Slowly Getting Faster

Workout today called for 6 mile progression run with the last 20 minutes at a moderate pace.  I figured my moderate pace is somewhere in the neighborhood of 8:10 - 8:20 per mile.  I picked that number because its not a sprint but its harder than an easy run. Its enough effort to let me know I'm working but not so much I am dead at the end. 

I didn't quite figure the distance for 20 minutes correctly and I only got ~16 minutes of moderate running in.  Next time I need to speed up at mile 3.5 instead of mile 4. The last mile was uphill too, which made it harder, but I pushed the speed to keep my pace fairly consistent. All in all, it was a fun run.  I like the workouts that add some speed in.  It adds some excitement to the miles.  

This was supposed to be 6 miles easy and 2x20 second hill sprints.  The actual workout called for 8 second hill sprints but I've already expressed my views on that. My average pace for the 6 miles was 8:23 per, with my slowest mile being 2 seconds faster than my slowest mile yesterday. I tried to just run at a pace that felt good and I avoided looking at my watch almost the entire time so that I wouldn't psych myself out and push harder than I wanted to.  I'm not sure if the result today is because I pushed my limits or if my limits have just changed.

Regardless, I think I learned something today about how I should approach the race.  Yesterday I felt good, but not as good as I did today.  Yesterday I was coming off a full days rest, today I was not.  So on race week, with the race on Saturday, I think I need to run about half the normal miles for the week, rest on Thursday, and do a tune up run on Friday maybe 3 miles or something before the Saturday race. We'll see how that works.  

Today's workout called for an easy 6 miles.  I really tried not to push to hard because I'm worried my efforts over the last 2 days have been too much.  I don't want to burn out before Saturday. So, going up the canyon I gained 600', and my splits were 9:23, 10:01, 9:43, which I thought was a good easy pace.  On the way down, my splits got progressively faster.  Starting at 8:36, then 8:06, then 7:53.  The last mile was the least steep but the fastest, which makes me think I probably over did it.  The problem I'm having is knowing where that line is.  I never feel like I'm pushing it, but those times are so much faster than I think I should be going.  I guess I'll know by Saturday. 

This was pretty much the same run as yesterday with a little added distance.  I like that canyon, its a pretty run with no traffic.  One of these days soon I'm going to take the Boneville shoreline trail from north salt lake to this City Creek Canyon.  I've seen the trail several times and it looks like a lot of fun.  I just haven't had time to run it yet and it's probably going to snow tomorrow. 

The run today was slower than yesterday, which I think is a sign that I'm getting tired from going so fast all week.  It could also be that I just figured out how to properly pace myself though.  Of course, it could also be that the downhill leg of a canyon run is more taxing on the leg muscles than I previously gave it credit for and by the time I run 3.5 miles up my legs are pretty tired coming down.  Maybe its a combination of those things.  

If it snows tomorrow I'm not sure where or when I will run and I might be reduced to a treadmill if its as bad as the weather report keeps saying it will be. I'm not looking forward to that.  

the workout today called for 6 + 2x8second hill sprints.  Instead, I decided to do 6 up Bonneville Shoreline Trail from City Creek to the Summit by Ensign Peak.  It was a great trail but I brought the wrong footwear for the job.  I hadn't planned on running this course when I woke up this morning so I packed my road shoes in my bag.  I love my road shoes but they are not ideal for trail running, especially when the trail is as rocky as that one can be in some places. 

For the past 2 weeks I have been running up City Creek Canyon at least a couple of times during the week.  The canyon road is nice because its paved and even in the steep parts its not such a steep grade that I even have to walk or slow down all that much.  This has built my confidence and left me with the false impression that the trail would be a nice relatively easy run as well.  I was mistaken.  there were a couple of points that I had to walk due to the steepness of the incline, and even the downhill was pretty rough though mostly because of my footwear.  It is an awesome trail and I think if I can alter my runs to take advantage of that kind of elevation gain I will get stronger and faster. 

this was 5 miles up Farmington Canyon, up to the place where the pavement ends.  Its was slow for a couple of reasons.  Fist, the grade up there is pretty steep - much steeper than city creek.  Second, it had rained or something last night and the road was icy and I didn't have any spikes to keep me from falling on my face.  consequently, I had to take it slow going up and slow coming down.  That said, it was a ton of fun.  I have never been able to get that far up that road before.  It was just under 1000' or gain but I think I could have kept going if I had better shoes on.  One day soon I'm going to go up to the next switchback in the road.  Maybe after I get me some Altra Kings Peak trail shoes.