A Lean and Hungry Look

Had an early breakfast to bid farewell to my sister and her husband, who are headed to UCLA for law school, so I brought my gear and ran in the VFFs on the grassy field by Extra Space.  With the rain and humidity, the temperature was downright pleasant for a midday run.  The scenery was a little boring, as it always is when one runs laps, but it felt good to put in some time in the VFFs.  All systems seemed to be in order.

10x1/4-mile intervals at Sugarhouse Park with 90 seconds active recovery between each.  Warmup (around 2 miles) didn't feel particularly good, as my back pain seems to have returned (same spot--just left of my tailbone along the top of my pelvis) and was causing a "hitch in my giddyup."  It started feeling a little better near the end of the warmup.  Splits were as follows:

1: 79 (5:17/mi) (AHR 156/MHR 167)

2: 79 (5:16/mi) (166/178)

3: 72 (4:49/mi) (170/177)

4: 77 (5:09/mi) (177/184) (this was up the hill on the northeast corner near the rose garden)

5: 77 (5:09/mi) (168/175)

6: 79 (5:15/mi) (178/182) (finished up the hill on the southwest corner)

7: 77 (5:10/mi) (173/181)

8: 74 (4:55/mi) (172/178)

9: 82 (5:28/mi) (175/185) (finished up the hill on the southwest corner)

10: 73 (4:53/mi) (175/181)

1-mile cooldown.  Solid workout--some of the best 1/4-mile splits I've seen in a long time.

Things are crazy at work, so I had to get up on time (5:00) this morning to sneak in my run.  It was dark enough that I wore my headlamp.  Still feeling some back pain.  Brooke got a card from a woman in her Crossfit class who is a massage therapist.  I may give her a call and see if she can help me resolve the problem.  It probably wouldn't hurt me to see her a few times before SG anyway.

Another early morning at work, so I had to skip my run. I brought my gear to run home from Extra Space, but I felt so wiped out that I couldn't stomach the thought of run 9.5 miles in the heat and humidity and 5:00 traffic.

12 easy miles with Maja in tow for the first 8.  After dropping her off, the pace picked up to a normal easy pace (around 7:20).  I'm shooting for 20 tomorrow to make up for missing yesterday's workout, so I consciously slowed myself down today.

Wanting to get some miles in but tired of fighting the cyclists in Emigration, I drove down to Liberty Park and ran south along 500 East to Vine Street, then wound around to 900 East, back to 725 East and out to Fort Union and back.  Very easy pace on the way out.  I picked it up on the way back, but still kept the effort pretty easy (running 6:30s).  I was pretty tired during the last couple of miles, but otherwise felt good throughout.  I took 6 Shot Bloks (3 over about 3 miles beginning at 8, then 3 more over 3 miles beginning at 14).  I just wish I could figure out a way to make them work when I'm at MP.  I choked once or twice when I was chewing them around Mile 15, even though I tried to eat them very slowly.  Still looking for my energy source for the race.

Easy effort on the H-rock loop (I extended the route by crossing over to Wasatch at the bottom of Donner Park, then following the golf course to 1300 South, then back home, which took it to exactly 7 miles).  Since I have a hard day tomorrow, I took it especially easy today, particularly on the 21st South hill (I walked a couple of times).  Since I forgot to use my inhaler before the run, it was probably good that I didn't extend myself much (I was wheezing anyway, and that continued for an hour or so after I finished the run).  Props to the dog for dragging me up 21st (she spotted a couple of rabbits and provided a very useful surge or two).

Up-down mile repeats in Emigration Canyon with 4 min active recovery between each (down from the usual 5 min).  Instead of continuing the usual up-down pattern, I went up, down, up, down, up, up, down, down.  Having trouble getting my Garmin to sync up with Garmin Connect, so I'll have to add splits later.  For now, I'll just point out that I felt horrible by about 1/4 mile into Repeat #3 and had thoughts of abandoning.  Fortunately, I didn't, and it turned out to just be a rough patch.  The headwind coming down the canyon seemed especially strong today, so I hope that accounts for some of the slowness of the uphill splits.

Garmin Connect seems to be working again, so here are the splits:

1: 6:35 (AHR 166/MHR 178)

2: 5:21 (167/173)

3: 6:29 (174/179)

4: 5:13 (169/174)

5: 6:46 (174/179)

6: 6:39 (171/176)

7: 5:34 (165/171) (disappointingly slow--I think I must have been subconsciously saving up for the final repeat)

8: 5:09 (168/176)

My schedule called for 8 this morning, so I took Maja and we ran across the U campus and continued north to 11th Ave, then over to F Street (4 miles).  I never like returning the same way on that route, so we diverted east at Federal Heights Way on the way back, continued east to Primary Children's, then through Fort Douglas and Research Park and back home.  By the time I got to my street, I was at 8.9, so I continued just far enough to make it an even 9.

Maja got stung by a wasp on 11th Ave.  It managed to plant itself precisely in a spot on the back of her left foreleg where she couldn't reach it with her teeth, so I had to flick it off after I finally figure out what was going on.  Must not have been this wasp's first time around the block.

Nothing overly interesting or troubling to report.  Legs are feeling pretty good right now, with no ongoing pains or anything that leads me to believe I'm approaching trouble.  The only consistent complaint I've had this summer is my lower back pain in the area where I injured myself while boogie boarding in Hawaii 7 years ago.  Still need to get to a massage therapist for that one.

The plan was for 14 easy today, but when I realized that I was already a couple of miles ahead of schedule this week and my lower back pain kicked in around mile 6, I decided to turn around.  I did the 20th East route out to Holladay Village and back.  As I reached the light on 2700 South and 2000 East on the way home, the light turned green in my favor just as I got there, so I went through without slowing down.  At the same time, a young-looking guy turned north on 2000 East from 2700 South.  I was on the east sidewalk, he on the west.  I sped up just a little to pass him (as is my wont), but he seemed to realize it and picked up his pace.  Although my back was hurting and I was hoping to keep things easy, I could not allow this guy to overtake me, so I threw down the hammer.  For a couple hundred meters, I could hear his footfalls on the other side of the street.  As we hit the downhill to go under I-80, I could still hear him, so I picked it up more.  At the top of the hill on the other side, I turned right toward 21st East.  I didn't look back until I got stopped at the 21st South intersection.  When I turned around to see if he was still on my tail, he was nowhere in sight.  He probably turned left on Parley's Canyon Drive where I turned right.  I also realized that my back pain had subsided considerably.  Amazing what a little pride and adrenaline can do for a guy.  I felt like I should carry some kind of sign that says, "Haven't been passed on a training run in 22 years of running, so please forgive any sudden accelerations and just let me go instead of trying to overtake me--my midlife crisis thanks you."

My lower back pain was significant today, so I decided to take the day off in hopes of being able to do my 26-miler tomorrow.  I'm getting nervous.

As I was getting out of my car last night, I threw my back out.  As a result, I made the decision to forgo my long run today in hopes of avoiding more significant problems.  Instead, I put on the Five Fingers and did a few easy laps around Sunnyside Park.  I'm really hoping that the problem is just a result of muscle tightness and that my massage on Monday night will free things up.

My back bothered me a little bit all weekend, so I tried to stretch a lot and use the Miracle Balls whenever possible.  Today's run was very slow (7:40 avg pace).  Back pain was mild, although it felt a little worse by the end.  Counting down the hours to my massage appointment tonight.

I had a 90-minute massage last night, and I think it helped a lot.  There was tremendous tightness in my hips and glutes, as well as my quads and hamstrings.  I have been terrible about stretching anything other than calves and hamstrings, so that may explain part of my back trouble.

I was concerned about doing my scheduled interval workout this morning, so I decided instead to go out for an easy 8 miles and to postpone my speed session until tomorrow morning.  I didn't feel any particular tightness or pain anywhere during the run, and the biggest difference was that my pace was faster than it's been lately, but with a similar effort.  Yesterday's pace was unusually slow (7:40 avg) for an easy day.  My easy days usually range in the 7:20-7:30 pace.  Today's average was 7:09, and that was after a very slow first mile (I was testing things out).  For an easy day, that was a good sign.

In case my two readers are interested, my massage therapist is Leah Nelson (leahnelsonlmt@gmail.com; 801-906-3222).  She's at 133 Kensington in SLC.  She just moved here three months ago from NYC, where she had a thriving practice.  She has worked with a lot of athletes, and I recommend her highly.

Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of my back pain.

10x1/2-mile repeats at Sugarhouse with 2 min active recovery between each (down from 3 min in past workouts).  Usual warmup and cooldown.  Splits looked like this:

1: 2:33 (5:07/mi) (AHR 160/MHR 170)

2: 2:37 (5:15/mi) (174/178)

3: 2:31 (5:01/mi) (173/178)

4: 2:38 (5:17/mi) (175/180)

5: 2:27 (4:53/mi) (175/181)

6: 2:32 (5:06/mi) (178/181)

7: 2:31 (5:01/mi) (175/179)

8: 2:39 (5:20/mi) (175/180)

9: 2:30 (5:00/mi) (175/178)

10: 2:35 (5:10/mi) (178/181)

I was pleased with the workout.  It was comfortably hard but never painful. I didn't have any back pain until the last couple of repeats.  I need to keep rolling on tennis balls and stretching more.  I've also started bringing my ice pack to work so that I can at least get a little help that way.  All in all, my confidence level is much higher today than it was over the weekend, when I was concerned that the back issue could derail my SG plans.  At this point, I think it's going to be manageable, as long as I stay on top of it.

I left Maja home again (I'm wondering whether my habit of running with her leash attached to my waist may be the cause of my lower back pain) and headed out for an easy 9 on the route across the U campus, up to 11th Ave, over to F Street, then back via Federal Heights Drive/Primary Children's/Research Park.  No noticeable pain today.

I had to get my 12-year-old up early for a soccer game, then head to Provo for an early meeting, so I missed my morning run but brought my Five Fingers to work for an easy run on the grass at lunch.  The schedule calls for a 10k race tomorrow, but since I hate short races and missed my long run last week due to back pain, I've decided to run 20 tomorrow instead.  As a result, I decided to stick with the recommended 4 miles for my Friday run.  Since it was hot and muggy, I was grateful that it was only 4.  As usual, I forgot to bring my inhaler, so I was wheezing a bit by the end.

No back pain today.

Today's plan was to run up Emigration and to work in about 8-9 miles at MP.  Since we were planning to take the kids up to Snowbird early for a little "Stay-cation" (I hate that term), I got up at 4:40 to get ready.  I decided to try the Generation UCAN product again to see if I wanted to use the product for the marathon, so I drank 24 oz. while I got my water and other gear put together.  I also had a small banana.  Because I was worried that the waist belt might throw my back out again, I decided to take my Camelbak instead.

The first couple of miles felt crappy, as usual.  After that, I started to warm up and get used to the climb, but I still didn't feel great.  I started paying attention to my splits around mile 3-4 and they were in the mid-8 range, which is a little slow for my easy runs up Emigration.  I maintained a similar effort to my usual easy runs up the canyon and watched my splits get slightly better, but only slightly.  Normally, by the time I'm at 5-6 miles, I'm under 8 min/mile and getting faster each mile.  Today, though, I seemed to top out at 8:06 pace with the same effort.  By the time I got to the Pinecrest turnoff at around 7.5, I could tell that something just wasn't right.  I went another mile and decided to turn around and cut the day short at 17.  When I stopped to turn around, a woman came cruising down the other side of the road.  I took a drink, stretched for a second, then headed down, expecting to catch her very quickly.

Since I wasn't feeling like myself, I decided not to try to start blasting down the mountain at MP, but to slowly work up to my pace and see how it felt.  I gradually increased the pace but was not gaining much on the woman ahead of me, so I upped it a little more.  I finally started catching her on the steep section just below Pinecrest, but I was at about 5:40 pace at that point and it wasn't feeling good.  After I got well ahead of her, I settled back to what felt like a normal MP effort, but the splits were far above what they should have been.  What normally feels like a 5:45-5:50 pace was translating to a 6:20-6:30 pace.  Recognizing that a solid MP session was not in the cards, I just kept the effort steady the rest of the way home and the pace stayed roughly the same.

I felt kind of wiped out by the time I made it home--just like I felt the last time I tried to do MP after taking Generation UCAN.  I think I've used the stuff four or five times now, and I'm ready to render a final verdict: the stuff is as good as poison for me, and I'm not planning to touch it again.  Anyone want about $30 worth of the crap (I made the mistake of ordering it in bulk)?

U campus to 11th Ave and west to the funeral home, then back along the Federal Heights Drive/Primary Children's/Fort Douglas/Research Park loop.  Right achilles was bugging me for the first mile.  It's been tight before, but this seemed a little worse than usual.  I'd better keep an eye on it.

8x1-mile repeats at Liberty Park with 3 min rest between each (down from 4 min the last time I did them).  Since I've been doing mile repeats either uphill or downhill for the past 4-6 weeks, I wanted to see what kind of pace I could hold over flat terrain.  Typical warmup and cooldown.  Splits were as follows:

1: 5:41 (AHR 167/MHR 176)

2: 5:41 (174/180)

3: 5:40 (175/180)

4: 5:35 (175/181)

5: 5:36 (175/179)

6: 5:39 (176/179)

7: 5:40 (173/177)

8: 5:36 (174/177)

As usual, I wasn't able to see my pace at all during the workout, so I went entirely on perceived effort.  Given the consistency in the splits, I certainly didn't over-exert myself, but given the HR data, I would also say that I was probably right on.  That being the case, I'm a little disappointed in the splits, as I think they indicate that I'm slower than I'd like to be at this point.  If I were on track to break 2:30 at SG this year, I think I'd be able to hit 5:20s in a workout like this.  At this point, I think I'm going to revise my goal to set a new PR if it's an average day.  If I'm feeling good, I'll shoot for sub-2:35.  To break 2:30, I think there would have to be a brisk tailwind, cool temperatures, and a pack of 4-6 guys I could run with for most of the race.

I had another massage last night.  It felt great (except for the painful parts), but I felt wiped out on this morning's run.  I forgot to take my inhaler, which didn't help, and I also dragged Maja along (guilt is a powerful motivator for me), so those two factors contributed.  For the first mile or so, though, my legs felt like jelly.  I suspect that was due more to yesterday's hard workout than the effects of the massage, but it still felt kind of crappy.  Maja was useless after 5 miles.  I talked to Leah (my LMT) about the possibility of Maja's leash throwing my back out of whack, and she didn't think it sounded likely, so I decided to accede to the dog's demands and get her back out on the road with me.  In fairness, she's probably gotten out of shape after not running with me for a couple of weeks, so I forgive her for dragging behind me.

I don't know what's going on, but I felt crappy from start to finish today (some back pain, some stomach discomfort, but mostly just general fatigue).  From the first few steps until I staggered home, I was counting the miles until I was done, and I never felt good.  After Saturday's debacle, yesterday's sluggish effort, and today's death march, I'm concerned that something is amiss.  As for potential causes: sleep (I'm probably not getting more than 6 hours each night; stress (things are crazy at work and have been for some time), burnout (I'm enjoying running less and less these days, as it feels more like a job than an outlet), or something else entirely.  I just hope that Saturday's 28-miler doesn't feel like this, because I'll never make it that far feeling so lousy.

Because I've been feeling totally drained on my runs lately, I decided to take a day off and get a full 8 hours of sleep.  Hopefully it helps on tomorrow's 28-miler.

While the distance seemed extremely long, I think it was a good decision to skip yesterday's workout and get some needed sleep.  My energy felt much better from start to finish, and the run went off without any trouble.  I tried using PowerGel (Raspberry Creme and Kona Punch) as my fuel source, and I think I've found a winner.  The consistency is far less viscous than GU, ClifShot, Hammer Gel, Honey Stinger, or some of the others, and the flavors I tried were downright palatable.  The only hang-up was when I stopped at my parents' place in Murray for a potty break (around mile 16) and changed my music selection (from podcasts to Pandora), when I apparently didn't close my Amphipod pouch tightly enough and lost both of my remaining gel packets.  I didn't realize it until I went for my third at mile 20.  Fortunately, I felt pretty decent all the way to the finish in spite of the lack of fuel from mile 15 on, although I suspect it would have been even better had I been able to fuel at least once more.

No MP work today, but hopefully the overdistance tactic will pay dividends next month.

After feeling good all day on Saturday and pretty good on Sunday morning, I developed a horrible pain beneath my left shoulder blade about midday.  It got steadily worse throughout the day until I could barely move last night.  I sat in my mother-in-law's massage chair when we were there for dinner and later had Brooke walk on my back for a bit, but neither seemed to touch the problem.  It continued to hurt throughout the night and woke me up multiple times, so I was nervous about running this morning.  Nevertheless, since my schedule only called for 6 miles, I thought I should give it a shot.  It was painful for the first mile or so but then started to loosen up.  By the end of the run, the pain had gone down significantly.  Nothing overly interesting to report about the run itself.

Plan was 10x1/2-mile repeats at Sugarhouse with 2-min rest intervals.  I ended up cutting the workout short due to a need to get to the office early and a tentative plan to race a half-marathon this Saturday. Splits looked like this:

1: 2:38 (5:16/mi) (AHR 157/MHR 172)

I SET MY GARMIN WRONG AND ONLY HAD 1 MIN REST

2: 2:46 (5:32/mi) (171/175) (included some uphill, plus the shortened rest interval)

STOPPED AND FIXED THE GARMIN

3: 2:36 (5:12/mi) (169/173)

4: 2:39 (5:17/mi) (172/177)

5: 2:33 (5:06/mi) (171/179)

6: 2:34 (5:10/mi) (173/177)

While the workout was a little slow and short, I don't feel too bad about it.  I got limited sleep last night and wasn't at the top of my game.  I'm hoping to do a mini-taper this week so that I can run Saturday's half at a solid training pace.

Easy 3 with Brooke.  Registering for Salt Lake Half today.