Elite Jogging For Dummies

It was Heather's morning to run, but her friend bailed out and Heather didn't want to run solo.  Since I'm a generous husband, I volunteered to go running in her stead.  I ran an easy (really easy) loop up to Red Butte via the roads and back via Shoreline trail. 

 The Wasatch 100 is still going on, but many finishers are in.  My friend, neighbor and massage therapist Mark Oftedal finished in 29:17, which is awesome.  He finished second in that race several years ago, but has had mixed results recently because of injuries.  Great to see him notch this finish.  Corbin Talley was in third for a long time, but DNF'd at Ant Knolls. If you know the course, this is a very tough place to drop out.  There are virtually no roads or vehicles accessible to that area. You basically have to climb back up to Catherine's Pass and down to Brighton.  Hopefully he found an easier way to get out.  It looked like he was smoking until this point, however.  Many things can go wrong at Wasatch and dropping out can be the smartest thing a person can do in some circumstances. If Corbin's got the ultra bug, he'll be back.

 Brian Kamm also came through with another sub-30 hour finish, his second.  He's a great guy, and a total machine.   

Also notable, Liz Irvine's sub 24hr finish earns her the Crimson Cheetah. Very few women have run this fast at Wasatch. 

 

Emigration Canyon, Donner Hill Monument. Easy.

Black Sheep workout at Sugarhouse/Highland track. I arrived early and ran one loop of the park and some change for 1.5. Then warmed up another loop with the group. Followed this with 4 x 100m accelerations with 100m jog after each.

 Then to the track for this workout : 4 sets of 1200m followed by an  800m with 200m recoveries between each.  The goal was to have the 800s at 78s per lap, with the 1200s at 81-83 per lap.  Mostly stuck to this plan with a few bumps. Brad, Josh and I traded leads on each quarter and this made the work more manageable. Set 1:  4:16 (slow) and 2:36.  Set 2: 4:06 (better) and 2:38 (slow, my fault): Set 3: 4:07 (close) and 2:36 (good): Set 4: 4:06 and 2:34.  Cooled down another loop around the park.  Good workout today, I think the longer intervals are the best thing I can be doing right now. 
 

This morning I ran a completely convoluted loop that took me through the U, Bonneville  Golf Course, Wasatch Blvd., 2100 South, Beacon Heights Elem., climb back up to Wasatch, Golf Course, This is the Place, Research Park, etc. . . . . Pace was mostly easy with attention paid to easy turnover and form on the flats.  It's Heather's birthday today and I got home in time to celebrate with her and Jack a little bit before going to work.
 

Thursday morning--time for a tempo run--and my body, mind and spirit were united! More specifically, they were united against doing a tempo run. Somehow dragged my body through three sleepy miles up to Foothill Blvd and Sunnyside and then decided it was time to get moving. Started a five mile tempo run with the goal of getting down to Sugarhouse Park.  First mile was still a little sleepy, 6min.  Second mile, cruising down the very high quality downhill grade on 2100 East, 5:45.  Third mile, flatter and then a grunt climb up through the gully at the Country Club to 2700 South, 6min.  Fourth mile, gentle downhill to 1700E and then flat, 5:45. Fifth mile, into Sugarhouse park, just getting the job done, 5:45.  My pace seems to have been very consistent and I actually think this is a great course for a tempo workout, notwithstanding my early reluctance to do it. 

Finished a loop of the park and then ran home at a very easy pace.
 

The plan was to run the Donner Monument route, but about 2.5 into it I ran into the Woods and company out for a short run. I ran with them back to Steiner where they started and Jwood agreed to join me for a few more miles. So we ran and talked about politics, etc. We ran back to his house and I continued home from there. Nice way to mix it up this morning.

Also, here's a photo of the Spanish Fork race from last weekend. As I was running Heather into the finish, this kid sprinted ahead of her to beat her at the last moment. As you can see, I did not hide my disappointment in watching this happen!

Long run this morning from Foothill Village to points north and south.  We had a group of 10-12 for the first 8.5.  We ran a north loop into Federal Heights and back.  Then Aimee, Sam, and the two Brads and me headed south on Wasatch blvd.  The Brads turned back after a mile or two.  The three of us then continued south to the footbridges.  To our surprise, the new bridge was open, crossing from the bottom of Parley's into Tanner Park. This is a huge project.  Tanner Park is a nice place to run, but too many dogs, especially for Aimee who felt under seige.  Sam turned back after Tanner Park and then Aimee and I continued on through Holladay to 3900 South, returned via the normal Radda route and then zigzagging back to Foothill, with a long stretch up 2100 E, site of Thursday's tempo run.  Aimee turned back for 20 miles, I added another mile just to see how it would feel (it was fine . . . mile 21 of a long run).

The early miles were mostly slow, but we increased late in the run. Average pace 7:33.