Sunday - Did some hiking along the south rim of the Grand Canyon with the others. Generally spent the day playing tourist and having fun doing that. Miles - 2.5
Monday - Spent the day driving home from the Grand Canyon. Sat on my butt for almost 10 hours, ugh!
Tuesday - Did a run north from Rainbow with Sharon. We went to the Polk Trail turn off and came back. Nice and easy. Felt good to get back out. I noticed that my legs weren't sore at all. Maybe a little tired, but the run didn't present a lot of effort. Went for my Pilates class after. Either the class is getting a little easier or I'm slacking, but it doesn't seem to take nearly the same effort as it did three weeks ago. Miles - 6.2
Wednesday - Took the day off. Tapering for Salt Flats in a week and a half.
Thursday - Went to 22nd street and ran up to inspiration point, then headed back to the trailhead to meet Karen for a run. We got in another few miles by running over to Waterfall canyon, then down to the lower trails and back. Nice little run. Miles - 7.25
Friday - Took the day off again
Saturday - Helped out with the Gib Wallace Trail 10K. Directed runners at one intersection, then went out on the course after to clear course markings. Miles - 5.84
Restraunt 1107 - This is a fairly new restraunt on the 11th floor of the Ben Lomond Hotel. I think it's been open a month or so. We heard about it from some friends who had gone there and thought it was pretty good. I think we were expecting it to be a bit more crowded than it was. We were immediately seated by a window overlooking Ogden, and just as the sun was setting. Very nice. Their menu selection is somewhat limited, only abut a dozen main dishes are listed. I got the chicken fusilli and Karen got the chicken catcitore. Mine was quite good, small pieces of grilled chicken sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, onions, all tossed with some olive oil and spiral pasta. Plenty hot too. Sometimes when you order a pasta dish, it's not as warm as it could be, maybe pasta cools off quickly. This was fresh out of the kitchen hot. The salad was a field greens with blue cheese, also quite good. Karen said she enjoyed hers as well. Service was good. One thing I kind of have a pet peeve about, especially in a higher end place is when the wait staff says "you guys", as in "how are you guys doing?". First, it's a low class move in a high class place, second, my wife is not a guy, far from it. So if any wait staff are reading, how about "how are you folks doing?" instead. It's a little more formal and doesn't call my wife a guy. Still, we'd go back, the food was good and it's a little something different than the usual Ogden fare.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Week of April 8th
Sunday - Didn't do squat. Had plans to run a few but ended up getting a mess load of yard work done now that spring is here. Felt good to get that stuff done.
Monday - Double day for me. Did some intervals at lunch, 4 x .5, plus a little extra, then went out for a few miles going north from Rainbow. I was kind of surprised there weren't more people out, especially mtb'rs. It was a pretty nice day. Miles - 10.5
Tuesday - Another double day. Went out for an easy 5 at lunch. Nice warm day, little breezy though. Did another 4.2 with Karen after work. Went to Pilates again. Miles - 9.2
Wednesday thru Friday - Didn't do squat except drive to the Grand Canyon on Friday.
Saturday - Ran the Grand Canyon for the 5th time. This time things were a little different. Usually there is gorgeous weather for the run. All week the weather forecast had been pretty ominous, snow, rain, cold. We drove the truck down since my car really sucks on icy snowy roads. Turns out we didn't need to. The roads were fine going down an coming back. Still, when everyone met in our room at 5am before starting down, it was snowing, the wind was blowing and the temp was about 28 degrees. There was about 2 inches of the white stuff ont he ground. Nothing like a little winter run in April. I knew that once we started down, the wind would ease up and the snow would go away, but I figured it would turn to rain. I figured that the snow level was around 6000' and once we got below that, the trails would be clear. Well, they were pretty much clear, but muddy. By the time we got to Indian Garden, the snow and rain had stopped. The temp was about 38 and we were doing just fine. At the river, the weather was actually not too bad. Probably in the upper 40's and cloudy. The further we headed up the North Kiabab trail, the more we could see that the north rim was completely socked in. As we climbed up from the caretaker house, the wind picked up and the snow started again. Several of us who had been to the north rim before elected to turn around at the bridge that's about 3 miles from the top. There was about 4 inches on the ground and it was cold, plus we figured that there weren't going to be any good views that day. The kind of cool thing about this year's run was that there were very few others doing a R2R2R. We counted six others and that was it. Needless to say, the trails were kind of empty. Anyway, we got back to the ranch, took a short break and headed back up the south rim. I had plans to see how fast I could go up Bright Angel tral to the top. Last year I did it in about 3:15, so that was the time to beat. It did rain on us pretty good for about 20 minutes as we came up thru devil's corkscrew, but after that, the weather was fine until near the top. I did well on the climb to Indian Garden. Felt good and going strong, actually running portions of it. Then I hit the steeper part after Indian Garden and that's when the wheels kind of came off. I slowed way down, but still wasn't doing too bad. We could see that teh south rim was still socked in with bad weather, and sure enough, about 2 miles from the top we were in snow again. One of the highlights was a herd of mule deer right on the trail that styed just in front of us. We could get within 30-40 feet and they would walk on down the trail. Very cool. As I got within about 1/2 mile from the top, the wind picked up. By the time I got to the top, it was blowing hard and snowing hard. Good thing our room was only about 100 yards from the trail head. I did manage to go from the ranch to the top in about 3:30, so not too bad. I did kind of bonk for the last three miles.
The next day was gorgeous, sunny, cool. We should have done the run that day. Oh well, we all had a great time. Several people that had never made the run managed to make it to the north rim (shin deep snow). I managed to get in 41.5 miles. So not a bad day or weekend. Time to go into a taper for Salt Flats.
Total for the week - 61.2 Total vert was probably around 17,000'
Restraunt review time - So while at the Grand Canyon, we obviously ate at the restraunts there. Friday dinner and Sunday breakfast were at the Bright Angel cafe. The food wasn't too bad. I don't remember what I had for dinner, but for breakfast I had one of their skillets. Couple of eggs on top of hash browns, bacon. Just the thing to have after an epic run the day before. Saturday dinner was at the Maswick Lodge cafeteria for pizza and beer. Pizza didn't really sound appealing to me, so I pretty much drank my dinner, OJ, chocolate milk, beer. I was good with that. Sunday dinner was at the Arizona Room. Karen and I had the rib eye steaks and I've had better. For a rib eye, there was way too much fat on this hunk of meat. It was cooked properly (medium rare) but the steak was still tougher than it should have been. Karen's was much the same. Others had good luck with thier steaks. Still, for the price I should have gone with the filet.
Monday - Double day for me. Did some intervals at lunch, 4 x .5, plus a little extra, then went out for a few miles going north from Rainbow. I was kind of surprised there weren't more people out, especially mtb'rs. It was a pretty nice day. Miles - 10.5
Tuesday - Another double day. Went out for an easy 5 at lunch. Nice warm day, little breezy though. Did another 4.2 with Karen after work. Went to Pilates again. Miles - 9.2
Wednesday thru Friday - Didn't do squat except drive to the Grand Canyon on Friday.
Saturday - Ran the Grand Canyon for the 5th time. This time things were a little different. Usually there is gorgeous weather for the run. All week the weather forecast had been pretty ominous, snow, rain, cold. We drove the truck down since my car really sucks on icy snowy roads. Turns out we didn't need to. The roads were fine going down an coming back. Still, when everyone met in our room at 5am before starting down, it was snowing, the wind was blowing and the temp was about 28 degrees. There was about 2 inches of the white stuff ont he ground. Nothing like a little winter run in April. I knew that once we started down, the wind would ease up and the snow would go away, but I figured it would turn to rain. I figured that the snow level was around 6000' and once we got below that, the trails would be clear. Well, they were pretty much clear, but muddy. By the time we got to Indian Garden, the snow and rain had stopped. The temp was about 38 and we were doing just fine. At the river, the weather was actually not too bad. Probably in the upper 40's and cloudy. The further we headed up the North Kiabab trail, the more we could see that the north rim was completely socked in. As we climbed up from the caretaker house, the wind picked up and the snow started again. Several of us who had been to the north rim before elected to turn around at the bridge that's about 3 miles from the top. There was about 4 inches on the ground and it was cold, plus we figured that there weren't going to be any good views that day. The kind of cool thing about this year's run was that there were very few others doing a R2R2R. We counted six others and that was it. Needless to say, the trails were kind of empty. Anyway, we got back to the ranch, took a short break and headed back up the south rim. I had plans to see how fast I could go up Bright Angel tral to the top. Last year I did it in about 3:15, so that was the time to beat. It did rain on us pretty good for about 20 minutes as we came up thru devil's corkscrew, but after that, the weather was fine until near the top. I did well on the climb to Indian Garden. Felt good and going strong, actually running portions of it. Then I hit the steeper part after Indian Garden and that's when the wheels kind of came off. I slowed way down, but still wasn't doing too bad. We could see that teh south rim was still socked in with bad weather, and sure enough, about 2 miles from the top we were in snow again. One of the highlights was a herd of mule deer right on the trail that styed just in front of us. We could get within 30-40 feet and they would walk on down the trail. Very cool. As I got within about 1/2 mile from the top, the wind picked up. By the time I got to the top, it was blowing hard and snowing hard. Good thing our room was only about 100 yards from the trail head. I did manage to go from the ranch to the top in about 3:30, so not too bad. I did kind of bonk for the last three miles.
The next day was gorgeous, sunny, cool. We should have done the run that day. Oh well, we all had a great time. Several people that had never made the run managed to make it to the north rim (shin deep snow). I managed to get in 41.5 miles. So not a bad day or weekend. Time to go into a taper for Salt Flats.
Total for the week - 61.2 Total vert was probably around 17,000'
Restraunt review time - So while at the Grand Canyon, we obviously ate at the restraunts there. Friday dinner and Sunday breakfast were at the Bright Angel cafe. The food wasn't too bad. I don't remember what I had for dinner, but for breakfast I had one of their skillets. Couple of eggs on top of hash browns, bacon. Just the thing to have after an epic run the day before. Saturday dinner was at the Maswick Lodge cafeteria for pizza and beer. Pizza didn't really sound appealing to me, so I pretty much drank my dinner, OJ, chocolate milk, beer. I was good with that. Sunday dinner was at the Arizona Room. Karen and I had the rib eye steaks and I've had better. For a rib eye, there was way too much fat on this hunk of meat. It was cooked properly (medium rare) but the steak was still tougher than it should have been. Karen's was much the same. Others had good luck with thier steaks. Still, for the price I should have gone with the filet.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Week of April 1, back at it
So, now that the 2012 edition of the Buffalo Run is over, time to get back with the training and writing down useless drivel for people to read when they have nothing better to do.
The Buffalo Run went really well I thought. Much better than last year's edition. There were roughly the same number of runners, although it was distributed a little differently. Roughly 710 showed up to run one of the four distances available.
This year I had the luxury of having the McKay-Dee Hospital Sports Medicine Team as my medical providers. There were doctors, nurses, sports trainers all in attendance. And they even had a crew out for Friday night while the 100 mile runners were running. It was also the warmest Buffalo Run ever. Major heat was the order of the day Saturday with temps hitting the mid 70's and sunny. We went thru about 150 more gallons of water than I thought we would, as well as about 250 lbs. of ice. There was plenty of buffalo stew for everyone and once again there were no leftovers. Once again, I was cleaned out of beer. That's a good thing. At least I got to have a couple of them.
Glitches? Yeah, there were a few that will need addressing for next year. The main one was the lack of enough people at the main gate for check in. At times the line got pretty long from what I understand. More people there and better organized for next year. The other little glitch was that a few people had a hard time finding drop bags. We got them back in time for the most part, but people had a hard time figuring out where they were. Next year I think we'll have a central roped off bag corral, attended by a volunteer. Good things? I rented a 40 x 60 canopy and it was worth every penny spent. It was awesome and beat the crap out of setting up my own canopies. Not sure I'm ever going to do that again. We had a new location for the start/finish. It meant an uphill finish for everyone, but it also meant we had much more room and didn't interfere with the day use folks.
So, on to the resumption of training. I did take the entire week of the race off. I had plans to run, but couldn't justify taking the time to so it when there's so much to do. Plus I didn't want to be up until midnight every night dealing with race stuff. I did run last week, but it was pretty sad. I caught a cold and it generally sucked. So I'll just start again with this week. I have two weeks left before I need to taper for Salt Flats. The plan is to hit it hard these two weeks, then start to rest and recover. We'll see how that goes.
Sunday - Had big plans to run 30 or so with Britta on the Bo Sho course. A driving snowstorm put an end to that after about 10 miles. We were all soaked and cold. Yeah, it sucked. Miles - 10.3
Monday - Just a one workout day. Ran Indian Trail from Rainbow with Breein and Shawn. Got a little cool as most of it is in the shade. Good news is, no snow. Generally took it easy but this run still gives you 3200'+ of vert in just under 10 miles, so my legs felt it. Miles - 9.84
Tuesday - Double workout day. My lunch run was a six mile tempo run on the bike path. Most of it was a sub 8 pace. The afternoon run was a nice and easy run with my lovely wife. We went about five miles going north from Rainbow. Saw some of the crew heading out as we were finishing. Tonight I also went to my first Pilates class. It was a men's class and it was tough. Who knew I was that unbalanced (not mentally, everyone already knows that). I survived and I'm actually going to do it again. It'll be nice to develop some upper body strength and better balance. Miles - 11.17
Wednesday - Now I'm really felling the aftereffects of the Pilates class. My upper body is sore, not terribly so, but noticeable. Went out for what I thought would be an easy 8 or 9 miles. At the turn I met up with Breein's husband Jared and a friend. I followed along behind and they worked me as I tried to keep up. Ended up falling further and further behind, but got a good hard run in anyway. Miles - 11.7
Thursday - Another double day. The lunch run was an easy 5.2. My legs are pretty tired from hitting the training hard. Need to keep it up though. After work I met with the crew and we made the trip from 22nd street up Malan's Peak. I was surprised at how much snow was still on the trail. Made for some slippery conditions as I wore my Quantums and the traction in those things suck unless the trail is dry. It was a little chilly as well. Miles - 10.9
Friday - Woke up to it snowing outside. By the time I got done feeding critters and heading to work, there was almost an inch on the ground. I need to put in a few miles today just to get the mileage up for the week. Was planning on heading out at lunch, but decided against it. Then, after work I called my lovely wife and asked if she wanted to go out for a run after work. Sure, so we went to Rainbow andheaded north on the trail. When we got up to the canal road we looked at each other and decided it just wasn't happening today. We did manage to get a couple of miles in, but then headed out for dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant. That was a much better idea. Miles 2.0
Saturday - Went to Smokey Bear (Indian Trail trailhead) with Britta to go out for around 20 miles. The plan was to run from Smokey Bear, over Indian Trail, on to the BST, and down to Beus Canyon, then turn around. The day was gorgeous. We met the HUMR crew as they were coming down to Smokey Bear. They were doing a Rainbow, Smokey Bear, Malans trip. Well, not thinking about the previous day's snow, I wore my Quantums. Wrong choice for this run. Indian Trail was treacherous going out and very treacherous coming back. I couldn't get any traction at all on the snow. I must have gone down at least 6-8 times just on the way back over Indian. There were times when Britta had to basically push me up the trail. I felt like an idiot. Other than that, it was a great run. Got my miles in and all was right with the world. Miles - 19.0
I got in the miles I wanted for the week. I was looking for 70-80 and I managed. If I can get that next week, then I figure I'll be pretty well set for Salt Flats. Grand Canyon is next Saturday. Weather right now is looking kind of cool and possibly wet. That would be a change from previous years. Still, I'm looking forward to it.
Miles for the week - 74.91
The Buffalo Run went really well I thought. Much better than last year's edition. There were roughly the same number of runners, although it was distributed a little differently. Roughly 710 showed up to run one of the four distances available.
This year I had the luxury of having the McKay-Dee Hospital Sports Medicine Team as my medical providers. There were doctors, nurses, sports trainers all in attendance. And they even had a crew out for Friday night while the 100 mile runners were running. It was also the warmest Buffalo Run ever. Major heat was the order of the day Saturday with temps hitting the mid 70's and sunny. We went thru about 150 more gallons of water than I thought we would, as well as about 250 lbs. of ice. There was plenty of buffalo stew for everyone and once again there were no leftovers. Once again, I was cleaned out of beer. That's a good thing. At least I got to have a couple of them.
Glitches? Yeah, there were a few that will need addressing for next year. The main one was the lack of enough people at the main gate for check in. At times the line got pretty long from what I understand. More people there and better organized for next year. The other little glitch was that a few people had a hard time finding drop bags. We got them back in time for the most part, but people had a hard time figuring out where they were. Next year I think we'll have a central roped off bag corral, attended by a volunteer. Good things? I rented a 40 x 60 canopy and it was worth every penny spent. It was awesome and beat the crap out of setting up my own canopies. Not sure I'm ever going to do that again. We had a new location for the start/finish. It meant an uphill finish for everyone, but it also meant we had much more room and didn't interfere with the day use folks.
So, on to the resumption of training. I did take the entire week of the race off. I had plans to run, but couldn't justify taking the time to so it when there's so much to do. Plus I didn't want to be up until midnight every night dealing with race stuff. I did run last week, but it was pretty sad. I caught a cold and it generally sucked. So I'll just start again with this week. I have two weeks left before I need to taper for Salt Flats. The plan is to hit it hard these two weeks, then start to rest and recover. We'll see how that goes.
Sunday - Had big plans to run 30 or so with Britta on the Bo Sho course. A driving snowstorm put an end to that after about 10 miles. We were all soaked and cold. Yeah, it sucked. Miles - 10.3
Monday - Just a one workout day. Ran Indian Trail from Rainbow with Breein and Shawn. Got a little cool as most of it is in the shade. Good news is, no snow. Generally took it easy but this run still gives you 3200'+ of vert in just under 10 miles, so my legs felt it. Miles - 9.84
Tuesday - Double workout day. My lunch run was a six mile tempo run on the bike path. Most of it was a sub 8 pace. The afternoon run was a nice and easy run with my lovely wife. We went about five miles going north from Rainbow. Saw some of the crew heading out as we were finishing. Tonight I also went to my first Pilates class. It was a men's class and it was tough. Who knew I was that unbalanced (not mentally, everyone already knows that). I survived and I'm actually going to do it again. It'll be nice to develop some upper body strength and better balance. Miles - 11.17
Wednesday - Now I'm really felling the aftereffects of the Pilates class. My upper body is sore, not terribly so, but noticeable. Went out for what I thought would be an easy 8 or 9 miles. At the turn I met up with Breein's husband Jared and a friend. I followed along behind and they worked me as I tried to keep up. Ended up falling further and further behind, but got a good hard run in anyway. Miles - 11.7
Thursday - Another double day. The lunch run was an easy 5.2. My legs are pretty tired from hitting the training hard. Need to keep it up though. After work I met with the crew and we made the trip from 22nd street up Malan's Peak. I was surprised at how much snow was still on the trail. Made for some slippery conditions as I wore my Quantums and the traction in those things suck unless the trail is dry. It was a little chilly as well. Miles - 10.9
Friday - Woke up to it snowing outside. By the time I got done feeding critters and heading to work, there was almost an inch on the ground. I need to put in a few miles today just to get the mileage up for the week. Was planning on heading out at lunch, but decided against it. Then, after work I called my lovely wife and asked if she wanted to go out for a run after work. Sure, so we went to Rainbow andheaded north on the trail. When we got up to the canal road we looked at each other and decided it just wasn't happening today. We did manage to get a couple of miles in, but then headed out for dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant. That was a much better idea. Miles 2.0
Saturday - Went to Smokey Bear (Indian Trail trailhead) with Britta to go out for around 20 miles. The plan was to run from Smokey Bear, over Indian Trail, on to the BST, and down to Beus Canyon, then turn around. The day was gorgeous. We met the HUMR crew as they were coming down to Smokey Bear. They were doing a Rainbow, Smokey Bear, Malans trip. Well, not thinking about the previous day's snow, I wore my Quantums. Wrong choice for this run. Indian Trail was treacherous going out and very treacherous coming back. I couldn't get any traction at all on the snow. I must have gone down at least 6-8 times just on the way back over Indian. There were times when Britta had to basically push me up the trail. I felt like an idiot. Other than that, it was a great run. Got my miles in and all was right with the world. Miles - 19.0
I got in the miles I wanted for the week. I was looking for 70-80 and I managed. If I can get that next week, then I figure I'll be pretty well set for Salt Flats. Grand Canyon is next Saturday. Weather right now is looking kind of cool and possibly wet. That would be a change from previous years. Still, I'm looking forward to it.
Miles for the week - 74.91
Monday, March 12, 2012
Week of March 4th and Timbermine review
Sunday - Gorgeous day. I was going to take the day off after yesterday's 26 miles, but Karen wanted to go for a run. Who am I to turn down a chance to run with my wife? We headed north of Rainbow for about three miles then turned around. She didn't do too bad considering it's been a couple weeks since she last ran. The sun was out, the snow was starting to melt, and the visibility was easily 100+ miles. We could clearly see Pilot Peak in Nevada fro the high point on the trail. The run also gave me a chance to play with my nifty new GoPro Hero2 video camera. I managed to shoot some rather boring footage of us running along the trail. Still, knod of cool to watch later. Miles - 6.1
Monday - Did some speed work at lunch. It was a nice warm (relative) day, so I took advantage and ran outside at lunch. Did 6 x .5 repeats on the bike trail not too far from work. I hate speed work, but I need to keep it up. Did a little bit of a cool down after. Didn't get a run in after work. Instead I went to Walmart and spent money buying supplies for the Buffalo Run. Miles - 5.1
Tuesday - Did another outdoor lunchtime run. Weather was a little cooler. Ran a route that I used to run a lot a few years ago when I worked at ATK. Miles - 5.2
Wednesday - Was going to run at lunch, but passed. Was also going to hit the trail after work. It was pretty windy and cool, so I opted for the mill at home after work. Managed to get about five in, most of it at a sub 8 pace. Miles 5.0
Thursday - Ran to Striders at lunch to buy Karen a pair of Hokas. The run actually felt really good. I ran most of it at a sub 8 pace. The weather was a little cool and I wish I had brought my gloves. After work I met Forrest and Shawn at Rainbow and we did the usual route. I opted to turn around at the three mile point and go up a jeep trail I had never been up before. I got part way up and realized that if I kept going it would be dark before I got back and I didn't have my headlamp, so I turned around. I need to go up that road, maybe Sunday. Miles 13.65
Friday - Went out for a few miles with my lovely wife and couple of others. I made Karen turn back after two miles so that she would give her back a rest. The day was great, sunny and cool. Miles 6.1
Saturday - Headed out to the island for another run. Met up with Curtis and we cruised the 25K course. The weather was perfect for it. Sunny, cool enough to run, but not too cool. Saw lots of other runners out there. There must have been about 30 cars in the day use lot. Everyone trying to get those last few miles in before the Buffalo Run.
Restraunt review time - So this Friday Karen and I went to the Timbermine. It's a steak place near the dinosaur museum that we've been to once before. The decor is pretty cool. Lots of old knick knacks and such scattered all over the place, including a bathtub filled with Pez dispensers. After a 15 minute wait we were seated. Service was fast and friendly. Karen had the top sirloin and I had the bacon wrapped filet. We both ordered them medium, but mine was very much medium raw. I ended up sending it back for a few more minutes on the grill. Much better after that. Not a big fan of raw cow meat. Both of us enjoyed the steaks, alsthough we both agreed we've had better. The salads were ok. It seemed as though mine was a little on the old side. The lettuce could have been a little crisper. I know, picky, picky. For desert we split a mud pie. It was pretty good. Frozen and chocolaty. Yeah, we'll go back, but it's not our favorite place.
Monday - Did some speed work at lunch. It was a nice warm (relative) day, so I took advantage and ran outside at lunch. Did 6 x .5 repeats on the bike trail not too far from work. I hate speed work, but I need to keep it up. Did a little bit of a cool down after. Didn't get a run in after work. Instead I went to Walmart and spent money buying supplies for the Buffalo Run. Miles - 5.1
Tuesday - Did another outdoor lunchtime run. Weather was a little cooler. Ran a route that I used to run a lot a few years ago when I worked at ATK. Miles - 5.2
Wednesday - Was going to run at lunch, but passed. Was also going to hit the trail after work. It was pretty windy and cool, so I opted for the mill at home after work. Managed to get about five in, most of it at a sub 8 pace. Miles 5.0
Thursday - Ran to Striders at lunch to buy Karen a pair of Hokas. The run actually felt really good. I ran most of it at a sub 8 pace. The weather was a little cool and I wish I had brought my gloves. After work I met Forrest and Shawn at Rainbow and we did the usual route. I opted to turn around at the three mile point and go up a jeep trail I had never been up before. I got part way up and realized that if I kept going it would be dark before I got back and I didn't have my headlamp, so I turned around. I need to go up that road, maybe Sunday. Miles 13.65
Friday - Went out for a few miles with my lovely wife and couple of others. I made Karen turn back after two miles so that she would give her back a rest. The day was great, sunny and cool. Miles 6.1
Saturday - Headed out to the island for another run. Met up with Curtis and we cruised the 25K course. The weather was perfect for it. Sunny, cool enough to run, but not too cool. Saw lots of other runners out there. There must have been about 30 cars in the day use lot. Everyone trying to get those last few miles in before the Buffalo Run.
Restraunt review time - So this Friday Karen and I went to the Timbermine. It's a steak place near the dinosaur museum that we've been to once before. The decor is pretty cool. Lots of old knick knacks and such scattered all over the place, including a bathtub filled with Pez dispensers. After a 15 minute wait we were seated. Service was fast and friendly. Karen had the top sirloin and I had the bacon wrapped filet. We both ordered them medium, but mine was very much medium raw. I ended up sending it back for a few more minutes on the grill. Much better after that. Not a big fan of raw cow meat. Both of us enjoyed the steaks, alsthough we both agreed we've had better. The salads were ok. It seemed as though mine was a little on the old side. The lettuce could have been a little crisper. I know, picky, picky. For desert we split a mud pie. It was pretty good. Frozen and chocolaty. Yeah, we'll go back, but it's not our favorite place.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Week of February 26th, running plus a restaurant review
Sunday - Went out to the island with Britta, Bj, and Curtis. Had planned on around 15-20, but I wasn't feeling the love. The other three ran ahead and I pretty much ran by myself kinda slow. It was a gorgeous day to be out there though. Sunny, no breeze, warm sun, cool air. Saw lots of other runners out there training for the Buffalo Run. Miles - 13.75
Monday - I was just going to hit the trail north from Rainbow, but Breein said something about speedwork and I thought "sure, why not". So she, Shawn and I met at Rainbow and ran up to the canal road. We figured we'd do about four 1/2 mile repeats along the road. Naturally, on the first one we all took off way too fast and by 1/8 mile we were ready to quit. The last three weren't too bad. I managed to hold a 6:22-6:25 pace for them. Needless to say, I was a little sore the next day, even though I've been doing speedwork pretty regular on the t-mill. It's a little different on the ground. Miles - 5.25
Tuesday - Met with the usual crew for our Tuesday run north of Rainbow. Went to the canal road and back. I just kind of took it easy. Miles - 7.75
Wednesday - Hit the gym for some mill work at lunch. Nothing spectacular. It started snowing ahrd just before I left for home, so Ithought I'd try a workout I saw in Scott Jaime's blog. He calls it a Kenyan cutdown. The premise is that you start with a two mile warmup, then set the mill at 7mph. Every .25 miles you bump the speed up by 0.1mph until you can't go any further, then cool down for a couple miles. Well, I did a one mile warmup at 6mph then set the mill for 7mph. Every .25 mile I bumped it 0.1mph. I got up to 8.6mph before I shut things down. I think I could have gone further. We'll see next time now that I know what it's like. It was tough and I'm definitely feeling it. Miles - 10.0
Thursday - Did the usual t-mill thing at lunch at the gym. Met with a few at Rainbow after work and went for about five. Snowed hard for a time, plus we were pushing thru about 4-5 inches of fresh snow. Not too bad. Actually kinda fun running in the snow. Miles - 9.0
Friday - Managed to get some t-mill miles in before work. I figure with the race this close, I can't really take time to run after work, so the plan is to get up at my regular time, well maybe a bit earlier, go feed critters like I do now then hit the mill before work. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my usual lunchtime mill run in. Oh well. Miles 4.0
Saturday - The last official training run before the Buffalo Run was today. We had a great turnout. There must have been 40 people out on the island today. We ran the 25k course, threw in the Elephant Head trail, then ran over to and around the Lakeside trail. Great run. The weather wasn't too bad. A little cool once in awhile. Miles 26.0
Total miles for the week - 75.75 Not a bad week at all.
I'm going to try something a little different. Karen and I go out for dinner just about every Friday. It's our little date night and we've been doing it for years. We generally like to hit local restaurants instead of national chains. The food is usually better and not as generic. So, I think I'm going to try posting a review. Here it is.
Soul and Bones - Washington Ave. Ogden
They advertise as having bbq and cajun food. So we thought this could be interesting. We used to live in southern Arkansas in a small town, so we're pretty well aquainted with good southern cooking as well as some cajun food. We ordered the bbq catfish on flatbread as an appetizer. It was actually pretty good. Just the right amount of spice, nice crunch to the flat bread, plus they threw on some candied lime slices. Next came the entrees. Karen ordered the etoufee. This is a bed of rice with shrimp and such on top. She said it was pretty good, good flavor and not real spicy. I ordered the two meat and two side platter. For my meats I had their brisket and pulled chicken. For the sides I had their black-eyed peas and collard greens. I figured the greens would be a good indicator of how "southern" this food really was since we used to get them all the time when living in Arkansas. The brisket had good flavor, you could tell it was smoked rather than just cooked. The sauce was good as well. Authentic southern bbq? Hmm, not really but it tasted good. The chicken was kind of non-descript. Not much flavor to it and what flavor there was, was overwhelmed by the sauce. That's all you could taste. It was good sauce, but let's have a little more chicken flavor. Collard greens. These were pretty bland. I'm used to collard greens being cooked with bacon and plenty of salt. These had neither. Not impressed at all. The black-eyed peas were probably the most true to the south. Good flavor with just the right hint of heat. We did order a side of hushpuppies just to see how those were. Pretty bland here too. Lots of onion flavor, but not much else in the way of seasoning. For desert we had a slice of the key lime pie. Not impressed, I've had way better key lime pie, and for six bucks the piece sure wasn't that big. About three bites each and that was it.
On to the service, or lack thereof. We were seated at 7:40. The place was not full, there were empty seats. It took about 10 minutes to get the beers we had ordered. It took 25 minutes to get our appetizer, and a full 50 minutes to get our entrees. Unacceptable in my book. There was plnty of help around. So, when we hit a new place, we always ask each other, would we go back again? We both agreed that the food was good enough to warrant another visit. However, if the service is just as bad, that's it.
Monday - I was just going to hit the trail north from Rainbow, but Breein said something about speedwork and I thought "sure, why not". So she, Shawn and I met at Rainbow and ran up to the canal road. We figured we'd do about four 1/2 mile repeats along the road. Naturally, on the first one we all took off way too fast and by 1/8 mile we were ready to quit. The last three weren't too bad. I managed to hold a 6:22-6:25 pace for them. Needless to say, I was a little sore the next day, even though I've been doing speedwork pretty regular on the t-mill. It's a little different on the ground. Miles - 5.25
Tuesday - Met with the usual crew for our Tuesday run north of Rainbow. Went to the canal road and back. I just kind of took it easy. Miles - 7.75
Wednesday - Hit the gym for some mill work at lunch. Nothing spectacular. It started snowing ahrd just before I left for home, so Ithought I'd try a workout I saw in Scott Jaime's blog. He calls it a Kenyan cutdown. The premise is that you start with a two mile warmup, then set the mill at 7mph. Every .25 miles you bump the speed up by 0.1mph until you can't go any further, then cool down for a couple miles. Well, I did a one mile warmup at 6mph then set the mill for 7mph. Every .25 mile I bumped it 0.1mph. I got up to 8.6mph before I shut things down. I think I could have gone further. We'll see next time now that I know what it's like. It was tough and I'm definitely feeling it. Miles - 10.0
Thursday - Did the usual t-mill thing at lunch at the gym. Met with a few at Rainbow after work and went for about five. Snowed hard for a time, plus we were pushing thru about 4-5 inches of fresh snow. Not too bad. Actually kinda fun running in the snow. Miles - 9.0
Friday - Managed to get some t-mill miles in before work. I figure with the race this close, I can't really take time to run after work, so the plan is to get up at my regular time, well maybe a bit earlier, go feed critters like I do now then hit the mill before work. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my usual lunchtime mill run in. Oh well. Miles 4.0
Saturday - The last official training run before the Buffalo Run was today. We had a great turnout. There must have been 40 people out on the island today. We ran the 25k course, threw in the Elephant Head trail, then ran over to and around the Lakeside trail. Great run. The weather wasn't too bad. A little cool once in awhile. Miles 26.0
Total miles for the week - 75.75 Not a bad week at all.
I'm going to try something a little different. Karen and I go out for dinner just about every Friday. It's our little date night and we've been doing it for years. We generally like to hit local restaurants instead of national chains. The food is usually better and not as generic. So, I think I'm going to try posting a review. Here it is.
Soul and Bones - Washington Ave. Ogden
They advertise as having bbq and cajun food. So we thought this could be interesting. We used to live in southern Arkansas in a small town, so we're pretty well aquainted with good southern cooking as well as some cajun food. We ordered the bbq catfish on flatbread as an appetizer. It was actually pretty good. Just the right amount of spice, nice crunch to the flat bread, plus they threw on some candied lime slices. Next came the entrees. Karen ordered the etoufee. This is a bed of rice with shrimp and such on top. She said it was pretty good, good flavor and not real spicy. I ordered the two meat and two side platter. For my meats I had their brisket and pulled chicken. For the sides I had their black-eyed peas and collard greens. I figured the greens would be a good indicator of how "southern" this food really was since we used to get them all the time when living in Arkansas. The brisket had good flavor, you could tell it was smoked rather than just cooked. The sauce was good as well. Authentic southern bbq? Hmm, not really but it tasted good. The chicken was kind of non-descript. Not much flavor to it and what flavor there was, was overwhelmed by the sauce. That's all you could taste. It was good sauce, but let's have a little more chicken flavor. Collard greens. These were pretty bland. I'm used to collard greens being cooked with bacon and plenty of salt. These had neither. Not impressed at all. The black-eyed peas were probably the most true to the south. Good flavor with just the right hint of heat. We did order a side of hushpuppies just to see how those were. Pretty bland here too. Lots of onion flavor, but not much else in the way of seasoning. For desert we had a slice of the key lime pie. Not impressed, I've had way better key lime pie, and for six bucks the piece sure wasn't that big. About three bites each and that was it.
On to the service, or lack thereof. We were seated at 7:40. The place was not full, there were empty seats. It took about 10 minutes to get the beers we had ordered. It took 25 minutes to get our appetizer, and a full 50 minutes to get our entrees. Unacceptable in my book. There was plnty of help around. So, when we hit a new place, we always ask each other, would we go back again? We both agreed that the food was good enough to warrant another visit. However, if the service is just as bad, that's it.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Week of February 19th
Sunday - didn't do squat except drive home from Moab with Aric and Britta. Roads got just a hair dicey going over Soldier Summit with the snow, but I've driven in far worse conditions.
Monday - The track at the gym was open since school was out, so I did that rather than the t-mill. Got thru with two miles and quit. The legs were tired and I didn't feel like it. I figured I'd just hit the mill at home, but my lovely wife talked me out of it. She said something about taking the day off and resting. Sounded like a good idea to me so I did it. Miles - 2.0
Tuesday - Did four miles at the gym at lunch. Was still feeling a little tired but I also wanted to get in a little weight time as well. Met with the crew at Rainbow after work and ran six more. The legs felt much better today than yesterday. Still a little tired, but not bad for having run 33 miles only three days earlier. I'll take it. Miles - 10.0
Wednesday - Went outside and ran at lunch. Temp was in the 50's and sunny. Kinda hard not to. Still, I only ran up to the grocery store to buy a couple of items, then run back, so the miles were a little short. Went to Rainbow after work and got in a decent run all by my lonesome. Much as I like running with my friends, it's kind of nice to just do your own thing once in awhile. Saw a couple of other runners and hikers out there, but pretty much had the trail to myself. Finished well after dark so I got in some night running as well. Miles - 10.25
Thursday - Went to the gym at lunch and did the traedmill thing again. Met with friends at Rainbow for a pm run. I felt pretty good so I pushed it pretty hard. We went to the canal road and back. Coming back I was really feeling it and went out hard. I think I ran the thing at a sub 9 pace for most of it. Yeah, that's fast for me on a trail, especially when there's a pretty good sized hill in the way. It was a pretty good run I have to admit. Miles - 11.75
Friday - Went to raqinbow again, but my legs were pretty tired from the past couple of days worth of hard runs. Instead I just ran up to the canal road and along that for a few miles, then turned around. just took it easy. Miles - 5.0
Saturday - had big plans to go boarding today but the high winds completely shut down Powder Mountain. Winds of 60 mph gusting to 80 were recorded. It was kind of windy at the house, but really not too bad. Didn't go on a run either. Instead I did my housework then went and played in the shop for the rest of the day. Got some stuff done too.
Miles for the week - 39.0 miles
Monday - The track at the gym was open since school was out, so I did that rather than the t-mill. Got thru with two miles and quit. The legs were tired and I didn't feel like it. I figured I'd just hit the mill at home, but my lovely wife talked me out of it. She said something about taking the day off and resting. Sounded like a good idea to me so I did it. Miles - 2.0
Tuesday - Did four miles at the gym at lunch. Was still feeling a little tired but I also wanted to get in a little weight time as well. Met with the crew at Rainbow after work and ran six more. The legs felt much better today than yesterday. Still a little tired, but not bad for having run 33 miles only three days earlier. I'll take it. Miles - 10.0
Wednesday - Went outside and ran at lunch. Temp was in the 50's and sunny. Kinda hard not to. Still, I only ran up to the grocery store to buy a couple of items, then run back, so the miles were a little short. Went to Rainbow after work and got in a decent run all by my lonesome. Much as I like running with my friends, it's kind of nice to just do your own thing once in awhile. Saw a couple of other runners and hikers out there, but pretty much had the trail to myself. Finished well after dark so I got in some night running as well. Miles - 10.25
Thursday - Went to the gym at lunch and did the traedmill thing again. Met with friends at Rainbow for a pm run. I felt pretty good so I pushed it pretty hard. We went to the canal road and back. Coming back I was really feeling it and went out hard. I think I ran the thing at a sub 9 pace for most of it. Yeah, that's fast for me on a trail, especially when there's a pretty good sized hill in the way. It was a pretty good run I have to admit. Miles - 11.75
Friday - Went to raqinbow again, but my legs were pretty tired from the past couple of days worth of hard runs. Instead I just ran up to the canal road and along that for a few miles, then turned around. just took it easy. Miles - 5.0
Saturday - had big plans to go boarding today but the high winds completely shut down Powder Mountain. Winds of 60 mph gusting to 80 were recorded. It was kind of windy at the house, but really not too bad. Didn't go on a run either. Instead I did my housework then went and played in the shop for the rest of the day. Got some stuff done too.
Miles for the week - 39.0 miles
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Week of February 12th - Moab Red Hot, first race of the season!
Sunday - Went out for a few trail miles in the morning. Legs felt a little tired after yesterday's hard 5K. Thought I would end up not seeing anyone out there. Ended up seeing Matt and Sharon Klar and Bj. Ran back from the turnaround with Bj. Good run. Felt good, not super fast, but good and steady. Worked the uphills, took it easy on the downhills. Miles - 9.1
Monday - Did my usual lunchtime run but ran the roads from work instead of hitting the t-mill. When I do that I can get an extra mile in since I don;t have to drive up to the gym and back. Nice day for the run too. Low 40's and sunny. Tried to sucker some people into running after work to no avail. Maybe that was a good thing. Ended up running north from Rainbow by myself. Doing that allowed me to push as hard as I wanted, plus I didn't stop to chat. The run felt great, I felt light on my feet. My legs were a little tired, but I felt like I had plenty of reserves anyway. Ran the fastest average pace I can remember for this chunk of trail. Miles - 13.0
Tuesday - Only managed to get in a run on the t-mill at lunch. Miles - 4.0
Wednesday - Didn't get any running in today. Bummer.
Thursday - Got my two runs in. The usual t- mill run at lunch, then went out north of Rainbow to the canal road. Turned around there, and ran back until I met with the crew, then turned around again to get some bonus miles in. Miles 12.75
Friday - Nothing. Spent the afternoon driving to Moab for the Red Hot 55K.
Saturday - Moab Red Hot 55K. Wow, gorgeous day for a little run on the slickrock. Started out in the upper 20's, sunny, no wind unlike last year. Warmed up to the low 50"s by the afternoon. By about three miles I shed the hat and gloves and by mile 18 I shed the jacket. How did my race go? Last year I ran a 6:35, so my goal this year was to go under six hours. I felt better trained and faster. I intentionally started out slow. What I've discovered is that when I bolt, my heart rate soars and doesn't settle down for awhile and people just pass me later anyway. And that kinda sucks. The actual race was pretty uneventful for me. I blew thru most of the aid stations, stopping to fill my water bottle as needed, but otherwise relying on the 1st Endurance Liquid Shot I had with me. Since I was wearing my HR monitor, I wanted to try a couple of things. First, I wanted push some and see what my HR would get up to, and second, on the flats and downhills, I wanted to keep my HR rate up by going faster. What I've found out during training is that I can push my HR higher than I thought and still run decently and for a fairly long time. Typically when I'm running a trail, my HR averages around the 120-130 range. What I wanted to do was keep it nearer to 140. This means I run faster, which means a faster time, duh! What I didn't know was how long I could keep up that heart rate. I know that as a race progresses, my HR will go down as I get more and more tired. By wearing my HR monitor, I could see this happen and hopefully keep the heart rate up. Ok, enough of the HR crap and on to the race. It was fun. I had a great time the entire race. The scenery was beautiful, clear blue skies, awesome red rock, cool people to run with, and best of all, lots of great friends and beer at the finish. I could comment on my eating and drinking and all the other technical aspects, but in the end, it was fun. So, did I meet my goal of sub 6? Nope, I ran a 6:07, still 30 minutes faster than last year, almost a full minute per mile drop in the pace. Still a mid pack finish (91 out of 200, and 27/71 in the masters age group). I'm happy with that. I wasn't concerned with where I finished, just that I have a good time and do well.
Here's the link to my Garmin stuff. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/150993192
Monday - Did my usual lunchtime run but ran the roads from work instead of hitting the t-mill. When I do that I can get an extra mile in since I don;t have to drive up to the gym and back. Nice day for the run too. Low 40's and sunny. Tried to sucker some people into running after work to no avail. Maybe that was a good thing. Ended up running north from Rainbow by myself. Doing that allowed me to push as hard as I wanted, plus I didn't stop to chat. The run felt great, I felt light on my feet. My legs were a little tired, but I felt like I had plenty of reserves anyway. Ran the fastest average pace I can remember for this chunk of trail. Miles - 13.0
Tuesday - Only managed to get in a run on the t-mill at lunch. Miles - 4.0
Wednesday - Didn't get any running in today. Bummer.
Thursday - Got my two runs in. The usual t- mill run at lunch, then went out north of Rainbow to the canal road. Turned around there, and ran back until I met with the crew, then turned around again to get some bonus miles in. Miles 12.75
Friday - Nothing. Spent the afternoon driving to Moab for the Red Hot 55K.
Saturday - Moab Red Hot 55K. Wow, gorgeous day for a little run on the slickrock. Started out in the upper 20's, sunny, no wind unlike last year. Warmed up to the low 50"s by the afternoon. By about three miles I shed the hat and gloves and by mile 18 I shed the jacket. How did my race go? Last year I ran a 6:35, so my goal this year was to go under six hours. I felt better trained and faster. I intentionally started out slow. What I've discovered is that when I bolt, my heart rate soars and doesn't settle down for awhile and people just pass me later anyway. And that kinda sucks. The actual race was pretty uneventful for me. I blew thru most of the aid stations, stopping to fill my water bottle as needed, but otherwise relying on the 1st Endurance Liquid Shot I had with me. Since I was wearing my HR monitor, I wanted to try a couple of things. First, I wanted push some and see what my HR would get up to, and second, on the flats and downhills, I wanted to keep my HR rate up by going faster. What I've found out during training is that I can push my HR higher than I thought and still run decently and for a fairly long time. Typically when I'm running a trail, my HR averages around the 120-130 range. What I wanted to do was keep it nearer to 140. This means I run faster, which means a faster time, duh! What I didn't know was how long I could keep up that heart rate. I know that as a race progresses, my HR will go down as I get more and more tired. By wearing my HR monitor, I could see this happen and hopefully keep the heart rate up. Ok, enough of the HR crap and on to the race. It was fun. I had a great time the entire race. The scenery was beautiful, clear blue skies, awesome red rock, cool people to run with, and best of all, lots of great friends and beer at the finish. I could comment on my eating and drinking and all the other technical aspects, but in the end, it was fun. So, did I meet my goal of sub 6? Nope, I ran a 6:07, still 30 minutes faster than last year, almost a full minute per mile drop in the pace. Still a mid pack finish (91 out of 200, and 27/71 in the masters age group). I'm happy with that. I wasn't concerned with where I finished, just that I have a good time and do well.
Here's the link to my Garmin stuff. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/150993192
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