Fly on the Wall

December 2008

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15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Salt Lake City,UT,

Member Since:

Nov 14, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

50k:  4:59 at Buffalo Run in 2010  (32 miles)

Marathon:  3:01 at St. George in 2009!

Half:  1:29 at Painter's/ St. George in 2009.  1:27 at Salt Lake in 2009 (aided course)

10k: 40:53 Greek Festival 10k at Sugar House park in 2010.

5miles: 32:10 Dam 2 Dam in 2009.  Master's winner.

5k: 20:00:00  19:54 in May 2010.

2008:  Ran the Slam + Boston

I need to update this!

Short-Term Running Goals:

Carpe Diem.

Don't trip over my own feet.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Keep running.

Personal:

1 wife

1 girl child

1 boy child

1 big dog

1 little dog

I'm a geologist for my day job.

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
120.4435.5018.600.00174.54
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.002.502.000.007.50

1 mile warm up.

2 Fatigue Fighter Intervals.

1 mile cool down.

 FFI #1-   0.25 mile, 5:45-168 bpm max;  100m recovery;  0.75 mile, 6:25-169bpm ave;  200m recovery;   1.25 miles, 6:45-170bpm ave;  0.57 mile recovery.  DOWN WIND

FFI #2-  0.26 mile, 174bpm max;  100m recovery;  0.75 mile, 6:38-172bpm ave;  200m recovery;  1.25 miles, 6:56-170bpm ave.  Head Wind

 This was a tough workout!  I would have liked to been faster on the 2nd set but strugled.  Not sure why but I didn't eat as well as I should have at breakfast, didn't sleep well last night (dog woke me up several times), head wind...?

Comments(8)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

Four miles EZ pace with 6x100m fast strides.

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.004.000.000.006.00

1 mile warm up, 9:14-129bpm.  4 at 1/2 mary pace, 6:47-168bpm.  0.8 cool down

Pace miles splits:

1   6:46-161bpm 

2   6:47-169bpm 

3   6:46-171bpm

4   6:46-173bpm 

I kept my pace close to goal (6:46) but I was working too hard and I was getting tired as can be seen with my rising heart rate.  I cant imagine keeping this pace for 13.1, especially with some of the little hills at Painters.  Hmmmmmm.....

NEW PICTURE at left.  It's our white Christmas of a few years ago.  The mountains are shades of gray and the valley floor is white.  Went spent xmas camping in Death Valley.  I know what your thinking but don't worry, Santa found us.

Comments(16)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

4 EZ miles with EZ conversation.  A very nice run.

Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.700.003.100.004.80

It was the dark of night when I drug my sorry butt out of my nice warm bed.... I suited up in some toasty tights, related running apparel, and my headlamp; ate a gel for breakfast; and jogged a warm-up mile to the starting line of Our Lady of Lourdes' 20th Annual Leprechaun Lope 5K. It was dark and chilly but it wasn't crowded. It seems I was the only one to show up 3 months early for this race. But my training plan called for racing a 5k and that's what I was going to do, even if there weren't any in this part of the valley on this day.

The race starts just east of the capitol and runs around City Creek and then back down to end in Memory Grove. I lined up in the very front, right on the starting line, or at least somewhere near where it will be in 3 months. The voices in my head yelled "go" and I was off. This course starts with a short but steepish incline followed by a mile of gentle incline, then a half mile of a bit steeper incline. After the turnaround it's all down hill to the finish. I started strong and took the lead. I held the lead for the whole race to finish 1st in my age group, 1st masters runner, 1st male, and 1st overall. Unfortunately I was also last in my age group, last masters runner, last male runner, and last overall. Here are my splits:
mile 1 - 6:46-171bpm uphill.
mile 2 - 6:41-171bpm steeper uphill followed by steeper downhill.
mile 3 - 5:58-175bpm bombing downhill.
mile .1- 5:46-177bpm

And now the punchline, my final Garmin time was 20:00! :x :roll: :lol: Exactly the same as my 5k PR and exactly they same as Huans' Garmin time at his Turkey Trot.  I still haven't run a sub 20 5k. Hoping that I hit the stop button a second too late, I tried to check the official results but they won't be posted for another 3 months! :wink:

Note: I'm not sure if this course is faster or slower than a flat 5k. On an out and back course I don't think you can recover speed lost going uphill when going downhill. However this course has a net elevation loss, so it very well could be faster than flat.

Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

I was not very motivated so I ran trails, which are slower, steeper, and more inspiring.  Legs heavy but I did find a bit of second wind toward the end of my run.  

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.753.000.000.005.75

Planed- 3x1.5miles @ 6:30 pace with .25 mile recovery.

Actual- .5 mile "warm up". 

1.5 miles, I couldn't keep it anywhere near pace. I was at 6:53-163bpm. It was snowing hard enough that I couldn't see very well.  The snow was sticking well enough that the trail was slick and snow packed.  My legs felt heavy.  I was unmotivated.  I felt tired all day. 

.25 recovery

1.5 miles even worse than the first.

.25 recovery

1.75 miles.  I started running it as an interval but it sucked.  My heart rate monitor fell off and I threw in the towel when I hit a red light with traffic at a street crossing.

I'm not sure what I achieved with this run.  In retrospect I'd have been better off doing my speed work the next day.  As it is I will either run very easy tomorrow or just take the day off to regain my composure and hopefully motivation and speed. 

 

As a side note, a colleague was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about one month ago.  This is a wicked disease with an average prognosis of 3 to 6 months.  He started experimental Chemo Tuesday and died on Thursday.  A dark reminder to be thankful for all that I've got.

Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

After yesterday I decided to give myself a day off from running, with the plan of running stronger tomorrow.

Pull ups:8 sets of 1 w/ 90 sec recovery between "sets"

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=muscle.building&conitem=15625fb666e69010VgnVCM100000cfe793cd____&page=2 

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.100.002.500.005.60

Training plan called for 6 miles with alternating 2:00 to 3:00 minute long intervals at 6:30 pace w/ 1:00 min recovery.  I substituted a 4x4 work out because I had 2 running mates join me today- 4 @ 4 minutes fast, ~2 min recovery.

I felt great.  These are the days that keep me running.  I think yesterday's rest really rejuvenated me.  And it was a beautiful crisp day.  Only a bit of ice remaining on the trail.

1.4 mile warm up.

0.62 miles at 6:33 pace 169bpm max, ~0.2 mile/2 min recovery

0.63 miles at ~6:30 pace 176bpm max, ~0.2 mile/2 min recovery

0.64 miles at ~6:20 pace 177bpm max, ~0.2 mile/2 min recovery

0.62 miles at ~6:18 pace 181bpm max

1.2 mile cool down.

I've run this workout on the same loop many times with one of the these runners, but we haven't done it in a year or so.  He is quite a bit faster than me in 5 Ks.  Usually I just try to keep up with him on these work outs.  Today I was the rabbit and finished ahead of him every time.  I would have thought he was just making me feel good, but my heart rate was also about 5bpm slower than his for the first time (we, at least used to, have about the same max heart rate).


Comments(6)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

Just 4 EZ recovery miles.  Felt fine.

Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

6 miles up City Creek with 6x100 strides. 8:34 ave pace (up & down), 145 bpm.

Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Planned rest day.  Long run tomorrow morning.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.005.000.000.0015.00

15 miles.  Because of the snow and ice I mostly stuck to plowed roads and sidewalks, but because of the snow and ice there was not much traffic on the roads.  Ran down hill and past Temple Square, up Memory Grove, around and up 11th Ave.

Miles 9 to 13 were supposed to be at goal pace of 6:47 (I cheated and ran downhill):

9 - 6:46, 160bpm, a bit downhill.

10 - 6:46, 167bpm, a bit downhill.

11 - 8:15, 165bpm, half mile uphill and half mile downhill.  The uphill was extra slow due to snow and ice.  It was just too slick to push my pace.

12 - 6:41, 166bpm, downhill with snow and ice.

13 - 6:44, 168bpm, downhill with a little snow.  I hit both lights green when running into downtown.

I really bogged down coming back in that last mile or so.  I think I was running out of fuel.  I only ate part of a package of sports beans and they didn't sit very well. 

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

A cold run on a chunky Jordan River Parkway.

The temp was about 27 but the wind was about 20 mph, which made it a bit nippy.  Luckily I dressed for it.

I swaped my speed work from today to tomorrow.  Hopefully the weather tomorrow won't be too terrible. 

Comments(11)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.255.000.000.009.25

1.6 mile warm up.

2 Fatigue Fighter Intervals.

1.8 mile cool down.

 FFI #1-   ~0.25 mile, ?:??-169bpm max;  ~100m recovery;  0.75 mile, 6:36-178bpm ave (snowy trail);  200m recovery;   1.5 miles, 6:58-171bpm ave;  0.45 mile recovery (snowy trail + wet, muddy road). 

FFI #2-  0.25 mile, 6:10-171bpm max;  100m recovery;  0.75 mile, 6:30-169bpm ave;  200m recovery ( wet, muddy road to snowy trail);  1.5 miles, 7:01-171bpm ave (1mile snowy trail. then 1/2 mile on trail with only limited snow and ice, kept 6:47 pace on 2nd section). 

I felt pretty good considering these intervals are  not easy.  My paces were off but this is expected when running on a few inches of lumpy, previously trodden snowy. 

For this run I used screw shoes (http://www.skyrunner.com/screwshoe.htm).  Those would be an old pair of running shoes on which I have put short screws into the sole.  They work like studded snow tires and help the shoes grip on ice.  They are not perfect but feel more stabil than just the rubber lugs and I like them better than my STABILicers.

Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

4 EZ.

P.S., I ran with two co-workers and we did pull ups before starting out.  It went like this, fast old guy-9, quick young lady-7, wimpy me-2 (geez...)

Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.300.004.000.007.30

1 mile warm up.

3 min at 10k pace, 1 min recovery, 2 min at 10k pace, 1 min recovery... repeat for about 6 miles.

1.5 miles cool down.

I had trouble finding my 6:29 goal pace.  Intervals ranged from 6:16 to 6:27 on trail with patches of snow and ice and 6:49 to 7:13 on the un-groomed, lumpy-snow covered sections of trail. Heart rate during intervals was 171 to 173bpm (after the first two).  My recovery heart rate was 162 to 166 bpm.  This workout wore me out. 

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

6 miles with 6x100 strides.  Up City Creek and back.  Going up the wind was at my back.  Going down the wind was in my face and it started snowing hard. 

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.002.000.000.0016.00

16 miles through downtown, up City Creek, and back.  I ran up past where the road is plowed and I had fun post-holing in nice powder that came to just below my kneecap. But that was a whole lot of slow, hard work so I turned back before I made it to the 8 mile mark.  On the way back in I did a loop around Temple Square to make up for the lost 1/2 mile.  I really enjoyed my run today.  For those of you in warm climates, running in a winter wonder land can really be wonderful. 

EZ start.

Miles 5 - 11 I alternated 1 minute hard pace with 1 minute recovery (should have done 6:29 pace but this was not possible with the hill and snow). 

Mile 12 - 6:29, 165bpm DOWNHILL

Mile 13 - 6:27, 168bpm DOWNHILL

EZ finish.

Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.130.003.250.005.38

I'm fatigued from yesterday and thought about delaying my speed work til tomorrow.  But with the predicted snow and holiday family activities I thought I'd better get it done before I have even more excuses.

Goal:  warm up, 4 intervals- 0.75 mile @ 6:29 w/ 200 m recovery, 2 intervals- 200 m @ 6:13 w/ 100 m recover, cool down. 

 1 mile warm up.

0.75 -6:26, 161bpm

0.75- 6:27, 168bpm

0.75- 6:31, 170bpm (slowed to cross road)

0.75- 6:47, 165pbm - just didn't have it in me to keep pace. It started snowing and this just slowed me down for some reason.

0.12- 5:42, 169bpm max (Garmin pace unrealible for this short of distance)

0.12- 5:47, 169bpm max (Garmin pace unrealible for this short of distance)

0.57 mile cool down. 

I stayed on the plowed sections of trail and only had to deal with patches of slush.  Though some of this slush was deceptively slick. 

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

4 EZ

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.130.001.750.004.88

 

Not feeling 100% today.  I feel like I'm fighting off illness.  Plan calls for 2 sets of intervals but I did not finish the second set.

1mile warm up.

0.25- 6:10, 100m recovery

0.5- 6:16, 166bpm, 200m recovery

0.25- 6:17.

0.55- EZ.

 

0.25- 6:06, 100m recovery

0.5- 6:42, 171bpm, I waited to long to post this and can't remember exactly why I fell off pace other than I know I was starting to catch a cold or something and I was tired.

1.31- just running back in and licking my wounds...

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Feliz Navidad. 

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.130.000.000.004.13

I've a strange cold or some such thing.  I don't feel terrible but I don't feel good.  A bit of a sore throat and a very swollen uvula.  My training plan called for a 10k race today but I don't feel up to either a real race or a pretend one.

4.13 miles, 1 of which was at a quicker pace.  

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.001.000.000.0012.00

Still feeling ill but not ill enough to stay in.

12 miles through downtown, up City Creek, and back. Middle 4 miles at increased effort (not quite race effort).  Mile 8 was at goal race pace of 6:47 but downhill. 

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.504.002.000.009.50

Still not feeling 100%.  I thought about taking a nap instead of running but decided it might only get harder to find my way out the door later in the week.  Plus this should be a big training week for Painter's.  I did fine and felt better after the run than before the run.

Plan called for 2 FFIs.  Ran on Jordan River Parkway.  Stayed on the plowed sections.  Only patches of slushy ice. 

1.05 mile warmup.

2 Fatigue Fighter Intervals.  Goal paces- 6:13, 6:29, 6:47

1.5 mile cool down.

 FFI #1-   0.25 mile, 6:11-167 bpm max;  100m recovery;  0.75 mile, 6:27-166bpm ave;  200m recovery;   2 miles, 6:49-171bpm ave (would have been on pace w/out U turns);  0.58 mile recovery.  Some wind but not too bad.

FFI #2-  0.26 mile, 6:11-173bpm max;  100m recovery;  0.75 mile, 6:29-169bpm ave;  200m recovery;  2 miles, 6:50-170bpm ave (6:54 & 6:46) (would have been close to pace w/out U turns).  Pushed very hard at the end.

1.5 mile cooldown.

Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.253.000.000.006.25

1.55 miles warm up.

3 miles at goal pace (goal = 6:47).  mile1- 6:46, 165bpm.  mile2- 6:46, 174bpm.  mile3- 6:47, 177bpm.  ave=6:46, 172bpm. (180 bpm max).

1.7 miles cooldown.

I'm feeling better but still clearing out some phlem (gross).  I was able to keep pace today despite yesterday's intervals.  On the other hand I was starting to get tired after only 3 miles.  Tomorrow's run is supposed to include 5-6 miles at goal pace, yikes. 

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.006.000.000.009.00

1.5 mile warm up.

6 miles at goal pace (6:47).  I didn't keep the pace.  1-6:49,162bpm.  2-6:48,170bpm.  3-6:52,172bpm.  4-6:56,173bpm.  5-6:58,173bpm.  6-6:51,173bpm.  average-6:53,170bpm.  6:51 would get me a sub 1:30 half.  So I was 2 seconds off that pace and 13 seconds off my goal pace.  On the bright side, this was after 2 days of speed work.  

1.5 mile cool down.  

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
120.4435.5018.600.00174.54
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