Elite Jogging For Dummies

Easy family run with Jack and Heather. I pushed Jack. Heather turned around for 4 miles  so she could make her yoga class.  I added a little more and then turned around.  Jack and I stopped at Cucina and picked up a little breakfast, which we enjoyed on our back patio when we got home. It was a nice morning. Great to spend quality time with the kid. 

Easy miles this morning with Josh and Megan. We ran the Ensign loop, with an extracurricular tour around the Capitol building. There is a gravel path that runs nearly the entire circumference of the Capitol complex and it would make a good place to do some intervals one of these days.

 PM:  Ran home from work, 2.25 miles.
 

Black Sheep workout at Highland High track.  Warmed up around Sugarhouse Park, then grouped up at the track. Ran 800m of speed changes.  Then the meat was 12 x 400 meters, followed by 1 x 800.

 We ran the 400's in 3 sets of 4 with 100m walk between intervals and 1 lap easy jog between sets.

I don't have my watch with me, but I think I can remember most of the splits (I'll make any modifications later). Josh and I were shooting for 80s per 400 as a  goal, but ended up quicker.

Set 1: 75-74-75-74-71

Set 2: 77-73-73-73-73

Set 3: 75-74-74-74-71

Then 1 x 800m.  The goal was to run the first lap at the same pace as the slowest 400 from the prior set and the second at the fastest pace. However, we ran 76/76.  Too slow on the first 200 of the second lap.

 Then another mile cooldown around Sugarhouse.

Unlike last week, I felt like I had a little more in my legs on the track today.  I think we can shoot for 20 x 400 in the next few weeks.


 

I saw a little bit of moisture in the air and the ground was a little wet and 46 degrees when I got up this morning. So I wore a hat, gloves and the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Anorak I picked up on sale at REI recently (it is an incredibly light and packable windproof water resistant shell). Well, I'm glad I dressed for weather because it only got nastier once I headed out the door. Wind, rain, a little bit of hale--this run had it all! My route was fairly random, a loop out to Harvard/Yale via the U and VA campus and then up to Research Park for a return on my regular Federal Heights route. My legs were pretty numb by about mile 7 due to the wind and rain. Then the rain stopped and it was a pleasant run home. Amazingly, my torso remained almost completely dry under the windshirt. I'm impressed with how it shed moisture. I wonder if it will be able to do the same thing after several wearings/washings.

 PM:  I ran with Jack from Steiner (where Heather went swimming) to our house.

Holladay mansion tour with the Radda crew. Course looks ready to go for Heart of Holladay with new freshly painted arrows on the ground. I won't be there, but I'm sure it will be a competitive race. The canal route was very wet from the recent rain. My shoes got a little soaked. 1:09 for the 9.3 miles.

 PM: Ran home from work and added a little tour on the trail in City Creek to extend the fun. My stomach felt awful. I ate too much late in the day.  That reminds me that I need to be careful with the food during WBR.
 

Just an easy run this morning--asleep as Sasha might say.  I ran the U/11th Ave loop.  Spent some time by the bank of the creek in City Creek canyon enjoying the sound of the surging run-off. 

Ugh, I just lost a long race report. I'll have to redo a full version later.

In a nutshell: Learned about this race earlier this week and since Heather and I were planning to be up at the Bear Lake cabin, it seemed to make sense. I also persuaded Jon Allen to drive over from Logan to join me. The race  had a lot of inaugural pains, such as a major problem with the distance. It was at least 7 miles, even if my Garmin was reading really long, as the times reflect. Jake Rushton won in 40 something. Jon was second, about 30 seconds ahead of me.  I was with Jake through 2 and then he gapped me. I was ahead of Jon through 4, when he surged and I had no response. I felt just fine, no complaints about stomach, body, or mind.  I just didn't have the turnover to keep up today. I had no punch at mile 6, as my awful split shows.  Jon ran really well and it was fun to race with him again.

It's a nice course; relatively flat with a few variations in the terrain, but nothing you could legitimately call a "hill." They need to start the race much earlier, get the aid stations set up early, get some mile markers in place, and most of all get the course certified.

Here are the splits:

5:34/5:40/5:48/5:53/5:52/6:10/5:53/0:53 (for .15)