A Lean and Hungry Look

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.