Last week, too lazy and unwilling to slog through a muddy local trail, I took a spare hour and put down a few miles on the paved trails in Farmington – plus a little gravel trail. That night, my right ankle started throbbed – exactly like the stress fracture I have on my left ankle. It was one year ago – Jan/Feb 2014 – that I incurred a painful stress fracture on my left outer tibia by putting in too…
We are making a family tradition out of doing a race on Thanksgiving morning. We did it back in 2012, a 5 miler that seemed like the farthest distance I would ever run. This time the Mrs. and I did the Turkey Leg 5k in Farmington. It was a lot of fun. I should have eaten a little better in the morning though because I felt like the tank was empty. Still the 25:00 time was pretty good for me….
Here are a few recent outings: A run up the newly worked on lower stretch of the Farmington Creek Trail by Ryan Lauck, up the first section of the post-parking lot single track, and then looping across the creek to explore the Aqueduct Trail back – a first. All with a coworker, Spencer, who just moved here and is quickly getting hooked on the trails. 5.0 miles in 1:33:34 @ 18:44 min/mile and with 1,170 ft. elevation gain A night…
So…I have still be really nervous about my ankle. But, equally nervous about getting out of shape. So, I have put in some miles on my mountain bike. 11 March 2014 All pavement, but first time riding the Lagoon Trail up to Farmington Pond 7.4 miles in 36:11, 12.2 mph average and 24.4 mph top speed 20 March 2014 I only have about 45 minutes, so I through my bike onto my car, parked at the bottom of Farmington Canyon…
One thing I noticed a couple weeks ago when I went for a short 4 mile run on the BST above Farmington was that after taking a full month off to rest my injured ankle, I was OUT OF SHAPE. Actually, its scary how fast I had lost my lungs, legs, and overall endurance – not that I had much to begin with. My ankle is feeling a lot better, but I don’t want to chance reinjuring it. So, in…
When I got back from Arizona, I decided that I would try to rehab my IT Bands. They hurt the worst going downhill, so I thought maybe staying flat – on the pavement trails around my house – would help. Over the course of a few weeks, I did 6 flat runs. I would do stretches on the trail every 1/2 -1 mile for 20-30 seconds on each side. It actually worked pretty well and by the 6th run I…
Went out with the plan to bang out a 5k PR. Unfortunately, according to the GPS, I only went 3.3 miles instead of the needed 3.5-3.6. Oops. Good pace though – got PRs on a couple segments or road/trail. 3.3 miles @ 8:26 min/mile
As I have mentioned, I know that trail running extends my endurance. A slower 6 mile in the hills is way easier than pounding out 6 miles at my top pace on pavement. So…I decided to test my legs out and really see if my endurance on the streets was improving. I decided to run a straight 10 miles. I had never done this before, so it was a big deal for me. It was hard, but I’m very glad…
I was feeling good on the trails. THRILLED about going 6-9 miles. But, I was realizing that there was a bit of self-deception. My PACE on the trails was slow. That is normal for trail running. A bit slower overall – fast power hiking on big climbs, etc… You aren’t running at a full street pace the whole time. So, I was wondering if I could put in 6-9 miles on the pavement. I suspected not. I decided to shoot…