Artichoke's Running Blog (Ken Spence)

Bagged going to the gym this morning.  5 miles easy running tonight at 6:15 p.m. in 47:08.  480 South and down the paved alley on 50 W. to 700 N. and back via coleman and high school track.  Tough coming back uphill into the wind for the last 2 miles.  Felt pretty good.  Last run before my spinal epidural injection on Friday.

Gym this morning at 5:00 a.m.  20 minutes elliptical, HR 2 low end of range.  Cycling for 20 minutes (10 min. upright and 10 min.  recumbent).  Weights on total gym tonight for 15 minutes at 7:45 p.m.  Getting injection in my back tomorrow at Intermountain in Murray.  No running for 7 days.

40 minutes at the gym this morning at 7:30 with Sharon.  20 minutes elliptical and 20 minutes cycling as usual.  Then 1+ mile run home.  Back hurting some the last 12 hours since I'm off the meds prior to my injection at noon today.  Short run, uphill was tolerable without them. Last run for at least a week.  I think the doc said I can still do the low impact cardio at the gym.

40 minutes at the gym at 9:30 this morning.  20 min. elliptical and 20 minutes on recumbent cycle.  Cut the resistance back a bit.  Still hurting a bit from the injections yesterday at the hospital.  Doc says no running for at least 7 days but other light low-impact should be okay.

1 mile walk with Sharon and Savannah this morning at 5:10 a.m.  60 minutes at Gold's Gym tonight with 30 min. elliptical, 10 min. upright cycling, 10 min. recumbent cycling, and 10 minutes on stair climber, 35 floors.

2 miles walking this morning at 5:10 a.m. with Sharon, Elaine, and Savannah.  40 minutes at the gym tonight at 6:15 p.m., 20 min. elliptical and 20 minutes cycling.  A good sweat.  

40 minutes walking this morning with Sharon, Elaine, and Savannah at 5:10 a.m.  Gold's Gym at 3:30 p.m. for 75 minute workout.  30 minutes elliptical, 10 min. upright cycle, 10 min. spin cycle, 10 min. recumbent cycle, and 15 minutes on stair climber for 75 floors.  A good workout today. 

Gym this morning and again tonight with 30 minutes on elliptical and 30 cycling.  Dripping pretty good when done.

40 minutes walking with Sharon, Elaine, and Savannah at 5:10 a.m.  Nice morning.  60 minutes at the gym tonight, 30 min. elliptical and 30 cycling (10 min. upright, 10 min. spin, and 10 min. recumbent).

6 mile trail run with Tina at 7:00 a.m. up the dark trail and along the canyon road above the gate and back down.  Nice to be back on the trail with the snow gone at that elevation.  The stream is so full!  Then headed to the gym with Sharon.  30 minutes cycling (15+15), then 30 elliptical in the cinema, and 20 minutes weights, upper body.  A great workout this morning, but I'm spent.

1 mile running with Elaine and Savannah this morning at 5:10 a.m.  5 miles in 48:06 at 6:45 p.m. out SR 36 up Skyline to above Grimm's gate and back direct.  Nice temperature out tonight.

Gold's Gym tonight at 6:30 p.m.  30 minutes cycling (10 min. recumbent, 10 min. upright, 10 min. spin), 30 minutes elliptical, and 2 mile TM progression run from 10:00 to 8:30 pace.  15 minutes of weights, upper body.

4 miles.  To top of Little Mountain via the Scout wig-wam and back.  6:00 p.m., quite warm. Last run until Ragnar.

Team Einsteins, Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay, leg no. 12 up into Snow Basin.  A tough, tough uphill run.  Last bit downhill, back bugging me some, but otherwise good.  Team started at 7:15.  A fun bunch of folks, mostly relatives and friends of Mike's.  Slow, but we had a great time and the weather held off for both days.  Sorry, Salt Lake Tribune, your weather forecast lost to the Deseret News who were totally opposite for Saturday's forecast.  Slept a few short hours at Morgan High School.  

Wasatch Back Relay, legs 24 and 36.  Running at the start of day from Rockport reservoir up gradually through Peoa and into Oakley.  Starting at 5:57 a.m. and finishing right at 7:00 a.m.  Grabbed some hotcakes at eggs at the exchange and drove to South Summit High School for a little shut-eye.  I slept in the hallway for about 3 hours.  Then headed to Heber for Gina to start her final leg, running down into Charleston.  Ryan absolutely killed the Ragnar Hill!  He's amazing, not sure how a smoker can do that, but he did great!  He ran 7 minute miles on his first leg, including picking up our huge foam pencils that flew off of the Einstein van.  He carried them for over a mile.  The kid spent time in Iraq, so it was just a military drill to him.  A great guy.

Final leg no. 36.  Leg was extended from 6.9 to 7.3 miles.  Running mostly on trails that I thought were going to be wonderfully paved cycling trails.  WRONG.  After a mile or so we were on this steep downhill in Park City running from one residential area to another one below down some jeep trail that was so steep you could barely run on it.  Later out in the middle of the sage brush running on dirt roads.  Good thing the rain held off, or this leg would have been a mud run.  Felt the very best on this final leg, especially on the downhill slide into Park City High School, meeting the Einsteins team on the track in their nerdy professor coats and eyeglasses and finishing and getting our huge medals and the badge of honor window stickers at the finish line.  Treated to free pizza at the end.  A great event and whole different dimension to running.  Lots of folks made comments and felt that we should win the best decorated van award, something I did absolutely nothing to help with.  Thanks so much to the team.

40 minutes walking this morning with Sharon, Elaine, and Savannah at 5:10 a.m.  60 minutes at the gym tonight at 6:30 p.m.  30 cycling and 30 elliptical.  Legs a bit sore from Ragnar.

2 miles walking at 5:10 a.m. with Sharon, Elaine, and our lab, Savannah.

5+ miles running at 6:15 p.m., easy recovery run.  Legs still a bit sore.  Back feeling okay.  Didn't push it.  Standard Skyline route to the gate, out via SR 36 and home via Loma Vista and Upland loops. 

1 mile running after 1 mile walking with Elaine and Savannah.  5:10 a.m.

4 mile trail run on the Dark Trail in Settlement Canyon at 5:00 p.m.  Easy and careful. 

40 minutes at the gym at 5:00 a.m.  20 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes cycling. 

5 miles at 5:30 p.m. on the Westland route in 47:00.  95 degrees.  Felt decent.

4 miles at 5:00 a.m.  Easy running up Skyline a mile and back home, then 1/2 mile down to the track and back after 4 laps.  Legs a bit tired from last night, but encouraged with four consecutive runs this week.

8 mile run at 7:30 a.m.  1:17:45, only about 9:43 pace.  A nice morning.  Some minor pain at first, but feeling better after 3 miles or so.  Then to the gym at 9:00.  30 min. elliptical and 30 minutes cycling (10 recumbent, 10 spin, 10 upright).  15 minutes of weights.  A pretty good workout this morning.  27 miles this week.

5:00 a.m. at the gym.  40 minutes.  20 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes cycling.

6:15 p.m. 5 miles in 47:39.  Into mouth of Middle Canyon and back via cemetery.  85+ degrees.   Back felt good tonight.

Gold's Gym at 5:00 a.m.  40 minutes.  20 min. elliptical, 20 min. cycling.

5 miles tonight at 6:15 p.m.  4 miles on the grass at TJHS and THS, easy running in minimalist shoes.  Felt good. 

40 minutes at the gym at 5:00 a.m. 20 min. elliptical and 20 minutes upright cycle.

5 mile run at 8:20 p.m. Wandering the streets through the cemetery up to East Elementary and back down to West Elementary and looping back home. Easy running, windy.

Gym at 5:00 a.m.  40 minutes with 20 minutes elliptical and 20 minutes cycling (10 upright +10 recumbent).

5 mile trail run at 5:45 p.m. on the Dark Trail in Settlement Canyon up above the gate and back.  Also back down to the dam and across to the spillway and back.   Easy running, nice and shaded along the trail.

 Second round of cortisone shots in my L4, L5, and S1 disks tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.  First round has helped quite a bit.  I had 3 good weeks running after one week off after the shots.  I hope the doctor will let me run sooner this time, since all is going fairly well.