Elite Jogging For Dummies

Easy run this morning, out and back to TTIP/St. Mary's/Bonneville Golf Course. It was cold again--29 degrees. I was wearing my thick Asics Thermopolis top, which is more or less my heaviest running shirt. I always worry it will get too warm, but it breathes well.

After the run, I did about 10 minutes of drills on the grass--high knees, butt kicks, skipping, carioca.

 PM:  Easy run pushing Jack in the babyjogger.  We ran up and over to 9th Avenue, dropped into Memory Grove on the switchbacks (a little treacherous pushing the stroller), and then return via 4th Ave.
 

This morning I planned to get in a five mile tempo run, but keep the intensity moderate, i.e., Tinman Tempo.  So I headed over the usual route to TITP.  After four miles of easy running, I started the tempo while still in the TITP parking lot.  From here, I would have a grunt climb up Crestview behind the Zoo, then a descent on Wasatch through the golf course, then some flat/rolling terrain along Wasatch, as I headed south.  The initial climb was no problem and the downhill through the golf course was nice and easy. Mile 1 in 5:59.  Then it flattened out and climbed a bit. Mile 2 6:08.  I had a 180 degree turnaround in the middle of the third mile: 6:00. The fourth mile had a nice easy grade: 5:53.  Mile five took me through the golf course up along Wasatch, peaking at Crestview. Ugh. I run this hill all the time, but never at tempo pace. It's a gut-kicker.  Like mile 6/7 the Ogden 10 miler. Well, not quite that bad--but it is a steady half mile climb nonetheless.  Anyway, even with the .3 of downhill after the climb I only managed a 6:42 for that mile. Then an easy 4 mile run home, trying to keep my form together--thinking about the drills.  Total time: 1:34.

 Oh, at Boston yesterday, Josh Steffen ran 2:36:53, an awesome time on that course.  His wife Megan ran 3:14. Great finishes.


 

The weather was fairly warm this morning and I decided I would run the trails to celebrate. I ran the Cucina loop (City Creek Canyon to Dry Creek Canyon via Bonneville Shoreline Trail). Lots of climbing in this run--at least 1500 feet, most of it within the first 3 miles--but I took it nice and easy. I ran a few drills on the grass when I got home: butt kicks, high-knee skipping, quick feet, carioca.

 After work, Heather and I ran a couple of easy miles while I pushed Jack in the babyjogger.  Heather dusted me at the end.
 

Met at GFC at 5:45 and ran the canal route with the Radda crew.  We had some nice weather, and then rain mixed with snow. I was pretty wet by the end, but it wasn't too bad. I'm conditioned to accept less than ideal weather this year.

Easy loop run via the U/Federal Heights/11th Ave/Memory Grove this morning. It was a "warm" 30 degrees. This morning I really emphasized putting one foot in front of the other.

Striders 30k this morning, the last race in this five race series.  It was a little chilly when I arrived  (28 degrees), but looked like it was going to get warmer without too much weather craziness.  I ran a couple of warm up miles out and back on the course. 

At the start, we had the core series competitors, I didn't recognize any new faces that looked like they were going to want to push the pace.  As could be expected, the  pace was easy from the start as Cody, Jon, Ben and I chatted.  At the first mile the Garmin said it was low on memory and couldn't store more data. and I messed with it trying to clear data, but ultimately I stopped and reset my watch and the bottom line is I don't have splits for some of the race. Oh well.

Cody and I pulled away from those guys around mile 4 or 5.  Pace was still easy.  Cody says we were averaging 6:13 through these miles.   The wind was a little bit persistent, but it wasn't  much of a factor, except that it seemed to be blowing against whatever direction we were running--but not bad.

At about mile 9, Cody started to drop off the pace a bit, or I might have picked it up a little.  Soon enough we were heading back toward Eden and I did pick up the pace, running around 5:45 for a handful of miles between 10 and 13.

The last five miles are filled with rolling hills (the same hills that we ran in the half M, and also add character to the Ogden Marathon).  I felt like I had some distance on Cody, but didn't spend a lot of time worrying about the gap. I just settled into my race and didn't focus on much else than moving forward and keeping my form together.  I didn't have much incentive to push the pace, beyond simply trying to run an honest thirty kilometers at approximately marathon pace. So I just followed the Sherriff's truck to the finish and that was that.  I thought about the series in the final stretch, and how fun it has been to be competing with my friends on the blog, and how I appreciate the support from a lot of different kinds of people in my life.

I watched Cody finish and then Jon (battling it out in the final half mile) for second and fourth respectively in this race.  My race today was enough to wrap up the series win as well.  More significantly, it was a 1-2-3 sweep for the blog in the race series overall.  We all left with a little more cash than when we arrived.

It was agreed before the race that the series winner would buy breakfast for the others.  So Jon, Cody and I had a nice breakfast at "The Oaks" in Ogden Canyon.  Stop and check it out during the marathon if you think you need to catch up on your carbo loading.  Try the "Canyon Cakes."  Jon couldn't finish the short stack, but we won't hold that against him. 

Each part of the series--the ups and the downs--was a lot of fun.  It's a pretty substantial commitment, but it does allow you time to build fitness and check your progress over a couple of months.  It also strikes me as pretty effective preparation for the marathon.