Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 10.2 miles. Met AdamRW and ACorn - we ran down to Memory Grove and back, finishing up just as the rain/snow started to pick up. Perfect timing. Another good run w/ friends this morning. 

Today is the best day of the year on Letsrun. I can't wait to order my 3.1 sticker. The latest from Chris McDougal gave me a good laugh :-)

PM - 5 miles. Drove over to horsepark and ran lots of laps on the grass. It hailed for part of the run. Meanwhile - here's where Andrea ran this morning.
----------

I've got a couple pairs of brand new, size 11 running shoes that are up for grabs (for free). I posted what they are on the discussion forum. 

AM - 8.3 miles up to work. 

PM - 7 miles. Down to SHP, met Andrea along the way and we wandered through Sugar House neighborhoods a bit, then finished with 6 x 200m on the track in ~32.5 average (into a headwind this time... the south wind has finally changed directions!). Legs felt like they had some bounce in them today. A lazy weekend w/ lots of rest will do that!

AM - 6.4 miles. Horsepark loop w/ Andrea then added on a little extra.

PM - 7 miles. Warmed up 2+ miles with Andrea and Kevin (Redd). Workout was supposed to be 2 x 5K. Hit the first one in 15:25. Did a 1/2 mile jog then started #2 - made it just shy of 2K when my stomach, which had been feeling progressively worse since I finished the first 5K, just went nuts on me. Luckily the school was open. I tried to re-do the second 5K, and only made it 200m this time before having to stop again. By the time I got back on the track, my heart rate was back to baseline and the workout was shot. Jogged a mile and called it a day. Naturally my jeep was completely dead and needed to be jump started before I made it home.

Ughhh, so a mixed bag this afternoon. I know that at this point, fitness isn't going to change one way or the other, these workouts are mainly done for psychological reasons and to build confidence. Well, today doesn't exactly leaving me beaming with confidence, but I also realize that it wasn't a lack of fitness that did me in.

On the bright side - Andrea, ACorn, and Redd all ran stellar workouts out there today, so that was good for our "team". 

AM - 11 miles. JAJAF run. With the group until ~7.5 and then up to work from there. Perfect weather, nice run.

PM - 4.3 miles down to SHP, where Andrea picked me up.

Good KSL deal right now for the Provo 5K ($15 entry) 

AM - 9 miles up to work... first couple miles w/ Andrea.

PM - 5.5 miles down to SHP and around the park. First 2 easy, then a 2.5 mile tempo (~2% downhill) in 12:07 (4:58, 4:47, 2:22 - 4:51/mi avg). Cooled down a mile with Andrea. This was pretty easy... just wanted to do something a little faster. Simulating the opening miles of Boston, except that I'll be going at least 25 seconds slower per mile!

I'm not going up for the Striders 1/2 on Saturday. Made the executive decision this morning. Even a super-controlled effort doesn't make any sense. I used the "is this stupid?" litmus test and the answer was "yes." I don't trust myself to not race.  

Saucony is launching a new project today. I can't post the link yet, but here's a preview... 

AM - 9 miles up to work. I did not expect it to be so "wintery" out there this morning. Wearing my trail shoes was a good choice for the slushy roads, but they didn't seem to help with the snow/ice pelting against my face the entire time. Ah well, unless we get 25 more days like this, no complaints. Its gonna be 70 degrees again this weekend :-)

PM - 4.3 miles down to SHP. Andrea picked me up. Back to nice warm weather! 

AM - 12.5 miles. Got going at the crack of 11am this morning, once it got nice and warm. Gotta simulate waiting around all morning like I'll have to do on the 16th, right?

Andrea and I went to Liberty Park for the workout, warmed up 2 miles, did strides, then got it rolling - 5 x Mile @ 5K-10K pace. Splits were 4:48, 4:52, 4:50, 4:49, 4:49. Then I did a 2 mile MP tempo in 10:30 (5:15, 5:15). Cooled down on the woodchips. Felt pretty good about this workout. Honestly I would have been fine running these in 5-flat today, so I'm happy that I ended up averaging ~4:50 w/out killing myself. I felt good afterwards, could have done more, and 5:15 pace felt like a jog in the park for that portion of the workout. I did a similar workout just before running 1:05:45 at Long Beach in the fall, and today my splits were all about 5 seconds faster per mile.

I wore my new flats that I'll wear at Boston. Same old Fastwitches, just a much sweeter color scheme! 

10 day forecast is showing a W/SW wind.... :-) 

PM - 3 miles shakeout.

Tomorrow we're going to run the SLC 1/2 course (easily) at 8:30am so Andrea can get a good feel for the route. If anyone wants to join let me know b/c we're going to need to figure out a car shuttle. The start/finish lines are only ~4 miles apart but I don't need to run 17 miles tomorrow.