Jim's Running Adventures: Week of January 8th

Sunday - Had big plans to go out and do a 20 mile road run today. My thought process was that I needed to get out and get used to running a lot of miles at a steady pace and non-stop, no walking or hiking allowed. With the Salt Flats 100 coming up in April, there's going to be a lot of flat ground to run on. No sense in walking it when I can run it, provided I've trained to do that. Well, anyway, after I got up, I saw that the outside temperature was 9 degrees. Now I'm a wimp when it comes to running in cold weather. I just don't like it. Down to about 30 I'm fine, below that and I get cold. So running outside with the temp. in single digits wasn't going to happen. So, next option? The treadmill. I've done a lot of really long runs on that thing. I even did a 50K one time just to see if I could do it. So I thought 20 miles wouldn't be a problem. I turned on Spike TV to watch the Sunday morning car shows and set the mill at a roughly 8:30 pace and took off. Things went really well until about 15 miles. By then, my ankle was starting to act up and I knew that an additional five was out of the question. No sense in hurting myself just for an additional few miles. So I called it after about 16.5 miles. Did it in about 2:20, so I was happy with that. I had the mill set to a 1% grade as well just to help simulate the road. Karen hopped on the mill when I got done and had big plans to do six miles. She bailed after about five, said something about it being really, really boring. Miles - 16.5 (0' vert)

Monday - Got a note from Scott Mason today. 2012 Wasatch Speedgoat Mountain Racing Team is on. Good to hear. I like being a part of that team. We have some great runners, and others (like me) that do ok. Looks like we have a couple of new sponsors, Stoic Gear being one of them. They're providing us with shirts and shorts.
Now on to the running. After yesterday's issues with the ankle, I was a little concerned about running today. I went for four miles on the t-mill at lunch at just under a nine-minute pace. The ankle didn't bother me. I could feel it, but no big deal. Just need to remember to ice the thing down a couple times a day. Miles - 4.0 (0' vert)

Tuesday - Was going to go out for about eight after work, but didn't. Went to luch with an old high school friend and the meal wasn't sitting well with me. I decided a day off wasn't a bad thing. Miles - 0

Wednesday - Stomach felt much better, I think it was just indigestion. Hit the t-mill at the gym at lunch. Did 10 x .25 repeats at about a 6:30 pace. 0.10 walk in between. After work I hit the trail from 22nd street. Knowing it would be snowy and icy, I wore my Hokas. Now most of you know that Hokas aren't the greatest as far as traction in snow and icy. In fact they pretty much suck. But I put sheetmetal screws into the soles of mine. Just short little 1/2 inch ones. That made all sorts of difference. I didn't really slip or slide at all. And I actually got back to my car before the need for my headlamp. Days are definitely getting longer, spring is just around the corner........and down the block a ways. Miles - 10.6 (778' vert)

Thursday - Went to Rainbow hoping to meet with everyone. Missed them as they started before I got there. I did meet everyone out on the trail though. Eight made it tonight. Nice sunny afternoon and we managed to get back before dark. Miles - 6.3 (1160' vert)

Friday - Took the day off again. Wasn't in the mood and I figured that with a 20 mile run coming up on Saturday, I could afford to take the day. Miles - 0

Saturday - Went out with about 12 friends and did almost 21 miles. Started at 22nd street and went south to the Beus trail, then turned around and went north of 22nd street to the canal road. Gorgeous day, little cool to start but warming up nicely to the mid 40's. Beer and pumpkin bars in the parking lot after. Way fun. Here's the Garmin link. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141880998 Here's a couple pics as well. Miles - 20.8 (3537' vert)