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Today the dog was looking bored so we went out for a little run. Now the dog looks unconscious, HA HA.

We took a little run out on the dimple dell trail. It was a beautiful day, we even got a light rain at the halfway point. It was perfect. The dog is dead because I did my best not to let him stop running. He had a couple of pee breaks but that is it. We actually made really good time.

I am hoping to get out and get quite a few miles this week. I am looking forward to running a little more now that the trails are dry enough and my socks work.

I ran, I felt pretty good. The day was perfect once again. Not much else to say.

I tried to get myself hit today. I was waiting for a light to change and was looking for the the walk signal. Somehow I saw a walk signal while the light for the cross traffic was still green. Thankfully the traffic was far enough away that I was able to clear the intersection without incident. I guess I will have to pay more attention or stick to the trails. It was a little scary.

Yet another successful Tuesday mountain bike night. It was a short ride with very little climbing and a awesome down hill. We did the bobsled, it is a trail that drops of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Such a good downhill and people have been putting in some work. There are now a few large jumps! One used to be able to ride over a broken down old car but now someone took it upon themselves to turn it into a jump. So awesome. 

I can't figure out how to change my catagories. I have looked in the forum and found a thread about doing just that but it says that I can't decrease the number of catagories. Whatever, I don't really ride my bike for miles. Just outrageous crazy fast downhills. Too bad I usually have to climb a hill to get them. 

I put 8 easy miles but lets be honest those 8 miles were brutal. I put them as easy miles because I was going mind numbingly slow. If you read Jun's post he gives details about it. I can't even count that as a run. I walked at least half. Sadly I walked probably as much of the downhill as I did the up. My legs got worked!

It was an early morning and a very productive one. I think I will work on that distance on more mellow trails. I think next week I will try to get up Millcreek Canyon and run the pipeline. Since I don't really want to run up the road, I will just start at the trail that connects just below the gate. That I think is somewhere between 7 and 8 miles. If anyone knows the distances please let me know. I plan on going out to the overlook.

This morning I felt pretty ambitious and decided to get up early and go run the pipeline trail up Millcreek canyon. Let me start off by saying it was a blast, so much fun. I had a grin on my face the whole time. But on trails like that is also where I wish I was faster. Someone fast could really open it up on that trail it is so smooth and open. All I can say is WOW.

I chose to start at the Burch Hollow trailhead. I proceeded to run all the way to the overlook at the end of the pipeline and back. From the signs I guessed that this was about 7.6 miles, if someone has a more accurate mileage that would be cool. I was looking at the signs after the run while stretching out and it really is the perfect trail for me, who sucks at climbing, 800 ft of elevation change for the whole 5.5 mile trail. So awesome. I was proud of al the people who I saw out on that trail today as well. There are some dedicated groups of women that get out early. I saw 2 groups of about 4 women out cruising the trail. Very awesome. No groups of men, I guess we men don't travel in packs. HA HA

Decided to take a shorter run today, I had a big week last week and my legs haven't fully recovered. So I grabbed the dog and we headed out to the "gully". Appearently the dog thought it was a hot day, the second he saw some water in the stream he was shoving his face in it and laying down to cool off. (When we got home I turned on the sprinklers so he could cool off and clean off.) Just a mello slow day. 

Also whomever the nice man who was out with his children and his two dogs, sorry my dumb animal rushed over to you. He really just wanted to play but he sure does seem to agrivate other dogs when he approaches them like that.

My legs feel really good after the run though, it may have been just what I needed to start pushing the distance a little more.

Tuesday = mountain biking. We did the Clark trail in draper's corner canyon. It was awesome. Good exercise.

The ride actually seems to have helped my right knee. I don't know why but it has been swelling up after runs lately. I feel no pain so I don't think it is an injury but it swells and gets stiff. Riding the bike though, there was no swelling and my mobility seems to be back almost completely.

This wasn't exactly running. My girlfriend and I decided to go on a hike, we had originally intended on doing the Donut Falls hike up big cottonwood but the road to drive up was closed. We instead opted to do the trail up to dog lake from big cottonwood. It was beautiful. I was surprised how much snow is still up there.

It felt good to get out and stretch the legs. Climbing is much nice when hiking as opposed to running. 

The pipeline was awesome once more. The trailheads all were super busy but I only saw about 5 or 6 people. It was a good run. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I need to find somemore trails that are similar. :)

Trail run with Jun. It was really good. There were some big hills that sapped me but overall I am pleased with the run. New personal long run. Whoa!!!!!!

Now if I could only figure out how to go a little faster. Right now what I do is I start out at a pace that feels super comfortable. Then after a few minutes I decide to pick up the pace a little but I am pretty sure I am right back at my comfort pace in maybe a few more minutes. Maybe I just need someone yelling at me the whole time to go faster?

You probably noticed but it was super hot here in SLC, UT. I was a wuss and went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. I really pushed my pace and had my quickest 3 miles evar. It is not fast compared to people on this site but I nearly passed away so back off. 3 miles in 26:18. After that I backed the speed down and coasted to 30 minutes. Hopefully by the end of the summer I can get my goal of 3 miles in under 25 and then a 5k in under 25. We shall see. 

On a side note, my right knee has been swelling and super tight after I run. I think it may be the trails I have been running making my knees do a lot of work. After the treadmill I stretched it very throroughly and it feels so much better. Here it is the next day and the swelling is almost completely gone. I think I will stick to the treadmill for my next run and see if I can get it to more or less heal completely. I am planning to get out and run the pipeline again with jun on Thursday, I would like to be 100% for that so I can attempt to keep up with him. 

Another awesome mountain bike night. This time the crowd was large. There were 8 of us who went out to ride the Little Cottonwood trail. It was a really good time. There were a few people in the group who were outrageously slow, that is just how it goes. So I didn't really get much of a workout from the ride but the down hill was awesome. Since it had rained some that evening I think many of the would be speed bumps decided to stay home (this trail is usually crazy busy). In the end the ride took about 1.5 hours, when I ride it by myself the ride takes about 35-40 minutes, like I said slow. As slow as it was, the fun and company was great!

On a side note there are some crazy fast people who run that trail. While waiting for some folks to catch up I saw a guy who was cooking up the trail. I don't know if I have ever seen anyone that fast. He had the sweat pouring down his face to prove he wasn't taking it easy.

The puppy looked like he wanted some exercise. Turns out that is not what he wanted. It was pretty warm for the dog and he was all but worthless for the run today. I don't think he will be going with me this summer much.

Let me start by saying, the pipeline trail up Millcreek Canyon is my favorite trail run I have done. I just keep going back and enjoying it more each time.

So jun came along with me and brought his fancy pants gps watch. It turns out when I have been running the trail I have been doing closer to 9 miles rather than the 7.something I have been logging. This made me both happy and sad. Happy because it means that I had easliy repeated my longest run meaning I am sure that I could go longer. Sad because I no longer have any excuses not to go on longer runs. HA HA

Jun of course has his race this weekend so he didn't mind too terribly running with me at my slow poke pace. I think jun will be up there running the pipeline trail a lot more and will be getting some pretty fast times on it. I am looking forward to them opening the gate and trying my hand at the full out and back that should be around 11 miles.

An easy day on the treadmill. I am working to get comfortable with a quicker pace than the 10 min/mile. Today felt really good, I bumped it up to 8:34min/mile. Now if I can just keep that pace outside without the treadmill forcing the speed.

Another mountain bike night. The trail was cruiser and the down hill was super fast. We did the pipeline in Millcreek Canyon. Rattlesnake Gultch is simply super fun. So fast and so many drops and jumps. Puts a smile on your face.

Got out with Jun this morning. We did a quick run on the pipeline. It is nice when he does a race, he doesn't seem to mind my outrageously slow pace as much. HA HA

We ran a short and flat section of the pipeline trail up millcreek. It seems I am going to get my annual pass worth again. Another awesome outting. 

Jun pointed something out to me today that seemed really funny. I said that, "The hill felt easier because we did a short run." (Keep in mind there is only one hill of and significance at all on the pipeline trail.) HA 5 miles is a short run. 3 months ago I would not have dared utter those words. Crazy how a little training can change your perspective on things. It is probably the same for these guys who run the ultras, they probably thing 26.2 mile marathons are short little runs.

I haven't done much running at all this week. I don't know why. Spending a lot of time with my Girlfriend I guess. I am running in the Gruesome Grizzly tomorrow so I decided to keep the miles to a minimum. I felt really strong today, granted it was a pretty short run. Hopefully I can meet my goals for the race tomorrow. Time will tell. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Ran in the Gruesome Grizzly with Jun and twinkes. It was a fun race. I finished in about 53:30 I am not positive. I will update the post with the mileage and recorded time when I find them out.

I felt really good on the trail and was only passed by about 5 people which is remarkable for me. I have no idea where I really was overall, it doesn't even matter. Trail races are where it is at. Why oh why does anyone run on the road with cars and the junk that goes along with that.

My goal was to get done in under 50 minutes. I didn't quite make it, I should have pushed the long flat sections a little harder I suppose. Maybe some day I will invest in one of the fancy dancy digital watches so I can have some idea of how I am doing on time. I am just out to run for fun though so I don't even care. I had a blast, the hills were tough but not nearly as tough as it could have been. I am stoked with my results and can't wait to try to beat my time.