Justin Park

Rest day.

A.M. - 60 minute treadmill run at the Life Centre:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
20 mins @ 10.0 with progressive inclines, 3 minutes each at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, and 5 minutes at 3.5
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
10 mins @ 10.5, flat
10 mins @ 11.0, flat
5 mins @ 11.5, flat

P.M. - 40 mile bike ride up Big Cottonwood to Brighton and back. Warm out, but good ride. Fortunately, the canyon is a bit cooler than the valley.

A.M.1. - Extended Little Cottonwood Rd./Wasatch Blvd triangle route. Reverse direction. Warm and windy again. Went nice and slow.

A.M.2. - 40 mile ride with Scott up Millcreek Canyon and back. Abe joined us for the first few miles but didn't go up the canyon. Pretty decent headwind coming down the bottom half of the canyon and on the long grind south on Wasatch. 

A.M. - Treadmill run. 52:45:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat

5 mins @ 10.0, flat

20 mins @ 10.5, flat

15 mins @ 11.0, flat

7:45 mins @ 10.0, flat (started getting a side ache for some strange reason and just wussed-out)

 P.M. - Cycle ride up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Alta (end of the paved road) and back. About 25 miles or so round trip although you don't have to pedal very much the way down (but I guess you make up for it with the pretty tough climb). Three canyons in three days.

A.M. - Standard Little Cottonwood Rd. out-and-back. Felt so nice and refreshing to get drizzled on by the light rain. No watch today. This will probably be it for me today as I want to try and keep a little in the bank for Saturday's race.

A.M. - 40 minute treadmill run, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.0 mph
5 mins @ 9.5
10 mins @ 10.0
10 mins @ 10.5
5 mins @ 10.0
5 mins @ 9.5

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Hobbler Half Marathon

Finally! My first race this year with no big headwind (See Moab 1/2 and UV 1/2) and one that I feel somewhat decent about the outcome. I felt good this morning and really enjoyed the course. Fun and pretty well organized race. Definitely one that I'll recomment and look forward to doing again in the future. Finished 4th overall behind Kyle Perry (1:08:51), Fritz (1:09:23), and Seth Wold (1:11:19). Compared to the Moab 1/2 and UV 1/2 earlier this year, I felt a little more speed in the legs and can tell my conditioning is getting better. Obviously, the lack of the headwind today was a big positive factor compared to those races and this course is definitely faster than Moab 1/2 (but maybe not UV 1/2). Fitness is still not to the level that I was at this time last year, but it seems to be heading in the right direction. I had a good 8-mile cool-down with Fritz after the race. He is an absolute stud and I having nothing but respect and admiration for the dude. He put up another great race/time today, as expected.

Splits and brief narrative are given below. There's an obvious progressive slowdown that largely corresponds with the change in the race terrain and general fatiguing:

1 - 5:18 (Kyle, Fritz, Seth, and Steve Sumison quickly form the lead pack. I'm alone and 5-10 seconds back)
2 - 5:16 (cruising down the fork; steadily but slowly gaining ground on the 4th place Steve. I'm pretty confident I will catch him eventually)
3 - 5:19 "  "
4 - 5:19 "  "
5 - 5:12 "  "
6 - 5:22 (out of the fork and into the main channel of the canyon, briefly on a dirt path (slight loss of momentum) and then onto a paved path. I lose sight of Kyle, Fritz, and Seth but am still closing in on Steve)
7 - 5:21 (rollers)
8 - 5:26 (weaving path; took a GU at about 8.6, should have taken it a little earlier)
9 - 5:26  (more weaving path)
10 - 5:28 (back on the main road, pretty straight, slight down. I finally pass Steve Sumison here to take 4th place). 
11 - 5:35 (pretty straight, slight down. Was feeling good, split should have been faster, but my legs were losing speed. I can see Seth up in the distance whose fallen off the back of the other two. He's still aways up there, can I catch him?..)
12 - 5:33 (same as 11, but more pronounced decline, closing in on Seth)
13 - 6:00 (slightly up jaunt back up to the park, bad split, getting closer to Seth but I know there's not enough course to catch him)
0.1 - 0:59 (my Garmin measured this 0.19 miles)

Garmin distance: 13.19; 1:11:39; 5:25 ave./mi. I'm curious if anyone else measured the course a tad long? Maybe I just ran the tangents bad. Mile markers seemed to be pretty close except the last little bit.

 I should go out and ride tonight. I've got the energy, but my motivation is lacking.

Rest day. Flew to Denver tonight for a few days of work training. Come home Wednesday night.

A.M. - Ran on the hotel treadmill this morning. I'm staying at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Denver. I'm actually quite impressed with their gym and fitness equipment. Nice, solid Life Fitness treadmills with impressive media functionality. I didn't feel like going real hard today. 45 minute workout went as follows, all flat:

5 minuntes @ 8.0 mph
5 mins @ 9.0
5 mins @ 9.5
30 mins @ 10.0

The run felt good. The treadmill felt a little firmer than the ones at my gym and a bit faster too. My calves, especially the right one, is still tight from Saturday's race, but its not affecting my running and won't be a problem. It was raining pretty hard all morning and into the early afternoon. It's substantially cooler here in Denver compared to Salt Lake. The next few days are looking like they'll be a little warmer though. (7.2 miles; Mizuno Elixir 6)

P.M. - Went and ran on the Cherry Creek Trail this afternoon. Its a nice trail and its not far from my hotel. As the name indicates, the trail runs right along Cherry Creek. Nice, wide, cement-paved path. Lots of bikers and runners. Always grateful when there is a good place to run while traveling. Went nice and easy about 7:15 pace in right around an hour of running. (8.3 miles; Adidas Aegis 2)

I'm really feeling guilty I didn't bike on Saturday when I had the chance. The next time I'll be able to ride will be Thursday afternoon which will be more than a week from when I last went (Weds. 7/4). Not very good consistency for the LOTOJA training...I checked into the possibility of renting a bike while out here, but its expensive and just not practical. Oh well, good excuse to do a little extra running in the afternoons.

A.M. - Ran on the Cherry Creek Trail again. Just went a little further than last night. Nice weather this morning. (PureFlow; 10.25)

P.M. - Cherry Creek Trail again. Nice afternoon. (Aegis; 8.25)

A.M. - 50 minutes on the hotel treadmill, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph
5 mins @ 10.0
40 mins @ 10.5

Going home this afternoon, yeah!

A.M. - Extended Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch Blvd triangle. Normal direction. Just under 7 ave/mi pace. Morning temp was actually more pleasant than I expected.

P.M. - 40 mile ride to the top of Millcreek and back. Felt great to be back on the bike again. Met a real cool guy from Highland/Alpine while going up, Joseph Lee. He's pretty new to road cycling like me and is going to doing Lotoja also. 

A.M. - Treadmill run at the gym for 60 mins:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
12 mins @ 10.0, progressive inclines, 3 mins each at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 (had hoped to do 20 full mins on incline, but just couldn't stick it today)
13 mins @ 10.0, flat
10 mins @ 10.5, flat
10 mins @ 11.0, flat
5 mins @ 11.5, flat

A.M.1. - Long run. My same bread-and-butter long run course; two times around the extended Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatach Blvd triangle course. Once doing the triangle in regular direction, once in reverse.

A.M.2. - Boating day with the family up at East Canyon. I rode my bike up to the reservoir which is just under 45 miles (on Wasatch, foothill, up through Emigration Big/Little Mountains). Weather was overcast, not to hot, and the ride was pretty uneventful until the climb up big mountain. At that point it started to drizzle and the wind picked up. Once near the summit, the rain started coming down hard and I was drenched. I had to take the decent down to the reservoir real easy, because the wet brakes weren't working too well and I was nervous about falling on the wet pavement. Made it to the reservoir in one piece just in time for the skies to clear-up temporarily. Met up with my wife and fam and we launched the boat. We took the boat for a few spins around the lake, had a quick lunch, and the dang rain came on hard again before I had a chance to pull out the ski. Pops was nervous, so we pulled out and came home. Not much of a boat trip, but at least we got out. It would have been cool had the rain stayed away. There were only a handful of boats on the lake which is rare for a Saturday.

Would of been an action-packed day had we been able to ski! Oh well, next time.

Rest day.

A.M. - 60 mins of easy flat cruising on the treadmill. Honestly just didn't feel like much more than that this morning and the thought of inclines just felt daunting. But by the end I was feeling good.

A.M. - Extended Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch Drive triangle route, normal direction. Nice beautiful cool morning. I'll take 'em while I can get 'em this time of year.

A.M. - Good 60 minute treadmill run at the Life Centre:

A.M. - Standard 12 mile route in the reverse direction. Great morning temps again. It's so nice to have a break from the warm, wild fire smoke-infested mornings.

P.M. - Rode to the top of Millcreek and back (40 miles). Overcast the whole time, but temps weren't bad and the rain didn't fall on me until the last 2 miles. Even then, it wasn't much. Good ride.

A.M. - Made the (stupid) mistake of staying up way too late last night doing something for work (which in retrospect could have and should have waited until the morning). Consequently, getting up to run this morning was harder than usual, I was limited on time, and not motivated to really push it at all. 35 minutes on the treadmill:

10 minutes @ 9.0 mph, flat

10 mins @ 9.5, flat

15 mins @ 10.0, flat 

A.M. - No, I didn't run a marathon this morning...Well, the distance was equivalent, but it was just a training run. The only reason I went this far today is because that's just how long the route was. It wasn't a hard effort either. This was basically my standard 8.5 mile LC park and ride out-and-back done 3 times with slight variations in the middle to account for a little extra distance. I haven't done this route since my NYC buildup in 2010. For my long runs, I usually opt for the route that I did last Saturday (2 times around the extended LC Road/Wasatch Drive triangle). Though a bit monotonous, the advantage to this route over the other one is that it makes it more convenient to get water/Gu twice instead of just once (I don't like to carry stuff with me and I'm too lazy to go place bottles on the course unless its my front yard) and still affords similar elevation changes. Lots of folks out this morning. Tons of bikers and runners. Relatively nice temps this morning and I felt pretty good. Total time was just over 2:54. Average pace of ~6:40. Busy day today, but hoping I'll have the energy and time to do a bit of a ride later on.

P.M. - 50 mile bike ride up Big Cottonwood to Brighton and then to the end of the paved road up Guardsman's Pass. Awesome ride. The last little bit of Guardman's get pretty tough. I'll definitely want to come up here again. I refilled my water at the 7-11 at the bottom of the canyon and toyed with the idea of trying to go up Little Cottonwood a little bit, but by the time I got the electric sign, I decided I was out of juice, so I wussed-out and went home. I really need to be putting in some more cycling miles. I have a feeling the Ultimate Challenge is going to be really tough.... I got some good climbing in going up to Guardman's. About 4,700 vertical feet give or take from the mouth of the canyon.

Rest day.

A.M. - Was up way, way too late again last night working on some work stuff. It wouldn't have been so bad had a been more diligent and devoted more time to working earlier in the day or on Saturday, but there were funner things to do and quite honestly its nearly impossible to concentrate and get any work done at home with a 2 year old and a 2 month old. As a result, I slept in more than usual and went down to the gym. Physically felt okay and made it through the run I had planned. I didn't go hard and never intended to so I'll hopefully have a little something for the 10K tomorrow:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
49 mins @ 10.0, flat
6 mins @ 10.5, flat

The D News 10K is fun. But I dread it a little. I'm by no means expecting a spectacular result. I basically haven't done and 'speedwork' this summer, so I'll be interested to see if my average pace tomorrow is any better than half marathon pace. History has shown me there isn't much difference. Goal is to go sub-33. Hopefully this race provides a little speed stimulus. I'm much more looking forward to Timp half this Saturday.

Deseret News 10K - Well, by now everyone knows about the debacle with the course. I was one of the poor saps behind Ben and Scott that got routed on the short course. It's a bummer, but this was not an 'A' race so I don't really care. It was still fun. I don't have a lot to say about the race. It played out about how I expected. I was shooting for sub-33 and I think I would have done that and come pretty close to my 10K PR. I was grateful for the relatively cool temps. First couple miles going downhill were sub-5 and then my pace deteriorated down to half marathon pace by the last mile. I felt good throughout. Legs just progressively lost speed. I'm not surprised that happened. I don't really do any specific training for the 10K distance or any real speed work. More than anything, I just hope the race provides a little speed stimulus.

Cooled down for 3 miles with Ben and Scott around the park. Congrats to them for great times! Then ran another ~3.3 back to my car at Research Park. It was a work day for me so I couldn't stick around to see Fritz bring home his victory.

P.M. - Worked most of the day and took off around 4:30 for ride up to Millcreek (~40 miles). Lovely ride as usual. Then down to the in-laws for a BBQ.

A.M. - Morning treadmill run down at the Life Centre. I thought this morning's workout, and the day in general, was going to be disaster because I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me. Not sure why exactly. I didn't eat anything out the ordinary. Had some good exercise Tuesday. Probably work stress more than anything. After tossing and turning, I may have ended up with 2 hours sleep, if I was lucky. Surprisingly, the run and the day went better than expected:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
15 mins @ 10.5, flat
35 mins @ 11.0, flat

P.M. - My sister-in-law and her family are in town visiting from Arizona, so my wife's side of the family wanted to do a dinner picnic in the canyons. I convinced them to go to Tanners Flat up Little Cottonwood so that I could squeeze in a ride and meet up with them. I came home from work and rode my bike to the end of the paved road at Alta and then back down to Tanners Flat to meet up with them. As a side note, up at Alta I saw what appeared to be a HS cross country team. Rob Murphy, was that you and your Alta boys? I couldn't tell.

Beautiful afternoon to be in the canyon with the kids and family. The sun was still out enough when it was time to go. So I hoped on my bike and coasted home down the hill. This will probably be the last ride until after the race on Saturday.

A.M. - Standard out-and-back. Took it real nice and easy.

A.M. - Easy treadmill run at the Life Centre, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.0 mph

5 mins @ 9.5

10 mins @ 10.0

7 mins @ 10.5

2 mins @ 11.0

1 min @ 11.5

5 mins @ 10.0

Was up way to late again (work stuff). Excited for the race Saturday though.

Timpanogos Half Marathon

Short Story - Great morning for a race. I'm happy with the end result today, but a little disappointed for having taken the first part of the race too hard and as a result, not having any speed for the last 5 miles. Overall, this is a huge PR for me, albeit on a very aided course, but my old PR was also very aided (UV 1/2 2011 - 1:10:38). First 8 miles or so were smoking down the canyon with a few sub 5-minute milers and I felt good...a little too good because in retrospect I think I pushed those miles too hard and it cost me later on. I actually led the race for a little while until just after we got out of the canyon. Then Scott decided to put the hammer down and there was no way I could hang with him. Last 5 miles (basically the part of the course after the canyon) were tough for me. Quads were fried and the leg speed was gone (all of those last miles were in the mid to upper 5-min/mi range). But I held onto second place and snatched a PR by almost 2 minutes. I wore my Hyperspeeds, which I absolutely love, but I'm wondering if a little softer shoe, perhaps my Kinvaras, would have served me better. All-in-all, a good day for me, I'm happy.

Congratulations to my hero Scott Keate who ran out of his mind today and easily won the race (1:07)! I get a rematch with him in three weeks at Hobble Creek = ), but the result won't be any different.  He is looking incredibly strong and his true running pedigree is blossoming now. Also big congrats to Lindsay Dunkley (1:11)! I would be lying if I said the thought of getting 'chicked' didn't cross my mind several times during the race. Steve Anderson had a tremendous race (1:11) despite also having done a fast marathon 4 days ago. The man is superhuman! Walter decided to be nice to all of us today, but still put up a good race and time as well. Great job to all of you.

More details to come later...

P.M. - Luckily my 'biking quads' didn't get trashed during this morning's race...50 mile ride up Big Cottonwood to Brighton, then Guardsman's Pass (end of paved road) and back home via Wasatch and Little Cottonwood Rd. Exact same ride as last Saturday. I love it.

Rest day. Legs were pretty sore from Saturday's race... I guess that's the price of the steep course + my Hyperspeeds. Walked around my neighborhood after chuch for probably close to two miles to get the juices in my legs going.

A.M. - Treadmill day down at the gym. I wasn't in any real state to take things real hard today, so I just kept things relatively easy. 10 miles in a little under 62 minutes:

5 minutes @ 8.0 mph, flat
5 mins @ 9.0, flat
5 mins @ 9.5, flat
~47 mins @ 10.0, flat

P.M. - Millcreek ride (40 miles). Lovely as always.

A.M. - Extended Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch Blvd triangle. Normal direction. Relatively warm out. Had a nice juicy cold fruit smoothy for breakfast when I got done. It tasted so good!

P.M. - It was my wife's birthday today, so I took the day off to handle the kiddos so she could shop and have some me-time. Was able to get in a ride mid-afternoon. Rode up Little Cottonwood to the end of the paved road at Alta and back (~25 miles). Good tough ride. Did it all from the saddle. About half way between Tanners Flat and White Pine, they were doing some road construction and made me stop for a couple minutes because a lane was shutdown. Apparently, earlier, a backhoe had fallen off the side of the road 65 feet down into the ravine. They pulled it out and apparently it wasn't all that messed-up, surprisingly.

Afterwards, I took the bike to the shop for a tune-up. The chain is right on the cusp of where its recommended to be replaced. The guy said my drive train will be fine though if I wait to replace it a few more weeks. I'd rather do it closer to Lotoja.

The timing of the tune-up is good since I won't ride Wednesday as I've got a Lotoja meeting that will eat up the afternoon. The bike should be ready Thursday afternoon, so hopefully I can squeeze on in.