j-lyn's corner

4 VERY slow miles early Sunday AM.  Early?! I went to bed at 1am (wasn't sleepy at all...) and still woke up at 6am sharp. C'mon, self! Sleep darnit!

It's kind of eerie in Utah early on a Sunday morning. I ran through my whole neighborhood and didn't see a soul until I ran into a couple of dog walkers at Dimple Dell.

I think I did a 9:30 pace. Usually after something long my body wants to do a tempo run before a recovery run, but that wasn't the case this time. Something about PR'ing my 5k  by probably 4 min while fleeing lightning on something that once was a trail but instead was a mini river must've gotten my "need for speed" out of me at the end of Friday's run. That's a long sentence. It could be considered a run-on sentence, since it has multiple clauses. Fantastic. I should be a writer.

I've made this goal to start actually running again instead of just slogging around in the mountains having picnics.

So, I went out on PAVED path in light rain (no iPod, insert sad face). I didn't have much time so I settled for a 1/2 mile warm up. Then I did 4x800m repeats with 1/3mile recovery. My supposed "goal" times should be 3:08-3:12, but I figured since there was a lot of wind and I just ran 40 some-odd miles up and down and up and down and up and down MFT (Mount Freakin Timpanogos) so I should shoot for something a little slower. 

In case you're wondering, I hate running fast. Sucks. So, here is what goes through the mind of a "slow picnic peak baggers" mind while she runs lame-o repeats:

Repeat 1: Hey, look at me! I'm running fast! Shoot, am I done yet? 1/3 mile? you're kidding me? Oh, look at the birds! I should run Pfiefferhorn Wednesday morning. and Lone Peak on Saturday. Oops, I'm supposed to be running fast... time to pump the arms again. -3:19

Repeat 2: Ok, this time, the wind is at my back. Gonna crush it. Ugh, this is stupid. This is stupider than bush-whacking. I hate this. ooOOOo! I did it! I ran fast! -3:12

Repeat 3: I wonder which is worse, this or bush-whacking through scrub oak. Definitely this. I'd take an hour of scrub-oak over an hour of this any day. Unless it's armpit deep scrub oak. That just sucks. -3:24

Repeat 4: Last one! Don't suck as much as the last one. Don't suck as much as the last one. I wish there was a creek to dip in. Where's the snacks?! This isn't even running it's just torture! -3:18

I know, distance runners are supposed to do more than 4 repeats. But I just did MFT! Ugh. Next week I'll do more. With music. So awful.

....But it dawned on me- when I ran my fast (for me fast) road races my training was harder and the races (compared to long ultra sufferfests) were easier. Maybe I should make training for my "fast" sort of "flat" ultras suck a little more and I'll be able race faster and the race won't hurt as much. Maybe.

do you see that sleep time? aw, yeah! first time in over 2 weeks sleeping more than 4-5 hours of broken sleep. NO SLEEPING PILL EITHER. boo-ya.

I woke up at 5am to go on a recovery run. Checked my messages and my last partner bailed. So I went back to sleep, and actually fell asleep. Miraculous.

Best recovery run ever. My co-workers told me I look like I'm glowing today. Ha.

Went up my first ever Pfiefferhorn summit with Jun and Jacob. On the way up I noticed that while my legs felt good, I was breathing a lot harder than I should be at such an easy pace. Stupid MFT (Mount Freaking Timp repeats). Stopped at the ridgeline to scout out and discuss the cottonwood traverse, the shady parts, access points, etc. I know, I know. WURL? But it's such a beautiful line....

Jacob has an insane fear of heights and said he wouldn't summit so I made it a personal goal to make sure he did. :) He did. Jun and I spotted him on the couple 4th class moves and went pretty very slow.

I tried to pick up the pace after we got down pass the lake, and took off once or twice (both Jun and Jacob are excellent downhill runners) but neither of them followed suit. Oh well. I never was the kind of girl the guys chase. So I hung back to be one of the "dudes." Good thing I had my trucker hat on.

Because I am a glutton for suffering I decided to run up LCC Creek trail after. I usually make it a goal to never walk going up, but this time hit a huge bonk (wasn't doing so hot on the calories/salt) and walked a couple of times. Still hit the turn around only a min slower than my PR and faster than most of the times I run up that "easy." Go figure.

Picked up pace and hammered down, for a total of 1:10. Not bad for totally trashed legs. I think I'm going to have to bail on my mileage goal for the week (60+). Pfieff (with stopping for 10-15min to scout for WURL) took about 3:30... and doing Lone Peak isn't exactly going to be "short" time-wise either. In the amount of time I ran today I could've easily ran double the mileage on a flatter trail. And in the amount of time it will take to do Lone Peak again I could triple + the miles on a flatter trail. But on the flip side... the peaks are pretty neat-o. Pfieff is going to be a favorite.

I can easily see that by next summer I will have transformed from an ultrarunner to a peak bagger, especially with my goals for next year. Thank goodnes too, I think doing regular speedwork the month of September will nearly kill me.

sometimes you sacrifice the time for a real run to take your kids out. boys biked and I ran. worth every minute and every mile I missed. We stopped at the park to play, and had to kiss a few boo-boos. Took about an hour.

I tried Neasts great idea for an "Easy" tempo run: 2 warm up, 3 hard, 2 cool down.

Have I mentioned I don't know how to pace anymore? I've gotten so used to the mountain and trail dictating what speeds to run that I no longer grasp the meaning of consistency.

So off to Dimple Dell I go (after speedwork on asphalt, couldn't bear to do a tempo run on it too, ugh.) I knew that the soft sand/mulch/hills would ruin my goal AP (look at me, throwing around the roadie lingo) but a small price to pay to make an unbearable run more bearable. I was giving up another go on LCC Creek for this, after all.

After two miles of interuppted warm-up (took kids to school) I paused to prep. You'd think I was getting ready to climb Everest or something, I was so nervous and reluctant. A little Rusted Root (send me on my way) to either soothe the nerves or make it seem cooler, and I pushed the button to start tracking.

I was hoping for anything averaging sub 8 (my fastest AP for anything @ DD was 8:10) but shooting for a 7:30. Of course I ran the first half mile at a 6:45 and wanted to burn out, but I kept going. It was kind of awful. At 1.7 I needed the potty (thank heavens!) so I paused the time. Don't know if that's "legal" in speed mode, but oh well.

Ended up with about a 7:37 pace for the 3 miles, which given terrain, isn't bad. Isn't great either.... But still only a week after Timp repeats. I walked up the hill to the dog park, deliriously thirsty. I checked my phone, it was 83F! Only a week ago I was on Timp in 38F in a torrential downpour trying to avoid becoming an ice pop.

While getting a drink a saw a cute jogger. I finished drinking and she had a lead, but decided to pull her in to kill the time on the way back home. I passed her doing a 7:50. Ooops. Then I did a 10:40. Again.... no sense of pacing.

I need help. This speed training stuff is hard. I need to leech paces and training routines off of someone while I try to get a handle on it. Anyone? ;)

http://jennilyneaton.blogspot.com/2013/09/navigational-hazards-and-saturdays.html

Enjoy. Oh, and there's some really embarassing pics of Neasts and I on there. I tell you that just in case you weren't going to click the link.

Because now you will.