Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Did the Planet Walk and then a little bit with the dog. 7:09/mile average. My bashed my knee pretty good against my desk yesterday, and it will quite stiff and sore in the evening. However, after icing it last night and taking some ibuprofin, it's a lot better today.

(Adrenaline black:  506 miles)

Back at it today with the tempo runs. Ran out to Millville and back, doing a 5-mile tinman tempo along the way. I had a hard time getting going during the first half, and splits were 6:09, 6:05, 6:05, 5:52, 5:56. After the tempo, I ran over to the LHS rec fields and did 4x200m barefoot in the grass in 34, 34, 32, 32. I ran these very hard. The garmin consistently said that the distance was actually 0.14 miles, which is 225 meters. If this is true, it would put my splits more in the 29-30s range. But the garmin may be rounding up as well. Either way, I'd like to get my speed down to under 30s on these grass 200's by the time Draper Days rolls around. I figure if I combine that with my standard training, I should be pretty fit to run to a good 5K/10K.

(Adrenaline blue: 129 miles)

Providence Hill loop, 6:44/mile average pace. Held 7:00 pace up the hills, and 6:15-6:30 on the downhills. Good run. Did a mile with the dog afterwards.

(Adrenaline orange: 345 miles)

Rain rain rain. I put off running until after work, hoping to catch a break in the precip at some point, but no luck. I finally got out at 5:30, and did an 8-mile loop around Logan. It let up quite a bit while I was out there, so I guess timing wasn't too bad. Plus, I felt fantastic, and had a very enjoyable run, daydreaming about St. George the entire way. 6:29/mile average pace. Did 6x100m striders in the middle. Finished out the run with a block with the dog.

(Adrenaline black: 515 miles)

Workout day. Again, I waited until after work to run, and this time my patience paid off: no rain. I wanted some hills today, so did a 6-mile tinman tempo on the Millville Hill Loop. Did a few 6:30 miles to warm up, then mile splits were 5:54, 5:52, 6:24 (all uphill), 5:46, 5:40 (all downhill), 5:48. I felt pretty good for the most part. I had some 200's on the track scheduled for afterward, and although I really didn't feel like doing them after 6 tempo miles, I forced myself to go home, put on the racing flats, and head out to the LHS track. Did 4x200 hard (31, 31, 31, 31), with ample recovery. I couldn't go much faster than 31s, but that's okay because it's still early June. I tried to focus on form and turnover.

My flats felt pretty funny. It's been 14 months or so since I've worn racing shoes.
 

(Adrenaline blue: 140 miles) 

AM - easy 4.5-mile recovery run on Planet Walk. Bumped into Cody, who ran with me for a while. Didn't wear a watch, but pace was very slow, as I was a bit stiff and tired from yesterday. Plus, my bruised knee that I had bashed into my desk last Saturday was a bit flared up, which made things uncomfortable. Ice and ibuprofin when I got home.

(Adrenaline black: 520 miles)

PM - easy 7-mile recovery run on Canal Trail Loop. 7:37/mile average pace. 

(Adrenaline orange: 352 miles) 

Ah...Saturday. Slept in until 8:30, then puttered around the house and yard for awhile before running errands. Eventually ended up at the Cache Gardeners Market, which is usually the place to be on Saturday morning. It's worth your time, if you're ever in Logan between 9AM-1PM on a Saturday. After working for awhile, I finally got around to doing my Saturday trail run by mid-afternoon. James was the only taker this week, and the two of us headed up Logan Canyon to the Right Hand Fork trailhead. From there we did a big 16+ mile loop: started up the Willow Creek Trail, then turned onto Steel Hollow and took it to its terminus at FR 056. We turned north onto FR 056 (Long Hollow) and paid homage to Old Ephraim by visiting his grave memorial. Old Ephraim was a legendary 9'11" grizzly bear that terrorized sheep during the 1920s, until a brave rancher repeatedly shot him to death with his gun. Pity. Now there are no more grizzlies in our area, but we seem to be overrun with livestock, most of which trample and poop all over my trails. Anyway, after stopping at the Ephraim memorial, we continued on Long Hollow, and then turned west onto FR 007 and headed toward Mud Flat. We then took Mud Flat all the way around to Cottonwood Spring and then Little Cottonwood Creek. And then we were back at the car. It's a great loop, and I've never done that particular variation of it (I usually come down Willow Creek instead of Mud Flat). The views are splendid on this run, particularly the second half, and everything is very very green right now.

According to the Garmin, our average pace was 9:07/mile. Total time 2:29:10. Fastest mile was 7:40, slowest was 10:31. Also according to the Garmin, total ascent/decent was ~4250 ft, which maybe why we ran so slow. it definitely kicked my butt. Good run, though. I enjoyed yakking with James the entire time.

(Cascadia: 141 miles)