AM - 7.3 miles up to work. PM - 7.3 miles home. Ran the first mile easy down the hill and then decided to do a spur of the moment light progression run. Didn't have my garmin so I just went by feel... averaged about 5:35-5:40 pace for the last 6+ miles. Felt good to get the legs moving a bit. Since the UAC doesn't have much to talk about right now in terms of snow conditions, this morning's forecast provided some information about exercise in the smog. I thought this might be worth sharing... Smog Outdoor Exercise Guide:
First and most important, I check the Utah Air Quality Trend Charts each morning and concentrate on the top graph of PM 2.5 (the bad stuff). Those who live near the mountains can sometimes get lucky when the drainage air currents at night can push a pocket of fresh air out into the valleys near the canyon mouths. You can sometimes see that reflected in the trend charts. Second, check the Meso West surface observations. When you see down canyon breezes in your local canyon. Since I live in Salt Lake, I check Parleys Canyon and the new weather station on the Utah Museum of Natural History, which sits at the bottom of Red Butte. Third, get your exercise first thing in the morning because you will only have a short window of clean air at the base of the mountains before the daytime heating pushes it back up against the mountains.
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