Elite Jogging For Dummies

Easy run with Heather and Jack, pushing the babyjogger.  We ran up to the gate in Red Butte Canyon. It was warm!! We ran into Brian Kamm, who was finishing a long trail run, and chatted for a couple of minutes as we were heading home. 

The thermometer said 42 degrees this morning, which means one thing . . . shorts! This is the first weekly training run I have done in shorts in a long time, probably since 2007. I hear its supposed to dip back down into the 30s later this week, so I'll just enjoy it while I can.

I ran out on the standard TTIP route via the grass going up to the monument, and then did the St. Mary's Golf Course loop (with some fairway running). Next, I jumped up on to the Bonneville Shoreline trail trail access at the zoo and climbed up to the main trail, eventually winding over to the bottom of Dry Creek Canyon. Hit the metal pipe on the third throw (my shoulder hurts from the first two throws ... too hard).

I ran a few drills on the grass at the end; carioca, high knees, skipping.

 PM:  Jack and I ran a few easy miles after work, out and back to Memory Grove.

Arrived at the zoo trailhead at about 5:40, enough time to get in a mile before meeting up with Lisa M. Our plan was to run five easy miles up Emigration Canyon, and then run a five mile tempo down the canyon.  The crazy thing today was that the wind was blowing up the canyon, rather than down the canyon.  It is very rare that I have had a tailwind going up. If it's windy, it's almost always blowing in my face while I climb.   It made for a smoother ride up, but on the way down it was a battle.

Lisa came down with a cold after the weekend, however, so she decided to back off a bit and she ran up to the 4 mile mark and back down easy. That's a good move, as she's planning to do the SL Half and probably needs the rest anyway.

So I continued on up the canyon to about the 5.5 mile mark (about .5 past the Sun & Moon Cafe). Turned around to start the tempo run and felt sluggish from the start. I haven't done anything quick since the half last weekend and I was concerned I would feel stale the whole time, so I just played it by ear and do all I could. First mile was 5:56, which reflected my sluggishness. I picked it up a bit in the second mile, 5:43. At some point I started to concentrate on letting go of the little mental blocks telling me that I was too slow today and that I should just be in bed. Third mile in 5:40. With two miles to go, I was approaching Ruth's diner. The grade in this part of the canyon is very runnable, but it does flatten out a bit. I think that's probably a good thing. During the fourth mile, Kevin Tuck drove up along side me and started talking about running. I love Kevin to death, but I was too deep into the run to slow down and focus on the conversation. I did manage to squeak out a few sentences. Fourth mile in 5:32. Okay, one mile to go. This is the flattest part of the canyon, but also probably the section I know best. I tried to concentrate on my best downhill form. Mile 5 in 5:27. Then a little cool down back to the car.  The headwind coming down the canyon was definitely a factor, but nothing to do about it.

I feel like I needed this workout today to get over the hump of just running slow for the past several days. At some point, there's no such thing as an "easy" day if all the days are easy.  

Well, it was back to being cold again this morning.  I knew the warmth couldn't last . . . though it is at least comforting to know it is possible.  At about 5:40, I ran down to Josh's house and we ran 8 miles together, through the Avenues and up to the 1 mile mark in City Creek. We chatted a lot about Josh's upcoming race at Boston.  I predict 2:38, or faster.  (His PR is 2:45) . After we circled back to Josh's house, I tacked on a few more miles, heading up to the U and back down through Federal Heights.

A group of 7 met at Grounds for Coffee at 5:45. I arrived in time to get in .5 before we started.  This is close to the traditional Radda route, so we did the canal route. I anticipate this will be the new staple as it allows basically the same course everyone knows and it's close to all of the Holladay runners.  I added another mile at the end to finish things off.  

This morning I ran the Ensign loop with a short jaunt up City Creek Canyon to add a little fun and excitement.  The creek is really starting to move now, as the water descends from the mountains.  Easy pace during the run, total time of 1:17 for 10 miles. Then I added a series of drills on the grass--high knees, skipping, carioca, glute kicks.

For the last several days, many people (mostly non-runners) have been asking, well actually assuming that I was running the Salt Lake Marathon. The logic goes something like: 1) I'm a run marathons; 2) I live in Salt Lake; 3) therefore I am running the SL Marathon. I suppose I understand the logic, but there is this strange kind of disappointment that surfaces on people's faces when I tell them I'm planning to run Ogden next month.  They feel sort of let down, or at least that's what I pick up.  It's actually kind of funny, now that I think about it. 

Anyway, although I wasn't registered this year, I did manage to participate in an unofficial capacity.  A couple of days ago I volunteered to pace Adam RW for the last 6 miles of the race in his quest for marathon speediness.  I guess he thought I would help more than hurt, and agreed to let me tag along. 

I left my house at about 8am and ran out to about the 20 mile mark, about 6 miles from my house. I had a pretty serious headwind on the way out and I knew that must be driving the racers nuts. I was a little early to the 20 mile mark , and just kind of ran up and down the street (5th East), waiting for the action to arrive. The lead group, all Kenyans as far as I could tell, cruised through in a pack of about five, though I didn't count carefully.  Next through, about five mintues back, came Sasha, followed closely by Alexander Tomas.  Then Matt Harmer from the WRC team.  Next came Adam, looking strong, and we took off.

The stretch of fifth east is a long stretch, and we had a little tailwind--the opposite of what they had endured in the first half.  Adam caught Matt and Alexander, which says a lot as these are very, very strong runners.  Then we ran into the half marathon/5k crowds.  The SL Marathon does a terrible job of keeping the course clear for the race leaders.  You have to weave around lots of people and it's kind of unnerving. Rather than let it wear Adam down, I tried to put the crowds on the road to his advantage--trying to get others to give him some encouragement, and trying to clear the path when there was a traffic jam.

The splits on my watch for the stretch I ran were between 5:57 and 6:15.  I'm sure Adam's post will give a more complete run-down.

As we got into the Gateway, I bailed out and Adam surged on to the finish--sub 2:40 and a PR. Great job!

Then I ran back along the course to 5th East and 2100 South, where my wife and her friends were gathered watching the race.  So I managed to get in a nice run today with some pace work. Congrats to all the finishers on a windy, warm day!