Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

I woke up just before 6:00 to go do an hour of intervals on the treadmill, but when I arrived at the Central City Rec Center I learned that the fitness room doesn't open until 6:30, so I went home and slept some more before going to work.

After work I went back to the rec center to run for an hour. By then my motivation had changed, and since I have no structured plan, I did what I wanted to, which was a 20-minute block of tempo-ish running:

• 20 minutes at an 8:00 pace
• 20 minutes at a 6:27 pace
• 20 more minute at an 8:00 pace

I drove up Parley's Canyon in the snow for some skate skiing this morning. Three easy laps on the Main+Mitten loop for a total of 6.3 miles. I'm not sure how long it took (I should invest in a stopwatch), but I wasn't skiing very fast. It must have something to do with my being tired, the new snow on the ground, and the lack of wax on my skis. I felt a little lightheaded halfway through the second lap, probably because I didn't sleep well last night, but it felt good to work my legs while giving them a rest from the pounding they get from running. We'll see how tomorrow's intervals on the treadmill go.

I was back on the rec center treadmills this evening for a little interval work. A quick 15-minute warmup at a 7:30 pace, followed by four 3-minute intervals at a 5:30 pace (the last two were at a 5:27 pace--soooo much faster) with 5-minute recoveries at an 8:00 pace. I finished it all off with 13 minutes at 7:30 and a 5-minute cool down. Then, it was off to cry about the blister on my right foot. At least I remembered to bandage my boobies, so today's run was free of the nipple-related chafing that has plagued my last two.

Easy day tomorrow. 

I did an easy run on the treadmill today to help the legs recover from yesterday's workout. I'm "racing" a 5k on Saturday, so I don't want to overdo it. Not that I ever want to overdo it, of course. It's just that now would be a particularly bad time to overdo so.

Also, I didn't wash my shorts after my last run, and they smelled really, really bad. Really. It was pretty embarrassing. So, I picked up a couple of new pairs of shorts tonight. Consider it a long-term investment.

I decided to run early this morning to give myself plenty of time to recover before the 5k tomorrow. I was on the treadmill again, so I put in about 30 minutes at a mellow 8:34 pace, with two 3-minute intervals at my 5k pace. That should be enough to keep my legs lively without wearing them out for tomorrow.

Despite being the same model and size as my other shorts, both pairs of shorts I bought last night were too big, so I had to run in track pants. Boo to loose manufacturing standards. 

My goal was to break 20 minutes this morning, so my time of 18:51 was a success. The funny thing is that a part of me is disappointed. I'm not new to endurance sports, and I'm used to being on the sharp end of things, so finishing nearly three minutes behind the race winner kind of annoys me. Obviously, I've only been running regularly for two weeks. And the last couple of months have pretty much been off months with very little structure (or volume) to my training. But I know that I could be running much faster than I am, even though  it's unrealistic to expect to do so so soon. Sometimes I get impatient.

My only real problem with today's race has to do with my choice of breakfast--Grape Nuts. Talk about a boneheaded mistake. I know better than to eat right before running, especially before a hard effort. And I also know that a 5K doesn't require much in the way of stored energy. But I didn't like the idea of running at 10:00 having not eaten since the night before, so I set my alarm for 6:30, ate some breakfast, and then went back to sleep for an hour. Normally, three hours is plenty of time to digest a meal, but Grape Nuts are about as digestible as lead. As I was warming up I could feel my breakfast sitting in my stomach like a brick, and I knew I was in trouble.

I went out too hot from the start, but I felt okay for a little more than a mile, after which I felt like I was going to poop, puke, or both. As you can imagine, I started going backwards pretty soon after that. From that point on, all I could do was settle into a manageable pace and hope that everything stayed in my stomach.That's no way to race, but I've learned my lesson, and I won't repeat the mistake.

Not only did I met my goal, my wife, Catherine, met hers, so we count this morning as a success. Next up is the 10K. My goal for that race is be able to run at today's pace or better, so I'd better stick with the training.

I spent the afternoon assembling bookshelves for our new apartment, and in the evening I went skiing at Mountain Dell. Conditions were good, and because I didn't start skiing till after 8:00, I had the place to myself. Me, my iPod, and a (disappointingly obscure) full moon made for an incredibly relaxing workout. I skied 4 laps on the Main+Mitten loop (total of about 8.5 miles) in a little less than an hour, and then I picked up a pizza on my way home to finish off a pretty decent day.

Day off.

Let's get this out of the way right up front: I like running on the treadmill. I don't know if this is frowned upon in the running community the way liking to ride rollers is frowned upon in the cycling community, but training indoors appeals to me, especially when the weather gives me a reason to stay inside. Training inside may not provide the sensory stimulation, etc. that training outside does, but it does allow for very precise workouts. And in my experience, those workouts can make you very strong and very fast. And that's very satisfying.

Needless to say, I was back on the treadmill this morning. I upped my mileage a bit and threw in some tempo work so that I can (hopefully) run faster in the 10K than I did in the 5K.

• 20 minutes at an 8:00 pace
• 15 minutes at a 6:00 pace
• 5 minutes at a 9:00 pace
• 6 minutes at a 6:11 pace and 9 minutes at a 6:30 pace (this was supposed to be 15 minutes at 6:11, but I quickly felt like I couldn't hold the pace and needed to slow down. I probably should have stuck it out)
• 20 minutes at an 8:00 pace

I was happy to be back at the Evil Weight for this morning's weigh in, but that was where the good news ended. I was too cold and too tired to ski Big Mountain this morning, so I headed to Mountain Dell. I planned to ski two laps on Main+Mitten and one lap on the Big Loop; unfortunately, I wasn't feeling strong enough for that, either. It's too bad, because conditions were great. I ended up skiing one lap on Main+Mitten and another on the Lower Loop, about 5 miles total. I'm not sure why I felt so weak today, but I suspect that it's a combination of not having eaten enough after yesterday's run and not having gotten enough sleep over the past few days.  

After yesterday's shortened workout, I kept feeling worse and I was pretty out of it by the end of the day. I was worried that I had gotten sick, but so far there have been no symptoms other than fatigue and a bit of a headache. I still think it's because I haven't been sleeping well.

Speaking of which, I had another restless night, but I still got up early to put in my miles down at the rec center. I ran for 75 minutes at a mellow pace, and I felt pretty good the whole time. It seems like my legs are finally adjusting to the pounding. I hope they're ready to do some work tomorrow. 

I recently read that setting the incline on the treadmill to one degree can mimic running on the road and take some strain off certain parts of the body, so I increased the incline for my run this morning. I couldn't feel any initial difference, but I seemed to fatigue more quickly during my intervals and, consequently, had to dial back my effort for the day. I'm not sure if the fatigue was because of the incline or because I did a long (for me) run yesterday and one day wasn't enough recovery. Either, way, I'll be taking it very easy tomorrow morning.

Today's run: 10 minutes at an 8:30 pace followed by 15 minutes at a 6:15 pace, followed by 5 minutes of recovery at just under a 9:00 pace. I only made it through 5 minutes of my planned second interval (same pace) before dialing it back to 7:00 for 5 minutes and then finishing the workout alternating between a 7:50 and an 8:30 pace. In the end, 8.33 miles in 62 minutes.

I ran five easy miles at an 8:30 pace this morning. It felt a little harder than I think it should have, probably because of all the birthday cake I ate last night (birthday cake . . . mmm). I ran 2.5 miles before stopping to take off my shoes. I figured that I should at least try running barefoot before the craze cools down (assuming it does, I suppose). My plan was to run the last 2.5 with no shoes, but after a mile my feet felt like they were blistering, so I put my shoes back on to finish the run. Maybe I should have gone completely barefoot instead of wearing my socks. 

Cowed by the weather forecasts online, I abandoned my plans for a long day of skate skiing and instead opted for a long run indoors. And by long I mean 15 miles in 2 hours, which probably doesn't count as long for most runners. But keep in mind that that's longer and farther than I've ever run in my life. At least, in a single day. Hooray for me.

Naturally, the weather turned out to be much better than predicted, so I feel somewhat foolish for having spent so much time running indoors. Still, I'm happy with the effort. I started at an 8:30 pace and increased the pace by 7-8 seconds per mile every 10 minutes. After 90 minutes I was running at a 7:15 pace, which I decided to hold for only 5 minutes before gradually winding the pace down to end the run.

In the end, my average pace was about 8:00 per mile. But I wonder, did I get a better workout by starting slow and increasing the pace, or would I have been better off running at a steady 8:00 pace for two hours?

Today is a rest day, which is convenient, because I could use a rest, although my legs aren't nearly as sore as I expected them to be after yesterday's run.

I was fasting yesterday, so a tempo run was obviously not in the cards this morning. Instead I ran easy for an hour on the treadmill (of course, though I really should take my running outdoors).

I haven't yet decided what my training will look like this week, but whatever I do has to ensure that I finish Saturday's 10K in less than 40 minutes. I think I'll do some tempo tomorrow, then take it easy on Wednesday and really easy (if not off) on Thursday. On Friday, I'll do some short intervals at my target 10K pace, which I hope will leave my legs ready to race the next day. 

Because I felt better this morning after eating a lot yesterday and sleeping reasonably well last night, I did the tempo workout that I would have liked to have done yesterday.

• 15 minutes at an 8:13 pace
• 30 minutes at a 6:35 pace
• 5 minutes at an 8:00 pace
• 10 minutes at an 8:27 pace

My ankles/lower legs have been feeling sore since Monday. It's strange, because I can walk and run without problem, but I feel some tenderness when I'm standing or sitting around. I set out to do five easy (9:00 pace) miles on the treadmill this morning, but I could tell that my legs were not going to feel any better if I kept running, so I cut my workout off at 20 minutes and lifted weights instead. Tomorrow I think I'll go skiing at Mountain Dell, and depending on how I'm feeling I'll go for a short run on Friday. With a little rest, I hope to be good to go on Saturday.

The weather foiled my plans to ski this morning, but I wanted to spend at least one more day away from running (my ankle feels much better, but I don't want to push my luck). Instead of sitting around, I decided to spend 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer (and yes, it was as fun as it sounds). The computer says I went 6.2 miles. I'm not sure how it comes up with that number, and I know the machine is not the same as running, but I'm going to go ahead and credit myself with 5 easy miles today. It's my blog, and I'll do what I want.

Edit: My wife says that because the elliptical machine is not running, I shouldn't count any miles for today. Fair enough. 

My calves are so sore from the elliptical machine yesterday. I guess I should have seen that coming. There's nothing I can do about it now, though, and my ankle is feeling much better, so I decided to run again this morning. I did 35 minutes at a very relaxed pace, with a couple of 5-minute intervals at my (theoretical and hopeful) 10K pace to loosen the legs up for tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect tomorrow, but I won't be eating Grape Nuts 3 hours before the start. 

Me and the Cap'n made it happen. Or did we make it happ'n?

Anyways, I learned from the 5K Grape Nuts fiasco, and when I woke up for a 6:30 breakfast this morning I feasted instead on delicious and nutritious Cap'n Crunch (with Crunch Berries, because you can never eat too many fruits and vegetables).

My original goal for the race was to keep it under 40 minutes. Based on my 5K time, the race calculator predicted a 39:20 finish for me, so I decided to shoot for a time under 39 minutes. Obviously, my actual time of 37:55 was much better than expected. Go me. Woo.

There's still room for improvement, though. If I had shown up early enough to warm up, and had the discipline to do so (jogging from registration to the start doesn't count), I probably could have run a little faster. Also, although I didn't go out as hot as I did at the 5K, I didn't hold back as much as I should have on the way out and I spent the return trip paying for it. Still, I only added one or two seconds per mile to my 5K pace from two weeks ago, and to me that seems like solid improvement. I'm looking forward to the 15K.

Today was a rest day, and I had plenty of non-running activity to keep me busy.

This was my first non-race run outdoors this year. The weather reports last week predicted nice weather for today, so I decided to take advantage of the holiday to get off the treadmill and onto the road. Unfortunately, today was gray and drizzly, but not bad enough to keep me indoors. I looped up through the Avenues, down past Memory Grove, around the state capitol and down to Beck Street before looping through Rose Park and returning (mostly) the way I came.

This was the longest I've ever run in my life, and my legs held up pretty well, although I ran into trouble in the last mile and a half. It wasn't the fatigue (although I was tired) as much as it was the strain of running downhill, which I haven't really done before. Living in the Avenues, I imagine I'll get used to it, but today it was agony.

I also had some trouble eating and drinking along the way. Meaning that other than a handful of Jelly Bellies after one hour and a can of Coke after 90 minutes, I didn't eat or drink anything. In the summer, I can use the drinking fountains along the route, but for now I'm going to need to figure out a way to carry my water if I want to finish strong.

All in all, it was a good run. I'm still new to this, but I seem to be progressing nicely, and I think my cycling fitness should be mostly transferable. It had better be, If I'm going to survive my plans for the next two months . . .

Yesterday's run left me more sore than I expected. Part of that may have been that I was running faster than expected (miles between 7:11 and 8:19, with a 7:42 average), but I think the main problem was the descent of 11th Avenue. To give my muscles a chance to recover and come back stronger, I ran a very easy 4.25 miles on the treadmill. I'll probably do some steady miles tomorrow, and if the weather allows it, I may check out the Bonneville Shoreline Trail on Thursday.

My legs are still a little stiff from Monday's run, so I decided to do an easy hour on the treadmill this morning to loosen them up. That, plus a 5-minute cool down, seemed to help. I was thinking of doing a trail run or some tempo tomorrow, but I may keep the pace mellow for the next couple of days. Right now, I think I'd rather go easy and be ready for another long run on Saturday than trash my legs with some speedwork now.

Today's run was a short one. I started at the mouth of City Creek Canyon and ran one mile up the Bonneville Shoreline Trail on the canyon's west side before climbing a half mile up the switchbacks to where the trail comes out above some really big houses. Then, I turned around and ran back before finishing with a short run down Bonneville and around the capitol.

The difference between running on the trail and running on the road feels a lot like the difference between cycling on the trail and on the road. Basically, you get to work much harder to go much slower. The uneven surfaces, the steep climbs, and, today, the mud (which I think added a pound or two to each shoe) all work against you. But it's a lot of fun. By this summer, I expect I'll spend more time running off road than on.

I took today off, hoping there's another long run in my legs tomorrow.

I set out this morning with the goal of running farther and more slowly than I did on Monday, and failed at both.

Today's route was supposed to be essentially the same as Monday's until I got to Beck Street, where I would increase the length of my Rose Park loop, adding a couple of miles to to the route's overall length. I also planned to run at a more leisurely pace than Monday's 7:42 per mile, because the point of these long runs is to build endurance, not speed. But I ran into the same problem that I did earlier this week; specifically, when I'm on flat or slightly descending roads I have a hard time keeping the pace under a 7:30 mile, even though I should be going slower.

Anyways, I felt good today and I should have been able to finish with around 20 miles, but as I came back up to the capitol I experienced what I can best describe as gastrointestinal distress. Yikes. Instead of pushing my luck (and risking a pair of soiled shorts), I ran straight home down B Street instead of looping east on 11th Avenue to Virginia. Even with my GI adventures, I ended up with 17 miles in 2:10.

Today was a rest day, and the first day of a rest week. I'll keep the intensity the same as I have for the past few weeks, but I'll cut the volume about in half, and I should be ready to rock for the 15K on Saturday.

This is a rest week, so I don't plan to run more than 5 miles daily until the weekend. Catherine and I went to the rec center this morning where I ran an easy 4 miles on the treadmill. My legs are a little sore from last week but otherwise fine.

I joined the volleyball team when I was a junior in high school. Our coach, Coach Nelson, was a former football strength-training coach, and he pushed us accordingly. Most of our workouts took place on the court, in the weight room, or on the track, but twice a week Coach Nelson would make us run The Hill.

Obviously, The Hill was a hill, and a beast of a hill at that. It wasn't that long, but it was steep (very steep), loose, and gravelly (most of us wore soccer cleats). There were 5 or 6 different turnaround points along The Hill. If we were running to the first point, our intervals would start every minute. Intervals to the top started every six minutes. The ultimate goal was to run The Hill to the top 6 times in one hour. Urvish and Cameron, who both ran cross country in the off season, did it my junior year, and Cameron did it again my senior year (Urvish had already graduated), but I don't think anyone else had accomplished the feat for as long as the volleyball team had been running The Hill. I don't think I ever managed more than 5 or 6 repeats.

The funny thing about The Hill was that it didn't seem like it should be so hard. And for one or two repeats, everything felt fine. But by the time you reached the top for the third time, you'd be "running" slower than you could walk (or walking slower than you could crawl), while your legs and lungs burned more than they would if you were sprinting.

I only mention this because I climbed the Bonneville Shoreline Trail up the West Side of City Creek Canyon this morning. As I approached the ridge above Ensign Peak, I took my second walk break and thought, "Wow, I've never really done anything like this." Then I remembered I had.

Running on the trail is nothing like running on the road. It's frustrating to be so slow in the hills, but I'm not discouraged. I ran faster and farther on the trail this week than I did last week, and I'll be even faster next week. Hills make you strong.

Unless you sprain your ankle on the descent.

This morning I ran an easy 5K on the treadmill and then lifted weights. I think my miles outdoors are starting to ruin the treadmill for me.

I ran three 5-minute intervals on the treadmill this morning, running at an 8:13 pace between. My idea was that I would alternate between hill intervals and 10K-pace intervals. After this morning's run, however, I think I may need to rethink my hill intervals in terms of pace, duration or both.

I ran my first interval at the same 8:13 pace I had been running but on a 10 percent incline. I finished the interval, but I was worried I might throw up. After 5 minutes of recovery, I ran a 5-minute interval at 10K pace with no real problems. After another 5 minutes of recovery, I started another interval on a 10 percent incline. Because the first hill repeat took so much out of me, I slowed the pace to 8:30. It wasn't nearly enough, and I abandoned the interval at 3 minutes.

I had hoped to run on steeper inclines to get the same effect as running faster on flat ground while improving my ability to run faster up hills. In theory, the idea is sound, but in practice I need to tweak the intervals a bit. The 5 minutes at 10 percent were much harder than 5 at 10K. The incline and speed I used today would be great for shorter intervals, but for 5 minute intervals I need to decrease the incline or my speed or both.

I wonder how slow I'd need to run to do 30-minute "tempo" runs at 10 percent.

I ran an easy 5K on the treadmill this morning and then lifted weights for a bit.

This race was the first at which I wore my Garmin (or any timepiece, for that matter), so it was the first time I could go back and see how my pace held up over the course of the race. Splits were as follows:

• Mile 1: 5:55
• Mile 2: 6:02
• Mile 3: 6:11
• Mile 4: 6:14
• Mile 5: 6:13
• Mile 6: 6:11
• Mile 7: 6:14
• Mile 8: 6:22
• Mile 9: 6:27

Rest day at the end of a rest week. Back at it tomorrow.

I woke up an hour before my alarm went off, and since I couldn't get back to sleep, I decided to go for an early run. I had planned to climb on the Bonneville Shoreline trail, but since I was up too early to count on the sun for the descent I decided to run on the road. I ran up to 11th Avenue via Virginia, then down Bonneville Boulevard for two laps around the capitol before returning the way I came.

I ran the west side of City Creek again this morning, but this time I started from my house. At the ridge where the trail tops out, there are three successive peaks, each higher than the last. Today I hiked to the top of the first. (I would have run, but because the trail was so steep it was faster to walk. I'm sure plenty of runners could run it, but not me, not yet.) Average pace for the run was 8:32, but I was significantly slower on the way up (mile 4 was the slowest at 12:13). Total elevation gain was 1,503 feet.

My ankle and lower leg have been giving me a little trouble since yesterday's run. It's the same thing that happened a couple of weeks ago. What's weird is that it bothers me when I'm walking or standing around, but not when I'm running. Still, running doesn't seem to make it any better, so I'll go easy tomorrow and see what happens.

Easy run after work. From the office to Liberty Park, three laps and then back. Average 8:02 pace.

Yesterday was my first time running in Liberty Park for a while, and I remembered that I like it. So, this morning I ran over to the park, ran 4 laps and then ran home. It's much easier to keep the pace mellow and steady around the park than it is through the hills around the Avenues. Average 7:51 pace.

Because of the weather, I stayed inside this morning and ran on the treadmill for 40 minutes, using the incline to get some intensity. At a slow and steady 10:00 pace  I alternated between 5 minutes at a 1 percent grade and 5 minutes at a 10 percent grade. Instead of leveling the grade after the third 5-minute block at 10 percent, I increased the grade one percent each minute for 5 more minutes, finishing with one minute at 15 percent. I then cooled down for five minutes at 1 percent. 

A couple of days ago I think I mentioned that I like running in Liberty park. Today I decided to prove it by doing a long run there. I ran from my house to the park, ran 12 laps and then ran home.

The advantage to a long run in the park is that the drinking fountain and the 7 Eleven on the corner make it unnecessary to carry any supplies. Even so, I didn't fuel properly, which is why I ended up running 12 laps instead of my planned 15. I may do some future long runs in the park, but I doubt I'll make a habit of it.

Average pace was 7:40, which is pretty good, but I think I would have been better of doing 8:00 miles and staying out longer. Still, this is the longest run I've ever done. 

Today is a rest day, so I thought I'd reflect on my last six weeks or so as a runner.

As much as I hate to admit it, running is harder than I thought it would be. Cardiovascular system is certainly transferable--all my time on a bike over the past five years counts for something--but my legs are struggling to keep up. It's not that I was never sore as a cyclist (I was), but my body never felt quite as abused after a long ride as it does after a long run.

I'm also having a hard time figuring out the mid-run refueling thing. It's easy to carry plenty of food and water on a bike. For running, I tried using a lumbar pack with a bottle, but I hated the way it bounced around and rode up. I've since picked up a handheld bottle, which I think will be okay, but I miss jersey pockets and frame-mounted bottle cages.

It's easy to eat on a bike, too, and you can eat almost anything you want without stomach problems. In the winter, that usually meant gas-station donuts and hot chocolate. In the summer, Mt. Dew and Snickers. If I ate any of that in the middle of a run, I'm pretty sure it would wind up on the road a mile later.

And any fueling problems are exacerbated when running. Since there's absolutely no coasting, an easy run seems to burn way more calories than an easy ride. After three hours of running, I feel almost as depleted as I do after a six-hour bike ride.

Still, there's plenty to enjoy about running. For one thing, it's new to me, and I enjoy being at the bottom of the learning curve. Down here, improvement comes quickly and in large increments. Also, I enjoy the low-tech aspect. I always hated the time and money that went into maintaining a bicycle, and it seemed that no matter what I did there was always some mysterious noise or poorly adjusted component to drive me crazy. Not much can go wrong when you're running. I guess your shoes could give you blisters or something, but even an expensive pair of running shoes costs less than a set of bicycle tires and lasts at least as long.

Anyways, I'm rambling now. I guess that's what happens on a day off. Back on the trails tomorrow, weather permitting.

I took the day off from work today to spend time with Catherine, so while she was out for her long run, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and went for a run on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. I ran a loop from my house, climbing up via Dry Creek and descending into City Creek Canyon. Conditions ranged from dry to muddy to snow packed, but other than a few sections where the mud forced me to walk, the entire trail was runable.

The route had less climbing than I thought it would and it turned out to be shorter and faster than expected. And it will be even faster when the trails are dry. I'm lucky to have it in my neighborhood, and I suspect I'll be spending plenty of time up there this year.

Total vertical: 1,648 ft

Average Pace: 8:23/mile

I enjoyed yesterday's run enough that I decided to run the BST again this morning. I ran the exact same route as yesterday, but in reverse, climbing out of City Creek and descending Dry Creek. Because the wet parts of the trail had all day yesterday to dry (and the parts that didn't dry had all night to freeze), conditions were better today than they were yesterday.

Somehow, my Garmin decided that the route in reverse was 0.17 miles longer and had an extra 16 feet of climbing. It's possible that running on different sides of the road and choosing different lines on the trail accounts for the discrepancy, but I can more likely attribute it to GPS error. So it probably doesn't matter too much that I was 2 seconds per mile faster today than I was yesterday.

Having run the trail both ways now, I'm not sure which I prefer. But running from City Creek seems to hit you a lot harder up front with the climbing than running from Dry Creek.

Easy run for just over an hour on the treadmill. I had planned to hit the trails one more time this morning, but it rained yesterday and I assumed the trails would be muddy. They were probably fine, though. Maybe tomorrow.

I decided to hit the trails one more time before the weekend. This time I ran up the west side of City Creek canyon, I topped out at the second peak past the ridge, higher than I've ever run before, just as the sun was coming over the mountains. The climb still hurts, and I'm still running slowly up the hill (and walking the last two pitches), but I'm stronger every time.

Total vertical: 1,725 feet

Average pace: 8:30/mile 

I was going to go for a short jog, but my right leg has been a little sore so I decided to take a rest day before my long run on Saturday.

My plan was to run the Canals Loop I saw on Crockett's blog, about 25 mellow miles through the southwest part of Salt Lake Valley. Catherine decided that instead of running in Liberty Park, she would come with me, run a 12 mile out-and-back, and meet me at the car.
From the weather reports I knew to expect worse weather than we've had for the past few days, but the last report I saw said high 30s/low 40s with some rain and snow. That seemed manageable, so I wasn't concerned when we hit the canal roads in the rain. And for the first 4 miles, it was very pleasant. I enjoyed running through the fields on the dirt road, and the rain kept me nice and cool.

Unfortunately, at some point during my fifth mile the rain started turning to snow, and before long it was really coming down hard. It didn't take long for my fingers to be frozen and worthless, and my clothes were too soaked to keep me warm. Catherine called and said she wanted to turn around, which seemed like a great idea to me, so I turned around and ran as hard as I could till I met up with her at about mile 6.

By that point it was clear that we weren't going to make it back to our car on our own, so Catherine called her sister for a bailout ride and I knocked on the door of the nearest house. Fortunately for us, the woman who let answered had just returned from her own cold and wet run, so she let us hang out inside and warm up until our rescue arrived.

I'm disappointed to have come up so short on my mileage, but no single workout can make or break your fitness. Sometimes it's necessary to simply take what you can get and then move on. Nine miles are better than none.

Rest day.

I didn't have time to run this morning, so I got out for a quick lunch run at Liberty Park. I ran four laps on the cinder track--you could probably call it interval work.

Lap 1 - 8:32 (5:52/mile)
Lap 2 - 10:52 (7:27/mile)
Lap 3 - 8:39 (5:56/mile)
Lap 4 - 10:49 (7:25/mile)
The hard intervals should have been shorter and faster or longer and slower, and I probably should have gone slower on the recovery intervals, too. My original plan was to run two two-lap intervals at a 6:15 pace, but I went out to hard and decided to go with it. I went out even too harder (don't bother calling me on that grammar) on the second hard interval, and I actually gave up at just over a mile. But after about 5 seconds of jogging I felt enough like a slacker to pick it up and finish the lap.

It probably wasn't the most effective workout, but it felt good to get out of the office on such a beautiful day.

I'm afraid I might have shin splints, and I should probably taper for next week's Buffalo Run 50K, so I'm taking things easy this week. Today I got up early and ran easy on the treadmill before lifting some weights. If the weather keeps getting nicer, I'll be able to start running shirtless, and I don't want to be unprepared :)

I did another short, easy run today. From my house to Liberty Park, two laps around the cinder track and then back home. Average pace 7:30.

Another day at Liberty Park. I ran to and from the park, plus two laps on the cinder track. I held an easy pace to and from the park, and ran both laps at 6:12. That was supposed to be a tempo pace, but I felt pretty cooked by the end of the second lap and decided to skip the third, which makes me think that the pace was faster than tempo. I determined the pace by plugging my 15K time into one of those online pace calculators, but I should probably go more by feel. After all, I know what tempo feels like. Then again, 6:12 was my 15K pace a few weeks ago, so maybe I just had a bad morning.

No running today, but it wasn't a rest day. I've been taking things easy because I've been worried about my shin, so today I went to the gym on my lunch break and spent 45 minutes watching basketball on the elliptical. (That is, I was on the elliptical and watching basketball on TV. I wasn't watching people play basketball on an elliptical machine. I'm not even sure how that would workout.)

If past experience is a reliable guide, my calves should be pretty sore tomorrow. But my legs feel pretty good right now.

A friend of mine called me last night about getting back on the bike. It sounds like his team could use a climber on their roster. I used to fit that description, and I still could if I wanted to. I thought I was ready to move on from competitive cycling, but apparently it doesn't take much to make me second guess. I was never afraid of stress fractures on my bike.  

This morning I ran up to the Dry Creek trailhead and took the BST over to City Creek Canyon. From there I ran the BST up the west side of the canyon before dropping down to Ensign Peak and continuing past the capitol and home. It's funny how little average pace actually means on a run like this. According to my Garmin, I averaged just under 8:30 per mile, but it's unlikely that I was ever actually running at that pace.

The run got off to a slow start. My head wasn't feeling as clear as I'd like it to, and my stomach felt a little rebellious. I decided to push on, hoping that I'd feel better as I ran, and while I didn't ever feel 100 percent, I did feel well enough to enjoy the run. In fact, I think I ran faster between Dry Creek and City Creek than I ever have before, although I think that was more because of the improved conditions (there was only a brief muddy section) than because of my improved fitness.

Of course, while I was faster on the first part of the trail, I was considerably slower on the second part. When I go up the west side of City Creek for my morning run, I can run up the 1.2 mile, 700 foot climb in less than 12 minutes. Today I shuffled up it in 14:14. But from the top is was almost entirely downhill back to the house, and I finished with just under 15 miles in just over 2 hours.

Total vertical: 2,600 ft

Average pace: 8:29/mile

Today is a rest day. After my run yesterday morning, my legs felt pretty trashed in the evening, but today they just feel a little stiff and heavy. They should feel much better after an easy run to shake them out tomorrow.

I hardly ever remember my dreams, but I remembered one this morning. Unfortunately, I had forgotten most of it by the time I finished my run. Now all I remember is that it involved binge eating, a neurotic AT ski guide, a bizarro marine corps, and an unbeatable Nigerian hockey time. Sounds like a good time.

Easy run this morning. To and from Liberty Park plus three laps on the cinder track.

Average pace - 7:39/mile 

Anyone who checks this blog regularly has probably noticed a new theme in the past few weeks--running hills.

I was self coached for the beginning of my cycling career. The first year I did plenty of made-up workouts in which I would go as hard as I could for x minutes, rest, and repeat. Primitive interval work, really. My go-to workouts were 3x10 minute intervals and 60 seconds all out, 30 seconds off for 30 minutes or until incapacitation, whichever came first (for the record, incapacitation always came first).

This was my first attempt at training (as opposed to just riding), and I got much faster. But not as fast as I did the next year, in which I didn't do a single timed interval. Instead, I went nuts in the hills and mountains around Utah County. My go-to climbs were Squaw Peak, the Alpine Loop, and Creamery on 9th, a brutally steep stair-step climb from the creamery to Rock Canyon Park. (Fun fact: the Creamery on 9th is where my wife and I went on our first date. She doesn't remember it.) I would climb the Alpine Loop in about 45 minutes, Squaw Peak in about 25 minutes, and the creamery in about 8 minutes. I rode each climb several times per week and spent the rest of the time racing or putting in mellow miles around the valley.

Riding those three climbs all out, I built anaerobic strength (the creamery), developed my threshold (Squaw Peak), and put in plenty of quality tempo miles (Alpine Loop). Throw in at least one race per week and I had my speed covered, too. It was a nearly perfect plan, and it showed in my results. The best part was that there was no structure--I didn't really understand the principles that made my training work. I was just having fun.

Not understanding my training proved to be my downfall, however. The next year I tried to replicate the training that had worked for me the year before, but without understanding why it worked, I got things wrong and wound up burned out, overtrained, and much slower.

After a disappointing season, I found a coach and worked with him for the next two seasons. And for the most part, I was successful with him. I won races, I received my category 1 upgrade, and I earned a chance to ride with my team in the Tour of Utah. But each year I found myself mentally fried by the end of the season, and my performance suffered noticeably.

With my coach, the approach was very scientific. When I was training myself, I rode with a stopwatch or nothing at all. With my coach, I relied heavily on a power meter and an HRM. By myself, the terrain and perceived exertion determined my intervals. With my coach, every minute of every workout was prescribed before I headed out the door. In fact, in two years of coaching I think I only got to go out and go nuts in the mountains once or twice.

Interestingly, although I got into great shape with my coach, I never felt as good or climbed as fast as I did when I was self coached. I'm not sure if that's because I gained a couple of pounds, because I didn't practice my climbing, or because I lost power. But whatever the real story was, I never felt like I did when I was self coached. I think it's because all the structure of coaching made training feel a lot less like fun and a lot more like . . . well, training.

Anyways, I can't remember what point I was trying to make. I think it was to say that this year, I'm going to focus on getting out and having fun in the mountains while trying not to worry too much about intervals and training plans. Or something to that effect.

Squaw Peak was always my testpiece. My times to the top were a fairly reliable indicator of where my fitness stood and how I could expect to perform in a race. I think I'll try to use the climb up the west side of City Creek Canyon in the same way. The "offical" interval starts at the switchback where the trail leaves the canyon and finishes at the saddle on the ridge. It's 1.2 miles long and climbs somewhere between 600 and 700 feet (Garmin altitude measurements have been fairly inconsistent). Someday I'd like to be able to climb it in 10 minutes, although I'm not sure how realistic that is. Today I climbed it twice: once in 13:04 and once in 12:49. For now I'd better just worry about breaking 12 minutes and call it good.

Average pace - 8:12/mile

Total vertical - 1,902 feet 

Today was another easy run at Liberty Park. To and from, plus three laps on the cinder track. Catherine got up early this morning and ran when I did. The timing worked out well, and we both arrived back at the house at the same time.  

I went to the gym with Catherine and ran on the treadmill this evening. I ran five miles at a mellow pace, except for three quarter-mile bursts at a 5:30 pace

The Buffalo Run 50K is tomorrow. I think I'll take today off.

This was my longest run ever by about 10 miles and nearly 2 hours, and I'm feeling it right now. We stopped by Catherine's parents' house in Bountiful on the way to the race, and I missed the freeway on ramp, a mistake I compounded by not doubling back, and as a result we made it to the race ten minutes before the start. I was lucky enough to make it to the bathroom and still get to the start with a minute to spare.
I tried to stay near the front from the beginning, but I didn't want to dig too deep too soon. A few runners broke away early on and I didn't think about chasing them. Some of the other runners in the lead group gapped me and I thought about chasing, but I decided to let them go, too. It turned out to be a smart move, because I caught and passed most of them on the climb to the first feed zone.

Eventually, I wound up running with two others up the big switchbacks on the south end of the course, and I decided to stay with them because the pace felt comfortable. Just before returning to the second feed zone, one of the runners pulled out because of an injury. The other continued straight through the feed zone while I stopped to eat a gel and drink a few glasses of Coke, but I caught back up with him a mile or two later, and shortly after that I pulled away on a small climb.

I was feeling pretty good at that point, but as I approached lap 2 I didn't realize I was supposed to drop down to the start before starting my second lap. So, I continued straight ahead. I was still felling great at the second feed zone until the volunteers started congratulating me on leading the 50K and I started to suspect something was wrong. Shortly after that the real leader past me and I figured out where I had gone wrong.

At that point, I pretty much lost the will to run. I figured I would be DQed, and I was afraid everyone would think I had tried to cheat by cutting the course, so I decided to start walking until my wife, who was running the 25K, caught up with me, at which point I would finish my run with her.

But as I walked I decided I would try to finish the course. Instead of crossing the line, I would turn around at the feed zone, run back up the climb I had missed at the start of the second lap, and then run right back down to the finish, thereby covering the entire 50K course, although not exactly in the traditional sequence. I hoped that if I did that, the race directors would consider my time official and all would be well.

Of course, as I already mentioned, by then I had lost the will to run, and my legs were killing me, so the final miles were a miserable mix of walking and shuffling. Miserable enough that I considered not rerunning the part of the course I had skipped. But my brother-in-law was waiting for me near the finish, and he was willing to run back up the hill with me, so I turned around and ran back up before limping back to the finish. I think I ran back down the hill at the end slower than I ran up it at the beginning.

Anyways, I crossed the line with an official time of 4:32:37, and although it was a little out of order, I did end up running the entire course. (And I made a point of telling the race director and anyone else who would listen what I did and why, because I would hate for anyone to think my race was anything but on the level.) I wound up first in the 20-29 age group and sixth overall. My race was far from flawless, but whatever the official results, I think it was a pretty respectable first (mini) ultra.

Rest day today. Catherine and I took Tigger for a short walk on the trails behind the university this evening. My legs are pretty sore after yesterday's race.

My legs haven't been this sore for a long time. But sitting around doesn't seem to help me feel better any faster, so I went out for a short, easy run this morning before work. After about half a mile my ankles and calves loosened up enough for me to manage a legitimate running stride, and from that point all I had to worry about was how much my quads hurt. All the downhill on Saturday really did a number on me. Anyways, I expect to be feeling significantly better tomorrow and I hope to be ready for some real running no later than this weekend.  

Average pace - 8:36/mile

I bought my iPod Shuffle two years ago, and I still think it's one of the greatest inventions ever. Every time I rode my bike I clipped my Shuffle to the left side of my jersey, just above my hip. That way, I could easily reach the buttons and the headphone cable ran cleanly from the Shuffle to the center of my body and up to my ears.

When I started running, I realized that the Shuffle would bounce to much when I clipped it to my shirt, so I started clipping it to my waistband on the left side of my shorts. It was an adequate solution, but it always annoyed me that the headphone cable came out of the Shuffle away from the center of my body and therefore had to double back across the Shuffle before reaching my ears.

It took me until today to realize that the solution is to clip my Shuffle to the right side of my shorts instead of the left. Imagine that.

I had an appointment that interfered with running this morning and the wind messed up the air this evening, so I settled for some easy miles on the treadmill. My legs feel much better than they did yesterday, and I feel pretty good overall. I'm tempted to hit the trails tomorrow, but I'll probably give myself one more day to recover, although I do think I'll up the mileage tomorrow.

To and from Liberty Park, plus three laps on the cinder track. It was snowing this morning, and I was underdressed. My legs felt heavy and slow, but not sore. I'm trying to decided if that means that I need more recovery or that I need to throw in some intensity to shake my legs out.

Average pace - 8:15/mile

Last night I decided to run on the treadmill today, and when I woke up this morning I was glad I did. Stupid snow.

Anyways, I ran for one hour on the treadmill. Two 20-minute intervals at a 6:35 pace with a 5-minute jog between them. 

On Wednesday I misjudged the weather and wound up running in the snow wearing nothing more that a short-sleeve shirt and shorts. Today, I misjudged the weather again and wound up running in relatively warm temperatures wearing long pants, long sleeves, long underwear and a hat and gloves. That happens a lot in the spring.

I decided to run up the west side of City Creek, which I could tell was a bad idea from the start. I didn't feel like myself on the run up to 11th avenue, but it wasn't until I started the actual climb to the ridge that I decided to change my plans. I was going so slow on the lower climb that I knew I'd be doing too much walking up top to make it worth the effort, so I turned around and followed the singletrack further into the canyon. I'd never been on that section of trail before, but it looks like it might go a long way, so I'll have to go back and check it out sometime. It's still a climb and it's still work, but it's nothing like the climb out of the canyon.

Anyways, today's relatively short and easy run kicked my booty, so I'll probably take it easy on my long(ish) run tomorrow. Or maybe I'll just split the day into two mid-length runs.

It's conference weekend, so I Catherine and I both decided to do two shorter runs today instead of one long one. I ran 7.25 miles before the morning session and 7.35 miles before the afternoon session. All easy, because yesterday's run convinced me I still need some recovery from last weekend. And all on the treadmill, because . . . well, just because.

Rest day today. After conference, my little sister and her husband came over for Easter dinner with Catherine and I. We ate ham and such, and then we played a few rounds of Monopoly Deal. I won the first two, continuing my long-standing winning streak, but then Kelsey won a round, then Catherine, and then Garth. Curses!

I've been feeling pretty tired and my head has felt a little cloudy for the past couple of days. After Friday's botched trail run I've been consumed with the idea that something might be wrong with me, to the point that I planned to scrap this morning's trail run in favor of some easy miles at Liberty Park. But it seems like I'm always afraid something might be wrong with me, and usually nothing is. My legs felt good when I woke up this morning, so I decided to hit the trails.

I ran the west side of City Creek. My time up what I consider the official climb from the canyon to the ridge was a little slow (but in the normal range) and I had to walk a couple of sections, probably because I ran the initial hills a little faster than normal. I thought about turning around and repeating the climb, but I decided it would be better for me not to. (Plus, Catherine started her new job today and I wanted to make sure I was home before she left.) Instead of repeating the climb, I took a short jog south on the ridge to the viewpoint above Ensign Peak before returning the way I came.

I usually take it easy on the descent, but since there would be no second climb today I decided to hammer it. I almost fell off the trail and into the woods on one of the lower switchbacks, but other than that I had a good time.

The splits on a climb and descent illustrate the effects of gravity nicely: 13:10 (11:04/mile) on the way up, 7:17 (6:09/mile) on the way down.

Average pace - 7:55/mile

Total vertical - 1,558 ft

I had an early appointment this morning, so I got up earlier than usual to run. Despite the snow that fell last night, it wasn't very cold, and the early time and the new snow made this morning's run quiet and pleasant.

Easy effort today. Two and from Liberty Park plus two laps on the pavement, with a few quick efforts thrown in throughout.

Average pace - 7:37/mile

AM: Short treadmill run at a steady 8:00 pace. Six 2-minute intervals on a 10 percent grade with 3-minute recoveries on the flat.

PM: Went to the track at East High with Catherine. Ran six 400s: 83, 81, 78, 76, 76, 78. I was shooting for 80-85 seconds, so I need to work on my pacing. I finished with a one-mile barefoot jog. I like shoes.

Catherine and I woke up early and went to the gym before work this morning. I ran a very easy five-mile recovery jog on the treadmill. I'll probably go pretty easy tomorrow, too, as we may go down to Orem for a 5K trail race on Saturday.

I've felt pretty awful this week. I don't know if I'm sick, suffering from allergies, or not recovered from the Buffalo Run. Maybe it's none of the above. Either way, I'm pretty much taking the weekend off and I'll see how I feel on Monday. 

I don't want to push anything right now, but something is better than nothing, so I went over to the middle school near our house and jogged a mile barefoot this evening. Nice and easy.

I'm still taking it very easy today. I walked (yes, walked) up to 11th Avenue, ran down Bonneville and back (at about 9:00/mile), and then walked back down the hill and home. My heart rate was mostly in the teens and twenties, and my legs felt fine, but my head hurt and my eyes were heavy, kind of like I was ready to go to sleep.

I'll be off completely tomorrow, and I hope I'm back to normal on Monday.

One more rest day today. Catherine and I went for a walk on the trails around Memory Grove this afternoon, but mostly I took it easy. I'll be back to normal tomorrow. Or I won't, in which case there's no point in worrying about it.

I decided to get back to running today. My head still hurts and my breathing was a little labored, but after the rest I took I think I can rule out overtraining. This seems to happen every year in April or May, so it's probably allergies or something. I'll just push ahead and trust that I'll feel better at some point.

Despite the problems, today's run was a good one. I felt a little clunk at first (it's amazing what just a couple of days off can do to you), but I quickly settled into a groove on my way to Liberty Park. At the park I ran 5x2 minutes at an intended 5K effort (but, as usual, a little harder than intended) with 3 minute recoveries, and then I ran home at an easy pace.

Average pace - 7:12/mile

It's definitely spring--warm and clear yesterday morning, grey and drizzly with snow on the ground this today.

The slush on the road was a bit of a hassle, especial when cars drove past, but I still had a good run this morning. I run up to 11th Avenue via Virginia before swinging down to City Creek, running up the canyon about a mile and returning through Memory Grove.

Average pace - 7:05/mile

PM: Did a little more than a mile of barefoot jogging in the grass with Tigger while Catherine was out running. Then I went home and made a rockin' spinach lasagna.

Steady run this morning. To and from Liberty Park, plus three laps on the cinder track. It was a beautiful morning, but much colder than I expected and my hands were numb by the end of my first mile. I should have worn gloves. 

Average pace - 7:12/mile

PM: More barefoot jogging at the middle school.

I was back on the trails this morning for the first time in more than a week, and it felt good. I did my usual run up the west side of City Creek, but with a few variations. First, instead of heading out the door near 2nd Avenue and straight up E or F Street to 11th Avenue, which is a fierce little climb and a poor warmup, I ran to the trailhead via Memory Grove. Also, before hitting the actual climb from the canyon to the ridge, I stopped for about a minute to let my heart settle down a bit. As a result, I didn't walk any of the pitches and I completed the climb in 12:04, by far the closest I've come to breaking 12 minutes.

I'm still not sure how I feel about pausing before the climb, since it obviously allows me to climb faster. On the one hand, it feels like cheating. On the other hand, you can't really cheat if it's not a race, and I probably get more benefit from hitting the climb fresh and fast. For now, I'll probably continue taking the breather on my weekday runs until I can break 12 minutes easily and consistently. Then I'll work on breaking 12 without the rest.

Average pace - 7:49/mile

Total vertical - 1,474 ft

Somehow I got the idea that I should do tomorrow's long run on the track. Fortunately, I came to my senses, but just to be sure I decided to do today's recovery run on the track. I have a blister on my heel from where the lining on my Brooks Launch wore through, and it's gotten pretty irritated. I bandaged it up before running, but the bandage slipped after about three miles. After that, it was too painful to run in shoes so I took them off and finished barefoot.

Hoping for sunshine tomorrow. I need to work on my tan.

Today was a great day for running, but not a great day for me. I ate a bowl of cereal and drank a glass of orange juice less than an hour before my run, and I could feel it in my stomach as I headed out the door. (I ate Life, but I'll call this Grape Nuts Incident 2.0 for convenience. And coolness, because 2.0 is what all the cool people say. And  I don't want people to think I'm not cool. Even if I am off topic.)

Anyways, I wasn't worried as I headed up through Memory Grove and on through the neighborhoods above the capitol, but as I hit the Ensign Peak trail I could tell my stomach wasn't emptying. And it never did. As as result, I never found my stride. I ended up walking more than normal and running slower than normal when I did run. It was disappointing, but it's just one bad day at the end of a very good week, so I'm not worried.

Even with my poor performance, it was a great day on the trails. After Ensign Peak, I climbed up to the next ridge, dropped down into City Creek and then took the BST back to Dry Creek before returning home.

There were a ton of people using the trail today because of the beautiful weather. I was pleasantly surprised to see about 30 trail workers, too. Unfortunately, the pleasantness of the surprise didn't last long, because my ratio of trail use to trail work is about 100 to none and I felt like a major slacker. Despite my guilt, I appreciated that they were doing a great job. Trail volunteers of the world, I salute you!

Also, today was my first good chance to run shirtless this year. I've been looking forward to it for a while, after so many years of cyclist tans. I figure if I start now, I should be ready for the next "100 Sexiest People" issue of People magazine. In fact, I'll probably get the cover.

Average pace - 8:35/mile

Total vertical - 2640 ft

Rest day. Catherine and I took Tigger for a walk at Liberty Park. Lots of interesting people hanging out.

Despite a night of fitful sleep, I woke up before six this morning ready to run. Down 2nd Avenue to Memory Grove, then up the road through City Creek to the utility station (or whatever that is up there in the canyon). I think that's my new favorite road run. It's quiet, cool and scenic, with a nice gentle grade the entire way. And with the sound of the birds and the stream, there's no need for an iPod. If I had had more time, I would have run all the way to the amphitheater at the end of the road. 

Average pace - 7:37/mile

Same run as yesterday. I was tired and my legs felt a little heavy, but without pushing it my pace was the same as it was yesterday.

Very easy run at Liberty Park this morning. With about a lap and a half to go, I slowly overtook a woman who was running in front of me. When I caught up to her she sprinted until she was about 50 feet in front of me. When I caught up again, she sprinted ahead again, this time about 20 feet. I caught up again (running at a steady pace the entire time), and she sprinted ahead again. This continued until I left the park to run home. It was very awkward for me--kind of like having a stranger tuck into my draft in the middle of a bike ride.

PM: I did a quick barefoot jog on the treadmill and then read while Catherine finished her run.

Six miles the treadmill with Catherine this evening. Most of it was at a pace ranging from easy to very easy, but I threw in a few bits anywhere from fast to not slow. Community was on, followed by 30 Rock, so it wasn't too boring. 

Easy jog before work today. Racing tomorrow.

This weekend Catherine and I went south for the Red Mountain 30K in Ivins. Unfortunately, we didn't get to my grandparents' house in St. George until just before 10:00 on Friday, so we woke up at 4:30 on Saturday feeling pretty tired.

When we signed up for the race a couple of months ago I registered for the 50K. But because the Buffalo Run 50K took a little more than a week for me to recover from, I decided it would be better for me to race the 30K this weekend and train through it. Right now I need to build my mileage consistently. And if I'm going to trash my legs, I'd rather do it at a larger race and just use these smaller ones for fun and training.

And this race was small. According to what one of the directors told us in the morning, there were 50 or 60 runners in the 50K and only 16 in the 30K. I'll take him at his word, since it didn't occur to me to count, but there may have been even fewer runners in our race. But I like small races. They're casual and friendly, and lots of fun.

Of course, a small race usually means the field isn't highly competitive, and this was no exception. In fact, I took off at the start and after about a mile I never saw anyone again. I ended up finishing nearly half an hour in front of the second place runner, and he even missed a turn near the end and cut a little more than a mile off the course.

My plan was to treat the race like a long tempo run, and in that respect it was a success. I had hoped to run under 2 hours, which for a 30K should have put me just under 6:30 per mile. Even though the course was half a mile longer than 30K, I met my goal comfortably, finishing with nearly 2 minutes to spare.

My pace of 6:11 per mile was a little faster than my pace at the SLCTC 15K a couple of months ago, and I think I set PRs along the way at 5K, 10K and 15K. It's hard to say how much faster I've gotten, though--with 1,500 feet of elevation lost and only 500 gained, the course was certainly fast, and no doubt all the descending played a huge role in my overall pace.

Still, I'm pleased with how I ran the race. I finished feeling like I could have gone longer or faster, and I was able to bang out the last (mostly flat) mile at a sub-6 pace, so I feel like I was running strong. And because I didn't trash my legs (although they are sore now), I'll be able to get back to training on Monday.

The race itself was well run. The organizers and volunteers were friendly and helpful, and the aid stations were plentiful and well stocked. And the course was beautiful, starting just west of Veyo and descending through the canyon past Gunlock and into Veyo. I've ridden that road countless times on my bike, and I loved running it just as much. All the race needs now is more runners. Catherine and I will both be back next year. Hopefully others will join us.

Today was a rest day, as my Sundays always are. My legs are more sore than I expected after yesterday's race.

I decided to get right back at it this week. I wanted to run the Bonneville Shoreline Trail this morning, but my legs were still sore enough to make me reconsider. Instead, I ran to Liberty Park and ran 4.5 easy laps. My legs felt stiff and clunky, but my easy pace for the day turned out to be 7:45. Hopefully I'll feel well enough to his the trail tomorrow.

My legs are still sore, so I'm still taking it easy. That probably means I won't make it to the trails until the weekend, because I don't want to do anything to mess up my recovery.

I ran a new route this morning. Down 2nd Avenue past the Conference Center, than over and down to 200 West. From there I ran to Beck Street, then up around the capitol and home through Memory Grove.

PM: Easy 1.5-mile jog on the treadmill,

My legs felt good this evening, so I ran the Bonneville Shoreline Trail from Dry Creek to City Creek. Even though I kept the intensity mellow, I ran it as fast or faster than I have in the past, averaging 8:22 per mile with approximately 2,000 feet of elevation gain. To spare my legs some pounding, I stopped my run on 11th Avenue and walked back down to 2nd.

AM: Easy out and back through Memory Grove. My legs are a little stiff after yesterday's evening trail run.

I took the day off so I could be with Catherine during her surgery this afternoon. That meant I had the entire morning to do as I pleased, and it pleased me to go for a longish run on the BST. I ran up to the Dry Gulch trailhead (question--does anyone know if the official name is Dry Gulch or Dry Creek? I hear it both ways.) and then took the trail over to City Creek. From there I ran up the West Side of the canyon, down past Ensign Peak, and then down to the Church Offive Building, where I ran into Catherine and walked her home from work. Unfortunately, the run didn't go nearly as well as I had hoped.

For one thing, my stomach was bothering me. I didn't eat much, but I did eat less than an hour before I started my run. I've learned many times that doesn't work, but I keep thinking I can get away with it. But I can't, and by the time I reached City Creek I felt like I needed to throw up. 

The second problem was the trail conditions. I was good for the first nine miles or so, but by then it seemed like someone had covered the trail in chocolate pudding. It got so bad that by the top of the west side of that canyon I could barely walk, let alone run. Which would have been convenient if it wasn't so frustrating, since my stomach meant I was in no condition to run by then, anyways.

Oh well. With any luck, tomorrow's run will be better.

I ran on the treadmill today for two reasons, none of them being the weather. First, Catherine is still recovering from her surgery, and even though her sister stayed with her while I was out running, I didn't want to be too far away if anything happened. Second, after a relatively bad run yesterday morning and minimal sleep last night, I didn't want to run out of gas halfway through my run and find myself 7 or 8 miles from home with no bailout option.

I basically ran back-to-back 1-hour workouts. For the first, I ran at a steady 8 minutes per mile, throwing in two 15 minute sets on a 5 percent grade. For the second workout, I started mellow and slowly cranked up the pace before bringing it back to where I started. I'd call it a progression run, but the pace stayed mellow enough that it probably qualifies more as LSD.

Anyways, this week was pretty good. I increased my mileage for the third time in a row, and I hope to increase it again next week.

Rest day today. I feel surprisingly well, despite two longer runs in the last two days. I hope that means the coming week will be a good one.

AM: I felt pretty good, but not great this morning. I ran the Conference Center-Beck Street-Memory Grove route I ran last week, with one small variation that added a little more than a quarter mile.

Average pace - 7:41/mile

Total vertical - 600 feet

PM: I planned to do a double tomorrow, not today, but the weather was so nice this evening that I couldn't resist a lap on the BST. City Creek to Dry Whatever. My head and my stomach felt a little off, but my legs felt pretty good and I finished the loop much faster than ever before.

Average pace - 7:48/mile

Total vertical - 1900 feet

I had another solid trail run after work this evening. I ran up through Memory Grove and on to the Ensign Peak trailhead. After tagging the peak I continued on to the ridge above City Creek Canyon. I descended to the canyon, ran another lap up to the ridge, and ran back down to the canyon and on to Memory Grove Park, where I met up with Catherine and Tigger. Lots of short, steep hills, so I guess today's run counts as an informal interval workout. 

Average pace - 7:55/mile

Total vertical - 2200 feet

AM: I felt a little sluggish this morning, but I still went out for an easy run on my Beck Street loop. I hope the legs are ready for more trails and hills tomorrow.

Average pace - 7:47/mile

Total vertical - 600 feet

PM: Catherine and I went to the gym together after work and I jogged barefoot for 15 minutes on the treadmill while she did her workout.

AM: Another run on the BST, this time east to west (Dry Whatever to City Creek). I had to stop and sit for a while at the halfway point, if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, that meant sacrificing my gloves for the cause, which was unfortunate because I've had them for so long. And my hands froze afterward.

Average pace - 7:58/mile

Total vertical - 1900 feet

PM: Six easy miles at the gym with Catherine. I'm feeling very tired right now. It's a good thing tomorrow is an easy day.

Recovery jog on the track at East High.

I was planning to run the Grandeur Peak loop with some friends this afternoon, but it turns out that my little sister graduated with her master's degree this week, so my parents are in town, which makes my weekend more hectic than I expected.

So, I went out early this morning and ran my BST-City Creek-Ensign Peak loop. I've run the loop three times before today, twice east to west and once west to east. The first time I was destroyed by the time I hit the climb out of City Creek. The second two times I was dealing with stomach issues almost from the start. Today, I ran strong for the entire loop, with no hiking and no unscheduled stops.

Average pace - 8:03 min/mile

Total vertical - 3200 feet

PM: Went out for a short run with Catherine. I felt tired, but not bad.

Rest day. Legs are a little sore, but not bad.

AM: I was not happy to hear rain when I woke up this morning, but my run didn't turn out nearly as wet and miserable as I expected. It was actually quite nice.

I set out planning to run through Memory Grove before doing two laps up the west side of City Creek, but it started pouring as I neared the mouth of City Creek Canyon, so I changed my plans and decided to run up the canyon to the power plant. But the rain let up as I reached the canyon, so I changed my plans again and took the BST over to Dry Whatever. 

Average pace - 8:00/mile

Total vertical - 1800 feet

PM: I felt tired all day at work, and I don't think I ate enough throughout the day, so I was sure this evening's run (BST, east to west) would be a disaster, but it turned out to be fantastic.

Except for the stupid rain. I was insulted this morning when the rain finally stopped right at the end of my run, but it was even worse this evening when it started up again right before my run. And it stopped again right as I finished. If that's not proof that the weather gods are out to get me, I don't know what is. Seriously, yo.

Anyways, I got wetter and the trails got sloppier as my run progressed, but other than a few pitches on the final descent that were so slick I descended them more slowly than I climbed them this morning, the conditions weren't a problem at all.

Also, I almost ran into a porcupine. It was awesome, because I didn't even realize there were porcupines in the area. In fact, I don't know if I've ever seen one before, except maybe in a zoo when I was little.

Average pace - 7:44/mile

Total vertical - 1800 feet (or something. I have no idea what to make of the Garmin's inconsistency, so after tonight I'm done posting vertical.)

After running in the rain all day yesterday, I wasn't up for any more today, so I just got in some easy treadmill miles in the evening.

AM: Easy run at Liberty Park. There and back, plus two laps on the cinder track.

PM: 30 minutes on the treadmill with Catherine.

I assumed that all of the rain in the past few days would have turned the trails to pudding, so I skipped the BST for a longish, steady road run this morning. Basically, I ran a loop around the Avenues and through Memory Grove, with an out and back to the water station up City Creek Canyon. Plenty of gradual climbs and descents, and almost no flats. As I returned home I saw that my run was going to hit 13 miles, so I ran part way around the block to make it a half marathon.

1:34:36

Easy run on the track, with a few pickups to loosen the legs.

Well, that was something different.

The Grandeur Peak Fun Run is a low-key, free race that I found out about from the Samurai, a cycling friend of mine who is a skimo racer recently turned trail runner.The real challenge in this race is the vertical: about 4,000 feet. That's a lot for a ten mile race, but it's even more when you consider that all of the climbing happens over less than three miles. I believe that makes the average grade on the climbs something like 25 percent.

From the trailhead, the course climbs about 3200 feet in the first two miles (18:23. 26:19) and change. From there, it's a couple of miles of technical singletrack descent into Millcreek Canyon, followed by a couple of miles of flat, easy singletrack on the Pipeline trail. Then things get nasty again. The course leaves the pipeline trail and climbs sharply up what seems like an old game trail--narrow, muddy, and brutally steep--followed by an equally steep narrow and slick descent. At 6'4", I spent a lot of time ducking here. After the descent, it was a relatively mild mile or two of rolling, mildly technical trail back to the start.

Now that I've described the course, here's how the race went. I jumped into the lead group right from the start. After a brief, steep and runable intro, we hit the real climb, and there wasn't much more running for a while. I could tell I was in a bit of trouble, because I don't really do any hiking, and my achilles tendons were killing me on the steep grade. I did what I could, and the lead group began to take shape. I wound up in fourth place, a little behind one runner and a lot behind the two leaders.

Coming off the top, I somehow missed a turn and went plunging down a rockslide path. After descending for a minute or two, I realized something was wrong. I stopped, waited, and eventually saw the runner who had been behind me running down a ridge in the distance. I turned around, scrambled back up to the trail on all fours, and set about making up for lost time.

On the descent in to the canyon I caught three of the (I think) four runners who had passed me while I was on my little adventure, including the Samurai. I put some time into all of them on the descent, and I continued to do so on the Pipeline trail. I felt a little dead on the flat trail--not bonked, or fatigued, but off a little. Even so, what felt like a conservative pace was in the mid to high 6s per mile, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

I blew up a little on the next climb. It was slippery and steep and I was tired, and the runner behind me was making up ground quickly. But he stopped gaining on me once he was within 20 feet, so he must have hit a wall, too.

I hated the next descent. It was too tight and steep to run fast, and with all the low branches I was afraid of losing my head. Plus, I had some rocks in my shoes that were rubbing my feet raw. But I survived, and from there all I had to do was cruise for the last mile or two.

I think I wound up in 5th, and I'll confirm that when the results were posted. It was a good day, but my pride requires me to point out that I lost at least 5 minutes by running off course, and I think I could have held on to 4th and maybe even moved in to 3rd if I hadn't. Oh well, it's my fault. And besides, I'm now 0 for 2 when it comes to staying on course in trail races, so I should probably get used to it.

Catherine was at the finish with Tigger, and I was glad to see her. We hung out in the park for a bit, met some other runners, and then ate the breakfast provided. Not a bad morning at all.

PM: After having lunch with Catherine and then going to the temple, I decided to do another trail run. I was pretty beat from the race in the morning, but I thought adding some more miles while fatigued would be a good way to prepare for the longer races. I ran the BST, east to west, taking it pretty easy. I bonked near the end, and the return trip on the road was pretty miserable, but overall I think it was a good run.

1:26:55

Rest day. I don't feel too tired after yesterday's run, but my legs are destroyed. They're almost as sore as they were after the Buffalo Run 50K.

AM: Easy run at Liberty Park (6.1 miles). My legs are still extremely sore from Saturday.

PM: More easy miles at Liberty Park (5.3 miles). Still sore, but I got to run the last couple of miles with Catherine and Tigger.

AM: Still sore, still taking it easy. Easy run to and from Liberty Park, plus two laps on the cinder track. Six miles in 47:41.

PM: Short run on the treadmill. Four miles in 29:00. Varied pace, but it was mostly an easy effort.

AM: To and from Liberty Park, plus three laps. 7.5 miles in 57:00. I was hoping for one more hard week, but with Sapper Joe less than two weeks away I don't want to do anything to set myself back. Since I'm too sore to do hard workouts right now, I'm trying to make up for it with consistency. I hope to be ready for some hills tomorrow. 

PM: I ran up through Memory Grove and back down through the Avenues so I could stop at Smith's on my way home. 3.5 miles in 27:19. Afterward, Catherine and I ran the loop together in 34:00.

Catherine had to go to Saratoga Springs to conduct a focus group this evening, so I decided to go with her and run the Lott Canyon run from Crockett's blog. And naturally I got lost at the first opportunity. After bushwacking up the wrong canyon for a mile or so, I finally conceded that the trail I was on was not actually a trail. Once I admitted I had a problem, I was able to turn around and (quite easily) find the road I was looking for. Even with my detour, which added about 1.4 miles to the run, I hit the top in 44:19 (4.9 miles).

Without any more detours the descent went quickly. Unfortunately, I got lost again looking for the church I was supposed to meet Catherine at (Google Maps' fault this time, although I made things worse by not staying put). Fortunately, Catherine found me eventually.

Anyways, here's Crockett's route:

And here's my version, with scenic detours:

Just over 12 miles and just under 1900 feet in 1:37:58.

I went for a run on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail after work this evening. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go when I started, but since I was feeling pretty beat I decided early in the run that I wouldn't be going long. The rain and hail that came later reinforced that.

I ran from Dry Whatever to City Creek, with a brief detour on the Black Mountain trail. (It was my first time on the trail, and in the next week or two I plan to hit the summit.) Anyways, I'm pretty tired right now. I'm looking forward to taking it easy next week.

1:42:xx

Catherine and I thought it would be fun to race today, so we looked up a few options online and decided to run the Utah Running Club 15K for three reasons: 1) we needed to go to Provo anyway, 2) 15K was about exactly what Catherine wanted to run today, and 3) the price (5 bucks) was right.

Unfortunately, it was just a tiny little event and I felt like a sandbagger. There were probably just a few more than 10 runners, and I'm not sure how many of those were even running the 15K (there were also 5K and 10K options). Oh well.

I was the first guy across the line and Catherine the first girl, and we both PRed. I didn't feel great, but I'm happy with my effort. I've been running a lot (for me) for the last few weeks, so it was encouraging to be able to run reasonably fast with tired legs. And this course was harder than the last 15K I ran, so I think it's a solid indicator that I've improved since then.

Still, I was a little uncomfortable at speed, so I think I need to spend a little more training time running fast instead of running up hills.

Rest day. This was the last week of any real training before the Sapper Joe 50K. All I have to do now is keep things together for a week.

AM: My plan was to run the BST this morning, but I knew that wouldn't happen when it started raining last night. I thought I'd run up City Creek Canyon instead, but it was raining so hard this morning that I decided that would be a bad idea, too. So, I set out on my Beck Street loop. But by the time I reached Capitol Hill the rain had turned to snow and I, underdressed for the weather, was so cold that I had to cut my run short. Instead of running home through Memory Grove, I headed straight down past Temple Square and then home. 

39:34

PM: I decided I may as well keep running doubles, even if I am tapering. Catherine came up with a good three-mile loop today. Up through the cemetery, down 11th Avenue and home. It's close and quiet, and there's a nice hill in the middle, so I decided to run it after work.

21:57

AM: I needed to get to work early today so I can leave early, so I went out for a quick lap of the cemetery loop this morning.

21:45

PM: Catherine and I ran to the track at West High together. I ran two 1-mile repeats with a lap between them. I tried to run quickly but not all out, but my first mile wound up being 5:25. That seemed too fast for what I want to be doing, so I slowed down for the second mile and wound up with 5:33, which still seemed too fast.

Interestingly, last time I ran a timed mile was on the volleyball team during my senior year of high school (2000). I ran 5:31, and to do it I turned myself inside out following (and out sprinting) Cameron, who had just finished cross country. (I know now that he must not have been that good at XC). Anyways, I guess that makes today's first mile my fastest ever.

43:35

AM: Short, easy jog through the avenues.

16:30

PM: Catherine had to go to Saratoga Springs again, so I went with her and took another crack at Lott Canyon. I didn't run back to the church she was at, so it was a shorter run, and I didn't get lost, so it was a better run. 32:35 up, 22:26 down.

55:02

AM: Very easy 2-mile jog through the Avenues, with a grocery stop on the way home.

16:38

PM: Easy run up 3rd Avenue to Virginia and than back home on 2nd Avenue.

18:55

Last run before the Sapper Joe 50K. Very easy, with a few strides.

26:03

Going into the race I wanted to break 4:30, which I expected would give me an overall win and a course record. I did, and it did. I'll have a full report up by tomorrow. For now, here's a picture of Catherine, Tigger and me with a tank and what may be my favorite trophy ever (I'm talking about the helmet, in case that's not clear). 

Now for the full story:

The race started at six in the morning, so Catherine and I were up just a little before four. Pre-race nutrition has been a source of problems for me as a runner, so I decided to do what I had done (seemingly successfully) before the Red Mountain 30K. Specifically, I ate a ton on Friday, capping it all of with a huge dinner, and limited myself to a banana and a couple of cans of soda before the race. I think that worked out for me.

We arrived at Camp Williams around 5:30, which gave us plenty of time to get our shoes on and use the bathroom. While we were hanging around, I met Jun (who I believe was the first person to comment on this blog). That's one of the best things about the Fast Running blogs--every time we go to a race, we get to meet in person people we already know from online.

Just before six we headed out to the start. I was jittery, as I always am before a race. In fact, I was more nervous than usual, because I had actually prepared properly for this race, and I was going into it with the expectation of winning. At the start line, I had a hard time not looking around and assuming that everyone there was faster than me.

Catherine and I lined up right at the front, next to Jun and Scott W., and a minute later the cannon fired and we were off.

I immediately settled in with a front group of three other runners. As we started the first climb, I found out that I was the only 50K runner in the group. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, because it meant I was in the lead, or a bad thing, because it meant I was going out way too hard with more than 30 miles left.

As we approached the first brutally steep pitch, two of the runners with me started hiking. That seemed like a good idea, so I did the same, although I had left them behind by the top of the pitch. The other guy continued running and grabbed the 50 dollar bonus at the top, but he slowed down significantly after that, and by the first summit of the day (at about 4 miles), I was all alone in the lead.

The descent off the backside was a pain--so steep and rocky that I may have been descending more slowly than I had climbed. I've learned that my New Balance 100s generally do a poor job of keeping debris out on steep, gravelly descents, and today was no exception. At the bottom of the descent I stopped to shake a few rocks out of my left shoe, and while I was doing that a different 30K runner, who I hadn't seen before, passed me.

I put my shoe back on and continued along, about 200 feet behind the 30K runner, until all of a sudden he reached a clearing and turned around back toward me. Since I've gotten lost in every trail race I've done, I assumed we had made a wrong turn, but it turned out that the clearing (which was also the location of the first aid station) was simply a turnaround point for the 30K course. I continued straight ahead without stopping, and from that point on I was alone until the 50K course rejoined the 30K nearly 20 miles later.

(I'd like to point out that this was the most well-marked race I've ever run, and getting lost wasn't really an option. Every turn was marked with arrows on the ground and at least one sign, and there were ribbons marking the course every 100-200 feet for the entire 31+ miles.)

The next ten miles or so between the first and third aid stations were my favorite. Everything was cool and quiet as I wound through the valley and over the hills, surrounded my some impressive mountains I'd never seen before. I remember thinking that I should run there more often, but every mile or so I was reminded that that would be a bad idea as I passed another target range, artillery range, mortar range, or machine gun range. Clearly, the National Guard enjoys blowing stuff up.

Twice during this section I saw a runner in a white shirt on the switchbacks below me, but I could never tell whether he was right on my tail or 20 minutes back.

By the time I hit the third aid station, around 19 miles, my legs were starting to fade. Leaving the aid station, I hiked the short, steep climb to another summit and than suffered through a steep, rocky and punishing descent, all the while questioning my decision to wear such a light shoe on a run like this. At the bottom, the course turned uphill again for the final climb of the day. I knew that if I could survive the next 4-5 miles, the only think that stood between me and the finish was a long descent.

I climbed slowly but steadily, hiking several of the steeper sections but mostly running. Somewhere along the way I met back up with the 30K course and I enjoyed having a steady stream of runners to pick off and pass one by one. It blew my mind to think that they were 12 miles behind me.

I stumbled past the last aid station stopping only long enough to grab a few Endurolytes, and then it was on to the final descent to the finish. I had been out more than three hours by then, and since I still haven't done any training runs much longer than 2 hours, my legs were feeling destroyed. I wanted nothing more than to stop, but I knew there was another runner somewhere behind me, so I kept plodding along, looking over my shoulder every 30 seconds or so.

Eventually I reached the tunnel that took me under the highway and back to the base, and it wasn't until then that I realized that I was absolutely going to win the race. I crossed the line with a little more than 4:22:30 showing on my Garmin, nearly 20 minutes faster than last year's winner and course-record holder (this was only the race's second year).

Catherine was waiting at the finish, having had a good run in the 15K, and I was just happy to see her. We sat in the grass for a while and watched other runners come in, including the next 50K runner about 10 minutes later. Then we ate, picked up the award and headed home.

It was a great race. I'm sore today, but nothing like what I felt after the Buffalo Run. I'll probably be back next year to see if I can beat my time, but for now I'm looking forward to the next race. I've put my name on the wait list for the Logan Peak race, bit in case that doesn't work out, does anyone know of any other good races in the 50K range coming up in the next month or so?

Recovery day. I feel better in most ways than I did after the Buffalo Run, but worse in a couple. Specifically, my ankles and feet are quite sore. I think that's largely because of all the uneven and rocky footing at Sapper Joe, but my choice of footwear probably contributed, and I'm still questioning my decision to wear the New Balance 100s. On the one hand, they're very comfortable and nearly six ounces per shoe lighter than my Cascadias. The trade off, of course, is that they offer very little protection, and by the end I could feel it. The guy behind me, in contrast, was wearing those ridiculous-looking Hoka OneOne shoes, and I certainly would have welcomed the extra 40 mm of cushion on the final descent.

I went our for an easy run on the cemetery loop with Catherine this morning. I wore my Cascadias, even though we were on the road, because they have more support than any of my shoes. My ankles are still stiff and my right foot still hurts, but I think I'll be fine. Catherine and I are going to St. George after work on Wednesday, and I don't think I'll do any real training until we get there.

27:55 

AM: Another lap on the cemetery loop with Catherine this morning. My legs are still hurting, but they're getting better--enough so that I was able to hang with Catherine on the G Street descent today. 

My legs haven't actually felt sore since Saturday's race--just in pain, injury style. Fortunately, they're recovering quickly and I don't think I'm actually injured.

27:09

PM: I went out for yet another lap on the cemetery loop before dinner. My legs are actually feeling pretty good, and it seems like Sapper Joe didn't take nearly as much out of me as the Buffalo Run did. I hope I'm recovered enough to put in some good miles over my long weekend.

22:50

Catherine and I drove down to St. George this evening. We checked in to our hotel and then I went for a quick run on the bike path. My legs seem recovered, and except for some wild heartburn, I felt great. I'm hoping to put in some decent mileage over the next few days, even though the temperatures may rise into the triple digits. Yikes.

38:02 

AM: Ran 4 miles on the bike path with Catherine to start the day.

33:39

PM: I planned to go for a long run in the late afternoon., but I didn't feel well at all. Lunch was sitting in my stomach like a brick, and I had no energy. Maybe I underestimated the effect of the heat on me, or maybe it's something I ate. Either way, it was a terrible run and I had to just stop and gather myself a couple of times. I ended up with 9.65 miles

1:11:13

Normally, two runs are plenty, but I was so frustrated with the run this afternoon that I decided to try again. I ran around the hill behind the hotel (Webb Hill?) and then up a dirt road to the top for a total of 5.75 miles. I felt better than I did earlier, but far from 100 percent and my stomach was still not happy.

44:27

AM: This heat is killing me! I just feel drained every time I run down here. Plus, my stomach is not happy which may or may not have anything to do with the heat--I really don't know. Anyways, I hit the Virgin River Trail at 8:00 this morning. I followed some signs around what I guess is called the Mayor's Loop, then finished with an out and back to the trailhead by the Bloomington Country Club for a total of 9.5 miles. Now for some breakfast and a nap, so I can have a better run this afternoon (I hope).

1:10:18

PM: Stair repeats. I ran 20 sprints up the three-story staircase in the hotel tonight, walking down for recovery. Not sure how far or how long. I may need to spend more time on the stairs, though, because I just gave in to peer pressure and registered for the Speedgoat 50K. That's 12,00 feet of climbing in just over 30 miles.

I hit the Virgin River Trail at 7:30 this morning, and I was worried that today would be no better than the last two. Fortunately, I had no stomach issues until the last few miles and I was able to tolerate the heat well enough. It wasn't a great run, but it was a good one, and for now I'll take it. Three laps on the Mayor's Loop plus the out and back to the hotel for a total of 16.5 miles.

2:03:12

Back in Salt Lake as of this evening. I will miss not going to work, but I won't miss the heat.

It felt good to be away from the oppressive heat in St. George (although Salt Lake seems to be hotter than I left it), and it feels even better to be back on the trails after being (involuntarily) restricted to the bike path for the last few days.

After oversleeping by nearly an hour, I set out to run the BST. I ran east to west at what I'd describe as 50K intensity--not a relaxed pace, but not an all-out effort. Basically, I run moderate tempo on the climbs and just cruise on the flats and descents. I'd like this to replace Liberty Park as my go-to daily run over the next few months.

1:21:54

AM: I went for another trail run this morning, but I decided to get some more vertical this time. I started by running the BST up the west side before hitting the climb to the ridge in 12:01 (I'm getting faster). From the ridge I continued up the series of three consecutive summits (I wasn't doing much running on this section), eventually topping out at the radio towers. From the towers I retraced my steps back to the mouth of the canyon and then ran the BST up the other side to the meadow. Once at the meadow, I took the dirt road back into the Avenues and then ran the steep pavement descent back home. I finished with just over 10.4 miles.  

1:29:01

PM: Catherine and I ran an easy lap together around the grass at Sugarhouse Park.

 Another morning run on the BST, this time starting up Memory Grove and running the trail west to east. I was noticeably tired today, although the limiter was a lack of energy more than fatigue in the legs. I took it easy as a result, and I'll take it easier tomorrow, avoiding the trails and hills altogether. No need to overdo anything and ruin my chance for a good weekend.

1:30:25

AM: I was surprised to wake up to rain this morning, although I probably wouldn't have been if I had bothered to check a weather report. Anyways, my legs are pretty tired after the last few days, so I decided to take it easy. To and from Liberty park plus two laps on the track for a total of 6 miles.

47:13

PM: Easy 3.5 mile loop up Memory Grove and back home through the Avenues.

27:19

My cousin got married this afternoon, so I took the day off work. Since I had the time, I decided to go for a long run. I had planned a route from the Hogle Zoo to Ensign Peak, but I didn't know if I had that much time. Plus, with my decision to run Speedgoat I decided I should spend more time on the steep climbs. So, I chose to run up Black Mountain to preview the Wahsatch Steeplechase course (and help me decide if I even want to race next weekend).

 I ran up via Memory Grove, and it was rough. Actually, it wasn't too bad, and it was all runable (if you allow for a charitable interpretation of the verb run) up until the last mile before the crags. As for that last mile--wow.

Anyways, I made it as far as the crags, where I sat down, ate a gel and realized I had a lot less time than I had imagined. I quickly retraced my steps back doen the mountain and was home just in time to shower, change, pick Catherine up and drive down to the Timpanogos Temple.

2:21:24

We had to get up a little after 3:00 this morning, so Catherine and I didn't get much sleep last night. But the reason we had to get up so early was so she could run the Utah Valley half marathon, so I'm not complaining. I had fun watching her and the other runners, and I'm glad I was there when Catherine PRed by almost 20 minutes. You can read more about it on her blog.

Because my parents are in town, we went up to my Grandma's house in Bountiful for a family dinner. I decided to multitask while getting my run in, so I ran to Grandma's house. Up through Memory Grove, then out to Bountiful via the Bonneville Shoreline trail. From there it was up and down along Bountiful Boulevard until the pounding descent down 400 North. Fortunately, it ended with a hot shower and a tasty dinner.

1:48:04

Oops. I waited too long, and the Wahsatch Steeplechase is full. Obviously, it's my fault, but I'm still disappointed. I guess I'll just have to go for a very long run on Saturday.

I got up at 5:00 so I could climb Black Mountain before work. I'm hoping to become much more familiar with the route over the next six weeks, but right now I hate it. It's a beast, and I freaking HATE that last mile before the crags. But it is a good way to get some serious vertical right in my back yard.

Anyways, I was slow this morning. I was taking it easy today (as easy as you can take it on that trail), and I wish that explained my time. But the fact is I felt slow and clumsy. Not exhausted or even particularly fatigued--there just wasn't much in the tank. Today I walked several steep sections after leaving the BST and beginning the 5K to the summit (which I "ran" in 46:02, by the way). On Friday I ran most of them, so I know I can go faster.

I'm glad I could start my week with a run like this. Right now my body is rebelling against the steep hills I've been adding to my routine. But I'm the boss, and I say it will adapt, whether it likes it or not.

2:26:55

AM: Easy run at Liberty Park to let my legs recover from the last few runs. To and from, plus three laps on the cinder track for a total of 7.6 miles.

59:55

PM: Another easy run, this time up through Memory Grove and back down through the Avenues for a total of 3.5 miles.

27:49

I ran again later in the evening with Catherine, this time doing a slightly extended version of the Memory Grove loop for a total of 4 miles.

34:56

AM: I went out for a steady run on my Beck Street loop, finishing with 8 miles. Last time I ran the route it started snowing on me as I came past the capitol and I had to cut the run short. Today, there was a stiff headwind on the rise up to the capitol, but other than that the weather was great. Unfortunately, my knee has been giving me a little trouble since last night, but I'm hoping that will clear up soon. 

1:01:24

PM: Cemetery Loop with Catherine for 3 more miles.

27:55

Early run on the BST, from Dry Whatever all the way down to Ensign Peak. The climbs are actually starting to feel pretty mellow, which tells me my trips up Black Mountain are paying off. I had to get to work after, so I cut the return on the road short, coming straight down Capitol Hill instead of running down Bonneville Boulevard and out through Memory Grove. Still, it's a fairly long run, especially for a weekday morning, and it serves up some decent vertical. 

1:58:54

Easy 2 miles on the track with Catherine. 

18:53

My right knee hurts. It started Wednesday evening, and it was bad enough by Thursday that I wondered if I should run. I headed out in the morning to see how it felt, and it felt fine to run on, so I did nearly 15 miles on the trail without pain (although it did hurt for a couple of minutes at the start and after I stopped for a couple of minutes in the middle). After that run, however, it got worse.

Today my knee hurt quite a lot, whether I was walking or sitting, and it was very bad when I tried to jog on the track, although it felt a little better after the run. It feels partly like I bashed my knee into something and bruised my kneecap, and partly like I have a sore tendon stretched over my kneecap that hurts every time I bend it. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I took it easy today and I'll take it easy tomorrow and as long as it takes for the pain to clear up. If it doesn't feel like things are improving by Monday, I'll try to schedule and appointment with the old sawbones.

And things were going so nicely. 

Because of my knee, I actually ended up being glad I missed the Steeplechase. Maybe next year.

Instead of racing, this morning I went down to Pleasant Grove to watch Catherine race. Her race went very well--Catherine won her age group and took second overall while knocking more than two minutes off her 5K PR, and I had a lot of fun being there.

My knee was still tender, and although I haven't yet decided to stop running on it, I have decided to avoid any kind of uneven terrain until it feels better. For now, that means lots of miles on the track. After the race, I went over to Orem High for a run of my own, and ended up putting in ten miles on the track. That's a lot of circles.

My knee felt tender at first so I started off slowly, but I kept feeling better as I ran and I ended up settling into a low-7s pace, throwing in some faster efforts in the last three miles. By the end my knee ached more than it hurt, and after the run (and for the rest of the afternoon) it felt much, much better than it did yesterday.

I'm not sure what to make of that, but it seems as though the running isn't making things worse. As usual, tomorrow will be completely off, and I plan to keep things on the track for most of next week, although I may try to get some hill work in by running repeats up Ensign Peak and walking down (it seems like downhills may be what hurt my knee the most). I hope to be ready for the Gruesome Grizzly 8K next weekend. I've never run a short trail race, and I'm hoping it will be lots of fun.

1:11:53 

Rest day. Although it still hurts, my knee is feeling much better, which is encouraging. I plan to take it easy next week for as long as it takes, and hopefully I'll get better quickly. If things don't keep improving, I may try to get in to see a doctor.

AM: I'm avoiding downhill running until I'm sure my knee is better, so I woke up this morning and drove to Liberty Park, where I ran seven laps on the cinder track (10.1 miles). My knee felt good throughout the run--not normal, but not hurt, either--but it was pretty stiff and a little sore afterward. I iced it when I got home, and know I think it feels about the same as it did before the run. I'll be glad if I'm not getting worse, but I hope to see some improvement, too. I miss the trails already. 

1:10:30

PM: No more running today. My knee has been up and down throughout the day, but right now it really hurts so rest is probably the answer. This sucks. 

I've decided to take some time off and see what happens. I hate to do it, because the next few weeks are when I need to be training hard to be ready for Speedgoat, but I won't be ready fpr anything if my knee doesn't heal. I think I'll use day passes at one of the local rec centers and swim some laps to maintain my fitness while my knee recovers.

PM: I went to the aquatic center and swam continuously for an hour. I feel good now, but I haven't swam in a couple of years, so I wonder if I'll be able to lift my arms tomorrow morning. 

I'm happy to say my arms survived yesterday's swim, so swimming will be a viable cross training option for as long as me knee is giving me trouble. But injured or not, I need to get ready for the mountains, so this morning I decided to see if my knee could handle the stair-stepper. 

I spent an hour on the machine, during which I covered only 2.8 miles. According to the machine I also ascended well over 4,000 feet, so it was probably the best thing I could do to get ready for Speedgoat without actually running up mountains. And so far it didn't seem to hurt my knee at all.

AM: According to the email I received yesterday, there's a spot for me at Logan Peak this weekend, which makes my knee problem that much more annoying. Although I already knew I shouldn't run, I moved my appointment with the doctor up with hopes that he would tell me to go ahead. He didn't.

Apparently, I have "a textbook case of runner's knee," or patellofemoral pain syndrome. In other words, I ran too hard down too many hills with too little recovery and pounded the #$%@ out of the cartilage behind my right kneecap. Actually, that's a bit strong--so far I've just pounded the heck out of it. The remedy is rest (but not complete rest, by golly), physical therapy and stability shoes (possibly with orthotics).

I'm on board with the first two (only because insurance will cover the therapy), but I'm not so sure about the third. I don't want to go all Born to Run on anyone--I'm not worried that the shoes will hurt me--but I'm skeptical that the shoes will really make a difference. And I'm not sure I want to drop 70 bucks on a pair of Mountain Masochists to find out, especially when my Cascadias have plenty of life left in them. Please let me know if you have an opinion one way or the other.

Anyways, the doctor says I'm probably fine running on the track, and he says I can use the stair stepper, although he doesn't really endorse it. But so far the stair machine seems to leave my leg feeling better (plus, Speedgoat), so I think I'll keep using it. I'll also throw in regular miles on the track so I don't forget how to run. I'd like to join my friend on his Timp run/scramble next Friday, so that will serve as an indicator of where I stand. If my knee handles it, I'll ease back into my regular routine. If not, I'll revise my plans accordingly.

As for this morning's workout--another hour on the stair machine for a sweaty good time. According to the machine, I ascended well over 4,000 feet, but who knows how accurate that is. According to the same machine, my effort was equal to 25K in an hour, and we all know that probably isn't happening for anyone ever and certainly not for me right now. I'll just put down three miles and call it good.

PM: I ran four easy miles on the track with Tigger. An hour later my knee seems to be holding up fine, so that's encouraging. I'm still tentatively planning on racing the Gruesome Grizzly on Saturday to test my knee (and my speed). 

30:28

Another easy four miles on the track this evening with a few strides thrown in. So far my knee seems to be improving. We'll see how it behaves tomorrow.

28:58 

AM: Catherine and I went down to Provo for the Gruesome Grizzly 8K. I'm sure I could learn some lessons from this morning, but right now I'd rather forget the whole thing.

I wasn't even sure if I should be running because of my knee, and by the time we arrived at the start I decided that I was going to run with Catherine instead of racing off the front. But when we started I couldn't resist, and I settled into third place as we left the parking lot.

I was fine up the first climb, but my stomach felt a little off. That's no surprise--it usually feels off when I push hard. I think that's because I almost never train for this kind of effort, so when it's time to go my stomach doesn't know what to do. Anyways, instead of pushing through I gave up mentally, and shortly after, on the Grizzly climb, I pretty much gave up physically.

I could have run that climb, but instead I walked most of it (almost all of it, in fact). Several runners caught me and passed me, but I decided to tuck into the group and hang on for the ride. At the top of the climb I passed a couple of runners on the flat and settled into a groove, but I just couldn't push. My head wasn't in the game, and my body responded accordingly. I'm the master of negative self-talk, and after a mile I had worked myself into quite a funk.

So of course, when my knee started acting up on the descent, I cracked. I don't regret that I walked in for the last 1.5 miles--there was no reason to push through and make my knee worse--but I do regret that I was happy to have an excuse to quit, and I'm disappointed with the way my race went up until that point.

It's interesting to listen to your thoughts as runners pass you continuously as you walk to the finish. Mine fell into three categories: jealousy ("look at that punk running--I wish I could still run"), guilt (almost every runner who passed me had something encouraging to say--I wish I could have responded by putting in an effort), and shame(I felt this urge to explain to everyone that I was walking because I was hurt because I was afraid people would think I just couldn't handle the course). 

Anyways, some days are better than others. After the race, Catherine and I chatted with Jun for a while, and we both won prizes in the raffle. Plus, Catherine took third in her age group, extending her reign of terror (such as it is) to two weeks. So it wasn't all bad :)

PM: Catherine had to work in the afternoon, so I decided to hike up Grandeur Peak after lunch. (And that was a planned hike--not a planned run that turned into a hike when I couldn't cut it.) That trail is still a beast--over 3,00 feet of vertical in about two miles. My knee was fine on the way up, but it protested all the way down. In fact, I actually descended more slowly than I climbed. Needless to say, my knee and I are not on speaking terms right now. 

Rest day. I was worried I had set myself back after my knee pain yesterday, but I don't feel any worse and I think I'm still moving in the right direction. I plan to do some easy running tomorrow, and I won some KT Tape in the raffle yesterday, so we'll see of that helps. I'm skeptical, but hopeful, too.

Also, I plan to see if I can start seeing the therapist this week. In the meantime, I'm also starting to stretch regularly, and I'm trying to use the foam roller, too. If there's anything I can do to heal faster, I'd better do it. 

AM: My knee felt pretty good all day yesterday. Before going to bed last night I applied some KT Tape (following the runner's knee instructions), and right away my knee felt almost normal. When I woke up today I thought there was no way it could be this easy--my knee felt great and I was about to toss my skepticism aside and buy a whole case of the miracle tape.

Unfortunately, the miracle was over as soon as I hit the track. I wasn't in agony, but my knee certainly didn't feel normal, and the tape did nothing to change that. Or maybe it did something--it's really hard to tell sometimes. Anyways, I'll keep using the tape because it was free and it doesn't seem to be hurting. I'll wait till the roll is gone to decided whether it's actually worth buying.

Anyways, my knee felt okay--not great, but okay--throughout my five-mile jog, but it hurt quite a bit when I stopped. Very stiff and sore. But 30 minutes after my run it felt no worse than it did before my run. I'm not sure if this means I should keep running on the track or not. The doctor said it would be okay, and it doesn't seem to make things worse, but my goal is to get better, not to not get worse. For now, I think I'll continue doing easy runs on the track, plus workouts on the stair-stepper, in the pool, and on the treadmill (at a steep incline). Unfortunately, I suspect Speedgoat won't be happening this year.

37:40

PM: Treadmill miles. I've found that while my knee is tolerable running at easy paces on the flats, it seems to feel just fine running uphill. I figure that's a pretty good deal, since it means I can maintain my strength without pounding my knee too hard.

With that in mind, I started with a 10-minute warmup and then set the treadmill to 15 percent for a 30-minute hill climb. I started with 2.5 minutes at 5 mph, then I did three 5-minute reps at 5.5 mph with five minutes at 5 mph between them (I finished the last interval with 30 seconds at 6.5 mph). I ended the climb with another 2.5 minutes at 5 mph, then I leveled out the treadmill and ran at an easy pace until I hit 5 miles in just over 50 minutes.    

AM: I planned to be at the gym by 6:00 this morning so I could spend an hour on the elliptical, but I got a late start and didn't get there till 6:20. Unfortunately, there was no one there yet, so I went to the track at East High. (It turns out that the gym opens at 6:30, not 6:00, but it's been so long since I've gone in the morning that I had forgotten. Oops.)

I ran three easy miles (maybe more--sometimes I lose track) on the track, but that was it because my knee was feeling sore (I can't wait to start therapy tomorrow). East High is more interesting than West High. Yesterday, the only people on the West High track were two senior women walking with trekking poles. Today at East High I shared the track with--in addition to several runners--three middle-aged triathletes, two Cross Fitters, and one race walker. Excellent people watching.

No watch.

PM: Back to the gym for 50 minutes on the elliptical. It's boring, but my knee has no objections.

I had my first appointment with the physical therapist this morning. The real work will start on the next visit, but I did get some stretches and exercises to do at home. According to the therapist, I started taking care of my knee soon enough that we should be able to resolve the problem quickly. Let's hope so.

I think the biggest benefit of therapy will be having some to tell me what not to do. For example, the therapist told me not to run for the next couple of days. He said the elliptical was fine, and at first he approved hiking. Then he found out I was planning to hike up the face of Granduer Peak, so he told me not to hike. Although the climb would be fine, the descent would set me back. I already knew that, of course, but I probably would have gone for the hike if the therapist hadn't told me not to.

After my appointment I went to the gym and did one hour on the elliptical, followed by 15 minutes and just over one mile of hiking on the treadmill at a 15 percent grade. (Because the therapist told me not to hike because of the descents, I figured this was fair game.)

In the evening I went back to the gym with Catherine and hiked uphill for 30 more minutes on the treadmill. This time I did intervals (yes, apparently you can walk intervals) to experiment with how fast I can hike. I didn't discover my limit, but I did find out that 12:30 per mile is walkable. At that pace, it's actually more efficient to run. But to become a faster runner I often run steep hills at paces that would be hiked more efficiently, so I suppose hiking at paces better suited to running is the way to become a faster hiker.

Last day to withdraw my Speedgoat registration is July 11. I won't make a decision until then.

AM: Another 30 minutes on the elliptical, and I'll be back for more tomorrow. I'm starting to feel like I'll never get to run normally again. Catherine is planning to go for a trail run tomorrow. You have no idea how jealous that makes me :)

PM: Yet another 30 minutes on the elliptical.  

I had my second appointment with the PT this morning--icing and stretching, massage, some strengthening exercises and a battery-operated topical anti-inflammatory. My knee has been feeling much better over the last two days, and I think the cartilage issue has resolved itself. However, there's residual tenderness in my tendon that is easily exacerbated, which makes it easy to think this will never go away. But I just need to be patient, and I should be back to normal pretty soon.

In fact, the therapist told me to go for a run tomorrow on the wood chips at Liberty Park. I'm only supposed to run as long as it doesn't hurt, and I'm not supposed to go further than six miles, but it's a start.

Today I was back in the gym for an hour. I'm really starting to get tired of that place. I walked for 30 minutes and two miles on the treadmill at a 15-percent grade, then I hopped over to the elliptical for another 30 minutes. 

The therapist told me to run today, and I was looking forward to it. I was supposed to take it easy on the wood-chip track at Liberty Park, limiting myself to 6 miles, but after less than half a mile my knee was already hurting a lot more than I expected. My first instinct was to push through and run the full 6 miles because, hey, the trainer said I could go that far, but I realized that I would probably just hurt myself. So I pulled the plug after 1 lap, and that's where the responsibility ended.

I thought I'd go use the elliptical, but something about the thought of more time in the gym made me snap. Since the therapist had told me I could ride my bike as far and as hard as I wanted, I went home and pulled out my road bike and team kit for my first bike ride since sometime in January.

I started by riding out to Magna, then south on the Bacchus Highway past the copper mine and the wild horse and burro center and on into Herriman. I called Catherine to let her know I was on my way back. Since we were having dinner with her grandparents, she suggested that maybe I'd rather ride for a bit longer and just meet her at her grandparents' house that evening.

She was right--I did want to ride longer. So, Instead of riding home on Redwood I headed south to Saratoga Springs, then out through Lehi and American Fork before riding north through Alpine, over Traverse Ridge and up to Catherine's grandparents' house at Daybreak. 

Overall, I felt pretty good. Not as fast as I have been, but not bad at all. It's nice to know that running hills really does seem to maintain cycling legs. Of course, after so much time off the bike, I will say that my undercarriage is a bit tender and leave it at that.

I ended up with about 85 miles in about 4.5 hours. The downside is that my knee still hurts. It didn't interfere with my cycling, but I could feel that it was sore. I'm not sure if cycling made things worse or if I was just feeling the effects of this morning's run. Either way, I plan to go for another longish ride like today's on Monday and then talk to the therapist about it on Tuesday.

At this point, I can't take much more of the sitting and waiting. I only have six weeks till I start law school, and there will be plenty of sitting around then. I feel like right now my best choice may be to just ride through the pain for a month or so and maybe even do some racing. Once school starts I can take a month or so completely off to heal and focus entirely on studying.

I have mixed feelings right now. On the one hand, I want to be back out running the trails. On the other, I'm sick of the injury and it kind of makes me want to never bother running again. 

AM: It turns out that cycling isn't entirely knee neutral, at least not with my injury, but my knee doesn't interfere with my cycling, so I don't care. And it turns out that even after six months of running, I'm still very much a cyclist--I feel comfortable, fast, and sexy on my bike (although the last may simply be my skewed perspective).

Anyways, I rode a loop through Grantsville for 83 pancake-flat miles. My legs feel fine after Saturday's ride, reinforcing my belief that trail running and cycling use the same muscles. My sit bones are still sore, however--there's no cross training for that, and for the first few miles I could feel every little bump on the road.

3:56

PM: Catherine is thinking about riding a century later this year, so we went out for a 14-mile ride this evening. 

More miles on the road bike. Just an easy recovery spin tonight--17 miles in about an hour.

I went for another mellow ride this evening, heading up Eagle Ridge and along Bountiful Boulevard to get in a few steep hills. Just under an hour and a half. Afterwards, I ran a quick mile with Catherine. No pain during the run, but my knee felt a little tender after.

I joined Catherine and a couple of her coworkers on their lunchtime run today. From the Church Office Building up through Memory Grove to Bonneville Boulevard and then back. It was nice to get out and run, and it was great to see Catherine, but my knee did not like it at all. It's official--no Speedgoat this year.

After work I went to the gym. My plan was to hike on the treadmill for 30 minutes at a 15 percent grade. After a few minutes, though, I was bored, so I bumped the pace up to 5 mph and did a little running. Then I bumped it up to 5.5 for a little more than 16 minutes and finished with 5 minutes at 5.5.

The good news is that running on the steep incline didn't seem to hurt my knee at all. I think my game plan now is to keep cycling, with at least a couple of short runs each week. That way, I'll maintain my fitness without forgetting how to run, and once my knee heals completely, I should be able to pick up right where I left off.

I'm disappointed to be missing Speedgoat, but I'll make up for that by racing to win next year. 

I was on the road early this morning. I rode out to Redwood Road, then up through Bountiful into Kaysville and back the way I came. It was mostly a steady, moderate effort, but I did pick it up for ten minutes or so before the turnaround. A little under 40 miles in a little under two hours.

PM: Catherine and I ran an easy mile on the track at East High after seeing a movie with some friends. My knee felt decent.

AM: More miles on the road bike. I went over Suncrest and felt terrible the whole way, so when I took a nail in my rear tire shortly after I pulled the plug on the ride instead of patching the tube. Such is life.

PM: Two miles with Catherine. My knee holds up well on the short runs, so I'll start introducing more running to my schedule--gradually.

I went out for a morning road ride--up Emigration Canyon, down the back of Little Mountain and then back the way I came.

My knee seems to be feeling better. Not well enough that I plan to race Speedgoat or anything else significant this year, but well enough that I plan to start mixing some running in with my cycling this week, probably starting tomorrow.

PM: Catherine and I went to the track at Highland High after work for speedwork with the Salt Lake Track Club. I was supposed to do 3x1600, but because I was afraid of my knee (and because I've lost my edge in my convalescence) I wimped out after two. I was trying to go easy--my plan was to run conservatively in the 5:45 range--but I wound up with 5:19:xx (my fastest ever, go me!) and 5:33:xx.

I think I'd like to finish this week with about 15 miles, plus whatever I do on the bike.

I went out for an easy run with Catherine and a friend from church this morning. Although I felt some twinges coming down through Memory Grove, my knee mostly felt fine, though I wonder how much of that was because our pace was so slow.

Edit--We weren't running slow because of Catherine.

This is my last month at work before I go back to school, so I have some vacation time to burn. As a result, I have every Wednesday in July off, and I plan to use them for long rides (since my knee probably won't allow long runs). Today I rode a loop around the Oquirrh Mountains through Eagle Mountain and then Tooele. I had a bit of a bonk around mile 110, either because I haven't built up my range this year or because I was fighting a headwind from 5 Mile Pass to Saltair. Or both. Either way, I was fine after a couple of gels, and except for that and a flat tire at the very beginning it was a good ride. 

5:45

I went to the gym after work with Catherine and ran three miles on the treadmill. My legs are still pretty fried from yesterday, but my knee is holding up well.

Catherine and I ran up to Virginia Avenue and then over to 5th South for a preview of the Deseret News 10K course. My knee held up well enough, and now I'm at 15 miles for the week. Baby steps, right?

Catherine is getting much faster, and it's fun to be a part of. I think she'll have a great run on the 24th.

I was hoping to ride up Big Mountain with Fritz this morning, but I'm in the process of taking one bike apart and putting another together so I wasn't ready to roll today.

Since I couldn't ride, I decided to run. My knee has been holding up lately, so I thought it might be time to try a trail, so I headed up to Grandeur Peak. The climb, brutal as always, went well. I pretty much hiked the entire thing, steady pace, no stopping. I hit the summit in 61 minutes--almost 10 minutes slower than I did when racing, but not bad all things considered. 

After a breather at the top, I had to decide whether I'd head back down the way I came or run down the back side and continue the loop through Millcreek Canyon, and I chose the latter. The descent into the canyon is more gradual, so I thought it would be easier on my knee. Even so, I was cautious. My run was more of a jog, and I walked down the steep, technical parts to spare my knee. Even though I was running slowly, I missed a step in a rock garden and wiped out hard. First time for everything, I guess.

After the descent, I washed my wounds in the stream and continued along the Pipeline trail. It's dead flat, and I appreciated being able to cruise along without worrying about my knee. I hit the turnoff to the game trail that climbs over the ridge back to the trailhead, but I turned back around after about 100 feet. The trail is very overgrown right now, and since one of Catherine's coworkers has poison ivy, I was afraid to take my chances in the foliage. So I continued along Pipeline thinking I'd simply run out the canyon and back to my car on the roads.

Unfortunately, I missed a turn somewhere and ended up having to bushwhack my way down the mountain and through someone's back yard. It was slow going, but I eventually I made it back to the road and then to my car.

I wasn't wearing a Garmin, so I don't know how far I went, but the race loop is 10 miles, so I assume I did about that. At 2:35, it was very slow, even though I was taking it easy. Of course, it would have been quicker if not for the off-trail adventure near the end. For now, I'm just glad to be back on the trails.

Catherine and I went on a mellow bike ride this evening so she could try out her new bike. We found a poopload of pennies near 9th and 9th. Life is good. 

I get restless legs at night. Last night they kept me up until sometime around midnight, so I wasn't exactly ready to go when the alarm went off at 5:00 this morning. Even so, Catherine and I stuck to the plan and drove to Sugarhouse. She stayed in the park, while I headed over to the track at Highland High for some speedwork, which was really just a blend of jogging, walking, running fast and wimping out.

Anyways, my plan was to run 5 x 800, walking 200 in between. I ran two, the first in 2:33 and the second in 2:32 (I have no sense of pacing or how fast I should be going, so I just kind of wing it). Then I decided to finish with 400s, first one in 77 and the second in 71 (the first was so slow because I thought I was running an 800 until I finished my first lap and decided I was done). Then I ran another mile, hitting the first and third laps hard and the second and fourth easy.

After I finished on the track I joined Catherine at the park and finished with another mile or so. I don't know how much my unstructured workouts help, but I doubt they hurt, and I'm glad to be doing some running without knee pain again (knock on wood). 

Catherine and I got up early this morning and met Jun and his friend Jason in Millcreek Canyon for a run on the Pipeline trail. It's a great choice for an easy trail run, and the temperature was perfect, too. Unfortunately for her, Catherine had a few "issues" on the return trip (See her blog for more details). We've all been there, though, and back at the car we all shared a few of our worst trailside emergencies, like the time I had to squat on the lawn at Liberty Park by the volleyball courts (and yes, that's in plain sight, or it would have been if anyone were around). Interestingly, it's never been an issue on the bike . . .

A good day in the mountains. 

I took another vacation day today, and I had originally planned to go for another long ride. But yesterday my friend Jared emailed me about a mountain run up in the Cottonwoods, and since my knee has been holding up lately I decided to tempt fate and join him and our friend Jon.

We met at the Big Cottonwood park and ride and Jared drove us up to Alta. From there we ran up the road and continued on past the end of the pavement, eventually picking up a trail up to Catherine's Pass(?). From there we ran down into Brighton, then up past Mount Millicent, then along a ridge over Solitude and then back down to Alta.

For the most part, I enjoyed the run. And the scenery was spectacular--it's amazing to see what we have so close to town here. But once we hit the ridge along Solitude, there wasn't much of a trail, and I'm not really into that. Especially not the 3,000 foot descent straight down a loose slope when the trail Jared expected turned out not to exist.

Still, it was an adventure, and I'm glad I went. According to Jon, that's how all runs with Jared end, so next time I'll be prepared. We were gone for about 2:45, but I didn't have my Garmin so I'm not sure how much time we actually spent running. You can read Jared's report here.

After the run I still thought I'd make it out for an afternoon ride, but after lunch with Catherine I didn't have time for a meaningfully long ride before meeting her at the temple, so I decided to hit Grandeur Peak instead. 

I took it easy on the descent because my knee was giving warning signs and I was listening, but before that I had a great ascent. The weather was reasonably cool and my stomach was settled, and at my steady but not forced pace I actually beat my race time. 2.2 miles and 3,300 feet (according to SportTracks) in 50:32. That's not bad, although the fastest ascent I know of is 39 minutes, which is hard to imagine.

I went for an easy road ride this evening. Jared gave me the GPS report for yesterday morning's run, and it turns out we climbed about 4500 feet. Which means I climbed (and descended) nearly 8000 feet yesterday over 15 miles. No wonder my quads are trashed.

1:24

I went for a flat, easy road ride up into Farmington this morning. My legs are feeling better, but tomorrow could be ugly.

2:21 

I wanted to break 35 minutes this morning, but given my lack of running over the past month I really didn't think that would happen. So I'm pleased with this morning's result, even if I do still get beat by high school girls.

I didn't even bother tapering for this one since I wasn't sure I'd be racing until earlier this week. Thanks to some mountain running with some serious vertical on Wednesday and a not-really-short ride on the road bike yesterday, I woke up with some sore quads. In fact, I really didn't even want to get out of bed, although that probably had more with my alarm going off at 4:30 than it did with my sore muscles.

Catherine and I lined up as close to the front as we could without being too rude, considering our relatively late arrival. The officials said go, and we were off. No, I'm just kidding. I'm sure the people up front started running, but a few rows back everyone seemed happy to stay put, or shuffle at best. Fortunately, once I crossed the official start I used my madd trail-running skillzz to hop on the grass and find enough space to start running.

I think I went out too hard. Thanks to the descents, my first two miles were a little under 5:10 (the fastest miles I've ever run, actually), and the third wasn't much slower. I didn't blow up, but I did think it was best to slow down after that. I watched the group I had been running with slowly pull away, but I ended up passing several of those runners later while no one else passed me, so I think the decision to let up was a good one.

As I ran along the parade route on 2nd East, I started contemplating just how much I hate 5Ks and 10Ks. In fact, I hate them almost as much as I hate criterium racing on the bike, and for the same reason--I don't like going that hard. I don't like being dizzy and cross-eyed, I don't like searing lungs and I don't like feeling like my breakfast may come up at any moment (especially after I didn't even eat breakfast). I much prefer the slow burn of a 50K in the mountains. I'm not saying those are easier--they're just hard in a way that suits me better.

As I turned onto 9th south, not only could I see the finish, which seemed so close and yet so far, I could also see that I had a chance to break 35. You'd think that would have made me happy, but mostly it just annoyed me. If it was obvious I wasn't going to make my goal, I could have just cruised in and been happy that I was going to wind up with a PR regardless. But instead I had to keep on the gas all the way to the finish, and that hurts. Boo hoo.

Anyways, I crossed the line with what looked like 34:50 on the official clock and 34:38 on my stopwatch (actually, Catherine's stopwatch), which I started as I actually crossed the starting line. I'll update when the official times are up.   

After the race I rode up Big Mountain with Fritz. When riding with other cyclists, we mostly just cruise around. When riding with Fritz, apparently, we drive it pretty hard. I was drained, but it was a good ride, even though I couldn't find it in me to hang with Fritz for the final 5K to the summit. I hope to ride with him more in the future.

Edit--Official results are up. Chip time was 34: 35.1, gun time was 34:49.5.

Catherine and I went for an easy bike ride this evening. Today was a hot one, but it was very nice by the time we hit the road.

AM: Catherine and I dragged ourselves out of bed for an early run at Sugarhouse Park. I'm surprised by how much the 10K took out of me. I hobbled around the park for three laps before calling it quits. Catherine seems to be holding up better than me, but she's pretty sore, too, so not by much.

On the plus side, we stopped by Smith's on the way home and bought a couple of 12-packs of old-school Dr. Pepper, which we didn't even know existed until this morning.

PM: I rode my bike to work this morning (not much more than a mile) so I could take the long route home. I wasn't wearing a watch, but I was probably out for a little more than an hour. It really helps my legs loosen up.

Since I've been riding lately, I may as get myself into some sort of racing shape, just in case I decide to race again before the season ends. For the last couple of years, one of my staple workouts has been sub-threshold climbing on steep hills, so this morning I rode over Capitol Hill and then up to North Salt Lake to take advantage of Eagle Ridge and its many 12 percent grades. About 19 miles in about 74 minutes, with a little more than 2,000 feet of climbing made for a good morning ride. Unfortunately, I left my house key at home, so I ended up hanging out on the front steps for a while until Catherine finished her run.

This was my last day off before I leave my job on Friday. I started the morning with another run up out of Alta. I brought a camera this time, and my plan was to run the same route as last week, stopping along the way to take pictures. Of course, I got lost, so I made up the route as I went. Over Catherine's Pass and then down to the Brighton base area. From there I ran up past Millicent and through Solitude before climbing up to a ridge and descending some nice singletrack back to the car. 10 miles and 3,000 feet of vertical in 1:48 

In the afternoon I went out for a ride. My plan was to climb Big Mountain, but I was tired and unmotivated, so I wandered up to Wasatch, over to the mouth of Big Cottonwood, then down to 9th East and back home. About 32 miles in 1:42.

I was pretty tired this evening, but I decided to join Catherine on her run for another 4 miles to pad my weekly total.  

Racing tomorrow.

A quick clarification--when I wrote yesterday that I was racing today, I wasn't referring to Speedgoat. When I injured my knee, I rolled my registration over to next year, and there was no way to change that. What I meant was that I was racing my bike. And by racing I mean "racing."

Since Speedgoat was out, I planned to ride a local charity ride in the canyons with Fritz, but at the last minute I changed my mind and signed up for the Tour de Park City instead.

A little background--last year, the TdPC started and ended at Kimball Junction. The course was somewhere in the 170-180 mile range, and I won the men's 1/2 race handily on a long two-man break that started at the bottom of the Mirror Lake Highway and turned into a solo break in Kamas when my breakaway companion got a flat tire. 

This year, the TdPC followed mostly the same route but started instead in Coalville, shortening the course to 145 miles, and I believe I finished DFL in the men's 1/2 race after getting dropped like an anchor at the bottom of the Mirror Lake Highway.

Basically, my race this year was the exact opposite of my race last year. The difference, of course, was mileage. I went into this year's race with around 700 miles of cycling in my legs, almost all of it in the last three weeks. I went in last year's race with more than 10 times that--thousands and thousands of base miles, racing miles and everything in between.

The difference was obvious from the beginning. Last year I raced at the end of a hard training week, so I was tired, but my legs had snap. This year they didn't, and I could feel it almost from the start. As we rolled up Chalk Creek Canyon, every time there was a surge or a steep hill, I had to force myself to respond. My lungs were fine--I wasn't sucking wind--but my legs were only barely up to the task.

I made it through Chalk Creek and the dirt road that follows without any problems, and I was fine on the road to Evanston, too, although a poorly timed nature break forced me to waste a valuable effort chasing back onto the pack.  

Things were pretty mellow from  Evanston to the Mirror Lake Highway. At one point, a bunch of riders called for a nature break, and since everyone was stopping I though I may as well, even though I didn't really need to go. Of course, the pack decided not to stop, and I ended up towing everyone who did back up to the pack. Lame, and another effort wasted.

There was a feed zone right after we caught back on, and Catherine was there with a couple of bottles. I was happy to see her. 

Once the climb started in earnest, at about 90 miles, I went straight out the back. Granted, I didn't put up much of a fight, but I could feel that the miles had taken their toll on me, so I decided the best option was to simply ride my pace and see what happened.

I ended up waiting for two other riders so I wouldn't be alone on the descent. But I got dropped on the descent, so I wound up alone anyways. This happens a lot. It makes sense on technical descents, because I'm timid and I brake way too much. But I don't understand why I get dropped on straight high-speed descents. I'm spun out, and I'm as low as I can go, but I just can't keep up. It happened regularly at the Tax Day circuit race. It happened a couple of times at the Everest Challenge. It happened on Trapper's Loop at the Tour of Utah last year. And now it happened here. Maybe I should pick up some weights when I top out on climbs.

Another straggler caught up to me halfway through the descent, but by that point I was in survival mode and I just wanted to be alone inside my head. So I worked with him until we hit the feed zone in Kamas, where I stopped to talk to Catherine. I think the other rider thought I was pulling out and rode on alone, which is exactly what I wanted. I can be a jerk when I'm tired and cranky.

The last 25 miles back to Coalville aren't bad by themselves, but after 120 miles of racing they're awful. The rollers were destroying me, and the headwind around the reservoir didn't help, either. Still, I managed to keep my effort steady and I did make it to the finish eventually. The masters racers (who started 5 minutes after us) never caught me, so I guess there's that.

I finished in just under 7:15. Last year, I finished the longer and harder course in 8:03:35. Of course, times are irrelevant in bike racing and all that matters is placing--unfortunately, that makes things worse. Last year I won by nearly 6 minutes. This year I came in about 45 minutes behind the winners. Ouch.

Anyways, it was fun to race again (allowing for a liberal interpretation of the word "fun"), but I think trail racing may be a better fit for me. I don't think that's sour grapes, either. The nature of road racing simply means that it will never be as individual or private as trail running, and one of the things I love most about trail running is the individual nature of the sport.

Of course, after having been beaten so badly I can't help thinking about a return to cycling. I'm just not sure if I'm willing to make that kind of commitment right now. 

Catherine and I went out for a nice road ride together, as is becoming our Sunday evening routine. My legs feel surprisingly un-sore, but my appetite is out of control.