Elite Jogging For Dummies

I'm usually a Tuesday workout kind of guy, but hey, why not mix it up?  I ran three miles easy over toward Liberty Park. I started the 4 mile Tinman tempo at 500 South.  The goal pace was 6:10-6:15.  First mile was 6:14, and felt a little sluggish. I always have a hard time sustaining pace on the second mile once I get to the park, but I overcompensated a bit--6:07.  On the third mile, my Garmin was showing 6 min pace most of the way. So I had to back off and take a ride in the "Relaxy Taxi" as Josh would say. Split was 6:06.  Same deal on the fourth mile, riding a fine line between real effort and simply tempo pace, 6:02.  So the times were off and I need to find that Tinman pace zone and not be afraid to go with it rather than pushing too hard.  I think that switching from the park to a more variable terrain will help take the mind off the splits and put it more on the effort.

After the tempo, I ran another loop and a half around Liberty (watched the geese gobble up the millions of gnats that were flying around).  Then I headed back toward the Avenues, backtracking a bit to get to twelve miles.  Then I did 8 x ~100m on 4th Ave.  These felt surprisingly good, but I need to find a place to do them on grass.  

Since I was asleep during the first mile of this run, I ran up Arlington Ave instead of Alta Street.  So instead of doing the U loop, I headed toward This is The Place. Once I got there, about 3 miles into the run, I decided to wander up some of the back roads of the site.  I rarely do this because it's a long steady climb, but it was nice to see something different.  For instance, they are building a little train track that goes around the little duck pond next to the grass amphitheater. And there is a teepee set up there as well. Did anyone else see a teepee on their run today? No? I didn't think so.

Eventually I climbed up to the Shoreline trail and headed north. I ran up to the gate at Red Butte Canyon (about 6.75 into the run), passing the new amphitheater.  Did anyone else see two amphitheater's on their run today?  No? Well, I'll try not to get too smug about it.

Then I continued over to the bottom of Dry Creek on the shoreline trail. It took me five tries to hit the metal pipe with a rock. I'm a little rusty, I guess.  I also used square-shaped rocks, which don't have the same beneficial aerodynamic qualities as round ones.

 So about 70% of the run was on trail, which was quite good.  It was a very slow run.  Relaxi Taxi the whole way.
 

AM: Met up with Josh on 3rd Ave at 5:45. We ran the U/Avenues loop with an extension up to the 1 mile mark at City Creek Canyon. Easy pace for 10.5 miles. Talked about 4th of July races.  I took the bus to work for the first time and it rocked! Ten minutes on the bus with a five minute walk to the office. It's ideal.

PM:   I ran home from work via Memory Grove, up to 11th Ave and down through the cemetery.  A nice 4.5 mile run, but I need to figure out a route that still has no traffic but with less climbing.

Met up at 5:45 with the Holladay gang.  We ran the standard canal route, mostly easy pace. I ran 8 x ~100m toward the end.  The group caught up with me during my little jogs between surges. 

Did anyone see the men's 800m final in the trials? Nick Symonds had an amazing kick for the win, starting at about 120m.  You can see the video on nbc.com. I wish they had postings of the 5000's.  

Heather and I headed up to Oakley on Thursday night and watched the Rodeo with Jack.  I have no way to harmonize my views about the ethical treatment of animals with going to a rodeo. It can't be done, except to say that I like mixing up my experiences and getting a little bit of small town culture. No better way to do that than spend the 4th of July in a place like Oakley.  Jack liked the rodeo (or maybe just the crowds and the cheering) and we had a pretty good time.

After the rodeo we drove back to Park City and stayed at our friends' house.  This morning we got up and headed back to Oakley to run in the annual Oakley Freedom Run 5k. Now, I know there are many racing options on the 4th of July, but none of them actually excite me that much so I figured as long as we were in the 'hood, we should run this race.  When I say "we," I mean Heather, me and Jack.

Heather has grown tired of being on kid duty all the time while I race so this time I thought I would give her a break.  We agreed that I would push Jack in the baby jogger and she would try to crack the top 3 in the women. All I wanted to do was get in the workout anyway.

I warmed up 3 miles before the race.  The race started at 10am, which is way too late. It was already 80 degrees at least.  At the start, I didn't see anyone I knew but there were a couple of fit looking guys.  When the race started it took me a bit to moving quickly because of pushing the jogger. After that, I made my way into fourth place and stayed there behind a group of three guys who were battling it out for the lead more or less the whole race.  The race is a loop, with the first mile a slight downhill grade, then a little bit of a climb back up.  First mile was 5:32, which isn't bad pushing the jogger. The flatter second mile was 5:53.  The third mile was sort of a joke. I was dodging the floats that were lining up to start the parade, avoiding getting kicked by clydsedale horses, that sort of thing.  This is easier to do without a running stroller to push.  Then there was a 180 degree turn that was tough with the jogger too.  Oh and it was hot and slightly uphill. So those are my execuses for running 6:24 for mile 3. 

Since this was a small race (117 runners) and very low key, I doubted the distance would be accurate to 5k.  I was right. It was at least 3.25 (my watch said 3.28). I had to push through a gravel ditch also becuase the course wasn't marked at one point.

So, that was my small town 5k. It was really hot, but I enjoyed doing the workout with Jack.  The winning time was just under 19 minutes.

Heather ended up either 3rd or 4th in 24:55. She didn't feel great and the heat got to her. I think she's glad she ran, however!

Trail run with lots of climbing.  Adam RW and I drove over to Millcreek where we met JoHo for 2.25 miles before meeting up with the main Black Sheep group. We drove up to the Upper Big Water trailhead at the top of Millcreek.  It was nice and cool up there, about 52 degrees.  We ran the Great Western Trail, clockwise.  So lots of climbing up to the ridge separating Summit County from Salt Lake County, a couple of thousand feet at least. I know we crossed 9500 feet at some point. We descended via Desolation Lake, then Dog Lake and back to the Big Water Trail. It was a big group today and a lot of fun. Everyone ran strong.