A Lean and Hungry Look

Finally made it home late Wednesday night, but had to be at work by 6 am the next morning, so today was my first day back on the roads.  Remind me again why we live in Utah?  It was COLD this morning, not exactly like running at sea level in 70-degree weather like last week. Oh, well.

I have a confession to make.  I think I wrote sometime during the summer about some punks who tried to pass me in what appeared to be a finishing sprint.  At the time, I was having none of it and put the pedal to the medal in order to extend my never-been-passed streak for normal training runs.  Well, about a quarter of a mile into this morning's Siberian death march with Jake, I noticed a fleet-footed neighbor of mine charging up along the opposite side of the street, probably cruising at sub-6 pace.  He is a doctor who lives on my street and runs with the stiffest form I've ever seen, but for a guy in his 50s (or any other age, for that matter), he cruises.  I see him a lot during the summer, and he runs shirtless from about May through September.  Anyway, I've had road encounters with him before and have never let him by, even one time when he caught me in the middle of a cooldown during a fartlek workout.  Today, though, I cast my pride into the gutter and just let him go.  And you know what?  It felt great.  I was out for an easy run and my legs were stiff from a week without running, so there was no point in doing something stupid just to feed my ego.  I think it was kind of a mild breakthrough for me.  Baby steps.

Another lovely morning--about 7 degrees with wind chill down to -7.  After missing several workouts due to a heavy load at work as a result of my vacation, I finally manned up and went this morning at 5:15 (had to take my daughter to violin at 6:40).  Jake was a trooper to accommodate my schedule!

I think I dressed just about right.  For future reference, I added a balaclava, my new cold weather running boxers (TMI, I know), and mitten shells over my cold weather running gloves to my usual cold weather gear.  I have to bear in mind that it's running in this kind of weather that gives me a little extra boost at the end of a marathon (I tell myself, though I know it's not true, especially given the composition of FRB, that I was the only guy running at 5 am in the bitter cold in December, and that's why I still have an extra gear to go to).  It's a juvenile mind trick, but it sometimes works to pull me out of a funk late in a race.

Still in the single digits, but the run wasn't too bad.  Maja woke up when she heard me getting dressed and came bounding up the stairs, so I put her little dog coat on her and brought her along.  I was nervous about her paws freezing, but she seemed to be fine throughout the run and when we got home.  I'm still fighting a cold and I've clearly lost some fitness over the past few weeks of sporadic running, but I'm feeling pretty decent over all.

Jake and I moved our time up to 5:30 to allow me to get to work earlier.  It's amazing how warm it felt compared to last week, even after yesterday's snowstorm.  We headed up to Wasatch and out to the Shoreline trail, then turned around.  There were several spots where we were trudging through snow, but it was a beautiful morning to be out.  My left AT squawked a little whenever we ran through the snow, so I definitely need to get back to my routine of doing toe raises twice a day and stretching throughout the day.

I'm trying to decide whether the Grand Slam is going to be in the cards this year or not.  I think my best chance of dipping under 2:30 is to get several months of solid base in my legs before moving to more specific training (the first couple of months post-St. George have been well below expectations due to the hamstring issue, then the AT issue, followed by an ill-timed vacation and the crush of lots of year-end deals at work.  Besides that, spring and summer are looking pretty busy on the family front.  In other words, I probably shouldn't even be considering the Slam, but part of me can't let it go just yet.

Took Maja this morning.  It makes it a little tricky to have her when I run with Jake, but he's a good sport about running on the road while the dog and I monopolize the sidewalk.  The effort felt a little labored over the final mile or so (uphill), but that's probably just a result of enjoying too many holiday treats lately.

Jake's AT was bugging him this morning, so it was just Maja and I.  There was an icy glaze over much of the road, so it was a little treacherous.  The upside of the recent cold snap is that it feels balmy now to run when the temperature is in the 20s.

I backed out of Hood to Coast last night--I just don't think I can take a few days at the end of August with school starting for the kids and several family vacations planned next summer.  Still noodling over the idea of doing the Grand Slam, though.

Jake had his toughest final this morning and Maja was asleep when I left, so I was on my own today.  I headed down to Sugarhouse and along 13th out to Claybourne, then worked my way back from there.  It's amazing how quickly I've grown accustomed to running with companionship, as today's 8-miler felt kind of long and boring without anyone to talk to.  My fingers were freezing by the time I got home, so it must have been colder today than it's been.  The air was disgusting as a result of the inversion.  Ah, Utah in the winter.

After running in the darkness for a few weeks, it was a pleasant change to be out on a bright and sunny morning (left around 8:30).  I headed over to 11th Ave via Wasatch Drive and through the old golf course (saw the sign for the new track and field complex, which was great confirmation of a rumor I'd heard).  My turnaround point was the gate near the mouth of City Creek.  On my way back up the hill toward 11th, I was approaching a female runner from behind (I was probably 30 feet back) when she slipped and fell pretty hard.  I stopped to see if she was okay, as did another woman I had just passed.  As we were talking to her, the woman said that she had heard me approaching from behind, so she had moved to the shoulder, where she hit some ice.  In other words, it was my fault.  I told her that I hadn't planned on running into her as I passed, but I felt kind of bad.  After she assured us that she was fine, I took off again.  For some reason, I had a burst of energy and decided to put some effort into the next stretch.  I pushed the pace a little all the way back up to the fire station and to the turnoff at Popperton (where the trail goes down the hill to Alta Street).  It felt tiring but pretty good, too.  I took it a little bit easier until I hit Foothill, then cruised in comfortably with a 6:17 final mile.  Overall average was almost exactly 7 minutes, with AHR of 160.  I wore the Nike Frees with thin socks and loved the lightweight feeling, especially after running in the Kayanos for the past couple of weeks.

Although I knew it was a red air quality day, I decided to head out anyway, since I didn't want to let myself take a day off after just starting to reestablish the habit of consistent early morning workouts.  By the end, every time I coughed I was sure it was due to the high particulate count and that I was taking a few weeks off my life.  Jake is out of school for the holidays and decided to enjoy himself today and not join me at 5:30.  (If I were him, I wouldn't even consider running at 5:30 at any time during the break!)  I read his text before leaving, so I brought along Ira Glass and some This American Life to keep me company.  I kept the pace very easy, but the miles clipped by quickly, thanks to the electronic companionship.

The air was still disgusting this morning, so I chose not to run.  Just like Jerry.

Missed my early run after being out late last night with some friends from out of town, then finding out that Brooke would be running at 7.  Fortunately, things have calmed down at work and I was able to go home midday and run with Maja.  We ran up Emigration to Ruth's and back for an easy 6.  The snow was coming down fairly hard, making it a little hard to see, particularly on the way back, but the temperature was comfortable and there wasn't too much traffic in the middle of the day.  Too bad I can't take a couple of hours out of the middle of every day to do this!

Due to a multiplicity of family Christmas obligations over the past five days, I've missed out on a bunch of running.  I was determined to get up early and go this morning, but it was not to be.  However, I did manage to get out over lunch for a quick 6 through Holladay.  Other than the joys of the inversion, it was a great run, thanks in part to the Michael Jackson playlist that gave me a little boost here and there.

I got a pair of Vibram Five Fingers for Christmas, but they were too big.  When I took them back to WRC to exchange them, they were all out of pretty much every size, so I left them with mine and am waiting for a call when my size comes in.  I'm excited to give them a try, even if only once a week for a while.

Ran down to Sugarhouse Park and back along 17th, then down to 16th and through the neighborhood back home. Kept pace very easy.

Frigid morning with air like chocolate milk, only full of pollutants instead of sugar.  Nice.

Pace: 7:38

AHR: 154

I got off work early for the holiday and decided to make the most of the beautiful weather and fresh snow, so I loaded Maja into the car and headed up to the trailhead for the Shoreline Trail across from the zoo.  The going was a little slow because of the snow, but not too bad, thanks to the efforts of a few early trailblazers.  Maja was in heaven romping around in the snow, and the bluebird day on the trail lifted my spirits considerably.  A perfect last run of 2009.

Pace: slow

AHR: 156