Craig's Running Blog

Just a nice, easy 6 miles with the group. We started up at the temple in Bountiful and headed south along the road. Went 3 miles and came back. We kept together pretty well.

There was some discussion at the end of the run among us about resolutions and keeping the weight off. I went home and talked to my wife about it, and she has agreed to cut out most (if not all) sugar and nutrasweet from our family diet. We've been taking steps to get there, but now she's on board- and that's obviously important because she thinks of the meals a cooks.

Evening run with the group. We are back to doing hills on Wednesday evenings in Taylorsville on the bluffs next to the river. This was a low turnout- only 5 of us. I felt like I was doing the first 2 hills (out of 6) without having properly warmed up. The achilles were aching a bit. No worries- we did some sprints and I felt good after that.

This was also a landmark day because we switched schools for Kristian and put him in Kindergarten in the elementary school that Zoe attends. He was going to afternoon Montessori. So now he attends morning school at the same time as Zoe, and I am responsible for getting them there on time. That means even earlier mornings if I want to get a run in.

I tried going out on the porter rockwell and pipeline trails this morning, but they were still too icy. I got out about a mile, then switched to main roads. I ended up going east a few blocks toward the mountain and did my hill route. The main roads were good, but some of the side roads were pretty iced over. Hopefully the storm this weekend will bring warmer temperatures initially (melting the ice), and then the plows will do a better job clearing the snow during and after the storm. The roads and trails haven't been clear since that storm that hit us Christmas Eve, when the plowing staff was low.

I also got word today that we secured the Ragnar Relay van for the Moab 1/2 Marathon in March. We have 7 of us riding down in it: Dominique, myself, Andrea, Johnny, Alicia, Cortney, and Jason (Jasro). I don't know Cortney too well (Alicia's husband), but the others are all people I run with at least once a week. It should be a good time.

Rough morning. I was planning on doing a few extra miles, but the ice was really bad due to warmer weather. The thermometer said 45 degrees, which was fine. But the snow and ice was melting everywhere, leaving the ground slick. I fell once, but caught myself multiple times. I had to really slow it down due to the slick factor.

We all met in Kearns at 7am, but that's when the snow hit. It was warm when I was up at 5:30, but the temperature dropped to freezing and the snow started coming down hard. We all decided to go to the olympic oval nearby, which was a good choice. I had never been there, but it's a nice indoor track which surrounds the ice. There are a few areas where the lanes are narrowed down to 3, but it wasn't ever crowded to the point where I was stuck behind someone.

We did a mile warmup and then 4x1600 tempo with 1 mile recovery in between each one. Finished with a mile cooldown. Since the track length is 440 instead of 400, we actually did 11 miles instead of 10. Bonus.

I tried going out in the morning, but the roads were terribly slick. I got down to the bottom of the hill and there was this guy stalled on the side of the road. He hit the curb and got a flat, and the road was too slick for him to move. I offered to push, but we still couldn't make it move. I used that as an omen and went back home.

It snowed a couple inches sometime between noon and 3:00, so I decided that was also a good omen. Nothing really beats running on new snow. Quite a workout too. The temperature was right around freezing, so it was perfect.

I'm going snowboarding in the morning (Monday), so I won't get a morning run in. I'll have to meet a few people at 6:30 for a run around Murray Park. Not my favorite because of the busy roads, but it will work.

An evening run with a small group. I wore trail shoes to fend off the ice and snow.

The entertaining part of the evening was running into the missionaries as we stopped for water. I struck up a conversation with them. I tried keeping the conversation light so the girls I was running with would feel at ease and comfortable talking to them. However, the older missionary was pretty hardcore, almost as if the light conversation was a waste of his time. He tried commiting Andrea to take the discussions until she finally exclaimed "I WILL NEVER BECOME MORMON!".

Off day. Recovery.

I took a few miles on the treadmill, followed by some core excersices and swimming. 

Played racquetball at lunch. I was fresh, 'cause I didn't do a morning run. I had incredible energy and it showed in the last game, when I skunked the competition 11-1. The other games were nice and close.

In the evening, I met up with some running friends for our Taylorsville hill kills. There were 5 of us there. We talked a bit about the missionaries that we saw on our run on Monday. Basically, I waived to the missionaries on Monday as we were getting water 1/2 way through the run. We talked about it more on Wed night and that conversation led into our religious affiliations. I talked a bit about serving 2 years in Denmark, and how the culture and language is similar to ours in more ways than many other countries would be. As typical in Salt Lake, the group I run with is about 1/2 lds (somewhat or fully practicing), and 1/2 not. It always provides interesting conversation. In California, people I worked with and ran with would not dare talk religion in public circles. Different culture. 

I have to quit screwing around. I spent another morning snowboarding (that's twice this week). Great powder day. They opened the Millicent bowl in Brighton today after having it closed yesterday, so there was 2 feet of untouched powder over there. Incredible. After that was tracked out, we went over to Great Western and finished it up with some out-of-bounds riding. Very nice day. Warm too- about 20 degrees up there.

I will try to get my evening run in tonight after I get home. Unfortunately, snowboarding in the morning means working late.

PM: Ran 6.5 miles out on the paved trails in Draper at 9:00. It was a little icy 1/2 way through, so I had to watch it. My ankles were in pain off and on through the whole run due to the snowboarding earlier in the day. I'm glad I did it, though. I'm trying to get up to 50 miles/week and I'm having a hard time making it. I'm sure it will come soon, and then 60 miles/week will come once I increase the length of the Saturday runs in preparation for Boston. 

I took a bath after the run last night and slept well. I woke up this morning at 5:00, and felt pretty good. I was glad, because I wanted to get the run in this morning rather than trying to squeeze it in on a treadmill at lunch. That's no fun.

The run felt good. No ankle pains. I was still fatigued from yesterday's activities and lack of fuel. I wish it were Saturday so I could take a nap. Maybe I'll sneak one in at lunch.

I had to drive the vehicle around and provide hydration for the group today, but the course was laid out in a way that made it easy for me to run. We started out with a warmup, followed by 10x100 sprints. Then we went on to the core of the workout- 10 hard-effort hills on a 1/2 mile loop.We would hit each hill hard and then run together on the downhill. We followed this with a mile tempo run on the way back. Good workout.

I'm not quite at 50 miles/week yet, but I'm getting there. I'll make a goal of 50 miles for next week.

I'm going to get my mileage up to 50 this week. It should be attainable because I'm not planning on boarding any more than once this week (if that).

AM: 4 miles out on the paved trail. It was about 24 degrees- nothing too terrible. I'll finish up this evening with another 6 miles.

I sent out an email to my running friends about putting a team together for the Wasatch Back Relay. We'll see what kind of response that gets.

PM: Met up at Murray Park with Andrea, Natalie, Johnny, Tracy C, and the dog. We did a mile warmup, followed by some sprints. Then we did another 4 miles to finish up at 6 miles. We talked about the Wasatch Back Relay. I think we'll have a pretty fun team.

I got out early today at 5:30am. The paved trails were all clear and it wasn't too cold. I'm guessing around 25 degrees like yesterday. The muscles felt more relaxed and better than yesterday, but I'm getting some pain at the base of my big toe on my left foot. It's been bothering me since last Friday, although not too much when I run. I am not sure what's going on there, but I'll try to massage it.

We got word at work that our hours are going to be less flexible, which may be a problem. They want us to work 8-5. That's not going to fly with my current schedule. I may have to make some adjustments. How ironic- I may have to be flexible to accomodate the job's new inflexibility.

I met up with the group at 6:30 in the evening. There were 5 of us, which is always a good number. We had myself, Le Dominique, Tracy C, Tracy A, and Natalie. The big news was the "Loco Lugnuts" WBR team headed up by George. He has told the runners that run with us that they can't be on the team unless they run consistently with Locomotion. That effects about 5 of the team members (out of 12). So Dominique and I have reached out a hand. Dominique is willing to look into their privileged status as members of one of the original WBR teams, and I let them all know that they have a place on my WBR team. My team is going to be named Run Amoks (or some variation) because that is our informal group name.

Anyway, it was cold. Maybe 15 degrees. I only had shorts with me, but I kept my hands and head very warm. That seemed to work out ok.We did the usual hills out around the Jordan River area in Taylorsville. I threw in an extra hill at the end. 

We had some conversation about treadmills and how we hate them. They seem to be a necessary evil this time of year. On the coldest days, it's getting a little miserable to go out before the sun comes up. Still, I ran a couple days in 0 degree weather out in the Basin at the end of December.

AM: Got up and did some upper-body and core work. I contemplated running outside, but running at the gym seemed much more appealing because of the cold. This is a serious cold front we have right now. Temps are about 20 degrees below normal. I think the normal temps right now are 37/25 and we are dealing with 17/8.

Lunch: I'm not pround of my treadmill effort today, but something about the treadmill just hurts. I have more pains when running on a treadmill than I ever do on the road or trail. I have a theory that this is due to not warming up properly on the treadmill, and also not being able to be flexible enough on the treadmill with your speed. I talked to Dominique about it today and she said the same thing. Actually, she brought it up. She said that the treadmill hurts, and I agreed.

AM: The kids didn't have school today, so I used it as an opportunity to take trax to work. It is normally 4.5 miles to the trax station, but I ran a different route to make it an even 5. The 4.5 mile route is half trail, which doesn't always work in the winter.

PM: Returned 5 miles home.

We met as a group up in Bountiful for this one. We knew that the big hill was due today, and we did it. I was actually looking forward to it all week, but others in the group were dreading it. I'm not sure why. The toughest part of the run was the last 3 miles, where my lower legs were fatigued and I felt like riding in the sag wagon back. I stuck it out, and actually felt pretty good after I finished. No lingering tightness or sore areas.

I had the day off, which was great. It totally dumped about 5 inches overnight and another 7 or so during the day. So when I got up this morning to run, there was a good amount of accumulation on the roads. That's actually good news. While running on newly plowed roads or unplowed roads with tire tracks can be miserable, the paved trail is ideal under new snow conditions. It turns into something like a dirt trail run, but more cushioned. It was a serious workout because of the accumulation. I think something like 2 inches is ideal for running. 5 or more inches gets cumbersome because you have to work so hard to lift your legs out of the snow. After finishing up the run, I ate breafast, took a shower, and slept for an hour. That's my favorite kind of morning.

Took out on the paved trail, which is now covered with a foot of snow. Unfortunately, the snow was too deep and tracked for me to be able to run freely. So I got back on the roads and did a loop around east Draper. It's impossible to avoid hills in that area, so I got worked pretty well. Once I was totally warmed up, about mile 3, things felt right on. I think I'm finally starting to see a real fitness increase from the increased mileage. Moab will be a good sign. If I can break 1:20 there, I'll be satisfied and ready for Boston in April.

Due to the snow and ice, I had to run on the major roads. No problem. I took the big hill up Wasatch Blvd and then came back down through Pepperwood. I noticed a fitness increase since last time. Finished things up at marathon pace (6:00).

I had to keep to the main roads today, so I did a loop around the bluff first (1.5 miles), and then stretched things out a little back at my house. After that, I did my standard 5 mile loop, picking it up the last half. Things felt really good. Not surprisingly, I was the only runner out this morning.

I am trying to figure out how to eventually get my morning runs up to 10 miles. I have only been able to do that by splitting up the run twice a day so far. If I want to get my mileage up over 60, I'm going to have to increase weekly mileage to roughly 10 a day. I just don't have enough time in the morning right now to do that. Maybe I can adjust the sleep schedule and get up at 5:00 rather than 5:30.

I will be registering a WBR team and act as the captain for it this year. It looks like our group will be putting together 2 teams- one a mixed team and the other a girls-only team. I may need to put the word out on the blog if we need a couple more runners.

Looks like more snow in the forecast...

Ah yes- I was glad to see the paved trail plowed this morning. There was a light dusting on there from yesterday, which made it perfectly cushoined. Maybe half an inch of powder on the asphalt. I wore my trail shoes and worked it. My trail shoes are quite a bit heavier than my road shoes, so I try to use them strictly for more difficult terrain.

I got a little inspiration from the movie last night. It was interesting seeing athletes at all levels. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite relate to anyone that was highlighted in the movie. I am somewhere between the elites and the guy who was trying to qualify for Boston. It's just been so many years since I was in that guy's shoes (trying to qualify), that the things he was focusing on were a distant memory. I really got a kick out of the older guy. He was the typical veteran slower runner that we see in Salt Lake Fit. From his jovial attitude down to the massive amount of junk that he carries with him on the long runs and races- it just made me laugh.

We all met at Ruth's Diner up Emigration Canyon. There was a good turnout this morning- about 15 of us. This was supposed to be a distance run with no fast miles, but I picked it up about halfway through in order to get some tightness out and push myself.

Topics of the day: WBR teams, Ogden Marathon teams, stretching session (coming in February).

The weather was cold at first, but quickly warmed up when the sun came out. I was content with 2 layers and a simple hat.

AM: Pretty easy 5 miles. It was sooo windy, but the snow and ice were off the roads. That was nice. The downside was the large number of puddles everywhere due to melting snow. I expect a storm later today. Olympic Oval tonight.

PM: The roads were so bad that I met up with the crew at the trax station near my work and got a ride out west to the oval. We decided to do 8x200 meter repeats, with 200 easy in between each and a mile warmup/cooldown. It wasn't too hard, especially considering it was the second run of the day.

AM: Snowboarding. The snow was decent, but it was too wind blown at the top. They have 112" now, which is pretty decent. That should make it interesting for the WBR relay in June when we have to run over Guardsman's Pass. When we did it 3 years ago there were some massive snow drifts on the side of the road. Hopefully they won't have a problem making sure the road is plowed this year. That's the funnest part of the race.

PM: I took the kids to the clinic because they were complaining about their ears. They checked their ears and checked for strep, but there weren't any problems. So they'll just have to tough it out. When we got back, I took off. It was 8:15. Got back around 9:15.

AM: 5.5 in the morning. It was icy and nasty, but I wanted to get in some mile knowing that my evening run would be short.

PM: 5 miles (hills) with Natalie, Tracy H, and Tracy C. It was a good run. We did 5 hills with some sprints at the top of hill 3.

Recovery day. I added on to my 5.5 mile loop to make in an even 6 miles. Unfortunatley, the trail is too iced over right now to run on, so I had to stick to the roads. There were a few cars that made me nervous.