Old Man Still running

Treadmill

Ran with a group of 8 others across Utah Lake.  We started at Saratoga Springs Harbor Marina.  It was 6 degrees.  I dressed warmly.   It was very foggy the entire way over.  No one brought a good GPS so and I had not paid attention to the right direction to Lindon marina.  So we just guessed.  At one point one guy pulled out his phone and had the harbor marked.  He had us head north.  It didn't seem right be we made the turn.  After another mile, another guy showed me his phone and it had us heading in another direction that made more sense, so we again turned, this time in the right direction.  It was pretty funny, but an amazing adventure to run in the fog.  The snow was about 4 inches deep, so made for some hard work, good exercise.   We stopped several times, just having a good time.  One group of three went pretty far ahead.  We could not see them at all but at times Skip would whistle.  We would yell and try to get them going in the right direction.  Finally, I was amazed that we arrived at the marina, exactly as we should.  It came into view less than 100 yards through the fog.

Four decided to catch a ride.  I wanted more miles, not tired at all yet, so ran back with three others.  Eventually the fog lifted and I could see our approximate destination.  Our route back was much straighter and we saved about a mile.   The late morning was amazing on the lake.

The ice was still very thick, but we did cross over one crack that was curious.  about six feet from the crack on either side was slush and our feet sunk in an inch.  Pretty freaky.  We were very careful.  Other than that, we didn't see any other problem areas except thin ice within a few feet of the shore.

It was a wonderful run.   I forgot to put on my sunglasses when the fog finally lifted and just 45 minutes of sun on that snow left we with sore eyes for the rest of the day.

I still have a sore hamstring from earlier in the week.  I would have gone back out for more, but need to rest it.

Hamstring still a problem, guess I'll have to shift to cross-training.

Being extra careful.  The hamstring is healing, but is still a problem....it is one of those two-week injuries.  I'm very likely to skip the 10K on Saturday.  Hate to miss it since two of my kids are running, but it probably will be snow covered anyway.   I'll probably just go and cheer them on.

Work has been very busy anyway.  The long commute to SLC is a bother, about 2:45 total each day using the train.  Really cuts into any free time, but I can get work done on the train or sleep.

I've been battling a slow-healing hamstring/glut strain.  I wasn't going to run the race, but in the morning tested things out on the treadmill and decided to go ahead.  Son Ryan and daughter Mindy also ran.  A snow storm started a half hour before the start adding an additional challenge.

I started careful, but things seemed to hang together.   During the first mile a couple guys passed me who looked like they were in my age group, one in green,maybe in the next AG up. The other guy had a black shirt on. I decided to keep them both in my sights. Splits for the first three miles were 6:39, 7:02, and 6:57.  I was warmed up and felt pretty good.  I passed the the black shirt guy, but he hung with me.  At the turn around, he offered to work with me drafting on the way back.  The headwind and snow was pretty challenging.   I took the first half mile or so and then he took a turn. Once I felt a little rested, I would pass him and kick it up a notch.  We were able to pass a couple people and caught up with the green shirt guy (Dee).  Mile 4 was a slow 7:20.

During Mile 5, I just couldn't keep going fast enough in the point so put the brakes on to rest a little.  Mile 5 was 7:25.  But then I kicked it up again, breathing hard, but the legs felt good, the hamstring pain was not too bad.    I passed green-shirt guy and was closing in on black-shirt guy.  Mile 6 was 7:12, still in the stiff wind.   But then green-shirt guy kicked it up and I matched him but couldn't hold it.   I finished 20 seconds behind black-shirt guy (who won my age group) and about 10 seconds behind green-shirt guy (who won the age group above me).  It was great competition.   It was nice to be running fast again after doing very little the past ten days.  

I finished in 44:12, second place in age group.   Ryan finished in about 54 minutes and won his age group.   Mindy finished in about 1:25, her first 10k and was able to run it the entire way.  We all had a great time.

Three with the dog.   Went out on the lake.  Clear path out there from Eagle Park again.  The snow is pretty deep, deepest I have ever seen out there.  No fun for running.

Hamstring sore from yesterday, but no new damage.   Its time to concentrate on training for the next series of races, Buffalo Run, Northcoast 24, and Salt Flats 100.  Smart training for these are still all about the flats.   I'll throw in some hills for strength, but all are very flat.  I'll back off the tempo run training for awhile to let the hamstring heal.  Salt Flats is just a week after NC24, so if I really do it, it will just be a slow 100-mile fun run.  There is a pretty good chance I won't do it.   After that, a month later is Bryce 100.  For that, need hill training, but it really is all about altitude training since much of it is above 9,000 feet.  Getting up to 7-8000 feet won't cut it. That is going to be really tough that early in the season.  Two-three weeks of altitude training needed before the race or my stomach will shut down.  Need to spend time at 9-10,000 feet somehow.  

I may throw in a Grand Canyon run two weeks after Buffalo, we shall see.

Slow healing hamstring.  I've been reading plenty of posts by people with chronic problems.   Mine has always healed within a couple weeks.  Its been a little over two weeks.  Rest does bring the pain down but full running again brings it back. No pain doing other cross training, just the running motion does. I'll just have to be patient and careful.I don't think this is a big injury, but I don't want it to be chronic.  I'm just getting old and it take longer to heal up.

Four mile test run on the treadmill at 9:30 pace.  Went well.  Hamstring pain still there but not terrible.  I'll go ahead and run 50K tomorrow, adventure run at the Wedge, and see if it works itself out.  Sometimes that is all it takes.

Went to Little Grand Canyon in San Rafael Swell with jun and others.  It was great to be out in the beautiful desert again.  It was much better than fighting the crowds at Moab Redhot.  There was too much snow to run the Good Water trail as we hoped, but we just ran where we could and did even did some rough workouts running in deep snow.  It was a wonderful day.  Pictures and videos on Facebook.

I had hoped that my hamstring would calm down with a longer run, but it really didn't.  I can run, but I know it isn't helping it heal.  So I will likely go into full cross-training mode for a couple weeks or more until this thing heals.  

Continued cross-training. Feels like the hamstring is starting to heal but still feel some pain even walking.  So, just being careful and patient.  Had to miss the 15k run at Saltair with my son and daughter.  I knew if I went, I would be tempted to run.  And I can still run, and would have AG placed, but then the hamstring would be sore again for a couple days.  So the strategy is to continue to shut things down, cross-train to keep fitness up and then use Buffalo Run 100 as a training run to get ready for Northcoast 24.