Welcome

Happy New Year! It seems to be resolution time. Mine are:

• Stay healthy and consistent
• Run 2500 miles
• PR at every distance and qualify for Boston with room to spare
• Ogden Marathon race weight of 165 and no alcohol between now and then

Emigration out and back from work in 60 minutes. 150 HR and 700 ft of climbing. Threw in 8x30 seconds at 5:50 pace with 60 seconds in between, half on the last mile up and half on the first mile down. Also did mile 7 in 6:05 trying to get to know a 6:15 pace. For me, I would call a 6:00 pace flat out running - not running fast or slow, just running. I'm interested to know whether what I perceive as running will change over time.

Runkeeper is super bogged down right now with all the resolution exercisers so my data may change a bit as I believe there may have been I slight bloop in distance on the way up.

From home to JRP and about 7th S and back. Runkeeper stopped in my pouch and it took me a while to figure it out but the time was about 53:45 total with 134 HR and 200+ ft of climb.

Treadmill tempo in 58:50 at 1 incline with 149 avg HR and 167 max. Faster miles were:

MPH Pace Dst Time

9 6.67 0.5 3.33

9.5 6.32 2 12.63

10 6 2 12

10.3 5.83 1 5.83

10 6 0.5 3

9.5 6.32 0.5 3.16

9 6.67 0.25 1.67

Started at 11th and B and went up through the U to 19th E then 27th S down to Liberty Park then Memory Grove back to the car. 1:55:03 with 900 ft of climbing and 148 HR. Felt good. Tired doing the hill at the end.

10.3 out and back to Main & 25th S and 4x8 sc hill blasts. 1:18 for the run with 138 HR and maybe 200 ft of climb.

My weekly Emigration out and back in the crocs with 8x30sc acceleration sub-6 (half up-hill half down). I felt lousy for the first mile and then it ended up, as usual, being one of my favorie runs. 700+ ft of climb, 146 HR and 58:24.

Yesterday after accelerating through an intersection on my run, I could feel pain in my left calf/achilles - where the one begins and the other ends so higher than AT I think. It felt a bit worse today on the downhill and I hope to get ahead of it.

.25 testing the Altras.

Treadmill at work in 35:45 with 129 HR. Tested out new Altras to get more shoes in my rotation (free 8th pair at SLRCo). My Road Gloves, which I wore when the pain arose, probably shouldn't be used longer than 6-7 miles or on softer surfaces. The first two miles were pain free but the pain came back in the third mile. I dialed back the intensity and it persisted so I decided 5 was enough.

Looks like a slow easy recovery week of treadmill runs. Probably for the best with this awful air.

Easy flat treadmill miles. No pain in left calf/achilles but I thought it might be tightening toward the end and I stopped. 31:18 with 119 HR. I did another 15 minutes of spinning with a 125 HR.

Put on some old shoes from 2010 that have good Montrail inserts and more cushioning. They felt very nice. I only did 167 miles in 2010 so they probably have some miles in them yet.

The smog was in the lower valley this morning but it has made its way back up to the bench. Glad I'm not out there. Snow storm can't come soon enough.

Another treadmill run at work - this time at 5 since I worked through lunch. I decided to give the left calf/achilles a go and after a 10 minute warm up ran 3 miles at 9.5 MPH, 2.22 miles at a 10.5, .5 miles at a 11 and then .5 miles at 12. All flat, total time 51 minutes. No HR monitor.

There was some tightening when I hit the 5:00 pace but no pain. Also a little irritation on the extensor tendons of the left foot. I already have some irritation on the right big toe extensor. 

Then a very scary drive home. Couldn't make it up the hill to my house in my little Prius. 

More boring treadmill miles. Not sure I would've braved the snow but the calf seems healed. 2 minutes at 8 MPH, 23 mts at 8.6 and 17 mts at 9.2. 42:00 total with a 1.5 incline. HR was 151.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Snowy miles from home to Liberty Park and around five times. Trying to exist where cars did not. Nice run. Heart rate was up a bit (146 avg) and I'm sure it was due to snow but thinking I was a bit sluggish going into the run. 2 hours exactly. 450 ft of climb

My right IT band said hello a few times with some slight burning and my right calf threatened to tighten a bit but then let up. Overall no real pain :) 

Another Liberty Park out and back but using different roads. Nice quicker run but sure hard to be fast this cold. I put on my HR gear but forgot the watch so no HR.  1:13:13 and 400 miles of climbing.

57:30 with 650+ ft of climb and 141HR. 10 degrees and snowy. I ran a snowy path through Matheson and that was a big mistake because the Altras take in snow and leave them between a net and a lining to sit on top of your toes. Oh well.

Emigration was too iffy so I turned back after .5 miles and went up Wasatch to 17th S. Nice run but hard to go very quickly on my 8x30 scs at 5:30 pace. My left achilles would speak up from time to time while running faster or slowing down.

Going to Houston tomorrow to run in some warm 40 degree weather! Inversions coming back to stay until February I hear :(

In The Woodlands for my own deposition. Ran from hotel around Lake Woodlands. Elevation just over 100 ft and 36 degrees out so a nice change. 1:17:53 with perhaps 400 ft of climb. No HR monitor. I brought it but forgot it.

Treadmill run at work. 3x1 at 5:30 at 1.5 incline. 2 mile warm-up at 1.5, .5 miles of rest between sets and 2 mile cool down flat. 51:18 and 160 HR

I will be running a bunch of races coming up, all of the SLC Track Club and Striders races I can. The idea is to train myself mentally at faster paces. I can run any pace 6:30 or below on cruise control but I have to concentrate to exceed that pace and stay on pace. I haven't trained enough in those paces to properly know what pace I am running at any given time. It is all a game of the mind until your legs give out from under you and my mind is weak. In the last mile of this workout, I was ready to stop early in the third mile but tried to put my mind at ease and coast. It didn't work but I kept with it anyway and that's some improvement. I need to do this workout outside somewhere flat between now and the first race next Saturday to gain race-specific confidence and familiarity with the pace. My heart rate was 175-180 during the intervals and that is maxing out as far as I can tell, so maybe faster than my 5k pace but we shall see.

Run from work down to 23 E and 21 S then up Parley's to Foothill and the trailhead where Foothill ends. Back on Wasatch round the zoo up Arapeen and to work. One flat mile along Wasatch in 6:08 and the rest was on the moderate side of easy. 60 minutes, 147 HR and 650+ ft of climb.

From home up Memory Grove up to BST at City Creek and east from there. Stayed in the lower parts of the trail sometimes coming in to the upper aves. Came down at Sunnyside and did the last 7 miles of the Haunted Half and back home. 142 HR, 2000+ft of climbing and 2:36:55.

Felt great the whole time if not weary from a fast-paced week and a 500 ft climb in mile 4. 

Swedetown out and back with 3x1 mile on Warm Springs Rd (relatively flat) running by where that poor couple fell from I-215 yesterday. The intervals were not what I wanted but its a learning process. 5:56, 6:06, 6:07. Still a bit weary. 1:16:45 with 300+ft of climb. No HR monitor.

Another sluggish run - three days in a row. I'm going to start blaming the inversion and a stomach bug that I think has hit me (though mildly; hit my 4 yr old hard). I had to split the run in two with an hour in between. 3 miles at 24:11 and 5 more at 38:53. 129 and 137 HR respectively with 250 ft and 450 ft climbs respectively. Two hill runs back to work. Overall it stunk.

Stomach bug had me bad today but I still tried running inside. Original plan was 2 warm-up, 3 at 5:50 and 2 cool down. Turned into 2.5 warm-up, 1 at 5:50 and .5 cool down.  28:45 total. I will take the rest of the week a bit easier. 

Emigration out and back. Very warm and pretty when you get just a bit up the canyon. Felt much better today. Did eight strides and a few hill bursts. 56 mts; 143 HR and 700 ft climb.

Icy and treacherous roads but what can you do? It may increase the risk of injury from falling/pulling something or death from slipping and falling into traffic (am I the only one who day-nightmares about that?), but it sure is fun! Wasatch Blvd out and back with 4x1 mt sub 6 during mile 5. 57:22 with 550ft of climb and 144 HR.

Easy run near work on Sunnyside and therenearby. 46:53 with 500ft of climb. No HR monitor. Looking forward to the 5k tomorrow.

32 degrees and foggy. Pretty nice race conditions. I warmed up by running the course and doing a couple strides. Idea was 5:50, 5:45, 5:40 and 33 scds for last .1. Actual results were 5:51, 5:55, 6:02 and 35 scds for last .1. Cooled down by running the course once more and running to car and bldg.

While the goal is to break 18 minutes, I think this is ok for this time of the year. I saw a few bloggers I recognized and finished just behind Rob Murphy and shook his hand at the end but was too shy to introduce myself or talk to anyone else. 

Another 3.9 in 30 minutes at 2 to get my daily miles in. Outdoor Retailer Loop

I waited for the storm to hit to run at 2. 14 in the plans but I did 10 instead and it was stacking pretty deep on the way back. My runkeeeper went berzerk so I know I left at 2:02 and returned at 3:24 but nothing more. To Liberty Park around twice and home. 

Treadmill threshold run at work. 10k at 6:00 pace and 1 incline with warm and cool. 50:20 total

Snowy slushy winter run from work. I went into Harvard/Yale to avoid too many cars running on the roads. Feet got kind of wet but otherwise a nice run. 53:26 with 550 ft climb. No HR.

No time to run at lunch so I got in a quick 5 on the treadmill at 5. 

5:00@8.5, 5:00@9, 10:00@9.5, 10:00@10 and .33 miles@12 to finish off. 31:30 total 

Emigration out and back. 8x120 steps hard / 240 steps recover; four going up / four down. Felt great today - very warm and I was overdressed. 51:10 with 650ft climb.

For January, I ran 29 of 31 days and 254.77 miles, both highs. I am feeling stronger with the 60/wk average. Also, beginning to alternate four pairs of shoes and wear compression a lot may be helping me resist injury as I did not have any problem areas this month.