Gonna Fly Now

Well, it turns out that I'll be running the Moab Half Marathon after all. I had registered for the lottery, but didn't draw out, but a friend of mine managed to pull some strings and got me accepted for the race. This means I better actually train! (Unless you want to count the previous 10 months as the longest taper period, ever).

I've decided to use Hal Higdon's Novice Half Marathon schedule for my training. It kills me that I'm using a novice schedule, but given my 10 month "taper", I need to start with something easy and build into longer runs. However, since race day is only 8 weeks away, I'll need to start midway through the schedule - thus today's 4 mile run. I know starting out with a longish run like that is just begging for shin splints (or worse) but I don't have a lot of options given how many training days (52) are left until the race.

I'm surprised how good I felt during the run - I fully expected to dead after one, maybe two miles, but I was able to stick it out and actually hit my goal.

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4798044

My first run with Locomotion since last spring. (Well, unless you count the Jingle Bell Run, which I don't). Since I only wanted six miles I followed the club from 3900 South Wasatch down to 2700 East and down to Sugar House Park. I was pretty wary of injury, so I took it slooooow, which I think was probably the correct move.

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4808279

According to my training schedule this was supposed to be a four mile run - so I'm going to count my slightly less than three miles as four. :)

I thought the Bonneville Shoreline Trail between the Huntsman Cancer Institute and Sunnyside would be pretty well packed down after Monday morning's snow storm. I figured since Monday was a holiday everyone would have been out enjoying the day. Turn out I was wrong. The trail was broken, but not packed. Most of the time I was running in loosely packed snow. Well, running is actually too strong of a description for what I did - it was more like walking and panting. (Running in loose snow is tough - you lose any rebound you would have gotten from your footfall, so it's almost like you're running from a dead standstill with every step).

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4832214

Today I was scheduled to only run two miles, but I wanted to make up for yesterday's shortage, so I tossed an extra 1.3 miles onto my run. This was a just a simple out and back along 1500 East from my house to 900 South. In the past this has always been a fast run for me (especially on the return trip) but I've found since attempting to come back from my ACL surgery last year the smallish hills are far more daunting than they ever were before. It's not because my knee bothers me - I think it's more of a conditioning issue. I just don't have the stamina I once had.

It was cold this morning - about 8ºF at 6:30 AM according to my GPS, so I was surprised to see other runners out there.

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4836912



 

It was hard to get up this morning. Rosie decided she was done sleeping around 02:30, and wouldn't let either of us get back to sleep for more than a few minutes for the rest of the night. Just after my alarm went off Lissa rolled over, put Rosie in the crook of my arm and said "do you want to cuddle with your Dad?" How can you get up when you have a 4 month old baby in your arms? I eventually forced myself to get up and go running.

It didn't take more than a quarter of mile to remember how hard the Higdon training schedules are when you're first getting started. My calf, quads and ankles are all tired and sore - although not as sore as I expected. I guess I wasn't in such bad shape after all.

I ran the same route as last Thursday, and I'm pretty pleased with my improvement. Last week I ran the 4 miles in 33:11 for an average of an 8:14/mile pace. Today my total time was 32:02, for an average pace of 7:59/mile. I even managed to bust out a 7:29 and 7:33 in the last two miles of the run. (Which also happen to the two downhill miles).

Oh yeah, it was cold. My eyelashes froze, again.

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4841539

The schedule says to rest, so I'll rest. I did do my normal routine of crunches and pushups this morning...so that counts as exercise, right?

I wish I could go climbing, but my gym is closed today and Saturday for a competition associated with the Utah Outdoor Retailer Show. Oh well.

I deviated from my schedule a bit today. I was supposed to run in a 5K race, but I don't know of any local races being held today, and because I've only resumed running in the past few weeks I was a little afraid that I might hurt myself if I tried to race. Instead I ran a 6.6 mile out and back from the State Capitol building to Shriner's Hospital with Locomotion.

I started out slowly, covering the first two miles in nearly 20 minutes, and gradually picked up my pace until I finished out the last mile with a 7:36 pace. (Downhill, of course). The weather was warmer than it has been, so that made running a little easier.

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4850819

 

Tacked an additional half mile on my normal Tuesday run to bring it up to 4.5 miles. We got a pretty good snow storm yesterday, so I was running on a combination of plowed, semi-plowed, and unplowed streets, which of course meant lots of slush.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the gym and warmed up by jumping rope for 10 minutes (I made it to 30 consecutive jumps before missing!). I had forgotten how tired jump roping leaves your ankles, so fighting the slush and uneven footing today was a little more difficult than normal, and by the end of my run I definitely felt like I was ready to be done.

GPS Output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4873745
 

Another long night with Rose made it hard to get up this morning to run, getting out the door and finding another two inches of snow made it even harder. But, I sucked it up and got out there, and was surprised to see lots of other runners on the road with me.

I went to the gym yesterday and jumped rope again, but only for about 5 minutes this time. I made it over 50 consecutive jumps before missing, which may be a personal record. I know the jump rope pays off eventually, but it sure makes for some sore ankles the next day. The uneven footing and slush dodging on the plowed streets sure doesn't help with the ankles, either!

I can tell that my conditioning is starting to come back, because I don't feel quite so wiped out after the shorter runs. I can't wait to see how tomorrow's 4.5 miler goes. I'm hoping for some clear streets, but there's more snow in the forecast this afternoon, so I'm not counting on it.

GPS output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4878589



 

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
 

After taking off nearly all of 2007 due to left ACL repair surgery, the Canyonlands Half was to be my first race. I registered way back in December, and then promptly forgot about until mid-January when I realized that I haven't trained at all. (I joked with a friend that with a year of taper time I should be able to set a new PR). I jumped into a 16-week training schedule around week 8. The overly aggressive schedule definitely helped to build a base, but ended with my taking off the week before the race with some pretty nasty shin splints. Even with the time off I felt like I was in pretty good shape for the race, and was looking forward to running a slower, but technically sound race.

On Friday Lissa, Rosie and I drove down to Moab. I was supposed to volunteer at the race expo from 4:30 to 7:00 PM, but traveling with a 6-month old baby is not conducive to keeping a schedule. We rolled into Moab around 5:00 PM, I checked into the expo, and was put to work making sure all runners got their timing chips scanned. My entire job could be replaced with a well place sign, but I had fun talking to other runners I recognized. After the expo we joined some friends for dinner, then went to our motel for a night of sleep before the race. Well, not really.

Remember the aforementioned 6-month old? She's still not sleeping through the night, and Friday night was no exception. She was up at least once an hour crying (which I'm sure our neighbors enjoyed), and I was out of bed on at least one occasion singing and calming her. My 7:00 AM alarm came much earlier than I was expecting. After a quick breakfast of dry, tasteless English muffins and banana I went to the start and met up with rest of the Locomotion runners.

After huddling at the start line for nearly two years the gun finally went off. I was hanging in the middle of the pack around the 8:00 minute/mile pace. My plan was to run a slow first half, then pick it up in the second half to hit a 1:45 finish time. The first mile went by, and I was running a
8:38/mile pace - a little slower than I was hoping, but I knew that I would speed up as the pack thinned out. The next few miles went by the typical dodging and cutting around runners who started out too fast, and were now slowing down, my average pace over the next few miles was right around 8:00/mile - now I was running a little faster than I had hoped, but it felt good, and I didn't feel like I was pushing myself too hard, so I went with it.

Through miles five through eight I started to pick up my pace to about 7:50/mile, mile nine went a bit faster, then I got to mile ten. This was going to be the real test as we were out of the canyon, and onto Highway 191. Something about running on that highway feels much more difficult than the serene run of the early miles - maybe it's because it flattens out, or maybe it's the cars passing by on the left - but everyone agrees it's the hardest mile of the course. I picked up my pace a bit in anticipation of the next mile. Mile 10 went by in 7:25 - I held that pace through Mile 11.

Finally the Mile 12 sign loomed ahead on the road. I was feeling good, I hadn't hit the wall, and I knew I had a little something left in the tank, so I pushed it again. I started passing all kinds of people, including the kid I had been leap frogging for nearly two miles. My GPS beeped, I had completed Mile 12 in 7:05, and I could see the finish line just up ahead. I decided to go for a final kick, and sped up, the chutes walls were up, and the crowd was thick. I kept an eye out for Lissa and Rosie, and when I didn't see them I decided to push it a little more. Finally at an all out sprint I crossed the finish line. 1:42:45 - almost two full minutes below my goal!

I walked out of the gates, and saw Lissa waiting for me, holding Rose in her arms. "Do you want to go back and do it again so I can get a picture?" She says as she hands my daughter off to me.

GPS Output:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5135521

Note on the GPS Output: I started my watch before I hit the start line, so my time and distance is off a little from the official results.

My triumphant return to Fast Running Blog...and I am fat and out of shape. I haven't run since the Moab Half Marathon in March, and I'm definitely feeling it. 3.1 miles on the Jordan River Parkway, and I think I may die. Well, it's not quite that bad, but my feet felt heavy, I had some side cramping, and my upper back is sore. I guess that's what I get for taking so much time off.

Why have I been gone so long, you, the imaginary reader, my ask? Well, lemme tell you, being a dad is both time consuming and tiring. Every Sunday evening I think to myself: "I HAVE to start running again tomorrow", and that night Rosie will decide she's not going to sleep. It's tough to get up at 5:30 or 6:00 AM to run when you didn't get to sleep until 2:30 or 3:00. I've also been focusing on climbing, so I spend most of my lunch breaks on the wall at The Front. But, the Wasatch Back is coming up fast, and I better get into somewhat decent shape, or else my team captain may kill me.

Here's the splits, courtesy of my Forerunner 205. (On a side note, doesn't the 405 look slick?)

Mile 1	7:14
Mile 2	7:34
Mile 3	7:42
Mile 4	00:45
TOTAL	23:16

Times are truncated at the nearest second.

Obviously, I started to fast, and finished too slow. But, I would expect nothing less from myself. I'm terrible at pacing, and even worse at running a negative split. I definitely need to work on maintaining a constant speed.

GPS Output coming later.