In search of old age PRs

Speed/Tempo workout at East High School.  I did this run at night after dinner, so it was a little sluggish.  10 x 400 with 1 mile warm up and cool down.

Quick run out around Liberty Park.  I'm not sure when it happened, but Liberty Park has become a little Venice Beach complete with the hippies and street vendors.  The people of Salt Lake had better heed Cartman's warnings!

Short run around Liberty Park

Run up City Creek Canyon.  I was 20 minutes faster coming downhill.  I really need to work on my uphill endurance.  I hope to run this route every couple of weeks.  It was rainy and windy for most of the run, but I really felt for the guys down in St. George who were going 26.2 today!

The sun came out after lunch so I ran up to the track at East High for 7 x 200 with warm up and cool down. 

Around the Sugar House area with a few trails mixed in.

Quick run around Liberty after driving all day through Idaho.

Track workout at East High late at night.  6 x 800 with mile warm up and cool down.  I tried to run these between 2:45-2:55.  I read an article about late in the training season on running 10 x 800 with the last one being close to your marathon time.  They felt pretty easy, but we will see how it goes when I add 4 more.  I know I need to go a long way on my endurance training.

Easy run around Liberty Park area.

Lucas had swim lesson this morning, so afterwards Elizabeth drove me above Emigration Canyon and dropped me off for my 17 mile run.  The snow was coming down hard and the wind was blowing the first 4 miles, but eased after Little Dell.  I saw one runner and one biker on the route into Salt Lake.  The wind picked up, so it was good head wind training.  No joke, I ran with a goat from mile 9-10.  I believe it was someone's pet.  The sun came out as I approached the zoo and it made for a nice dry run back to the house.  Tough day for a run, I have a couple of blisters from wet shoes and socks from the initial snow downpour.  It may be a tough couple of months getting ready for Tucson in December.

Quick run at the track in-between the rain and the snow. 7 x 200 with mile warm up and cool down.  My legs were sore from the 17 mile downhill run on Saturday, so I didn't have much speed today.

Run from house to Sugar House park.  My calves were pretty sore from the work-outs on Saturday and Sunday.  It took about 3 miles to loosen up.

Easy recovery run around the Sugar House area.  I hope to be fresh for a hard tempo workout on the track tomorrow night.  

Today was supposed to be a tempo workout, but when I ran up to the High School track they were preparing for a football game.  I decided to run up to Red Butte Gardens and on the Shoreline trail. 

It was not too difficult of a workout, but I could really feel my left knee on the steep downhill.  I know this will be an issue at Tuscon, so I'll try to prepare for it.  Also, I ran the full 8.5 without hydration.  This is something else I am working on during my weekly runs.  I like to think that I can train my body to operate on less hydration, thus making the marathon water-stops not as critical or as time consuming.
 

I was going to run Thursday night after visiting Red Butte Garden's "Once Upon a Time," with Elizabeth, Lucas and some friends, but we stayed later than I thought we would (pretty neat--go check it out). 

Crawled out of be at 6:00 and ran up to East High track for warm-up.  Ran 4 x 1600 at 5K pace with 400 meter walk/recovery.  I wanted to stay around 6:00 minute pace, but hit all four below 5:50 and felt fairly comfortable. 

I ran in my Filas with a thick insert.  This makes the shoes weigh over 15 ounces.  I have some racing flats on order and I can't wait to run in a 8 ounce shoe.  I'll probably do a 5K next weekend in them (if they show up).

Run up City Creek Canyon from Memory Grove Park. 

Today is Elizabeth's birthday so Lucas and I took her to the Original Pancake House.  We ate way too much food, so I had to wait a few hours before starting this run.  I felt very sluggish driving to Memory Grove park, so I had teenage girl's typical diet of Red Bull and Blow-pops to perk me it.  It worked great.  The run starts at 4400 feet and paved trail ends at 6050.  I hit snow and ice about 5500 which felt great.  There was a nice tail wind pushing me up the canyon.  I made it up the 7 miles in a 9:15 pace feeling really good.  I made the turn and averaged a 6:10 pace the back 7 miles.  

The first half of the run I listened to a podcast called Phedippidations.  It is a program done by a guy (Steve) while he is running long miles.  It's a great way to warm up for the first hour.  I would recommend it to anyone running alone.  Steve touched on a lot of subjects today, but the most memorable to me was "why we run."  I agree with Steve's oberservations, that "running is the answer to a healthy life."  "Healthy" meaning much more than the physical state.  I personally, also run for pride.  I enjoy seeing improvement every season and want to see and test where my limits are.

Speed-work at East High.  7 x 200 with mile warm-up and cool down.

Run around Sugar House Park area.  Ran through Mount Olivet Cemetery close the U. of U.  Nice, quiet paved streets with beautiful trees and lots of deer.  It was a nice run.  I also ran by the "Fountain of Ute."  Not sure what this is, but I will try to find out on future runs.

Run from house to Sugar House Park.  Nice head wind and a little chilly.

I've decided to run a 5K race on Saturday.

I had to fly home Tuesday night because my father had a heart attack and passed away.  It was a very sad experience and running blog will show that I only did this run and one more before heading back home to Salt Lake.  This was a run along the Applachian trail in North Carolina.  It was a beautiful run and gave me time to reflect on my father and the difficult decision we would have to face the coming week.

Another run in North Carolina on the wooded trail.  I did this run on a Sunday.  We buried my father the day before (Saturday).  It was a tough run with a lot of elevation change, but I felt somewhat comforted when I finished.  I look forward to getting back in to my routine once I get back to Salt Lake at the end of the week.