Run fast

Ah shucks.  Finished 2nd with a decent time 5 minutes behind a La Sportiva guy and about 7 minutes ahead of Jace Nye. Unfortunately I heard a pop in my ankle with 5 miles left and twisted it again with 3 miles left.  Of course i didnt want to do that again so i tipped towed the rest of the way to the finish. Sitting at the IHC now hoping the xray is clean and that it's just a bad sprain.  As for the race, it was harder terrain than i had imagined and my lack of climbing training didn't help.  The first mile really stunk as it went straight up the ski slope. I don't think i caught my breath for the next 3 miles. Fortunately that 1st mile took the wind out of the other guys so I nded up passing #2 La Sportiva guy at about mile 3 and I put some distance on Jace. At about mile 4 we hit mid mountain trail so i felt like a runner again and managed some sub 7 miles. At mile 6.5 we hit the last climb and there was no way i was going to run it.  I hiked with a heart rate of about 180 to the top.  Got going again until we hit the last climb to he second peak.  Made it over that with some quads left then turned it lose down the steep descent.  I was cruising along until about mile 11 when i came to an intersection with an aid station. Looked up just long enough to turn my ankle! Oh no.  Nothing was sticking out of my leg so I figured I was good to go. Then as luck or stupidity would have it I did it again at about mile 12 but this time it was better because I didn't feel or hear a pop. I wised up and slowed down and treppidly ran through the last few miles.  I was thankful to be done because I didn't want to run on it anymore, oh and my quads were pretty much shot too.  

Amiee and the medic were great post race helpers and it was great to chat with Teena who unfortunately took the one wrong turn that many others took.   Now I am hungry and I don't want to use this apple product anymore.

Xrays are clear of breaks! Spin class this week and running in 6 days.

AM at the gym and PT at boot camp class.  My neck, shoulders and core were ruined in a good way.

Nice early morning run on the Jeremy Ranch Road with Adam, Kevin, Jon, Nate and Pete. The temps couldn't be better and at times I even wished I had a camera.  Foot and ankle are still a bit swollen and a nice shade of purple but it didn't affect the run much.

Casual Sunday run with Nate around Sugar House and Millcreek.  Nice way to start the week and finish the weekend.  I am doubling down on the ice bucket for the ankle today.

Took a day off from running because the ankle/foot swelling stubbornly won't go away and the 31 miles over the weekend didn't help. It should be slightly better tomorrow.

Ran south through Millcreek.  Mixed in some strides along the way. Averaged 6:46

I decided to run this race since I haven't run a marathon since SGM last October and I needed a reminder of the journey.  This course is set up for a negative split because it's a loop and the first half is a gradual uphill and the last 10 are mostly downhill.  I didn't quite accomplish that as I went through 13 at just under a 6 min pace and then miles 14 through 16 that climb up to Deer Valley and a few super steep hills through town wore me out. Overall it was still a great workout and it should set me up well for SGM.  If you have never run this race I highly recommend it.  It was great to catch up with the women's half champ Rachelle and meet another blogger Dale(?) after the race. Sorry if I don't have that name right.

Now it's time (after some easy days) to hit some track workouts.

Garmin does a great job dramatizing elevation charts by truncating the y-axis. It looks like we climbed Everest.  The course was great with the exception of the little dagger they threw in there at mile 17.5

Leisurely run around Sugar House. So much for the safe morning runs. School started up at Highland High.

What is the purpose of this LinkedIn link? 

PM: boot camp class and 2 easy miles.  Too many squats and lunges...but it will serve me well.  

Nice run from the zoo to the top of Little Mountain and back with Kevin and Josh. It's almost starting to feel a bit like fall.  Averaged around 7 for the run.  This time I think we can blame Josh for pushing it on the downhill.

Leisurely run through Holladay with Nate and Josh.  A mile or two of the run were on roads never ventured which made it very exciting.

Meandered my way around Millcreek.  Tomorrow is the first big track workout at the U's track starting at 6:30 AM.  Everyone is welcome to join us (me, Kevin, Adam and Nate)

First track workout in who knows how long. Jogged to the UofU track to meet up with Adam, Kevin and Nate. The gate wasn't open when we got there so Adam and I jumped the fence. Adam said it was ok because he works at the U.

Workout was as follows: 2x400 (74,74) 2x800 (2:30, 2:33), 2x1600 (5:13, 5:16), 2x800 (2:31, 2:33), 2x400 (71,70).  I need to practice using a normal watch so these could be off by +/- 2 seconds.  Splits weren't great by any means but I did get in a good effort and I didn't tweak anything. 

The UofU track is super nice and the views are awesome. Plus the four of us had the track to ourselves which seems a little odd considering it sits on a campus of 25,000 students. It's too bad these guys weren't around to race.

AM: 7 miles on TM at about 6:30 pace then 4.5 on stairmaster. 

PM: 1 mile on the TM before bootcamp. I am sure the workout will leave me super sore tomorrow but I think it's worth it.

Hamstring is a little sore so I didn't want to aggravate before the weekend run.

Ran around the neighborhood.

First time down in the UC in quite some time.  It was great to get out there with the crew, i.e. Scott, Matt, Brandon, Toni, Bryce and Zak, again and run the standard 10 up and down Provo Canyon. We averaged 6:53ish on the way which was a bit faster than usual then started the tempo down.  At the start I really wasn't sure how long I would hang with the guys and how long my hamstring would hold up.  Ended up with only a four mile tempo (5:10, 5:07, 5:01 and 5:18) then backed it off while Matt and Zak sped down the canyon for another four. Fortunately I ended the run in as a good as shape (minus the tired legs) as I started which bodes well for the next few weeks while prepping for SGM.  The whole crew looked super strong today and the conversation was productive.  We came up with the genius idea to nominate Toni as a swimor underwear model.  The guy is ripped.