Running on Twinkies

4 miles easy today. My calves were a bit tight from Saturday's run but they didn't slow me down. Run time: 39:25

I ran up the Mueller Park Trail to Elephant Rock today. 57: 39 going up and 42:01 coming down. The trail was snow packed for about the first two miles. The last mile I had to break my own trail. When I started breaking trail the snow was about 6 inches deep. At the top of the trail, the snow varied form 1 to 2 feet deep. Because of the snow my times were slower than usual. In the Summer I can run the entire trail and back in under an hour. Coming down through deep snow wasn't much easier than going up. Once I got back down to the packed snow I was able to get back to normal pace.

Normally when I run this trail (in the Spring and Summer), the trail is quite crowded and I have the watch out for high speed downhill bikers. But today I had the trail to myself. It was great.

Easy run today. 39:45

Tempo Run. Today I did a 20 min warmup, then fast for 5 min, easy for 1, fast 5, easy 1, fast 5. I followed it with a 20 min warmdown. Run Time: 58:22

It was raining a little and a bit windy this morning, but nothing to complain about. Ran 4 easy miles. Tomorrow is my first race of the year, Striders Winter Racing Series 5k.

First race of the year today. The Strider Winter Series 5k. My goal today was 7 minute miles. I came in just over that with a split of 7:06. I had not run this course before. As I was standing around at the start I heard other people mention how much they hated this course. When the race director made the announcements at the first of the race he said that it was a "5k that felt like a 10k." 

 The course had a good uphill from mile 1 to 1.5, followed by a good down, then a smaller second uphill. After that, it was mostly downhill to the finish. I thought the course was great, but I like hills. As I turned into the parking lot near the finish I thought "that was easy." It's not that I could have run it faster but the races I am use to running are longer.

This race has set the precedence for my next 5 races. My goal is to train hard between each of the series races and keep my pace the same as the distance increases. Which means my goal time for Striders 10k on Feb 21 will be 44:12. If I can stick to my training schedule, I will run the Ogden Marathon with a time of 3:06.

After the race I took my family to Denny's for breakfast. Then we went to the Treehouse Museum. It a children's hands-on discovery center. The kids loved it.

When we got home I put my running shoes back on and went out for a long run. I was only planning on going 9 miles, but I was feeling good and ended up doing 10.5. I was running along a muddy jeep road for part of my course. There a family out for a ride in one of those oversized four wheelers (rhino or something). They were just ahead of me when I got on the road and hadn't seen me. I would about catch up with them, then they would go a little faster and get ahead again. this went on for about a half a mile, then they stopped. I ran past them, said "hello" and the Mom jumped and said "Oh, you scared me". They must have been stopped for a while, because I didn't see them again after that.

Altogether, it was a great day of running.

I was snowing lightly when I started out today, but it was coming down hard by the time I finished. I ran easy today but increased my mileage a bit from last week. Run time 56:15.

Fresh snow. I ran up the Mueller Park trail today. I didn't make it all the way to Elephant Rock, I had to turn around about half way up because there was just too much snow. It snowed the whole time I was running.

When I got home I still wanted to finish my hill workout, so I set the treadmill to 12 min miles with an 8% incline and did 3 more miles. Feel the burn.

Easy 6 miles today. Run time 1:04.

Tempo run. I ran for 30 min to warm up, then went fast for 9 min, easy for 2, fast 9, then cooled down with for another 30 minutes.

Easy run today. It was cold this morning. I am ready for Spring.

Happy Valentine's Day

 Run 14 miles today with just over half of it at 7 min pace. Run felt good but I was tired by the end. I increased my mileage this week, ending the week with 45 miles. Run time 1:53.

I slept in a bit this morning, but I was able to get in a good run before going to work. The weather was warmer today, but I can't ditch my wind breaker just yet.

More snow. Why is it that the days when I want to go trail running have the nastiest weather? Oh well! I ran up the Mueller Park Trail anyway. I wasn't going to let the snow get the best of me and pushed it all the way to Elephant Rock. My time up was faster than two weeks ago at 53:34. My down time was faster as well at 33:45. The snow was wild today, but the run was beautiful.

Easy run today. 

I ran 8 miles with 1.5 miles in the middle at 6:40 pace. I was planning on running fast for 3 miles, but I have a sinus headache today and couldn't hold that pace. I hope that my sinuses are cleared up by Saturday because I am running in a 10K.

Easy 5 miles today. My sinuses were feeling better today, but I still have a runny nose. Hopefully that won't affect my race much tomorrow.

When I woke up this morning I felt icky. My cold had not improved and I had a soar throat. On top of that, my GPS was dead. I had to do this race old school with the stop watch. 

It was cold this morning, I'm not sure what the temperature was, but it was colder than the 5k two weeks ago. The race got started and I felt okay, but went out at a good pace. After about the first half mile the race had an added challenge, 50 meters of ice. Luckily I didn't slip. My first mile was 6:55. That was right about where I wanted it to be. Mile 2 was 6:30, a bit faster but it had some downhill. Miles 3 & 4 I leveled off and I was just over 7 minutes. At mile 4.5 there was a large uphill. When we reached the top of the hill I realized we weren't to the top yet. The hill kept going. When we went over the next ridge we were still climbing. Finally we crested over the top and I was able to stride out for the last half mile. I'm not sure what my splits were for miles 5 & 6 but they weren't anything great. My goal time was 44:12, but I came in at 45:49. My overall slip time was 7:23. I am pleased with the my results especially considering I wasn't feeling 100% today.

I had to go into work early today so I got up at 4 a.m. to get my run in. I saw three deer while out this morning. Run time 1:09

I ran the Mueller park trail today. The first .5 mile of the trail was hard packed and icy in spots. After that the trail was hard on top and soft underneath. Every step broke through. After two miles up my legs were complaining, so I turned around. It was a good workout.

Another early morning. A half mile of my run was on a trail. As soon as the snow melts, most of my runs will be on trails.

Today I ran from my house up the the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (the North Salt Lake side). Then I ran on the trail up to the lowest radio tower. Then I ran back home over the same route. The trail was good today. It was muddy in spots with a few stretches of snow.

I slept in this morning and missed my run. I guess all the early mornings this week were starting to get to me. When I got home from work I didn't feel much like running. I wanted to watch a movie instead. So I compromised. I ran to the video store (literally), got a movie, and ran back. I'll make it up with a long run tomorrow.

Today I ran on the Legacy Parkway Trail. I started at the Centerville Trailhead and headed North. I ran to the Bountiful Pond and went around to the east side of it. I then ran on some dirt roads through the marsh lands. I turned back and came around the other side of Bountiful Pond, then back along Legacy. The Legacy Parkway Trail is becoming popular, there were several other runners out this morning.