Giddyup

Foot is still pretty sore so I went out on my bike after work.  It is hard to get in more than about a half an hour before it is too dark.  Had a good ride though - loops around 13th & Fort.  I need to get to the point where I can do that with a 25mph average - 21.7 avg tonight.

Same ride as Tuesday - Fort Street, 13th East loops.  Was much colder tonight so I only got in 2 loops before it was too cold and getting dark not to mention my right contact blew right out of my eye!  Has been 1 full week without running, kind of weird.  I think I'll be ready to go out tomorrow morning.  Officially signed up for Squaw Peak 50 yesterday so now I've got something major to think about.

Morning bridge loop with Troy.  Took off a full week after hurting my foot on Thanksgiving.  It feels much better now.  There is no pain as long as I strike the ground flat, but if I'm on a slope there is still a little soreness.  Good run though...snowed on us just barely - just some flakes.  

Early Widowmaker loop.  After run, foot is now a little more sore than I would like it to be.  Had 1 or 2 really sharp pains in the foot but they didn't remain.  I will still take another couple days off so it can fully recover.

Good Forter Rockwell loop run.  Averaged 6:30's with which I was pleased considering I have not done this loop in probably 2 weeks and have not tried running quickly since Thanksgiving when I hurt my foot.  Foot felt great.  Auto lap was disabled on Garmin for 1st 2 miles but I think I went 6:29 and then 6:30.  3rd mile was definitely messed up as the Garmin read 5:33.  4th mile was 6:19 and final mile was 6:26.  Glad I didn't lose too much over just a week and a half!

Evening Fort Rockwell Loop.  Great run...foot feels fine.  Averaged 6:29's:

M1:  6:42

M2:  6:36

M3:  6:38

M4:  6:06

M5:  6:23

Cold morning run on the shoreline.  Just went down to the aqueduct road and back in.  The only rude awakening was that this loop is really only about 4 miles, not the 5 I thought it was.

Early morning bridge loop with T&D.  Gorgeous morning...the moon looked amazing out over the Oquirrh's and the sky was clear as a bell...you could see the entire valley.

13 miles on the trails in Corner Canyon then 5 more on the FR loop.  Got in from the trail running right as the snow was starting to fly and started the other 5 miles in the thick of the storm.  Was not all that fun...difficult to breathe & slow. Foot is bothering me much more than it should I may have to have it looked at.

HR: Avg162, Max 169

Shortened bridge loop this morning - hopefully get in a longer one tomorrow.

I have officially made my goal for the Ogden Marathon.  In the past I've not been open about my goals all the time but maybe if I'm more open about what I'm going for, I will have more accountability to myself.  I've decided I'm going for a 2:54:59 - breaking 2:55 for my age group is enough to give me a guaranteed spot to NYC marathon.  Whether or not I do the NYC (this year at least) is another question, but I think this is the next meaningful benchmark for me aside from breaking 3 itself.

Morning run on the shoreline to the aqueduct road and back in...we are not going to be able to run there much longer - it is quite slow going even now.

Then run after work with Matt on his 10 mile loop.  Great loop, look forward to doing it more frequently although it is quite slippery this time of year.  There is black ice on much of the Canal & Porter Rockwell trails.  Good runs though.  Probably need to take a break tomorrow, was falling asleep at work this morning, not good. 

HR: Avg 147, Max 158

Morning run on the shoreline down to the aqueduct road - D, T, C, I & Me.  Beautiful morning!

6 total today...3 in the morning up on the shoreline - and 3 more at the gym before work.  The shoreline trail was windier than I have ever experienced wind anywhere.  We didn't get much of a run in and had to cut it quite short so I had enough time to hurry to work and hit the gym on the way in.  Did some good speed work on the treadmill which felt good after trudging through the snow on the shoreline.

Morning run on the shoreline trail just down to the Aqueduct road.  Wasn't too cold but super windy again.  T & C

Carbon copy of yesterday.  A little warmer and much less wind.  Still a good workout with the snow. D, T, & J

Short run this morning up the trail of the Eagle.  Beautiful morning - I can't believe it is Christmas Eve.  D, T & E.

Not sure how far this morning...we hiked up the Trail to the Eagle for a little while, got in a couple snowball fights but then had a decent pace coming back home.  Nice and early.  I really need to take a video camera up there one morning to capture just how cool it really is to be up there so early in the morning looking over the entire valley especially on such clear mornings as this morning.  We had a bunch of us this morning too...me, D, T, E, I, J, & C.  Good run, just should have been longer.  I'll get in a good one tomorrow on the roads.

Basically the same as yesterday only worse - more icy.  After yesterday's warm temperatures, the snow melted a little and then re-froze overnight.  Very very icy.  I'm headed to the gym now to finish up a real run...even the roads would be pretty sketchy to run on right now.

Got in a good workout at the gym.  2 mile warmup followed by 4 miles at race pace and 1 mile at 10 mph.  Got to use my new Christmas road shoes - Saucony Triumph 6's.  Like them so far.

I think we got in at least 4.  The shoreline trail is so icy you can't really even walk it.  So there is another trail lower on the bench that is at this point probably just a game trail but it is clear and very runnable.  So we just ran out & back on it 3 times I think.  It was nice to get some real running in.