faster with age

     The big storm this morning mostly missed us. The 20 MPH winds we had this morning didn't seem bad at all compared to what they were getting a little ways south of here along the Wasatch Front. They recorded gusts of 102 mph in Centerville. It was 22 deg when I left so I had to go with the long pants this morning for the second time this year. I actually dressed the same way I would for sub zero temps. I think I prefer running at -15 deg without the wind. I'm glad we don't get a lot of wind here in the winter. I ran 9 miles and just had no energy this morning. I have had low energy on my runs lately but felt better than I had in a long time during yesterdays run. After the 10 miles yesterday, I went pheasant hunting and spent a couple of hours hiking through some pretty steep gullies. My legs felt pretty tired last night so I'm guessing this had something to do with it. The second half of the run got really bad and I had to stop and sit down to rest a couple of times. Even with a strong tailwind the last couple of miles I was barely under 9 min pace. I haven't felt this bad on a run in quite a while. 9:23 AP

     3 miles at 8:51. Still feeling crappy.

      I was planning to take some time off from any races or any faster running period for a little while but another race that I hadn't planned on came up here in town. Our high school wrestling team put this race on as a fundraiser. We don't have many races here in town so I hate not to support them. My sons friend, that lives just up the street from us, always sees me running and wanted me to come, and then their add in the newspaper for the race, challenged all to come out and see if you could beat their wrestlers then it said "we don't think you can."  I know the coach has his wrestlers do a lot of running in practice and a few of them run cross country but how can you pass up that challenge.I really didn't want to run the race at first but decided what the heck and figured I could just make it a good tempo workout. 

     The paved roads have been clear of ice and snow for the past couple of weeks but last night it started snowing. It only snowed a couple of inches but it was cold enough that it all stuck and formed a nice slick snow packed surface after the traffic from last night and this morning. It was 11 degrees this morning at home but got up to about 16 by race time and there was a brisk north wind blowing. This would live up to it's name and be a true polar run.

     I warmed up for 2 miles and it was very slick. I put some screws in the bottom of my shoes again but on this type of snow they didn't seem to help as much on the snow as it did on the ice at the race two weeks ago. The training runs that I do in these conditions usually end up at around 1 min per mile slow for the effort so I knew my time would be completely irrelevant.

     The race started and about 6 kids went out pretty fast ahead of me. There were about 40 runners all together. About 1/2 mile in I passed 2 boys running together in gray hoodies. The road goes down a big hill into what is called creamery hollow then a steep climb up the other side. You really didn't dare run very fast down the steep hill with it so slick [the kid in front of me came real close to going down] and going up the steep other side with poor footing was tough. The 2 in hoodies went right by me going up the hill but I just kept it easy. Shortly after topping out I went right back by the 2 and could really hear them sucking wind. The first mile ended just as the climb began and my time was 6:51.

       A big stretch of mile 2 after climbing the hill, went directly north into the headwind. I picked off 2 more of the kids by the end of mile 2 and finished in 7:31.

     The 2 kids running ahead of me were about 20 seconds up which is about where they had been since the first 1/4 mile of the race. At the beginning of mile 3 we turned onto a main road that had been plowed and actually had pavement showing. It only lasted about 1/3 mile and my pace quickly dropped into the low 6s with that raction. That was the only part of the race that wasn't on snow. We went back through the steep hollow [not quite as bad in this spot] then turned back into the headwind. Part way through this mile one of the 2 ahead of me started to drop back and I picked him off but the gap to the kid ahead stayed about the same. Mile 3 was 7:09.

     Now we were done with the headwind and it was flat all the way back to the school. I finished mile 4 in 7:03 and the gap ahead was about the same but the gap behind had grown a lot.

     The final mile I started to pick up the pace and the gap was getting smaller. It was really hard to go much faster with the poor footing and I was running out of course. When I could see I wasn't going to catch him I just cruised it in without bothering to attempt a kick. I ended up about 12 seconds back. My time for the last mile was 5:25 but it was .19 short according to my Garmin so 6:49 pace. Time was 33:49. Third place was about a minute after me.

     It was actually pretty fun and I'm glad I went. It was kind of fun not caring about my time and just racing against the others. I really didn't race all out [although my HR was close to what it was in my last 5k] but running on that surface must really use some different muscles. My butt [glutes] were really cramping up afterward which has never happened after a race. I guess I'll take it easy starting "NOW!"

     Afterward my brother and his family and my parents came up from Utah and we all went out hiking through the knee deep snow in the mountains to cut Christmas trees. It ended up being a sunny nice day.

     Sunday morning after the race I got up and my hamstring muscles were both quite sore. I've never had this happen before after a race. Even after a marathon it's been my calf and quad muscles where I get the soreness. It definitely had to do with the slick surface the entire way. I run on snow and ice a lot in the winter and have always thought it put a little more strain on the hammies but I've never raced that far on it. The 5k I did 2 weeks ago on slick roads probably only had a little over a mile total that was slick compared to all but about 1/3 mile out of the 5 total on this one.

     They felt a lot better yesterday but too sore to run. This morning they felt even better and I went out to run but they tightened up real quick and I only went 1 mile. Hopefully tomorrow will be a lot better.

     Got out just after sundown for a run. The temp was down to 20 deg which was toasty compared to the past 3 mornings that have all been around zero. My hammies were a lot better today and got slightly sore after about 1/4 mile but stayed the same for the rest of the run. I think it was just stiff muscles from using them differently Saturday. Should be a lot better tomorrow. I just went 6 miles and kept it real easy. 9:14 AP.

     Did my run today at noon. The temp was only 25 deg but it was calm and sunny so it felt much warmer. Perfect for shorts and 2 long sleeved tec shirts. My hamstrings were feeling much better with only a very slight soreness left. I went 8 miles and took it very easy again. 8:48 AP

     33 degree afternoon run. I think this was the first time it's been above freezing this week. Ran 10 miles at a comfortable pace. Didn't pay attention to pace and just went the pace that my legs volunteered. Hamstring soreness is gone. 8:21 AP 

     13 deg calm and sunny this morning at the beginning of my run. Warmer by the end. I ran 10 miles at an easy effort. Went with whatever pace my legs volunteered again but ended up much slower than yesterday partly because 6.5 of the 10 was on snow pack and partly just felt slow today. I ran up past the reservoir. It's all of the way iced over now and there were some guys ice fishing. I'd be a little spooked to be out there already. There was still a lot of open water the last time I ran up there last week. Pace on the pavement was around 8:30 to 8:40. Pace on the snow was anywhere from 9:10 to 9:55. Overall ave pace was 9:16.

      Ran 10 miles this morning. Went up around the reservoir again but there was more exposed gravel to run on than last week.  Kept the pace easy again. 8:39 AP

     20 deg, calm, and snowing this morning. Ran 8.5 miles on snow all the way. Since running on snow slows your pace a lot, I didn't look at my Garmin at all during the run and just kept an easy comfortable pace. 9:13 AP

     Didn't get out until about 9 PM. Temp was 22 deg. I thought I might get some help from the mostly full moon that's been out the past few nights, but it didn't come out until after I was done so it was a pitch black run except for the lights from 2 dairies and an occasional house. I wanted to get in a 6 mile tempo run. I ran a 3 mile warmup averaging 7:30 pace.  Then I picked up the pace and ran the next 6 miles at 6:49 ave. This was a second slower than my marathon average pace a little over 2 months ago but it felt too hard to finish a half mar right now. I'm planning on running a half in 5 1/2 weeks so hopefully I can get some fitness back before then. I'd like to get my 1/2 MP back down around 6:30.

     5 slow miles after dark

     8 slow miles after dark. 13 deg.

     I got out just after sundown so I had some light for the first half of the run. I ran up past the reservoir road and it is still mostly snow covered. I went 12 miles with the first half at 8:15 pace and the second half at 7:43 pace.  I had to really stay focused on the second half miles that were on the snow and in the dark. With one mile to go I decided I needed to pick the pace up a bit more to beat the 8 minute guy. I ran the last mile [which was almost half on snow] in 6:59 which gave me an overall pace of 7:59.

     Had to leave early to go out of town for the day. Only got out in time to run 2 miles. It was 4 deg.

     Ran 9 miles mostly on snow with a light snow coming down. Kept the pace slow which seams to happen automatically anyway while running on snow. 9:19 AP

     Was able to get out at noon today while it was nice and sunny but only 24 deg.  There was a slight breeze but not too bad so I went with shorts today. The plan was for a 2 mile warmup then an 8 mile progression tempo. Started with the first 2 miles in 7:48 and 7:32. Then went into the 8 mile tempo: 6:58, 6:59, 6:52, 6:49, 6:49, 6:55 slight uphill, 6:35,6:15.  Average pace for the 8 miles was 6:46. I was pretty happy with this workout. It is the first one that felt decent since Sept. Not so much that the paces were that fast but more the comfort level while running them. I've still got a long way to go in the next 4 weeks but at least I felt like I was headed in the right direction today. Overall pace for all 10 was 6:57.

     8 miles this morning at 8:55 pace. I ran up by the reservoir and almost 5 of the 8 miles was on snow.

     It was 0 degrees this morning when I started but the sun came out and warmed it clear up to a nice pleasant 10 deg by the end of my run. I ran 10 miles up on the reservoir road again. I had a real nice ice goatee by the time I was done. 8:35 AP.

     Merry Christmas!!

     Ran 14 miles today in the afternoon. It was 34 deg and sunny. I ran up past the reservoir and down the canal. The snow along 11 miles of this run [that are on dirt road] is getting worn through to the dirt along over 1/2 of it but the 2 miles along the canal were slower going because there hadn't been any vehicles to make tracks since the snow so I was mostly running where deer had made a trail. I ran the first 7 miles at 8:15 pace and the last 7 at 7:23 ave pace. Last mile in 6:33. 1 1/2 of the last 2 miles are on pavement and it instantly feels faster when I hit that section. Overall pace for 14 was 7:49. My runs have felt better this week than they have in a while.

     8 miles at 8:31

     10 miles at 8:28 AP. Did 5 or 6 strides the last 2 miles. Passed 2500 miles today.

     5 miles at 9:03 AP

     My wife's 86 year old mother from Pennsylvania passed away Monday while out here visiting. She spent a few days with us then was down in Salt lake staying at my wife's brothers home when she got some blood clots. They decided to have a funeral out here on Saturday since almost all of the family was out here. We drove to Salt lake early this morning and stayed with my parents in Sandy. 

     I went out for a run in the afternoon and it was a record 60 deg but very windy. I ran 5 miles at 7:55 pace then did 3x1 mile repeats with 1/2 mile recovery. I just wanted to hit my goal half marathon pace of about 6:28. The first mile I hit 6:26 and it seemed a little to easy with the tailwind I had. I realized how hard the wind was blowing when I turned back into it for the 2nd repeat and ran that one in 6:56 while pushing harder than the first. I ran my 3rd repeat around a loop by my parents house to even out the wind. I used to run around this loop while growing up there. It was just about 3 laps for a mile in 6:23. Overall pace for the run was 7:41.

     Still in Sandy for the funeral I ran 5 at 8:39 AP.