Per Aspera Ad Astra

I wish there was an option for steady state pace on here.  The first 10 miles were definitely not marathon pace, but they were harder than just a run of the mill easy day.  In any case, I did a hilly 12.5 miles (just under 500' gain, 500' loss according to the FRB course tool) at 6:57 pace, which would be 6:36 pace on a perfectly flat sea level course.  Actually, I suppose it was a hair more.  I noticed about a tenth of a mile in that my Garmin had accumulated a grand total of 0.00 miles, so I reset the watch and lost that first bit.

In any case, I kept it pretty steady state pace for the first 10, but ran harder for the last 2.5 miles, which I ran at 6:55 pace (slightly faster than average) despite picking up over half of my total overall climb in that 20% of the run, with almost no downhill to counteract it.

Once again, I didn't run until 11 PM, despite having had absolutely nothing going on after 4:30 or so. I don't know why I keep doing this, but I suppose that if I'm going to run in the dark, I'm better off doing it later when there's next to no traffic.

Oh, also, that hill on 3300 S going up to 1300 E (especially the last 2 blocks) isn't very fun!

Snagged a pair of these today for $22 shipped a couple minutes before they sold out:  http://www.joesnewbalanceoutlet.com/detail.asp?style=MT1010SA They're quite ugly, but I was in need of new trail shoes and the 110s used to get the job done for at least 500-600 miles before falling apart, so I figured I'd give the 1010s a try.  As long as they don't literally rip in half after 278 miles like the MT00 or have the heel collapse upwards through the insole on a long run and give me a blister that nightmares are made of like the MT20, I'll probably be OK with them.  I always thought the MT10 was the ideal trail shoe for durability (I have a pair with over 2500 miles that is still in great shape and I only no longer wear due to the now horrendous scent that comes off of them when they get wet) and the MT110 was the ideal shoe for fit and comfort; this 1010 seems to combine the durable sole ideas of the 10 with the rockplate and fit of the 110, so I imagine I'll like it.  Probably should've bought 2 pairs, but oh well.  Sorry, Jake, for not buying Saucony, but $22 shipped is unbeatable!

Actually started my run in daylight today!  Did 11.5 with Holly, easy pace (7:45 average over a course with 1400' of elevation change, ie 700' up, 700' down, with high point 550'+ above low point and non-negligible roll).  Ran up over to and up Memory Grove and ran into Nate Krah about 1.5 miles in, so we ran with him to the end of Canyon Road, turned around, headed up to 11th, dropped down Virginia and then up Federal Heights, and then up to his lab on campus (mile 7), where he stopped.  Holly and I ran a loop of part of upper campus, came down South Campus Drive, looped the football stadium lot, took University to South Temple, and ran home.  Holly's runs are typically in the 6-10 mile range, so this was a pretty long run for her, although she didn't show it at all.

Also, weight's down about 2 pounds in the last week.  I honestly haven't been eating all that carefully, but I've been avoiding things that are completely ridiculous (only had Cafe Rio once this week!)

2.5 miles up to the gym in a winter wonderland (read: on very snowy/icy sidewalks), easy, 7:50 pace uphill.

7 miles on treadmill.  First 6 at roughly MP (6:11), last 1 at roughly tempo (5:48).

2.5 very cold miles home, extremely easy, 9:00 pace downhill.

My attire was probably not smart tonight.  Temperature was 20 degrees F with a windchill of 12, but I wanted to run fast on the treadmill, so I needed a thin singlet and light shorts (galaxy print, obviously).  I didn't feel like carrying a bag on the way up to the gym, so I just threw on thin gloves and a light fleece, in addition to a baseball cap, a headlamp, and the massive super reflective triangle that I've belted to the backside of my waist on all my night runs lately.  In any case, on the way home, my legs got cold, and that was fine, but my face froze and my I was slipping all around in my flats.  I had taken 5 minutes to dry the sweat off my singlet, so that helped, but the wet hair under my hat sucked, and the overall remaining dampness made things colder.  I'm not sure what the best solution is in the future if I decide to do warmup up to the gym, run there, and then run home.  Maybe I should wear a super light pack with flats and singlet to change into, along with a baseball cap (I'm weird and don't like to run without a hat), and then I can wear beefier shoes, tights, another shirt, and another hat on the way up?  Running with a backpack is annoying, but so is slipping around and getting cold.  IDK.  I guess today's road/sidewalk conditions were pretty close to as bad as it gets for running out here.

10.5 miles, suuuuuper slow (literally an 8:25 average), because a) I felt like going really easy, b) people in Salt Lake are inconsiderate and don't de-ice the sidewalks in front of their houses despite being legally obligated to do so, and c) Kinvaras don't grip well at all on ice, especially when they're not brand new, so I had to run even slower than planned.

The route was my place up to 9th East, down to 27th South, up to Elizabeth, onto Highland, up to to 21st, down to 7th east, up to Liberty Park, through there to 6th South, up to South Temple, and back home.

It was 7 degrees with a windchill of 0 when I finished.  Thank science for Rupp-esque ski masks that keep your face toasty.  I'm glad that I didn't go running even later, as right now the windchill is down to -5.  When the windchill is 0 or above, it's not a big deal with tights and a mask.  Below -10 is generally pretty miserable, and anywhere in between varies based on how I'm feeling that day.  Hopefully we'll get some typically brutal Minnesota weather while I'm back from the 20th to 30th so that I can toughen up for the rest of the winter like usual.  For now though, single-digit temps with a nearly sub-zero windchill are surprisingly not bad.

Same loop as Sunday.  Easy 7:45 pace average, althought it varied a lot based on amount of ice.  Salt Lake is full of a bunch of jerks that don't de-ice their sidewalks.  Ever heard of salt, folks?  You would never see this kind of disrespect from people in the midwest.  People there don't just de-ice their own driveways and sidewalks; they also do it for their neighbors in need as well.

When I finished the run, the windchill was -4 F.  Thanks to layering up, it really wasn't bad except that my eyelashes on top and bottom kept freezing together when I blinked.  Fun!  Apparel for tonight's run:

I can't tell if I look more like Bane or Galen Rupp.  Sadly, it's probably the latter.

Great evening.  Had a couple drinks and played pool at a bar with some of my colleagues from work, and then got out for a run around 10:30.  I brought Holly for the run, but after a little over half a mile, I noticed that her feet were getting really cold with all of the snow and ice (she was running on 3 paws, alternating which one didn't touch the ground), so I unfortunately had to bring her back home.  So, she got in 1.25, and then I ran down to 5th East, down to 27th South, up to 9th, up to 21st south, back down to 5th east, and home.

Unrelated to running, I was gifted a pretty amazing fur coat today.  My mother's aunt randomly bought a men's sheepskin coat in my size 30-40 years ago with the intention of giving it as a gift, but never found the right person to give it to until now.  I've grown to dislike the modern mentality of repeatedly buying junk goods and replacing them, harming the environment with both their production and waste, so I sort of have a thing for older Americana style clothing that's made to last, especially denim and leather (such as my jeans and boots below, both constructed entirely with early 20th century techniques and machinery, the boots being only 6 months old, but designed to be repeatedly resoled so that they'll last a lifetime, and the jeans having been worn in over many hundreds of wears), so a built-to-last vintage sheepskin jacket is just the sort of thing that resonates with me.

Yes, it's the warmest jacket. Of. All. Time.  And yes, I realize that I can be a ridiculous human being sometimes.

Today's run was, in a word, wild.

I skied at Snowbird earlier in the day.  I knew it was going to be snowing hard up the canyon, so I left my car at the park n ride and bummed a ride up with a couple folks.  Turns out the guy that was driving was a pro skier, so I spent the day riding with him, which was a blast, as he skis a lot harder than most of the people I usually ride with.  Anyway, I was getting a ride back down to my car when I noticed that I had lost my keyring.  House/car/lab keys all gone.  I crashed once and I guess my pocket had become unzipped, so they got buried somewhere in powder way up on the mountain.  Anyway, they gave me a ride back to my apartment and then I ran back from the avenues to Little Cottonwood Canyon.  Of course, right when I got home, it started snowing really hard.  I mapped the route and figured out enough diagonal streets to get it down to 17 miles and almost entirely avoid Wasatch (until the last 1.25 miles).

Anyway, the conditions were super super gnarly.  I started out at high 7s pace, but as more and more snow fell and I started to get into the uphill second half, my pace got slower and slower.  Route was my place to South Temple to 9th East to 21st South to Highland to 6200 South to 2300 East to Bengal to Danish to Wasatch/LCC road to the park n ride.  My pace going up the icy sidewalk on 2300 East from Fort Union to 6200 was literally 12:00 flat.  I was just barely able to run at all with the sidewalk as it was (deep snow with ice on the bottom).  Wasatch/LCC Road was nearly otherworldly.  The snow was coming down insanely hard and the road was a ridiculous mess.  Any time a car was anywhere close, I walked 10 feet off the side of the road into very deep powder to avoid getting hit.  I was planning on 20 tonight, but this took 2:21, which is longer than it would have taken me to do 20 on a treadmill, so I'm not going to complain.

Driving home from the bottom of LCC to the Aves took a full hour.  At times, I was reduced to 15mph on I-215.  Absolutely crazy!