Trails!

AM: Small Workout

I met Paul this morning and we ran out to Nibley and ran through the neighborhoods out there.  I wanted to do some speed work today, so 5x3 min at a goal pace of 10K pace.  We started out slow, but got better as we went.  My heart wasn't really in it today.

Paces

5:53, 5:52, 5:43, 5:36, 5:50

I ran Paul home then did 2x200m and 2x100m strides at the High School then went home.

T-1:29:45 (7:11) 12.5 miles

PM: .5 miles  My body and mind said no so I went home.

Tuesday night ride - 

We started out with ~30.  The hammer went down once we hit Blacksmith fork Canyon.  We did between 23-28mph up the canyon.  The group dwindled to 6 of us by the top.  Good ride.  21.4mph average for the ride including the warmup.  I wasn't in the mood for a run and this was a great alternative. 

2:30:00 (53 miles)

Landfill Loop, no watch.

PW 5 with some striders

Deseret News 10K - 

Goal for the race - PR (sub 34:48)

That is about all I cared about since placing well in this race is pretty tough.  This is by far the biggest 10K of the year in Utah. 

The morning was warm (mid to upper 70's at 6 am) especially for a Logan boy.  I sure felt sorry for the marathoners as they were in for a sweat-fest.  I did 2 miles of warmup with a few striders to try and get the body to wake up.  I am not used to getting the leg turnover going and with all the downhill, I sure needed it. 

The race started off fine with the big downhill mile flying by.  5:06

The second mile was still downhill. 5:12

By this point, Jon and Adam were still within sight but pulling away.  I focused on working past one runner at a time.  Mile 3 was rolling down, but much harder than 1 or 2 for sure.  5:43

I figure I was roughly 16:20 or so at the 5K (10 seconds ahead of my PR pace of 2007).  Time to buckle down and get to work.  

Well, how about maintaining then, since I can't speed up at all.  Blogger Craig passed me in here and I let him get too far away.  Mile 4 was 5:36

Mile 5 was more of the same pain.  What else can you say?  5:45

Mile 6 was on the parade route which was nice to get the cheering section going.  It helped running sandwiched between two female runners.  They sure get lots of cheers.  I felt strong during this mile and made up lots of time on Craig and two female runners I was working off of.  I think I passed 4-5 people this mile.  5:53

The final stretch is long.  In fact, I was so delirious that I was getting mad at the race for putting the 6 mile mark over .2 from the finish.  I was convinced during the race and directly after that it should have been 6.1 miles not 6.2.  Come on, since when is a 10K 6.2?  Those race directors are sure mean to add .1 to my race.  Quite the thought process over the last bit of the race. 

I had been working up to Craig the whole last mile and finally caught him with 30 meters left.  He saw me and took off.  I mean, took off.  It wasn't fair.  He rested that whole last mile.  Good race Craig.  1:08

Final Official Time: 34:25 (34:27 clock)  PR by 23 seconds. 

Adam ran really well nearly matching his time from last year off of less training.  Jon ran well considering he hasn't been home for 3 weeks.  Sure is tough to train while traveling.  He ran 34:07 I believe.  Scott (redrooster) came in just a few mins back.  I was still panting when he came in.  He ran great considering his injury recovery and ramping back up his miles. 

Jon, Adam and I ran back up to the start nice and slow.

Post Edit:  Official results have my chip time as 34:25 and my placing as 51st. (not the 44th as originally stated at finish line (12th in 25-29)

Trail run with Adam Wende - 

Today's trail run was a trip down memory lane.  These trails were so much longer and steeper as a scout lugging a backpack that weighed as much as you.  It was still great to go back and check it all out again.  I met Adam at the park-n-ride and we drove up to mill-D trailhead.  First stop was Dog Lake.  We started at 7220ft and climbed to 8700 feet in 2.5 miles. Perfect weather this morning.  It had rained overnight and the trail was not dusty at all.  Perfect.  We took a quick lap around the lake (that is becoming a habit of mine now) and headed back down to the fork in the trail to start the climb to Desolation Lake.  1/2 mile back down to 8200 feet.  Then we began the 2.5 mile climb to 9600 feet above Desolation Lake.  We stopped to admire the view.  Sweet view Park City and SLC from up there.  I am pretty sure that section of trail is on the Wasatch 100.  Tough trail.  We sure enjoyed blasting down it though back to the bottom (after another token lap around Desolation Lake).  As we were flying down the hill, I started to notice lots of little critters darting around my feet.  They seemed to be trying to attack me as there was no explanation for why they would dart out onto the trail at the exact second I would run by.  Maybe playing chicken?  At one point one got close enough that it ran literally over my foot as it was planted on the ground.  I felt his little paws all over my feet. I also had a little encounter with a female biker.  I suppose she was cross with me for chuckling as she couldn't make it up a steep and technical section that we were running down.  I proceeded to run past her as she was stopped on the side of the trail.  I am not sure what her thought process was, but it didn't include the simple  math to figure out that there was not lots of room to pass by.  Right as I went by, she swong her leg over her bike seat in some kung-fu manner and gave me a roundhouse right in the gut.  I am sorry lady!  Don't kill me, I have a family. 

After arriving back at the car, we decided to head over to Doughnut falls to add some more miles and another stop to the tour of Cody's memory lane.  Luckily this section was loaded with hikers so the wildlife was minimal.  We did have a perfect little troop of scouts cheering for us though.  That was odd. 

The highlight of the trip though was the soaking of the legs in the canyon river.  We were there maybe 2 mins when a Ranger sees us and freaks out.  Apparently, people drink that water and don't like it when my smelly feet are in their drinking water.  He scolded us for having the nerve of being in the water and told us we should learn to read the signs that say "stay out of the water".  Yes, sir. Sorry sir.  $450 fine averted.  Good times.

T-2:04:30 (9:21)