Slowly Getting Faster

I think I've finally shaken the funk I was in. It seemed like, after the marathon training cycle and then trying to keep some training up for the moab run, I was just spent. On top of that, my foot hurt.  All of this culminated in me not wanting to run anywhere. I decided after the moab half to just take it easy for a week and then see where I was.  At the end of that week I was still not ready to go out. Last night I dreamed I was running on a trail, in a race, and that my time was awesome. Because I've never had a running dream before I took that as a sign it was time to get going again. 

I probably over did it. I decided I wanted to run on dirt, not the road.  I headed up to the firebreak from my house and then down the firebreak to Farmington Canyon. At the canyon I turned up the road and followed it to the end of the pavement. I decided to go up the trial to sunset campground and then back down the road. The trail is pretty nice for not being used much. That is, until you get past the water falls. The upper 1/2 mile or so is snowy and overgrown. But the bottom 1.5 miles is a pretty nice run.

they are apparently going to be opening that canyon back up pretty soon. they had a bunch of heavy equipment on the road and they had clearly been digging out and reinforcing the collapsed section. Sucks that I will soon have to share the canyon with cars again. 

the last 1.5 miles or so were rough.  I wasn't ready for the climb + the distance after 2 weeks off. I wish I could say this was preparation for the Moab 55K but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make that work.  

4 am wake up for an early morning run up Lake Mountain with Matt VH, Scott W, Jun and Faceless Ghost. The trail/road was a lot steeper than I thought it was going to be. I soon fell to the back of the pack and slowly trotted my way up.  Matt VH would have been far ahead of me if he didn't always need to stop and move product. I was thankful for the company.  The view on top was excellent and the run down wasn't too bad either.   

I can't believe how wrecked I am after Lake Mountain on Tuesday! I also can't believe that I am in that bad of shape after only taking 2 weeks off. I thought I would be able to hang, which I wasn't, and then I thought I would be sore but ok, which was also not really true.  I had a hard time walking all day yesterday and woke up stiff again today.  I decided I should push through the stiffness and just get a few miles in before gorging myself this afternoon. 

A few days ago I contemplated either signing up for the turkey leg 5k in Ftown or just bandit running it. When I woke up this morning it was pretty clear that neither of those would be good options.  I wouldn't be able to go fast enough to make it worth paying for and my hobble jog was going to look pretty silly with the other runners.  So I just did 6 on the road around the neighborhood. Although stiff I started out ok. 8 minute mile for the first mile, but it is slightly downhill. Every mile after that was slower and my last mile was 9:36.

My next scheduled race is a 5K in St. George in January. Part of the runners series. I thought I would be done with the Marathon after this year and start focusing on trails more. After running the race though, I've decided that I have to keep at it until I beat it.  And by beat it I mean at least get a sub 3 hour time.

So, the plan. Hopefully typing out for the world to see will help keep me honest. I need to run 6 days a week and get my weekly milage back up to 50-60 over the next month. Then I need to start mixing in track workouts to get my speed up. I would really like to break 21 minutes in January, something I've never done before. It would be even better if I could break 20 minutes. Hopefully with some consistency I can make that happen soon.  

I had to get at least one mile in for the run streak challenge so I hit the treadmill at the hotel "fitness center" as soon as I got the chance.  I was tired from the long drive and had eaten dinner about an hour before so it wasn't the best.  Also, the treadmill is boring unless you're willing to do a really hard workout.  even then it isn't that interesting.  Oh well, 3 miles down and run streak satisfied. 

treadmill at the hotel again. I was able to slog out a few more miles today.  Still boring.