Gaining more than you lose

10.6 on Dimple Dell with Craig. We just suited up and headed out, and a couple miles in I said "So, umm, how far are we going?". We had no plan, just figured we'd run until we decided to turn around. Got to the the usual turn around at the top and headed back down, taking one of the lower trails that I hadn't ever been on, which I liked. Felt really sluggish and tired today, probably because I hadn't really eaten much before running. Kept a pretty consistent pace the entire time, so that's good.

The weather was great, but I started to get really hot and just started shedding layers till I was down to shorts and shoes! Oh yeah! Felt like a pack mule with all of the said gear hanging off of my shorts. :)

10.6 miles - 1:38:00 - 9:14 pace - 883 vert

Did a quick 9 miles on the trainer while my wife ran on the treadmill. 30 mins/18mph. 

Met up with Scott and Jun at Willow park and hit up the BST in Draper. Trail conditions were excellent - I had literally forgotten what that trail looked like without snow. The wind however, was another story, a fiercely strong headwind as we ran south. At 3 miles in Scott turned back (since he had done Wire this morning) and Craig and I continued up Corner Canyon road. That's where the wind really blew (yes, pun intended) - there were times that I felt like I was leaning so far forward I could have kissed the ground. We just kept plugging away and finally made it to the Ghost Falls trail. After a brief break so Craig could take care of some bidness, we headed down the Ghost Falls trail. As I had never run that trail, Craig was nice enough to let me run in front, which in this case is like having the front seat on a roller coaster - best view in the house! Super fun trail to run down, with wide, banked turns that you can just fly down! The legs really appreciated the fast downhill pace after slogging up that hill. As we headed north back on the BST the wind gave a nice push at the back, which was appreciated after fighting it the whole way out. 

I gotta say, even though I was itching to run the Tuesday after the Buffalo Run, I feel like I'm really feeling the benefits of taking the whole week after off. Time will tell, but I'm ending these back to back 10 milers with my legs still feeling strong with no accompanying aches and pains. 

  10.3 miles - 1:36:08 - 9:18 pace - 2094 vert

 Added 30 minutes on the bike trainer when I got home while my wife ran on the TM next to me. 8-9 miles. My legs are fine (it actually feels nice), I'm mostly trying to get my butt used to being back in the saddle for the duathlon in a couple of weeks.

Another Slurpee run with Jun from Jordan Commons up Dimple Dell to the Bells Canyon Reservoir. Slow, slow, slow in the snow. Hard to think that I was running the same trail 4 days ago with no shirt, and here I was today running it with 4 shirts. Long gradual climb to the mouth of the canyon, with a brutal short climb up to the reservoir, and a fun, slippery run back down.

With about 4 or 5 miles to go, Craig turned to me and said "I'm not really feelin' it, so if you drop me, it's OK, I'm not going to try and stay with you, not today". I, of course, knew this was total BS and figured that he wanted someone to chase, so I took it as a challenge. I picked up the pace a little and created some separation (but not much). Once we got back on the paved trail with less than a mile to go, he was still a little back, so I figured if I just kept about an 8 min pace he'd probably stay back. Ha, I knew better...it wasn't long before the footsteps got louder and pretty soon he was next to me, telling me he hated me. Now that we were together we seemed to push it more, hovering around the 7 min mark for the rest of the run. We were both pretty wrecked by the end...and starving. :)  

Topped off the run sharing a Big Daddys pizza with Craig, and washing it down with a 44oz Coke. Both of which were gone by the time we had driven back from the run. Gotta love it!

 14.54 miles - 2:21:12 - 9:42 pace - 1255 vert

Got my hands on some Altra Instincts today and couldn't wait to try them out, but could only manage some TM time. Threw down a quick 5.5. Very impressed with the shoes so far, extremely comfortable with an incredibly spacious toe box. Can't wait to take them out and see what kind of abuse they'll take.   

5.5 miles - 43 min - 7:49 pace - 300 vert