Elite Jogging For Dummies

Easy run with Heather and Jack. We ran up through the U and up to the gate in Red Butte Canyon. Surprisingly warm this morning. We were way overdressed--fortunately the jogging stroller has a little basket where we could ditch our excess clothes.

Out the door at 5:50 am with a plan to run 12. I headed out past TiTP and into the St. Mary's 'hood.  I swear that my Garmin skipped about a mile in here, but whatever.  I ended up sort of weaving around the U and Research Park a bit on the way back. I was fairly sluggish early in the run, but seemed to loosen up after a while.

 Heather is going out of town from Weds to Sunday for a conference in DC, which leaves me in charge of Jack for most of the week. It will be tough to get in the runs with the baby, but I will hopefully figure out a way to make it work. If it's warm in the mornings, then I'll feel alright taking him out. Probably have to split up runs most days.
 

I had originally planned to hook up with the Black Sheep for a track workout, but I wanted to be able to get in a few more miles than that plan would allow.  So I headed out the door at about 5:25 with a plan to do a five mile warmup, five mile tempo, and five mile cooldown. The warmup miles were nice, I headed up City Creek and back around toward the Capitol before zigzagging up 1st Ave to South Temple and on to 600 E.  I was at 5.4 when I arrived at 600 So. where I started the Liberty Park tempo run. My goals was to run sub 5:53 per mile, which I thought was somewhat ambitious for me for a couple of reasons. First, I've only been doing four mile tempo runs on this route and adding another mile would be like . .. well, running another mile. Second, my legs are a little tired.  Okay, so the splits were 5:53, 5:56, 5:56, 5:52, 6:04.  I don't know what happened on the last mile.  Mentally I was really hanging with it, but the legs just weren't responding.  Overall, I felt good, though it was a little bit slower than I would have liked.  After the tempo run, I had a nice 5 mile wander back home.

AM--I made it out the door at about 5:50 and ran up to TiTP, and did the St. Mary's/Golf Course Loop. On the way back, I hopped on to the Shoreline Trail north of the zoo at the mouth of Emigration Canyon and headed toward Dry Creek Canyon. Great to be on the trail this morning, my legs appreciated the break from the pavement--if only for 4 miles of the run. Hit the metal pipe on the second try with a roundish rock.

PM--four miles with Jack in the running stroller.  The air temperature was nice, but it was windy. I think Jack tolerated it better than I did.  We stopped at Cafe Shambala on the way home and I picked up some Tibetan food for myself (I shared a little of the rice pudding with Jack after he had his carrot/oatmeal mush).

I had planned to run with Jack this morning in the running stroller, but the freak snowstorm changed that plan. So I went to work for a few hours and then ducked out to run at about 11:30. The air was still a little brisk and there was some wind, but I wore shorts and it ended up being a great run. By the end, the sky was as clear as a bell and from 11th Ave I could see all the way down to Utah County. It's interesting how the emergence of spring never feels more certain than after a March snowstorm. 

Still flying solo with Jack, so I drove out to my mom's house in Sandy this morning and she watched him while I ran for an hour. I basically just ran northeast on Dimple Dell Road. At about 3.25, I hopped on to the trail at Dimple Dell Park and ran along a nice flat wood-chip trail called the "Sleepy Hollow" trail.  I've been driving by this park for much of my life, but never spent any time there. I only saw a sliver of it this morning, but it looks like it would be worth exploring. I think a lot of people take horses in there and stuff, so I am imagining that early morning is the best time to check it out.  It was enjoyable to see a different view of things today.

Stayed out in Bluffdale last night to get more family help with Jack while I went running. I ran from the house to the Jordan River Trail and then north on the trail. Steady headwind on the way out. Ran into James Barnes out with his team. .  The return was nice, though I was a little overdressed.