Elite Jogging For Dummies

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.