Artichoke's Running Blog (Ken Spence)

2010 has arrived!  New Years Day run with Gina for 5 miles, very slow and easy.  Nice to have drier roads and warmer  temperatures at 38 degrees at 10:00 a.m.  8:00 minute pace for mile 7 and 7:51 pace for last half mile uphill.  Felt pretty good today.

13 miles today.  8:30 a.m. run with Tina for 6 miles in 51:54 at 8:39 pace average.  Fastest mile in 7:44.  Then a 7 mile run at 10:00 a.m., 6 with Gina.  Very slow.  7 miles in 1:15:17, but we tackled the Smelter Road hills.  Very nice sunny day.  First day in shorts in a long while.  40 degrees.  No wind.  Good mileage week. 

4 easy miles at 5:10 a.m.  10 min. pace going up.  Faster coming back down.    Another 2.55 this evening on the TM while watching the Fiesta Bowl.  Started at 10 min pace then at 9:00 by mile 1.  Gradually increasing every tenth mile up to 7:15 pace for the last 2/10ths.  Gina not feeling well. Only one run left with her on Wednesday before she moves.  She's been a great training partner these last 7 months and is working hard towards the Ogden Marathon in May.

5 miles at 5:10 a.m.  Slow except for pushing 4 or 5 short hills at 80% effort.  Talked with Liz and Roland briefly at 2+ miles.  20 degrees and clear, in our valley at least.  Felt good.

5 miles solo this morning at 5:10 a.m.  46:24., 9:16 pace average.  30 degreees and clear, no wind. X -trained tonight a bit at 6:10 p.m.  20 min. on stationary bike, 5 miles.

5 miles easy at 5:10 a.m.  A bit colder this morning.  Snow packed and icy roads on the upper end of the route near Grimm's Gate turn around.  47:26.  

5 very easy miles this morning in the COLD at 5:10 a.m.  I dressed plenty warm and the fact that the air was still with no breeze helped.  Long run to Stansbury tomorrow.

10:00 a.m. run from Tooele thru Erda and thru Stansbury to Benson Mill .  Good run on a cloudy day.  35 degrees here but colder in Stansbury into some of the inversion.  Good effort.  8:35, 9:06, 7:44, 7:45, 7:43, 7:39, 7:24, 7:46, 8:27, 8:08, 8:17, and 8:19.  2 weeks until Painter's.  Hope to have great weather!

5:10 a.m. run.  5 miles easy.  20 degrees, clear.  Untimed.  Wore my chronograph instead of my Garmin and forgot to shut it off until after I was out of the shower.  7 miles cross training on the stationary bike for 25:15 at 6:00 p.m.

5 miles at 5:10 a.m. in 48:17.  22 degrees and mostly clear.  Slow and easy running.  Tempo effort scheduled for tomorrow morning unless it's windy or stormy.  Hope I don't have to return to the TM.  Feeling good right now.

5:10 a.m.  5+ miles in 42:57, about 8:34 pace overall.  Not bad for not sleeping well last night.  Insomnia or something from about 1:45 a.m. on.  Felt good to push the pace some.  Tempo effort for much of the run.  Tempo runs are always tough at this time of year and at that time of day!  22 degrees, no wind, no smog.

Slow, easy 4.7 mile run this morning at 5:10 a.m. on lightly snow covered streets.  Cross training tonight on the stationary bike for 5.25 miles in 20 minutes.  Temperatures up a bit this morning, supposed to be in the basement tomorrow morning.

5:10 a.m. run.  5 miles VERY easy.  Probably 10 min. miles or so.  A bit sluggish.

• 14 mile loop today at 8:29 average pace.  9:00 a.m.  30 degrees.  Fairly easy running for much of the run.  Utah Avenue and Smelter Road to Droubay down to Erda Way and west through Erda.  South on Sheep's Lane past Miller Sports Park and finishing at Deseret Peak Complex at exactly 14 miles.  Slow the last couple.  Splits:  8:16, 8:44, 8:06, 7:53, 8:11, 7:56, 8:04, 8:12, 8:13, 8:30, 8:28, 8:42, 9:06, and 9:27.

7 mile run including standard 6 mile Droubay and Smelter Loop, plus a bit more on Skyline Drive along the cemetery.  Fairly easy.  60:48 or 8:31 overall pace.  Splits:  8:36, 9:02, 7:49, 8:16, 8:30, 8:59, 8:27.  9:00 a.m. run.  Day off from work.  Felt decent except right heel a bit sore last mile or so, near the achilles.  I'll ice it up tonight.  Easy 5 milers Tuesay thru Thursday this week prior to the St. George 1/2 marathon (Painter's) on Saturday.  I hope the weather turns out to be okay.

4 mile run at 5:10 a.m. in a snow storm after the 2 mile turn around.  Icy horizontal snow in my face, I could barely see on the return trip.  Slow and slippery.

4 miles on the TM at 5:00 a.m.  Snowing again.  Another 3 miles on the stationary bike afterwards.  Tapering for Painter's on Saturday, if I get there.

Very easy 4.6 mile run to Grimm's Gate and back direct at 5:10 a.m.  Ran into Liz for a couple of miles of the run.  Starting to snow again and picked up throughout and then began to stick to the roads.  Traction was decent.  Last run prior to Painter's.  Looks like they're talking a chance of rain during the race.  The extended day a couple of days previous it was looking pretty good, but now not so great.

No running today.  Leaving for St. George.  Painter's Half Marathon tomorrow.  Looks like the weather will be cold with a chance of rain.  They appeared to have backed it off somewhat for St. George tomorrow.  They should have stayed with their original extended day forecast.  It was to be cloudy, then by Wednesday or Thursday they started saying rain and now this morning two forecasters show cloudy again.  I guess they've got themselves covered for anything.  Weather through Cedar City may be bad today before dropping down to St. George.  We'll see.  Good luck to all runners tomorrow.

Painter's St. George 1/2 Marathon.  Cold day but rain held off during the race.  Even the sun came out a bit after the race.  Ran conservatively for first couple of miles at 16:00 minutes.  Ran about 7:45 overall pace.  Felt strong at the finish.  1:41:27 was about 36 seconds slower than Snow Canyon 1/2  in November.  166 overall finish, 129 Gender, 12 in M50-54.  A tougher race today with the hills, so a better effort.  Garmin showed it at about 13.16.  Improved the finish area over last year.  The race has apparently been short for a few years until that crazy finish they modified for last year.

2 easy recovery miles this morning on the roads at 5:10 a.m. followed later by 2 TM miles at easy pace then 3 miles on the stationary bike.  Legs a bit sore, hamstrings mostly.  I need to get going on a stretching routine!

4 miles this morning in light snowfall.  Sticking to the roads and just a little bit slick.  5:10 a.m. run on Skyline to end of asphalt and back direct.  2 more miles on the treadmill at 3:00 p.m. followed by 3 miles on stationary bicycle.  Heel feeling a bit better.

4 slow easy miles this morning. 28 degrees. 5:10 a.m. run.

5:10 a.m. run.  30 degrees.  A bit foggy, but not bad.  4 miles very easy.  3 more TM miles tonight at 6:00 p.m. increasing gradually from 10:00 pace to 7:40 pace throughout.  Then 3 miles on stationary bike.  New shoes arrived yesterday.

5:10 a.m. run.  3 easy and 1 moderate.  28 degrees.  12 miles scheduled for my long run tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m.  Feeling pretty good.  Heel a bit of a problem starting out, but loosens up during the run and doesn't hurt much afterwards.  Eventually I'm going to have to face the knife and have the spur on the back of the heel removed.  I've done well the past 3 or 4 year since it was found, so hopefully no worries right now, but it's been a bit of a pain at times for almost the past 2 weeks.

8:00 a.m. run.  Cloudy and 27 degrees starting out.  12 miles in 1:41:32, 8:27 pace overall.  Did the Vine-Droubay-Pine Canyon Road-Overlake loop.  Returning thru Gleneagles and along 1000 W. off of Rogers Road up to Vine and finishing coming down 100 W. to Utah Avenue.  Generally a good run.  Last uphill section was a bit tough.  Splits: 8:51, 8:43, 7:41, 7:26, 7:39, 8:13, 8:21, 8:11, 8:55, 8:43, 9:21, 9:23.  Heel felt okay but still hasn't totally gone away.  37 miles this week.  January is about done.  One more 4 week long drudgery month and spring will be in sight as will the Canyonlands 1/2 Marathon next up in mid-March.  My favorite 1/2 Marathon by far.