Giddyup

Sure wish Spring would get here.  Really is kind of amazing how fortunate we were to sneak the Buffalo run in on such a favorable day sandwiched between such lousy weather.  

Got out early this morning with a good bunch of guys up on the shoreline & up Ghost Falls to the Corner Canyon road.  A lot of snow the whole way which wasn't a problem until we got into Ghost falls - had to walk most of that but me & Cody ran pretty good the 2 miles down the road.  

Feel good & well recovered from last week - now I have to focus on speed for OGDEN!!!

Modified Bridge Loop

Another modified bridge loop...the road in the bottom of Corner Canyon is a muddy mess.

Just a short one this morning - up & down the Trail to the Eagle...always a thigh burner, we'll see how they are tomorrow.

Sure is nice to run in 50 degrees in the am!

+ Fort Rockwell Loop after work.  Tried my racing flats again and I am way too fat for them.  I've got hot spots on the outsides of both feet.  Another mile or so & they'd both be blisters for sure. 

M1:  6:29

M2:  6:28

M3:  6:47

M4:  6:07

M5  6:24

Drizzly, cold morning bridge loop (modified) - the road in the bottom of corner canyon would have been a muddy disaster this morning.

Got into the gym after work - the gym is going to be key to weight loss I think.  Managed 1 mile @ 10mph.

Good Friday - no work.  2 loops on the shoreline trail...1 down to the aqueduct road & the other out to the bridge.  Felt excellent!  Came home & rode for an hour on the trainer.

Widowmaker loop - felt a little sluggish this morning but I wasn't going to miss today after the solid week I've had.  Beautiful morning - a little muddy in Corner Canyon, but that just made it more interesting.  Me, D, T, E, C, A, C - good group.

Bummed I didn't get out yesterday, but this flu bug is really clogging me up.  Got out for just 4 this morning and felt much better.

Just a gym workout today.  

Just a short one this am - shoreline to aqueduct.  There is a group of women we see out there pretty often too, they were out earlier than we were this morning!

In my pre-race planning, I'll admit I was hoping just a little for a higher age group placement although I was also hoping for a 1:23.  But with the top 5 overall positions coming from the 30-34 age group, I'm just fine with 9th.  And I'm not too disappointed with the 1:25 either considering I rode my bike to the start.  

So that is where my day started - I left the house at about 5:25 on my bike.  My plan was for today to be a half - Ironman workout in preparation for for Boise in June.  Still a little ways off, but I won't get very many opportunities to do a good bike workout and then to a full half-marathon in a race situation.  Turned out to be a very good workout.  

 I got to the start line in about an hour which gave me plenty of time to change & get in line for the honey buckets.  However, due to a major shortage of honey buckets every line seemed like it would take an hour to clear out so I took off into campus looking for an open building.  I was fortunate the first building I came to was open and so was the restroom.   With that little detour I managed to get to the start line about halfway through the Star Spangeld Banner.  Starting out I did feel a little sluggish and kind of full in my stomach.  Not knowing how much to eat I probably erred on the side of too much liquid.  I was pleased to see the course change leaving foothill a little sooner than going all the way up to 21st south.  Pretty soon I felt really good with the pace & my stomach had settled a little.  After the turnaround at Sugarhouse I slowed some going back up to 17th east but after crossing I-80 I felt like I could start pushing again and did so turning down 27th south.  I maintained quite an even pace and didn't give up or gain any position all the way through 5th east at which point I was promptly passed by 3 or 4 runners (one of which was a chick!).  I was afraid that meant I had really slowed down but I kept checking the garmin and I was keeping quite steady - I think these runners were just some good negative-splitters.  Liberty park came & went & pretty soon we were on State Street.  I had seen on the course map the change taking us on State Street all the way from 8th south to South Temple but I still held out for some early reprive from the long & steady climb up State to S. Temple.  No such luck - the last 2 blocks are where the incline steepens the most and gave me my only 7+ mile of the day but it was only a 7:06 I think.  Fortunately at the top of State @ S. Temple it is all downhill to the gateway.  I tried to juice it and made 1 or 2 passes but then some other punk passed me right turning onto 4th west.  I did, however manage to pass him back right after we turned onto Rio Grande (road in the middle of the gateway) and I held on for a 1:25:04.  I was really hoping the chip time would tuck me in with a 1:24 but no such luck. 

 All in all I was very pleased.  I'm pretty sure this was still a new PR but I'm not sure by how much because my previous PR was also a 1:25 something.  I could maybe have bagged the 1:23 without the ride to the start but the brick workout was worth it. 

After hanging out a little post-race, I ran back up to the U up South Temple - really made me think how much fun it would be to be able to run up around the avenues & downtown sometimes.  3.93 miles up to the U for a good 17 mile day.  The ride home was a little slower than getting up there but I still felt pretty good.

Starting the week off right hopefully.  Morning modified bridge loop with Dusty.  Went down into the bottom of Corner Canyon yesterday - the road is still a mess with some huge mud puddles but there is enough dry to get through there.  Hopefully we can get back to the usual loop soon.  Me & D.

Took yesterday off - needed some sleep!  Easy run today.  Shoreline down to Aqueduct road.  4th toe toenail came off last night from Buffalo and 2nd toe toenail is going to come off probably before Ogden.  I really thought I solved my toenail issues with larger shoes but the 2nd toe blister is just from the half on Sat.  Doesn't bode well for a full @ Ogden.  

Me, T, C, & I.

After such a weak week last week, I should have got out yesterday to start the week off right.  I'll have to get in some extra mileage this week somehow - Ogden is just 3 weeks away & Squaw is just 6.  

Great bridge loop run this morning.  Was able to push some sections pretty good.  Did a 5:30 on the last mile coming home.  Me, D, E & C. 

Garmin started late but I'm sure we got in at least 4.  Did a climbing run this morning up the trail of the Eagle.  My quads are ALWAYS screaming once we turn & head down this climb.  I know I'll feel it for the next 2 days too.  Plus it was just me & Ernie - and he usually runs down faster than I do (plus he weighs about 50 pounds  less)!

Great run - I always like being clear up there so early in the morning looking over the entire SL Valley.

Great run this am - did the full Bridge Loop.  The road in lower Corner Canyon is all dried up and leveled and other than the huge Track Hoe sitting in the middle of the road it is totally clear.  I picked up the pace after the main Corner Canyon road and except for one stop maintained it all the way in.  5:38 5th mile.  Had a good crowd - me, D, T, I, & J.

Got in a swim tonight too, I think I'm in trouble for the upcoming SG tri.  Still feel like a rock in the pool.