Artichoke's Running Blog (Ken Spence)

4 miler this morning at 5:10 a.m.  30 degrees.  3 very easy out and back on Skyline, then a more moderate last mile on loop to 200 S. and 100 W.  Head cold all weekend, not feeling the strongest.  2 miles on TM this evening, building gradually every couple of tenths from 10 minute pace to 8 minute pace last 1/4 mile.  Feeling some better.

5 miler at 5:30 a.m.  30 degrees.  Much slower than I thought at 49:30.  Still fighting the cold.  A bit icy conditions on the snow pack at end of Sklyline for a bit.  Felt good running, just slow today.

10 miles over 2 runs.  First a 5 mile run at 5:10 a.m. 30 degrees.  No wind.  Very easy for 3 along Skyline, then normal pace for final 2.  Did another 5 miler for a tempo run tonight in 39:26, a 7:53 average pace.  Ran to the mouth of Middle Canyon and back along SR 36 starting out and returning.  Splits: 8:31, 7:59, 7:41, 7:58, and 7:15.  Still not feeling the best and need to kick this cold.

4 easy recovery miles this morning after the tempo run last night.  5:10 a.m.  26 degrees.  Felt pretty good.

Slow run early this morning for about 4 miles.  Skyline to Bevan Way and back then lower loop to 200 S. and home.  Long run scheduled tomorrow morning to Stansbury.

A great 13 mile training run today.  From Tooele down thru Erda to Stansbury with a bit more than a mile on the Smelter Road hills.  1:42:20 or 7:51 pace average.  Felt good throughout.  H2O at about 8 miles.  A bit foggy in Stansbury but the sun finally broke through for us.  40 degrees.  Splits: 8:03, 9:00, 7:54, 8:11, 7:25, 7:24, 7:16, 7:18, 7:38, 7:50, 7:49, 8:19, and 7:58.  First run in new shoes felt great.

5 miles easy this morning at 5:10 a.m.  Saw Liz and ran with her for about 1.5 at very slow pace.  Final mile at 8:34.  A bit chillier this morning with clear skies and light breeze.  Good recovery run from Saturday.

5 miles at 5:10 a.m. Easy running.

Early 5 mile run.  Felt like the movie Ground Hog's Day.  Identical to yesterday in every way, including the car that about ran me over.

5:10 a.m. run.  Just starting to snow.  Roads clear.  32 degrees.  4.5 miles easy.  First track workout this evening at 6:15 p.m. starting Yasso 800's.  2x800 in 3:17 and 3:15 with 400 recovery after each.  3.5 miles total including to and from the track.  A tough time trying to find the right pace every time I start these.  I need to be shooting for about 3:25 since I won't be able to sustain the times I ran tonight up to 8x800 when I max out in a few weeks. 

Way slow this morning.  Very light snow like yesterday, not sticking to roads.  5 miles at 5:10 a.m. on Skyline to edge of pavement and back then lower 1 mile loop.  Hamstrings a little sore from last night at the track, but not bad.  It will get much worse in a few more weeks.

14 miles this morning  at 9:00 a.m.   8:44 average pace overall.  Not as good as last week, but more hills to deal with today.  A bit sluggish especially going up Smelter Road.  Still feel tight from the track on Thursday night.  Need to get that workout on Tuesday or Wednesday nights, but tough to do with my schedule right now.  Climbed from 5100 ft. to almost 5500 ft. over 3 mile stretch.  Left hip had some pain on the uphills but loosened up after a while.  Came back down with a bit of light snow at first and then a colder head wind for 3 miles or so.  1 mile up and back in Middle Canyon to add two to my standard 12 mile rout. A decent week at 42 miles.

Watched the move "Without Limits" today about Steve Prefontaine.  Not a bad flick from 1998.  Also reading the book "Bowerman and the Men of Oregon" about Bill Bowerman who coached Prefontaine and others.

8.2 mile run this morning at 9:30 a.m.  1:07:48 or 8:16 pace average.  Nice to run with some daylight!  Hilly run and tempo pace on the flats.  Felt good today.  Up Settlement Canyon to guardhouse and back down and then over to Middle Canyon and back home via S.R. 36.  Splits: 9:42, 8:21, 7:38, 7:52, 8:26, 7:51, 8:04, and 8:27.  Hip okay and heel spur not much  of a problem today.

5:10 a.m.  32 degrees.  Easy 5 miler with a moderate final mile.

5 miles at 5:10 a.m.  29 degrees and some fog.  3.5 very easy and 1.5 at moderate effort.  Skyline Avenue to Droubay and back then lower 1.5 mile loop to Vine and 100 West and back home.

5 miles at 5:10 a.m.  Light rain in spots today.  Light snow overnight, but roads were good.  Foggy some as well.  Very easy.  Picked it up some last mile, but uphill. 5:30 p.m. run to track and back for some Yasso 800's.  3x800 in 3:20, 3:18, and 3:11 with 400 recovery after each, plus easy 1/2 mile on track after workout.  1/2 mile to and from track each way.  Nice to get a little more daylight.  Coming down with another head cold.  The 2nd in 3 weeks.  Did amazingly well tonight with nasal congestion.

4 mile easy recovery run at 5:10 a.m.  30 degrees.  Out on Skyline to upper Droubay and back direct then loop to west and back on 400 S. andy Canyon Way.  Long run slated for tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.  Hoping for decent weather, but it will be colder some.

14 mile run at 8:30 a.m. in 1:58:11 or 8:26 overall average pace.  About 4 minutes better than last week.  35-38 degrees.  Sunny.  Light north breeze.  Felt a bit sluggish especially on the late uphills.  Another head cold, but my head clears while I'm running and I don't feel all that bad while I'm out there.  All four quadrants of town today.  Headed east on Vine to Droubay and down to 1000 North.  Over through Glen Eagles and onto Rogers Road then up to Vine and back down to 200 N.  From there zig zagged to the southeast up through the Highlands and Upland Drive areas to Skyline and back home along S.R.36.  We saw absolutely no other runners out today!  Splits:8:47, 8:57, 7:48, 7:32, 7:45, 7:36, 8:10, 9:05, 8:38, 9:08, 9:25, 8:59, and 8:07.  A good week at 45 miles.

Watched the move "Prefontaine" last night.  I think I liked it about the same as "Without Limits".  Also watched "Fire on the Track" as well.  It's a documentary on Prefontaine, and was only an hour long.  I liked it the best, but I typically like documentary style stuff.  I think that's why I liked "Spirit of the Marathon" and the "Long Green Line" so much as far as running videos.

Didn't run this morning.  Slept about an hour all night with this dang head cold, so I didn't go to work.  Feeling a bit better this afternoon, so ran an easy 4+.  Ran about 7/10ths of a mile from the vet with Savannah, our fat chocolate lab.  She's so out of shape, I need to run her more.  Then I went for about 3.5 more on a cross country route, up near the base of the dam and then behind Little Mountain.  The trail would have been muddier earlier today from the snow we got this morning, but it had started to freeze over and so it wasn't too bad.  9:05 pace overall, but ran the 3rd mile in 7:47 and the last .5 at 7:34 pace.  Clears my head temporarily.

5:10 a.m. at a very slow pace for 5 miles.  Legs a bit tired from yesterday afternoons later run.  18 degrees, a light cold breeze.  Skyline to end of pavement and back then 1 mile lower loop to 200 S. and home.  Feeling a bit better.

6:10 p.m. run, hillwork.  Up Skyline then steep hills up into Deer Hollow.  5 miles in 45:33 or 9:05 average pace.  Didn't push much except moderate effort on the steep hills.  Felt good. 28 degrees.  Light for 3/4 of the run.

5.2 miles at 5:10 a.m.  Slow running. 30 degrees.  12 warmer than yesterday.  Skyline to upper Droubay and back for 3.5, then 1.5 mile loop to 100 West and Vine and back.  Storm supposed to be coming tomorrow.

5:10 a.m. run for a slow 5 miler on somewhat icy roads.  Snowed overnight.  33 degrees.  Not too cold.  The roads were only icy up on the upper end of Skyline, otherwise not too bad.

Yasso 800's at the track tonight at 6:10 p.m.  Mostly daylight! 1/2 mile easy each way to and from track. 4x800 in 3:15, 3:15, 3:17, and 3:14 with 400 recovery after each.  A good workout for this old duffer!  Felt good tonight.

5:10 a.m. run. 30 degrees.  Clear.  Light breeze.  5.2 miles slow recovery.  Skyline to Droubay and back plus lower 1.5 mile loop and home.  Heel spur bugging me this morning until late in the run.  Long run scheduled tomorrow for 8:30 a.m.

14 miles in 2:00:10, 8:34 average pace at 8:30 a.m.  Nice and sunny and warm enough for shorts.  40 degrees starting out 50 degrees at the end.  Smelter Road hills from 5100 ft. to around 5500 ft. at the gate for the turn around.  Felt pretty good througout.  Struggled some the last 2 miles.  Heel spur not that much of a problem.  Splits: 8:36, 8:50, 8:26, 8:42, 9:20, 8:57, 8:11, 8:05, 7:16, 8:04, 8:47, 9:08, 9:20, 8:11.  All in all, a great week.  March is almost here!