Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 20 mile long run. A couple SHP loops, then a Holladay loop, a couple more SHP loops, then home. Had a variety of characters along for varying distances (Rob, Fritz, Kramer, Kotter, Josh). I was planning on some harder efforts at the end of the run, but it started snowing hard around the 17th mile and the roads got slick very quickly so that plan had to be scrapped. Finished with one mile in 5:15 and that was about as fast as I could go without slipping. Avg pace ~6:45/mi.

AM - 10 miles. Started at LP w/ the crew and did a City Creek lollipop loop.

Andrea and I had a great afternoon skiing. We skinned up Flagstaff Mountain, skied into Days Fork, then back up to the Emma Ridge and a made long run back to within ten feet of my jeep. Andrea kicked my butt on the climbing today! Sunshine and fresh powder... more photos.

Heading up to Flagstaff

Wasangeles


Days Fork

Emma Ridge

AM - 7 miles.

Moved tomorrow's workout to this afternoon because we have a storm on the way and this wasn't one that could be done on the TM...

PM - 14 miles. LT Efforts: 2 x 20 minutes (2 min recovery jog) with VO2 trigger at the end of the second rep. Tempo loop. 3 up, 3 down. 

This is the easiest way to see how it broke down:

I'll do 5 of these types of workouts over the next six weeks. Starting w/ this 2x20, dropping to 4x10, 3x8, and back up to 4x10, 2x20. Then shifting to some other stuff. Here's the "rules" for these sessions:

1. Run by feel and perceived threshold effort. No goal times for these sessions, no Garmin-dictated pacing, no mile splits during the workout - just a countdown timer*.
2. The appropriate effort is what I feel like can run for 60 minutes right now... not this weekend, not at a race in a few weeks. True "date pace". This can change day to day, so its important to feel threshold and don't go beyond it.
3. If anything, err on the side of being a little slower (HM pace instead of LT pace, although for me these are relatively close to begin with).
4. Change gears in the last 2-3 minutes of the final effort and work down to 5K/3K effort. This is what we're calling the VO2 trigger. Stay relaxed during this part, otherwise it defeats the purpose.

*If I was in Africa, I'd do this Garmin-less. But I'm letting my watch record the pace information in the background for the sake of record keeping and so the progression of these sessions can be tracked. Since I'm usually pretty good about being sensible and not trying to "beat" previous workouts, I'm making the executive decision that I'm allowed to look at it afterwards.

AM - 8 miles. Snow run w/ Andrea.

PM - 6 miles in another snow squall.

AM - 8 miles.

PM - 6 miles + 8 x 100m strides.

AM - 12 miles. 20 minute warmup, 4 mile AT/LT Tempo (5:27, 5:29, 5:23, 5:00) on the tempo loop (big surprise), 10 minutes easy over to the dead end street w/ the hill (which I didn't realize until today is Murphy Lane) for the main course - 10 x 45 seconds uphill (3.5%) at 3K effort (jog back for recovery). Avg pace was exactly the same as the 30s efforts last week. Felt strong... had to focus on the last 2-3 efforts. Cooled down another 10 minutes.

PM - 5 miles.

It doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know, but the cadence chart from Garmin connect is a cool graphic...

Easy to see the difference between the different efforts. Cadence is something a watch can actually get pretty accurate, because it just requires a simple accelerometer.

AM - 8 miles.

PM - 4 miles. 

I deposited a check using my phone today. Saved me an awkward conversation with the bank teller. I can't wait until I can do all my banking from a Garmin.

Weak race effort with a good little post-race workout. Probably should have pushed a bit harder on the way out with the tailwind. Once we turned around Riley and Bryant were already really far ahead and I let the effort level lapse way too much. Those guys ran very well.

5:05, 5:01, 5:01, 5:35, 5:29, 5:23, 64.

It was windy but probably not that windy (enough to justify that kind of slowdown). In similar conditions at the 2012 15K, I ran a lot faster back into the headwind. 

Then 10 x 30 seconds (45s recovery) at 1500m effort. I was moving quick on these. Felt really good about this session and glad I didn't scrap it. 

Photos from Andrea. Start at #27.

I forgot my sunglasses!

AM - 13 miles. 3 up, 6 race, 1 efforts, 3.5 down.

PM - 5 miles.

My fairy prance at the turnaround. Actual time was 15:40.

Day off for the Kinvaras. Day on for the Icelantic Shamans.

3-4 feet of (desperately needed) snow since Thursday. You rarely see black on the danger rose...

We had tickets to a couple different ski areas, but decided to ski at Solitude, which never fails to let us down on a big powder day.

Brigham was right.

This is the place.

AM - 8 miles. Back was a little stiff, as expected. Worth it.

PM - 6 miles w/ Andrea.

AM - 13 miles. LT Efforts: 4 x 10 minutes (2 min recovery jog) w/ trigger finish at the end of the last rep. Tempo loop. 2 up, 2.5 down. Average segment paces were 5:07, 5:06, 5:06, 5:07 per mile, respectively. Same guidelines as last week. Little too relaxed for the majority of the last effort, but finished ~4:50ish pace for the last 2 minutes.

PM - 4 miles. Wheeler Farm (grass!) w/ Andrea.

AM - 8 miles.

PM - 6 miles.

AM - 12 miles. 5 Mile AT/LT Tempo (5:36, 5:32, 5:28, 5:18, 5:01) followed by 10 x 60 seconds uphill. Good workout and progression of these sessions over the past 3 weeks. Moving from 45s to 60s on the uphills is exponentially more challenging than the difference between 30s to 45s.

PM - 6 miles.

AM - 8 miles. Andrea jumped in at halfway and got me moving faster than 8:30 pace.

PM - 6 miles.

Two good videos: Webb. Nash.

AM - 18 mile long run w/ 5K AT finish. Started from HHS w/ six humans (Rob, Josh, Collin, Kramer, Ashton, Kotter) and one dog (Holly). We did a Tanner Park / Zoo death loop back to the school, 3 SHP laps, and finished up with the last 5K on the track where Jon and I alternated laps, which made the faster finish feel like a cruise (16:24 - 5:16, 5:20, 5:15, 33). Kept the LR under 20 and didn't hammer the finish because I want to recovery quick and be ready to get in 4 more solid workouts before the Phoenix 1/2.

After the run I picked up a bunch of Valentine's stuff for 75% off. I hope Andrea doesn't read this...

AM - 10 miles. Liberty Park w/ the usual crew. Even non-serious runners like Nate and Andrea showed up.

PM - 4 miles.

Avalanche danger was way too high for backcountry skiing this weekend. That's a bummer, but staying alive is important. So we spent a few hours doing some indoor climbing at Momentum instead, and that was a lot of fun.

AM - 11 miles. LT Efforts: 3 x 8 minutes (3 min brisk recovery) w/ 2 minute trigger finish on the last rep. Tempo loop. 4 up, 1.5 down. Average segment paces were 4:56, 4:56, 4:54 per mile, respectively (4:57 for 6 minutes, 4:46 for 2 minutes on the third rep). Reduced volume (compared to the last couple LT workouts) and longer recovery was planned, with the idea that I'd be inclined to go after the eight minute efforts faster than true LT pace.

PM - 4 miles.

Got bloodwork done this morning. Stable, but plenty of room for improvement.

AM - 8 miles.

PM - 6 miles + 8 x 100m strides.

AM - 13 miles. LT Breakdown: 12-9-6-3 minute efforts (3 minute recovery jog) at LT-10K-5K-3K effort. Tempo loop. 4 up, 2 down. Segment paces were 5:06, 5:00, 4:55, 4:48 per mile. Cooled down w/ Andrea. Lucked out w/ great weather (again).

PM - 4 miles.

AM - 9 miles.

PM - 6 miles w/ 8x20s light pickups/strides towards the end.

Here's a good story to reference the next time someone says that running is bad for you. I know that my Bananagrams success* would definitely suffer without the sport. (*Andrea beat me in this match, as she does every night)

AM - 8 miles, first few w/ Andrea.

PM - 6 miles.

We went to the Banff Mountain Film tour last night. I've gone to this for 4-5 years now, and last night's selection was probably my favorite assortment of films. I'd highly recommend North of the Sun (even just the trailer!).

Toni Reavis: Coming around again

SLC 15K w/ 4.5 miles warmup and cooldown to sort of double-dip and make this a longer run.

5:16, 5:14, 5:21, 5:13, 5:18, 5:09, 5:11, 5:15, 5:11, 1:33 = 48:43. Three-mile splits were 15:52, 15:40, 15:37, so it was a pretty good negative split (~40 seconds faster coming back).

Bryant put a little gap on me somewhere b/w 5-6 miles and it stayed that way to the end... he won by about 6-7 seconds. We had a nice pack for the first 5 miles (along w/ Matt P and Coyle).

Felt strong and in control today... Andrea said my form looked noticeably better, more smooth and relaxed... and she's a tough critic, so I'll take that compliment! I'm forward to running the half-marathon in Phoenix next weekend. 

Andrea's photos (start at #52).

Amazing weather for the winter series. Remember last year? :-)

I got a laugh out of the elevation profile generated by my watch...

Great shoes...

I think the Salt Lake needs some more water...

This is probably my last race in Utah until... Draper Days in July?

AM - 6 miles. Horsepark!

PM - 6 miles. Half w/ Andrea... I actually got her to run in the cemetery w/ me.

We had a great day ski touring along the Pink Pine ridgeline. Snow conditions were pretty good for the most part, and it was so nice to be warm. I'm lusting after the chutes on the opposite side of LCC. More photos.

AM - 9 miles.

PM - 5 miles + 8 x 100m strides. 

AM - 10 miles. 4 x 1 mile (90 second jog recovery) at 5K pace - 4:51, 4:53, 4:53, 4:53. Tempo loop. 3.5 up, 2.5 cooldown w/ Andrea. The last rep was mentally tougher. I've done a lot of "by feel" workouts lately... but not many where I've really had to keep the gas pedal down like that.

I posted a summary of the last two month's training on Wasatch and Beyond (which has a lot more detail), but the table below is a simple way to visualize it. The Phoenix 1/2 actually falls about two weeks earlier than ideal, because I have a couple more sessions to finish up in this block before I move to the next set(s) of workouts. After this race each week will revolve around three colors in my fancy table - red (speed support), green (LT/half-marathon specific), and orange (aerobic support). The primary objective for now is lowering my LT pace - create a big gap between LT and marathon pace... in theory that will lead to a fast half-marathon in May, and then there will be plenty of room for improvement to bring down my marathon pace after that.

AM - 8 miles. Horsepark.

PM - 6 miles.

AM - 10 miles w/ 10 x 30 seconds fast (45s jog) towards the end.

AM - 6 miles (most w/ Andrea) + 8 x 100m strides.

PM - 4 miles.

I think we used up too much good weather karma with the recent non-winter in Utah. Phoenix averages about 8" of precipitation per year, and 20% of that is going to come down in the next day. Hopefully we'll get a brief window of decent conditions... if not, then I'll fall back to my "Plan B" approach to the race.