Gonna Fly Now

What a glorious day for a run. I didn't get out this morning before work, so I packed up my running clothes and brought them into the office. For my lunch break I hit the Jordan River Parkway and reeled out 4.75 nearly perfect miles. I may have run it a little too fast (34:30 overall, 7:17 average pace) but my legs were feeling good, and I just wanted to run!

GPS Output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4918674

Snow Day!

Woke up a little later than I would have liked, but still managed to knock out three miles in the snow. It was snowing too hard during my run, but I wish I had worn clear or yellow glasses, the wind was blowing just enough to send little snow crystals into my eyes.

I know I'm getting into better running shape because I don't think about how much I want to die during my entire run. I'm starting to be able to enjoy my route, the sound of the fresh snow crunching under my feet, and the cars veering around me.

I ran a little slower today than I would have liked, but I'm going to blame it on yesterday's run being too fast, and the bad weather. My total running time was 25:04, for an average pace of 8:12/mile. (Although, if you factor out the time I spent waiting at intersections my average pace was a slightly more respectable 7:59/mile).

GPS Output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4920582
 

Last night I decided to take The Steve running with me in the morning, but he's horrible on his leash, so we headed out to the Parleys Historic Nature Park so he could run unencumbered.

It turns out the park is smaller than I though, with a complete loop around the main trail only coming out to a little over a mile, and since I was looking for 4.5 miles it meant lots and lots of loops. The snow on the main loop was well packed, but the outer loop was still fairly untracked. My Kahtoola MICROspikes handled the snow admirably, and I never worried too much about slipping, except on the steepest downhill stretch.

I think I may be developing some shin splits, so I'm looking forward to my day off tomorrow. It's not much time to rest before my Saturday long run, so hopefully I'm just sore, not actually injured.

GPS Output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4925849
 

As usual, I did my weekly long run with Locomotion. The rest of the club went about 15 miles, but my training schedule only called for 8, so I called it quits before the rest of the club, and finished out the morning helping with the sag. I feel like I could have kept running, and probably could have done the whole 15 miles, but I don't want to risk injury. (I'm trying to play it conservative).

GPS Output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4944431

A little over five miles along the Jordan River Parkway during my lunch break. It was another fine day for a run, and even saw a few other runners along the trail, but they all turned around before the mud...wimps.

I probably ran it too fast again...but, man, I love that fast flat course. Total running time was 37:25, for an average pace of 7:17/mile.

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4965323

Three-ish miles today inside the Parley's Historic Nature Park. I forgot my GPS, so I don't know my exact distance, but based on my measurements from last week I should have been around three miles, maybe a little further.

The trail is getting seriously rutted out from the constant thaw/freeze cycle we've been experiencing for the past few days. Each day as the snow warms up it turns into slush, then refreezes each night. When it refreezes all of the footprints, dog tracks, and little depressions turn into a sharp rut, which makes finding good footing difficult. I ran again with my MICROspikes, but probably didn't need them.

I think I ran too hard yesterday and stayed up too late last night, but this was a tough run. By the time I was on the uphill portion of the third loop I felt like I was moving awfully slow. The Steve even seemed a bit worn out, too. 

Five miles on the Jordan River Parkway. Five miles on the unplowed Jordan River Parkway. Last night's snow storm and wind gusts dropped about 4" on the trail, with area of wind gusted drifts up to 6" deep. I put down about two miles of the only human footprints to be seen in the snow. (I would have had first tracks, but a few ducks and geese beat me!)

Once again it was a nearly perfect day to be out running. I'm starting to get spoiled by the noon-time sun and traffic free parkway trail. I better start getting up at 5:00 AM again to run in the dark and cold - I'm afraid I might be getting soft.

Total time was 41:10, for an average pace of 8:11/mile. A little slower than normal - probably because I was breaking trail for almost the entire run. (There was only one other set of prints in the three miles where I wasn't the first human).

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4972947

My training schedule called for a 10K race today, but I don't know of any 10Ks being run in the middle of the Utah winter. I wasn't sure what kind of mileage I should tackle today, but I decided to do my long run with Locomotion, as usual. Once I got out on the run I thought that I would only run 9 or 10 miles then call it quits, but I felt so good that I decided to do the entire 15 mile course.

The Loco Draper Run has a good variety of terrain, and I ended up with about 6 miles of uphill, 6 miles of downhill, and right around 3 miles of flat. I also did the run pretty slowly, with a 10:46/mile average pace (although my fastest mile was 8:17).

I'm starting to pay the price for doing such a long run though - my calves and hamstring are pretty tight this evening, and I think I may have overworked my IT band. I'll do some stretching and icing before I go to bed, and hopefully everything will feel better in the morning.
 

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4980986 

Tough to get out today. I was feeling pretty blah about running, and I think my run reflected that. I don't know if it's because I'm not sleeping enough, not eating right, or if I didn't like the way the air tasted today, but this wasn't my best run. Still, I managed to get in my full five miles along the Jordan River Parkway with an average pace of 7:22/mile.

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5008780
 

Last night Lissa and I went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival showing at the University of Utah, and didn't get home until nearly 22:00. So by the time we wrangled the baby, grabbed a bite to eat, and got ready for bed it was nearly midnight. The 06:00 alarm seemed awfully early this morning, and I considered skipping the run. But, I know that I'm the middle of "training blahs" (where you're running nearly the same schedule week-in and week-out, and it's easy to get into a rut) and that if I skipped this run it would just make it easier to justify skipping other runs. So, I got up, got out, and ran.

I did my normal three mile "underpass loop" course that takes me up Parley's Canyon Blvd, under the I-80 underpass on 2000 East, down 2700 South, to 1700 East, and back home. I tried to push the pace a bit, and managed to keep my average at 7:27/mile. My last mile as my fastest mile at 7:17. Not as bad as I was expecting.

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5010966
 

I should just round that up to 16 miles.

Ran the West Side Potpourri run with Locomotion. This route is actually one of my least favorite Loco runs - it's almost always windy, usually cold, and the streets are just busy enough to be uncomfortable. That being said, today wasn't such a bad day. I ran 16 miles (see? I rounded.) with several sloooow miles, one really fast (6:10) mile, and lots of decent miles in the 8:10ish/mile range.

Kent and I ran together over the final seven miles. I've always enjoyed running with Kent - he's pretty darned fast, and always gets me to push the pace a bit. Today when I was feeling like I was just about done Kent encouraged me to run with him, and I managed to crank out another four miles.

There's no doubt in my mind that I'll be able to complete the Canyonlands Half Marathon in a few weeks. The only question that remains is if I'll be able to hit my goal time: 1:45.

GPS Output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5026593
 

My normal lunch time five miler along the Jordan River Parkway. Nothing terribly notable, except the two dorks riding (without helmets, of course) on an old Honda three wheeler along the path. Apparently "No Motorized Vehicles" is too difficult for OHV'ers to comprehend. It's not a good run until you're sucking two-stroke exhaust, anyway.

My total running time was 36:31.57, for an average pace of 7:08/mile.

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5053354

Zen run today - I forgot to charge my GPS, so I just ran without it. I have no idea how long it took me, and while I knew I was close to three miles I didn't know how far I had run until I got home and mapped it.

 

Just another day on my Jordan River Parkway course from my office. I'm getting faster though - my average pace today over the five miles was 7:02/mile. As always my fastest mile was my first mile at 6:50. After that initial burst of speed my pace settled down to 7:08ish mile, with my slowest mile being the turnaround around mile three (7:10).

It's nice to know that I'm getting my speed back after such a long layoff. I think it's due to both correcting my form (I no longer feel like I'm favoring my left leg), and dropping a few pounds off the middle. (Just a little more to lose from my love handles!). It will be interesting to see how I hold up at the Canyonland Half Marathon next weekend.

My only complaint is that my shins and ankles are still killing me I run. Under normal circumstances I would see this as a sign that I need new shoes - but the pair I'm running in now can't have much more than 150 miles on them. I think my shin pain is more due to not being conditioned properly when I jumped into my training routine. Fortunately my target race is just a week away, and after that I'll be able to take a few days to rest up and heal up.

GPS Output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5062833