Craig's Running Blog

Running started out stiff this morning. I can't figure out if it's my shoes or what. No pain, just stiffness in the foot/ankle area, like I've lost some flexibility. It gradually got better and was finally good at mile 3, at which point I ran easily at marathon goal pace.

Halloween last night was so fun. I got a mask on and scared the girls in the neighborhood. I even chased after 2 groups. The mask was an "old man" mask- it looks very real. Then I went to some of my friends' houses and stared at them through the window with this creepy mask on. It was great. I took my son (5) and daughter (8) around the neighborhood while I was doing it. My daughter asked me why I was chasing teenage girls. I told her that is what happens when you sense the fear, you chase it. It's just like in the wild. If you ever run away from a dog, it will chase you. If you run at the dog or stare it down, it won't. Same thing in racing- when you have some idiot in front of you that keeps looking over his shoulder like you're going to pass him, you will. If you have some guy at mile 21 at St George looking like he's struggling, it gives you that extra motivation to chase his butt down.

This wasn't too bad of a run. I contemplated not doing it at all, but I want to be consistent. I'll be racing a 5k tomorrow, but steady training through the week shouldn't hurt that.

I hadn't run this one before, and I don't usually run the 5k distance 'cause I'm not great at it. 1/2 Marathon is my favorite distance. But Bill encouraged us to sign up, and I didn't want to sign up and not race it. So I signed up and raced it.

I got there an hour before the race. Bill, Andrea, Dominique, and Marie were already warming up. I saw them after they finished their first loop, so I joined up. I did a 1.25 lap with them, then did one at a 7:00 pace on my own. Got my stuff together and did 3 sprints. Everything felt good. I was ready.

Since this was an animal assisted therapy 5k, the race was open to dogs. That meant 90% of the crowd was there for a slow jog. It was also 2 laps around Wheeler Farm, so we started lapping people about 2 miles into it. The last mile was dodging people and cars. There was a point at mile 1.5 where we had to cross part of the parking lot. Since I was the leading runner at that point, a car passed right in front of me and didn't even see me. I hit the back window of the car with both my hands HARD to give them a message. I don't think it slowed me down to much- just 5 seconds or so.

I spotted some trouble at the begining of the race. Wasatch Athletics was providing the timing for the race, so there were a couple runners there from that group. Some older guy that was all decked out in the green singlets and shorts that they wear. Then you had Demitrio running the show behind the scenes. I also noticed some guy stylin' himself like he belonged in the UFC or some chiz, wearing some sort of short mohawk. He was talking Olympic Trials results with the other elite runners, so I got the scoop from him. He ended up passing me after mile 2 and winning the race- but I didn't get his name.

I pushed the pace the first mile. There were some younger kids running the race seriously, so I wanted to get ahead of them. After .25 miles, I didn't notice anyone behind me. I naturally slowed down and tried to calm down, knowing that a 5k is still long enough to have some respect for. The girl at mile 1 called out "5:10", but I think it was short. Still- it was a little fast. I wanted a 5:30 pace.

At mile 1.5, I started feeling fatigued. Not the same as a longer distance- it was mostly just the nervous system. I tried snapping out of it, but I didn't get a second wind until 2.5, and it was too late at that point to catch up to the first place finisher. He passed me just after mile 2, put some distance between us, and then I held on to the distance for the last 1/2 mile.

As I was coming to the finish, I noticed Dominique, without the dog she started with. I called out her name, and she gave me some encouraging words (with 100 meters to go). I saw her about 1/4 mile before that, but she was passing people and moving too fast for me to catch up until the end. I don't know what she was doing, but it was probably sub-7:00 judging from her finish time and considering she took 3-5 minutes putting the dog back in the vehicle before finishing off the first lap. So after I finished, I jogged back about .5 miles and ran it back in with her. She gave it a kick at the very end and I wasn't in the mood to keep up.

I talked with Bill, Andrea, Dominique, Marie, and Alicia a bit after the race. Andrea, Dominique and I stayed the extra hour for the entire raffle. I got some $15 gift certificate for a race id. Whoo hoo. We agreed to meet next Saturday at Ruth's diner to do Emigration.

I decided to take the route up Wasatch and back down Pepperwood. The downhill would be gradual, but the initial uphill would be brutal.

Took off at 6:00. Still dark, but I could tell it would get light while I was out. My pace up the big hill was right around 8:00. Tough. Once I got to the top and started down Pepperwood, I started cruising. It wasn't completely painless. My hamstrings were tight from Saturday's race. Still- I got the pace down to 6:00 and ran the entire thing at a 7:00 avg pace.

Good day. A little tired from yesterday, but not bad. I got out early and did the 5 mile loop. Things have been stressful at work, especially since I juggle a second job in my spare time. We release a product on Nov 12, so it should get better after that through the end of they year.

Easy run today. I thought I was playing raquetball at lunch, but that was put on hold until tomorrow.

I got off to a late start this morning (6:15), but it was still early enough to get in my 6.5 miles on the pipeline and porter rockwell trails. I was surprised at how many people I saw running or walking this morning. Maybe it's the decent weather. I must have seen 20 other people out.

I got warmed up and then started on my first 800 at threshold pace. Still a little tight/sore in the ankles. But the second, third, and fourth sets felt good. I passed 2 ladies at the end of my third 800, so I had to hold on to that one until I was out of sight so that it wouldn't look like I was dogging it. That one ended up being closer to 1200. That's my pride stinging me.

Read about the new "Run Easy" Reebock slogans that promote easy running. I don't agree. It sounds like a good discussion board topic, so I'll post it out there.

Perfect morning for a trail run, since I didn't have to go in to work until 5:00pm. I got out about 7:30. Perfect temp. Got these New Balance trail shoes that work pretty well- I've only worn them once. My Teva trail racing shoes are all worn out, so I thought I would try the New Balance again. Good choice.

I did the first 1.3 miles up to the shoreline trail. Once I was up, it was an easy 3 miles downhill back to the porter rockwell trail, then 2 miles home.

I didn't see anyone else out- probably 'cause they were working. HA!

Unfortunately, I will have to work on Sat morning and I won't be able to meet up with my crew. Drag.

Well, it's 4.5 miles each way to the trax station from my house. So I can run to the station, take the train into work, take the train back, and run home for an even 9 miles. That sounded good on a day like today, where I couldn't meet up with my running friends in the morning or run after work.

I was supposed to get in to work at 5am, but I decided to bag it after working until close to midnight last night. I took off from my house at 5:15, got to the station at 5:45, and took the next train at 5:58. I got in to the office at 6:18. 20 min is not bad at all. In fact, when there's any sort of traffice, taking the train is faster. It helps to work across the street from the trax station.

It was a busy, tiring day at work. So many things can go wrong when you build and release a new product- even internally. This is a new UI for all users in the company. What makes it copmlicated is its ability to communicate with the mainframe system of record.

This will almost get me to 40 miles this week. I've been hovering between 35 and 40 a week since St George. I think it's time to pick it up 5 miles this next week. I'll go for 40-45.

I got off to a late start, but decided to do a modified version of my 5 mile loop by going all the way up to 10600 South by the cemetary. That adds 1/2 mile on to the loop, giving it a total of 5.5 instead of 5 miles.

For some reason, the ankles were really tight and bothering me for the first mile. I don't really mind, as long as they are good once I warm up, which was the case this morning.

Very foggy this morning.

It looks like the group wants to run 15 miles this Saturday in Draper. Training with a spike in mileage on Saturday does not usually go well for me, but I guess 15 miles is less than 3x my weekly average. I should be ok. I'm sure it will be slow if it's with the group, which really makes it even harder for me.

This is the usual 6.5 pipeline/porter rockwell trail loop. Perfect weather this morning for shorts/gloves/hat/2 upper layers. I did some extra stretching after .6 miles that made everything feel good from there. I passed a few runners out there, but nowhere near last week.

Raquetball at lunch. It was 10-15, 15-8, 14-15. The lights went out on the last game, so we didn't finish. Pretty tough games.

Some running friends are trying to get together a night a week for a training run. so it looks like I might be running with a group on Mondays.

This was a pretty easy run. It felt good. I cut it off a little short just because of the cold, and I worked myself pretty hard yesterday in raquetball.

Man- it was cold this morning. I got out with some extra clothes on. I wanted to take it a little easier than normal because of the racquetball session at noon. Took the usual pipeline and porter rockwell trails through Draper. All flat, mostly easy.

Racquetball went well 15-12, 14-16, 15-5, 4-2. Had to get my racquet re-strung 'cause it broke last time, so that will be ready for our next games on Tuesday. Adam got worked hard. I think it's pretty cool that I've built up my endurance to this point, where I can run 6 miles in the morning and play racquetball at noon, and the guy I'm playing is dying at the end of the hour.

Nice morning. It turned out to be a smooth, easy run. I was a little tired from the run, racquetball, and core workout yesterday. No big deal.

It looks like the weather will be turning cooler next week. I am trying to find a race to participate in on Thanksgiving out in the Vernal area. There are plenty out here to participate in, but I don't know about out there. hmmm 

A group run at 7:00am. We had 12 of us there. Bill likes a group between 5 and 20, so this was a pretty ideal number. Bill had all sorts of gear for us- slant boards, hooks for our drinks, hydration, etc.

I kept bringing up the Ryan Hall video, and how I think the subject of "God" is in style. I explained to Dominique about what praising God whilst running means to me (as that is something Ryan Hall mentions in his video). To me, it isn't running itself that praises God, but it's the realization that your running ability comes from God, and then whether you thank Him for that.

I looked at the temperature today (68) and I couldn't help but go for a trail run. This could very well be the last day I get out this year, judging by the cold front coming in early this week.

I took some detours on some new trails, and ended up at Ghost Falls. I was a little sore in the ankles by the end of the run after the 11 miles yesterday. I guess I'm just not used to 8-10 mile days yet. I'll get there.

This was an easy run with a small group of 5. We went around Murray Park and the surrounding streets. Stopped by the new smoothie shop and got free samples off of them. Good stuff.

I didn't sleep well last night, but it's funny how that never seems to affect my run negatively the next morning. If I sleep poorly for a longer period of time, then I notice it in the run. But 1 night of light sleep never hurts me.

Did the 5 mile loop, and I did some nice strides at the end. It was obviously cooler this morning, but still at 40 degrees. Not bad at all.

I was talking with Mark about Boston. I guess he has already registered and has tickets. He wants to split a room to save costs, so I suppose I'll have to register and run it. I've wanted to do it at some point, but I wasn't planning on it this year. It will be something to look forward to in 4 months.

Cold morning! I knew I would take off from work early today, so I decided it would be warm enough at 4:00 to do a trail run. I was right (barely). It was only like 40 degrees when I took off at 4, and by the time I was getting home at 5:30, it was getting dark and even colder.

This was the usual trail loop. Nothing spectacular, but it felt good. I picked it up halfway through and did some marathon pace on the trail itself. That got kind of technical after a while, so I had to slow down.

We met up with Bill at 7:00am for an easy 10 miler up in Bountiful. I figured it would be a good opportunity to get some extra miles in. Knowing it would be cold, I dressed for it... but I was still freezing at the end.

I got a ride up with Andrea. The 4 of us weren't expecting many others, but we ended up having a pretty big group: Andrea, Johnny, Alicia, Jason R, Renan, Dominique, Gordon, Lona, Traci, and Bill.

Bill contributed some fresh bread and honey afterwards, along with the usual warm refuel drink. That was very nice. He also mentioned that we would be meeting and doing the same run Dec 25 and Jan 1. I'm sure I won't make Dec 25, but Jan 1 is a possibility.

Slept in a little this morning, but I still got out at 7:00. I decided to do the porter rockwell/pipleline paved trails rather than pepperwood. The flat paved trails would let me work on my speed, while the pepperwood loop is a beast of a climb and doesn't allow for that.

The pace was fast, the threshold 4x800s were good. 5:00 - 5:30 pace. I didn't have my Garmin, but I could tell that I was getting it down to 5:00/mile at times.

It was really strange. I saw this apparently homeless lady carrying a bench on a wheelbarrow along the pipeline trail where it crosses 1300 East. I watched her for a minute from across the street before approaching her. She turned to look at me, and that's when I could tell she was probably homeless. She looked Danish too- like someone I would have seen on my mission. I asked her if she needed any help, and she didn't respond. I was unsure at that point if I was in a dream or not, and I got that really weird feeling that you get when you have a surreal experience. I took off running on my route, but faster... as if the dream was going to catch up to me and eat me alive. I would have been freaked out if it was Halloween.

Met with the group up in Farmington. We took the road out to the bird refuge and back. It wasn't quite as cold as Thursday, but still pretty cold.

Bill had us do a mile tempo going out and a repeat mile on the way back. It wasn't too bad, but I was tired at the end.

Another sunny, warm(ish) day. I couldn't resist getting out on the trails in the afternoon. It was great. I passed quite a few moutain bikers and even a couple horses. Don't get me started on horses and trails. They do more damage to these trails than hikers/runners/bikers could ever do, and yet they are given preference and the right-of-way.

The usual Murray Park Monday night run. We stopped after a mile and did some 60 yd sprints. It took me about 4 to get fully warmed up, and we did 7 total.

After that, it was the usual course around the park and surrounding neighborhoods. Mostly easy.

6.5 mile loop on the pipeline and porter rockwell trails. Man, it was windy. Whenever it's windy like that I have a hard time sleeping at night. At one point, I had a 1/2 mile of uphill into the wind.

Snowboarding today, or at least something that resembled it. The powder was fresh, but there was no base. Spent too much time avoiding rocks.

A little sore maybe from snowboarding yesterday. Hard to say. It took 3 miles to warm up.

Everything felt good this morning, and I knew I had been a slacker this week. So I took it upon myself to go for the Wasatch-Pepperwood loop of 8 miles with a grueling 2 mile uphill (miles 1-3). That part was tough. Once I started coming down, it was nice. I felt good because I reached that point where you're going at marathon race pace and it's effortless. Of course, that was during a slightly downhill stretch... but still.

There was still some ice on the sides of the road. Pepperwood has a nice asphalt sidewalk (not concrete) that makes running really nice. However, about 20% of it was still ice, so I had to run on the road and avoid a couple cars. Nothing too bad.

I've got a fast workout tomorrow morning of somewhere between 8 and 10 miles that will include sprints and intervals. Those are always fun.