Elite Jogging For Dummies

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

AM:  I slept in until 6:15 because it's a holiday.  Then I ran 11 miles on a loop route, most of it on the trail. I ran from home up to the bottom of Dry Creek Canyon and then south on Shoreline Trail (with Red Butte up and back detour) over to the mouth of Emigration, where I added a bit before turning around to head back via my standard TitP route to home.  This run helped to work out some kinks. I brought my iPod, which I rarely do these days, and listened to The National.

PM:  Heather and I drove with Jack up to the Eden valley. We visited the Monastery in Huntsville (bought some honey) and then drove over to Eden and parked at Red Moose Lodge.  From there we ran a four mile out and back on the neighborhood roads around Eden. It was nice, Jack enjoyed being pushed and looking at horses and other signs of rural (well, semi rural) life.

For the past few weeks, I have been looking ahead to this workout on the training calendar with a feeling of dread. The plan called for a total of ten miles at marathon pace (~6 min), broken up in four intervals as a descending ladder.  The intervals are: 4 miles/3 miles/2 miles/1 mile with a 2 minute recovery between intervals.

I warmed up two miles over to Steiner Aquatic Center and started the first interval, four miles.  The first mile was dominated by a steady gradual climb up 900 South and I focused on the effort, rather than the pace. First mile in 6:15.  Then some flat and a nice gradual descent down 20th E.  I started to feel better, the next two miles were 6:04 and 5:46.  I continued the brisk pace until the last mile brought me to the steep climb out of the gully on 20th East and slowed things down, but not too bad, 6:02.

After two minutes of easy jogging, I started the second interval, 3 miles. These were all flat miles, 6:01, 5:54, 5:54.

 Another two minutes of jogging and I was thinking just three more miles at pace to go--I can hang on.  5:54, 6:02.

The last interval, one mile, was brutal. I was running north on 15th East which includes some challenging climbs. I ran 6:18, but the effort was much harder than that.  

After that, I ran 3 miles easy back home through the U. 

 This is the most marathon specific workout I have done so far, and I knew it would be tough. It didn't disappoint.  I chose a good course with plenty of variability in terrain.  On the flats I was able to hold 6 minutes or faster just fine, which is probably the best barometer for me on this workout.
 

Met up with Josh & Megan on 3rd Ave at 5:47 (I was late). We ran an eleven mile adventure loop out to my old neighborhood and back. Pace was not as easy as I would have liked, but it felt ok overall. Wore my neon yellow gloves this morning again because it was kind of chilly, but really ideal for running.

PM: I ran home from work. I took a new route, running west from my office toward 300 West, then by the Salt Palace, Delta Center, Triad Center, and then east on 200 N., to N. Temple up to Memory Grove, then 4th Ave to home. I liked this route, downtown is flat--which is nice for the second run.

Drove to Holladay and ran with that crew, eleven miles total. I ran easy with Derrick and Casey while Johanna, Aimee, et al. blazed ahead. I felt fine, just no reason to rush this morning. Planning to race the half m at Spanish Fork this weekend so no workout today.

 PM: I ran home from work. Once again, I headed west before heading north and then east.  Downtown is a ghost town after 5pm, so it's actually quite relaxing to be running around here at 6:30-7pm. The only hassle is the traffic lights.
 

I ran an extended U/Ensign Elem loop this morning. Great weather, 50 degrees.  I just took it easy and tried to focus on keeping my form loose.  I've got a few tight spots in my upper hamstring and glute, but nothing too serious. 

This was the second time I've run the Spanish Fork Half Marathon, last year was the first.  It's not a fast course compared to the usual downhill Utah screamer. It's got a lot of flat with some substantial rollers and a couple of attention-getting  climbs. In short, a very honest course-perhaps even a little too honest. The course is also beautiful, tracing the rural farm roads that flank Spanish Fork. 

I had a variety of goals today, some were met, others not.  Last year I placed second in 1:17:45 and I wanted to beat that time and also beat Chris Rogers' winning time from last year of 1:16:08.  From what I knew about the field, I also thought I would have a good chance to win the race this year, so that was a possibility as well.  Most importantly, I wanted to do all of this without running so hard that I would have any substantial recovery time.

Well, Sasha decided to come run and that got in the way of winning the race, but on every other score I'm satisifed. 

I ran what added up to 4 miles of warm up before the start, a bit on the course, a bit not.

We started fairly conservatively and then Sasha gradually took off, building a one minute lead that I couldn't make a dent in and, since this isn't a goal race, I saw no reason to kill myself to do so. So he jogged it in to victory in 1:13:55.

Other than running with James for the first mile or so, I ran entirely on my own. This was good for a training run because it forced me to run within myself and observe my race closely as it developed. 

Here are my splits:

1-5:52

2-5:58

3-5:50

4-5:55

5-5:45

6-5:59 (climbing)

7-5:59 (climbing again)

8-5:27 (rolling downhill)

9-5:39

10-5:52

11-5:41

12-5:46

13-5:35

I cooled down for four miles, mostly chatting with Holly Hagerman, who had won the 5k outright. I gave her a little blog pitch. Hopefully she'll at least lurk a bit :)