Slowly Getting Faster

I wanted to do 12 yesterday but I went hiking with my daughter instead. Family time is important. So I went today and did 10.  I'm glad I stopped at 10, not quite ready for 12 yet. The good news is that I'm not ready for 12 just because I haven't had that many miles recently, not because the injury was acting up. After 10 I was spent, but not any more than I was when I ran 6 on Tuesday. At mile 7 I felt a little tired but mostly fine. So this week I will take it up to 7 a day and see how that goes. My pace was slower than I would like it to be, but not too bad considering. 

Today's 7 was harder than yesterday's 10. I suppose that's because I wasn't fresh today. It may also have had something to do with starting this run up Farmington Canyon to the gate at the bridge. I chose this route because I wanted to get some hill work in and because I realized yesterday that getting to 7 miles would either mean meandering through the neighborhood or tacking on an extra mile some place.  So that some place was up the canyon. To be honest, the canyon part of the run wasn't that bad, it was mile 5.5-7.6 that was tough.  By then I was tired, my legs were tired, and it was getting hot. I got the 7 for the day though, so mission accomplished. 

I decided to do yesterdays loop in reverse today.  I figured that this would give me two advantages.  First, I would be able to warm up on flat ground rather than running up hill.  Second, I would be able to run up the canyon at mile 6, which is pretty close to what happens in the marathon. Turns out I was faster today than yesterday.  The reason for this, I think, is that the downhill mile and a half out of the canyon is the last section of the run so mentally I'm able to take the breaks off and push myself.  When the canyon downhill is the first part of the run, I feel like I need to keep something in the tank for the remaining 5 miles of the run. 

I need to work on cadence a bit on the flat land though.  While its alright if I just finish the marathon in under 4 at this point, I would also like to give myself a shot at beating my PR of 3:38. 

I'm not very fond of Park City. Partially because the people all seem a bit pretentious, but mostly because they don't have any place to poop on the city trails. When I found myself there today at 4:30 for a run i tried to focus on the fact that it was 85 degrees instead of the fact that I was going to inevitably have to poop in plain view of the public eye. 5 miles into the run my focus was very much on the public eye problem. Long story short, don't stop to admire the Olympic statue about a half mile south of the hotel park city until there has been time for biodegradation to run its course.

7 miles @ 10:09 per mile. I think that's an ok pace considering the time it took to find a public monument to deficate by and the fact that it's a couple thousand feet higher than Farmington.

Same course as 2 days ago but 12 seconds a mile faster today. While that is a good sign, the best part is that a good portion of this run didn't feel labored. I'm not sure if it's a result of everything coming together, the altitude run yesterday, the change of shoes today, or a combination of everything but I'm glad it happened. There are a few parts of this course that are decent uphills and that kept me above 9 minute miles today but my first 3 miles were all sub 9, which hasn't happened since my injury, and my last mile out of the canyon even hit a sub 7 for a little bit. 

I forgot why I love Altra Instincts so much but switching back to them today reminded me.  despite the fact that they are heavier than the Kinavara's I have been wearing, my stride feels so much more natural in these shoes. I feel like I'm lighter, even though I am actually a bit heavier. I think I'll make these my regular shoe again for a while and see if I can keep the love affair going.

9:14 avg pace 

14 slowly to finish off the week. I say slowly but it was actually a decent pace in relation to my speed of late. 9:50 average, with some steep canyon climbing in the middle that really slowed me down. I can say with authority that I am not ready for 26 at this point.  The first 9-10 miles felt great but the last 4 were more of a forced effort.  I think if I had brought some GU along it would have been better though.  I was pretty hungry at mile 8 but didn't have anything to eat. Luckily, my 1 20oz water bottle kept me in fluid for the whole 14. 

I'm pretty happy with that elevation profile as well.  It's much harder to get hill running in when you can't go off road and it's good to see an elevation gain over 2,000 feet. All in all, I would say this has been a productive running week.