaps most importantly I borrowed a very nice bike from a good friend.

The nice thing about this event is that I had absolutely no expectations at all and thus no pressure.   My goal was just to get the feel for doing the events back to back. I have had such an unfulfilling summer for running training that at least this gave me something a little different to try.  Just jumping in blind rather than focusing on training for a triathlon for months on end seems like a more fun way to get the experience. 

And it was fun.  One consistent word of advice I received is that if you're not a great swimmer that it's best to start in the back of the pack. So that's what I did.  When the horn sounded the start, I waited on the beach as everyone  pushed out into the water. I was just chuckling to myself at the fact I was actually beginning a triathlon.  The swim went well enough for me, though very slow compared to the leaders. It was 17:53 for the 750k.  The lake swim was not too bad--there was some jostling but nothing awful.

My first transition seemed to go quickly but actually lasted 2 minutes. I don't know where that time went. On my way out of the transition area, I saw my family that had just arrived to watch my brother and me race.

When I got onto the bike I felt pretty good and kept feeling pretty good.  In fact, although my run was the fastest leg, I felt strongest on the bike. This was a surprise because my little six mile ride I did  yesterday morning constituted the whole of my bike training for this event.  It was only 12 miles, so not really long enough to reach any of the fatigue that accompanies a long ride and really requires the endurance that true cyclists develop.  Surprisingly to me, I didn't get passed during the bike ride -- but I did pass several people. It was fun to race on the bike, a totally new thing. Total time was just over 34 minutes which compared relatively favorably to others in the top 15.

The second  transition was quicker than the first. I downed a gel and got on my shoes and took off.  The run itself felt alright, but not that great. It's really weird to go run after getting off  the bike.  The legs just don't feel right.  I guess that is the challenge of the triathlon and what makes it different from a running race.  I passed many people.  There were no mile markers and I didn't have my Garmin on so no idea of pace. It ended up as 19:09 for the 5k (which was run mostly on dirt roads)  This seems acceptable all things considered, but I can't say it felt like a normal road 5k. 

To my great surprise, I finished fifth overall.  My time was 1:14. I'm searching for explanations for this result and I think this must mean (with all due respect to my fellow competitors) that it wasn't a particularly deep field in the Sprint event (as opposed to the Olympic and Half Ironman distances). It sounds like a good result though, and I'll take it -- it's certainly not a bad showing for the first triathlon, particularly given my lack of training.

 Most importantly, it was a lot of fun. It was a great change of pace from road racing.  The effort overall seemed equivalent to a hard 10 mile race, maybe a half marathon.  But I wasn't completely toasted the way I would be after a hard half marathon. My brother had a good race too--though he had some bike problems that slowed things down--but it was great to be out there with him. 

So would I do it again?  I don't know, but it seems likely.  I am getting comfortable enough swimming that it is almost fun now.  I know nothing about the bike and I need to get one, that's probably the biggest impediment right now.  All of those things would trade off with the running, but right now I think my body could use a little change.   

I ran an easy five miles with my brother JD (of FRB blog fame) along the bike path paralleling Bear Lake--from the Pickleville Playhouse to Garden City Park and back. Nice easy pace and a good conversation.

Headed up to Steiner this morning for a little swim. After fiddling with my goggles and swim cap for the first few laps it was basically uneventful until I smacked my head into the head of another swimmer who was heading in the opposite direction in my lane.  She had started swimming with the assumption that we were splitting the lane. I had been the only one in the lane before she got in and was circling but she didn't wait to jump in before figuring out what I was doing.   It was a direct collision and it kind of hurt, but was more of a surprise. I thought I might have hit the wall at the end of the pool! She was ok as well but she terminated her swim at that point--I don't know why, I don't think it was because she was hurt.  Probably just because it was startling.

 Anyway, I ended up swimming about 1700m, and included some fast laps that felt pretty good.
 

Workout with the Black Sheep at Sugarhouse Park. The original plan was for the group to run on the new Highland High track,but the track is still under construction.  After spending some time trying to figure out track access, the choice was made to run on the road in the park.  We ran 3 x 3 minutes with 2 minutes of easy running.  These weren't so bad though the pace was hovering around 5:15.  We then ran 2 x 1 mile (plan was 3 x 1 mile but ran out of time).  The first mile was 5:34. The second mile was 5:31.  I felt pretty good on the second mile. I think I could have run another, but I don't know if I could have held the pace. 

Then we ran some cooldown and that was it. 

This was probably the closest thing to a "normal" run that I have had in a long time.  I had virtually no knee problems the entire run (although it has been a little tight since running).  I ran out and back to This is the Place Monument through the U of U.  I saw the U of U football team doing drills on one of the practice fields--lots of energetic yelling shouting and grunting.  I also saw a some officers from Fort Douglas out running and it occurred to me that both are, in a sense, preparing for battle -- as each of us is in our own way.  

 After reading plaques about pioneers, John C. Fremont, Etienne Provot and others at TiTP, I headed back home.  On the way I ran into blogger Eric, aka Phoenix, who was out riding his new bike. We chatted for a few minutes about cycling and triathlons and the possible benefit of doing something other than running all the time.  A few minutes later I ran into Adam RW as I was coming down the Legacy Bridge stairs.  I congratulated him on his TOU half and wished him well for the full marathon. So it was a sociable run.
 

I went for an early morning swim today in East Canyon Reservoir with the open water crew.  I definitely preferred the new wetsuit over the one I used up there last week.  I had more buoyancy and didn't feel like it was filling up with water.  This translated into being more comfortable overall in the water.  

We arrived at at the lake about 6:10 and it was still quite dark -- so dark that you couldn't see the first buoy that we were swimming out to. I had to stop and take off my goggles to get a good look.  The sun came up soon enough, though and it was a really beautiful morning. There is this strange sensation of being completely at peace with the world while also doing something fairly risky that is appealing about these early open water excursions. 

I don't know how many more weeks are left to get out there before it gets too cold. 

This morning I met up with Clyde, Logan, Walter and Adam at the Capitol at 5:30am.  Clyde and Logan just happened to be in SLC at the same time and it was cool to have a chance to run with them, particularly since I haven't been racing for months and months and haven't seen these guys since forever.  We ran on Gravity Hill above Memory Grove, out to11th Ave, up to Shriner's Hospital and then turned around and headed back down to the base of City Creek. Logan and Clyde wanted 20+ but Walter and I are mere mortals so we turned around at the 1 mile mark in City Creek. It was a very pleasant morning and it was nice to have the company.  Would be cool to cross paths with these guys more often.  If I could just figure out a way to spend a couple of weeks in St. George in January then it might work.
 

I met up with a group of six or so at Foothill Sbux and we ran to the mouth of Emigration Canyon where we picked up Megan and Lisa. From there we ran through TiTP over to 11th Ave down to the Firehouse, returning more or less the same way. It was a fun group and a good morning for a run. We returned to Foothill in time to get the car and head back to the mouth of the canyon to watch the Salt Lake Half Marathon roll through. Well, I should say we watched Josh cruise through in the lead with no one behind him that we could see.  Megan and I then quickly headed over to the finish to watch Josh cross the line. He finished in 1:12, a very solid time on this course and probably a CR.  Bob Thompson, whom I had not seen in a long long time came in second in 1:15.  I got to chat with him for a few minutes after the race and it was nice to catch up.  Josh had a solid race and this time is very impressive considering the first four miles are all uphill, and not just a little bit. 

This morning I took Jack on a tour of 11th Avenue and Memory Grove. It seems Jack is much heavier than the last time I pushed him or I am much more out of shape. In any event, the run was slow. Going up Virginia Street to 11th was a bit of a pain, even taking the Shriners route. We stopped in Memory Grove and played around for a few minutes, which was fun. On the return I pushed the stroller up the super steep section on 3rd Avenue between Canyon Road and B Street.  In the middle of the hill Jack said "Dada, run?" I guess he could feel that the pace had slackened considerably.

Black Sheep workout at East High Track. It was one of those mornings where the idea of a workout just doesn't seem like great plan until it gets underway. I think that is the value of doing speedwork with a group--it gives you some extra incentive and motivation to do something that, on your own, you may not want to do. You just have to suck it up and do your part to help the group through its collective pain.

Johanna was coaching today and when she announced the workout I wanted to go home. After a 1.3 mile warm up and a lap of strides, this was the plan: 1 x 400, 1 x 800, 2 x 400, 1 x 800, 3 x 400, 1 x 800, 4 x 400, 1 x 800, 5 x 400. So, if you're keeping score that means 15 x 400 with 4 x 800 thrown in for fun. The first 400 was slow, after that I was basically running very consistently 81-82 seconds. The 800s varied a bit, with an outlier of 3:04 for the first and a fastest of 2:49. So those were a bit easier. The last 400 was 72 just to celebrate almost being done.

The group started with 21 runners today and there were just a handful finishing the workout. That kind of attrition means that it was probably a pretty good workout.

I ran a couple of laps for cool down and headed home.

The East XC team was meeting up at the track today too but they headed over to Sugarhouse park. I hope Bill didn't have a track workout planned that we stifled with our vast numbers.

I had limited time this morning and was only able to swim 1000m at Steiner.  Ran into Johanna who was just starting her own workout in the pool, a 3000+m painfest.

I dragged my body out of bed at 5:05, got ready, and drove to Holladay to meet at Divas for the Mansion/Canal tour. This group runs a brisk pace that rarely dips below 7min except maybe for the section along the canal path which is fairly unpredictable, especially in the dark. We ran a couple of long surges that hurt. My legs had not fully recovered from Tuesday's workout so I probably overdid it a little. My knee hurts a bit too, but not terribly bad. It occurred to me this morning that one of the benefits of high mileage is that you recover more quickly from day to day. Since I don't have that fitness now and can't expect the same results.  An enjoyable run overall.

I swam 1800m at Steiner.

I flew up to Portland, Oregon on Friday afternoon for a family event.  I got up at around 6:45 and got out the door for a little about 45 minutes later.  From the start of the run I had knee pain almost the entire time.  The route was quite nice, even though it was sunny there was shade all over the place because of the amazing trees.  I ran through some neighborhoods and along a minor arterial route in the Milwaukie area. The knee, however, was a real concern the whole route. I think it's the combination of a slight increase in mileage the last few weeks combined with quite a bit more intensity.  I should know better!

I spent a while massaging the knee area last night and I seemed to get a good result focusing on a knot in my lower quad on the medial side.  After doing that for a few minutes I decreased the little pain I usually get walking up our steep stairs. I'll try that again today and see if it helps.

 In any case, I wanted to stay off the knee so I went swimming at Steiner. I swam a total of 2000m made up of 4 sets of 5 x 100.  I did 5 x 50 sprints in set three and otherwise just concentrated on technique and drills.
 

Out and back to This is the Place. 

Four mile run, followed by a short swim.

Got up way late--managed to sneak in a little bitty run.

I swam a mile at Steiner. 

Hooked up with a group at Foothill Sbux and ran a southernly route.  This was a longish run for me these days and it felt pretty good. 

Met up with my buddy Adam S. and we did a 1.2 mile open water swim at East Canyon Reservoir.  The temperatures and water conditions were very good. We also scared off a bunch of fisherman. They were probably ready to start casting their lines at us. I swallowed a little more lake water than I would like, but I was a little thirsty too.

I ran the ol' U/Avenues/Memory Grove loop. Takes me back to '08.  For the first time in months I wore something other than my racing flats, instead wearing the DS Trainers. Let me tell you it felt like having cinder blocks stuck to my feet.  Those used to be my "lightweight" trainers.  I briefly considered running back home to change but got lazy.  I look forward to not wearing them tomorrow. 

Workout with the Black Sheep this morning at East High Track. After the 1.2 mile warmup, we ran 12 x 300 m with 100m jog recoveries in between. These progressively got faster by a second each interval. My knee was not feeling great early on so I hung back a bit and socialized through most of these.  Next we ran 4 x 800m.  These were supposed to be Yasso 800s, but my times were so inconsistent they hardly qualified for that.  Times were 2:54/2:51/2:41/2:37.  The last one felt quick--relatively speaking--and I could not have kept that pace over ten intervals.  Casey was hanging with me nicely on the last couple, Josh was way ahead on all of them. Then we ran a few laps for cooldown.  The knee didn't give me any real problems after the 300s though it is a little tender right now and likely will be for some of the day. At what point will I actually seek medical attention?  A great question. For now, I am glad to have had  a little work on the track.

I swam 1800m this morning up at Steiner. I ran into Sam as I was heading into the pool and we shared a lane. Good times.

I ran in Holladay with the Diva's crew.

Met up at Foothill Sbux and ran a northernly route to 11th Ave and B street.

Black Sheep workout: it was a ladder workout designed by Mr. Steffen.  After a loop warmup around Sugarhouse Park we headed to the new track at Highland High. Began with 800m of sped changes. Then the workout was 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400.  I don't have my watch with me now to fill in the splits, but the miles was 5:31 and the last 400 was in 70 seconds. 

It has been a long, long week that has decimated training plans! I did get out this morning for a little 3.5 mile jaunt that felt pretty good in the cool autumn air. At least I was out the door.

Ten miles at ~7:01 pace from Foothill Sbux out and back to 11th Ave and B.  

Though my knee does not do well with big climbs these days, I could not resist the urge to run up to the meadow for a little early fall post-storm circuit.  It was a glorious morning, 34 degrees.

Workout with the Black Sheep at East High.  After the warm up we did some drills: skips, knees, & butt kicks, then an 800 m of speed changes. The workout consisted of 4 x 400, 4 x 800, 4 x 400.  Times were unspectacular in the first set of 400s: 89, 87, 86, 86. The 800s were 2:51, 2:49; 2:46; 2:43.  The last set of 800s: 81,81,81, 72.  I could have (and should have) run the last set of 400s sub 80--I clearly had the energy to do it. Then we ran a bit of cooldown. 

Three days of running in a row.  I think that's a record for the past few months.  It's cold enough now that the outdoor pool at Steiner doesn't sound quite as appealing.  More importantly, my knee hasn't been giving me any real trouble this week. I know it can come back at any moment but I'm enjoying the break in the action.  I'll try to keep it loose with the foam roller and The Stick and see if I can handle 10 miles in Holladay tomorrow.

This was my fourth day of running this week and it felt pretty good. I had planned to drive out to Holladay but the 5:30 start time and 5:00 am wake up time just loomed too large.  I ran 8 miles, out and back to This is the Place Monument. I ran several fartlek surges along the way. Running time was was 59 minutes which isn't bad for this hilly route.

This was an interesting run. I met up at 5:30 with Josh, Megan and Aimee. We ran from Foothill toward my old 'hood.  Along the way we saw a charter bus being loaded onto a big flat bed tow vehicle.  Above the tire on the passenger side was the residue of what looked to be a very hot fire that had either melted or blown out the window. We asked the tow guys and they said there was some kind of brake problem and the tire locked and caught fire from the heat and friction.  Yikes. No one was hurt.

 We circled back to Foothill to pick up some more people at 6am.  We ran out and back to the fire house. On the return, one of our buddies was running on the sidewalk next to Bonneville Golf Course on Foothill. He was moving at a good clip as we were in the last mile. It was still dark and he didn't notice a large tree branch extending over the sidewalk.  He smacked into it with incredible force.  No blood other than the gash on his knee from the resulting fall.  He was pretty out of it for a couple of minutes but ultimately resisted our efforts to take him to get checked out since you don't really want to mess around with that kind of trauma.  But he had a plane to catch in a couple of hours and didn't want to go. That's sort of the last place you want to be after a shot to the head, but I digress. I hope he's ok--haven't yet heard anything to the contrary.
 

Eight miles on the U/Avenues loop. Not terribly eventful, which is just fine. 

Due to a variety of factors (laziness chief among them) I didn't get out to run in the morning. I did take my running gear to work and got out for a run at lunch, doing a six mile out and back up Memory Grove and City Creek Canyon. It was a gorgeous autumn day, made me want to do a mid-day run more often. I even had a Walter Brown sighting at the bottom of City Creek canyon.

Due to a variety of factors (laziness chief among them) I didn't get out to run until 7am. This only gave me time for a 45 minute loop of Federal Heights/11th Ave/Memory Grove.  What a spectacular fall morning, 55 degrees and a nice post-rain mist.

Due to a variety of factors (an 8am meeting being chief among them) I got out the door for a run at about 6:15.  I did an out and back to the gate at TITP. I did several fartlek-style surges ranging from .25 to a mile.  It felt really good to move the legs relatively quickly and the knee has been pretty cooperative as I've picked up the miles a bit. 

After running 1.25, I met up with Johanna, Sue Nielsen & Andy R. to run the Pipeline Trail in Millcreek Canyon. It was a beautiful morning, near the very height of the leaf season in Millcreek.

I managed to dodge lightning for 8 miles, running the U/Avenues/Memory Grove loop.

Workout with the Black Sheep at East High track. We had a group of 12 which is pretty good for this time of year.  After the customary warm up and 800m of speed changes, we ran 4 x 1 mile with each 400 within the mile increasing in pace -- ideally, M, HM, 10K, 5k pace.  I struggled and felt slow the first mile, 5:58.  Then picked it up a bit for the last three, 5:41; 5:37, 5:29.  The last 200 of the final interval was a good effort.  It took me back to running the 200m when I was a kid and would get that nauseating feeling turning into the home stretch knowing I had to run as hard as I could.  

Short loop around the Avenues.

Although I was out the door at about 5:40 am, I only had 45 minutes to run. The reason? So that I could get to the SL Health Dept and stand in line at 7am with our 2 year old for an H1N1 vaccine shot! After four and a half hours of waiting in line, we were rewarded with a needle poke and a band aid.

My brother James, aka JD, came to town and we ran a variation of the short avenues loop with a little extension around the Capitol. It was cool and sunny, nice running weather.  Good to catch up with him, he's running great these days.

This morning I decided to run to Liberty Park for a couple of laps around the park. This was a small victory in the sense that I was able to break out of my typical route and do something slightly different.  In this case, the challenge is that the last two miles are all uphill.

 I should have run downtown and then up to the park so I could get some extra mileage since it is only 2 miles to the park.  But I went directly to the park and ran two laps before heading back. 
 

No running, caught a 6am flight to Denver, returned at 11pm. Long day. 

Very late out the door this morning so I ran the Avenues loop.

I brought my running gear to work and headed out the door at lunch. I thought it was going to be pretty cold but the sun was out and I overdressed with tights and a long sleeve shirt.  I ran from downtown over to the Marmalade neighborhood and then ran the long uphill mile on Victory Road up to the Capitol.  I then headed north on gravity hill (the obviously uphill direction) and then down Memory Grove back to the office. It was a nice change of route from the usual out and back up City Creek from the office. 

Avenues tour.

Cucina Run, "Halloween Edition."  A big group, probably 12 or so, met at Cucina at 6:30. About half of us were in costume. At least one of the costumes worn by a certain male runner could have resulted in an arrest, or at least a large fine. 

I was an early '90s grunge runner, rocking a black wig, ball cap, Nirvana t-shirt (that I bought in 1991), and black dress socks. I ditched the wig for the actual run, which was a good idea.

 The run on Shoreline was challenging as usual, made more so by the fact I have not run a hilly trail route for about four months. I handled it ok, but felt out of shape, which makes sense because I am. But it was a really fun run for many other reasons.

The kids pretty much kept us up from about 1-4 am so when the alarm went off at 5:40 I just wasn't feeling the run.  I brought my gear to work and ran at lunch.  I basically ran up to fourth avenue and did the usual Avenues loop I have been doing lately. It was a beautiful day to run. The long stretch up 4th Ave was a pain as usual. The descent down Memory Grove was great.