Ran the 14 mile loop that goes down 1300 East, up Wasatch Blvd to the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, and down 9400 S. I reallly was feeling good and wanted to push it the first miles. The first 4 miles were all under 7:45 pace. Then I hit the massive hill, so I had miles at 8:26 and 11:00. There was still a lot of climbing left. My goal was to stay under 9:00 per mile. At mile 10, I ran out of gas completely, so I just tried to survive. Fortunately, it was downhill and with a big wind at my rear, so I was able to stay below 9:00 per mile. Interestingly, I seemed to gain strength when I hit the flat and slightly uphill portions (after lots of downhill). Average pace was 8:28. Total run time: 1:58. I was gung-ho for this run, but I still struggled. It didn't give me a lot of confidence for longer future runs. But at least it had hills, so that's a comforting thought. And it's these types of runs that will help me improve. I will have to practice eating while running to avoid running out of gas. This week started on a real low point. I worked forward from there, and I am extremely grateful now to be recovered from this calf strain! Next week I really hope to get some solid mileage and to get back to speed work. It's been awhile! | 