Run fast

Ran around the U, up to HCI and back home.  Sluggish today so the 6:40 pace was harder than it should have been.

Ran to and from PT class. Nobody else showed up so the trainer had me do tons of hip, quad and core exercises. My run home was super slow. 

Dirt road in Montana

Annual Sawtelle Stampede near Island Park, Idaho. This is typically a fairly casual race but a few fast guys and Jake were there this year which made it more competitive on a per runner basis than almost any race around. Warmed up with Jake then ran the 1k with my nephew. The 6 min pace (per 1k) was a solid performance and he also did a great job not getting trampled or falling in the mud puddles.

Half Marathon started at 9:30 after the National Anthem and kid's race. I went out with the fast guys but fell off after about 3 miles because the sub 6 pace at 7000 ft on rolling hills wasn't sustainable for 10 more miles.  Jake and two others had about 1 minute on me at the turnaround  and that turned into about 6 mins by the end. Another guy passed me at about mile 7 which put me in 5th for the race. I wish I could have seen the finish because Jake and a high schooler got into a dead sprint at the end and both finished in a crazy fast time of about 1:14:50 and definitely a CR.  Probably a finish Jake wasn't expecting. I will let Jake talk about the stroller issue at the end.  Amiee and Andrea also ran well in the 5k and were great photographers.

All in all a good effort, with good friends and a great event.

Nice cool run in Montana. With a mile left I heard some branches crack. Looked over my shoulder only to see a black bear peering down on me from the hill above the road. I sped up and did not look back.

Took the day from running and did my own PT workout at the gym.  Lots of lunges, squats, extensions and push-ups.

Ran around the U and through research park.

Ran through the U (everything is under construction) and back to SHP on 15th east.

PM: boot camp class that included running up and down the stairs a bunch, sprints in the parking lot, several versions of squats, curls, rows, lunges, planks, presses, one leg floor touches and sit-ups. 

Ran up to the nursing school and back on 19th east.  Figured I should speed up on the way home so my last 3 miles were 5:33 (includes at least two jaywalking violations across Foothill Drive), 5:19 and 5:01.  These are aided miles but it still felt good to move faster.

2 quick miles in Park City before a day full of golf, whiffle ball, soccer penalty kick shoot out and most importantly, the beer race.

Great run with Josh on the Jeremy Ranch road then soaked in the creek. We were planning 16 to 18 then just decided to make it an even 10 on the way out, thus 20 for the total. Longest run since the end of March but felt pretty good. Averaged just around 7.

Did my own boot camp work out full of squats, leg presses, hamstring curls, lunges, stairclimbers, 1 mile on the TM, and a few sprints in the gym.

Ran around Millcreek with a few loops around the cemetery.  Averaged 6:45.

Ran up to the mouth of Millcreek Canyon and back.  Averaged 6:55 pace.

PM: boot camp. Core, core and more core and lots of stretch band exercises that I can't explain in writing.  Pooped. 

cross training at the gym today.  It's been awhile since I used the stairmaster and my achilles was a bit sore. 

I wasn't creative enough to think of a loop route so I did an out and back to 11th avenue.

Met Josh and Jon K. at the zoo.  Jon only wanted to run 10 so we did up and down 5 with him then Josh and I ran back up 3 because we wanted to run the last 3 a bit faster.  Surprisingly I felt pretty decent at the turnaround (mile 13) so my last 3, all aided, were 5:16, 5:04 and 4:55. I added .1 to make the 5k about 5:45. Average for run was 6:37.  73 miles for the week is the most I have run since September.  I guess I need to run a marathon.

1 mile plus 2.5 of hiking in BCC.

Ran up and down 19th east.  Mixed in two 800s in about 2:25 on the way back.

Today I ran the first and hopefully last (marathon is way better) DesNews Half Marathon which was my first real road race since Canyonlands in March. Finished 3rd overall behind Brett and Riley but I felt good about the effort and was especially happy to be back racing and getting to see the gang of local runners. Five years ago today I ran the DesNews 10k in 39:35 one day after finishing my last round of chemo at Huntsman.  So I am also grateful to be healthy and running faster than I did then (aided by a few more red blood cells).

I woke up at 3:30 and on my way to Rice Eccles I stopped by the trusty 7-11 that is open 24hours. Sadly they didn't have any coffee prepared which makes no sense because I don't know what else someone would be buying at 7-11 that early in the morning. I reluctantly settled for the ice coffee that would full of energizing caffeine and sugar. Boarded the bus and arrived at the starting area at 4:25, 95 minutes before the start. In hindsight I should have gotten a ride to the start and slept in for another hour. For the next 45 minutes I laid on the asphalt and my shoe served as a surprisingly good pillow. Then chatted with Kevin and Brandon and few other familiar faces until the race started.

Went out with Riley and Brett but after ½ a mile I backed it off a bit but still went through the first mile in 4:40, a bit too fast. From there Riley and Brett slowly inched away and I ran the next 6 miles down the canyon at right around a 5 min pace.  At the bottom of the canyon Riley and Brett were about a minute ahead but it was encouraging to see that their lead wasn’t growing. My momentum really slowed as I turned onto Foothill and I ended up finishing that mile (#8) in a relatively slow 5:21. At that point I was concerned that I had gone out too hard but fortunately my legs came back on yet another downhill and finished the next mile in 5:05. From there I just tried to hold on, keep my form and not fall apart before the last mile. Seeing Amiee on her bike down South Temple was also a good distraction. My goal was somewhat accomplished as I felt like I still had some strength going up 9th south but I still finished that mile in 5:30, which I guess isn’t a complete disaster. It was great to see Scott and Spencer on that last stretch and fun to try to outkick a 10K’er probably 10 years older than me who was wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt.

Overall I would consider the day a success mostly because I didn’t reinjure myself and I set a very aided half marathon PR. It was also great to catch up with Brett, Rob, Mike, Matt (who doubled today after a big exam), Kevin, Collin, Kassi and Melody after the race.

Splits: 4:40,4:56,5:03,5:05,5:05,4:59,4:58,5:21,5:05,5:21,5:20,5:19,5:30

super sore from yesterday and the bootcamp class last night didn't help.  Ended up doing 10 minutes on the bike, stretching and light strength training at the gym.  A big bike ride might be a good option for the weekend.

Road up BCC with Justin.  He is a machine.  He had already ridden LCC and didn't break a sweat on the way up while I was laboring.  I suppose I am still feeling the effects from the race and I am generally not in good shape, let alone canyon climbing shape.  Justin continued on with me on Wasatch until Parley's Canyon then headed back. So he probably ended up with 70 to 80 miles with LCC and BCC mixed in between.  I hope he gets back to running soon because he should run some great marathons this fall. Ended up with 50 miles.

10 miles around Sugarhouse with Josh, Adam and Kevin. My legs were still tired but much less sore than the last few days.

Hamstring is still a bit sore so I refrained from running.  Instead I did a hard workout on the stairmaster (6 minutes at max then 90 seconds off) to prep for the jupiter peak steeplechase this weekend. The stairmaster isn't a trail but at least it works the quads.

I wouldn't call these easy because I went straight up a hill for 5.5 miles at 7,000 ft. then turned around.  But they were slow.

Out and back on dirt road. Averaged around 7.