A Lean and Hungry Look

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.