Kerry's Running Blog

Took it a little easier this morning on the Highland Glen Loop. Average pace was 8:31. Actually saw a few others out this morning. Ran without the knee brace this morning. Seemed OK, but will have to see how it feels later on this morning.

Regular Highland Glen loop. Warm this morning with the cloud cover. No wind to speak of. Hip flexors a little sore starting out, but that went away after half a mile or so. Didn't feel quite as energetic as Monday, but still felt OK. I figure that after I establish a good base in another week or so that I can start adding some variation. Right now I just need to get used to running six days a week again.

A fairly nice morning for a run (especially compared to yesterday's wind and rain).  Temperature was in the low 40's with overcast skies and gusty winds out of the north and northeast. My legs felt pretty good this morning and were grateful for the day off (my knee was a bit sore after Wednesday's run). Ran standard Highland Glen loop. I may try for a 10 miler tomorrow.

Very windy with a threat of rain. Temperature in the low 40's. Regular Highland Gen loop. Pushed it a little harder than usual just to get out of the wind. Average pace 8:23.

A perfect morning for a run. Clear skies, no wind. Temperature in the upper 30's. Regular Highland Glen loop. No aches or pains to speak of (hip flexors and knee are close to being completely healed up). Pushed it a little harder this morning just because it was such a gorgeous day.

Cooler than I expected this morning under clear skies. Temperature in the low 40's. Glad I wore a pullover. Routine run around Highland Glen pond. Good visibility at 5:45 even though brighter stars are still visible. Felt really good this morning, like I had a tail wind (enough though the air was still).

Good run on another cool, clear morning. Highland Glen loop. Just a little bit of lingering soreness in my hip flexors and right calf for the first couple of miles, but over all felt really good. Ran without my knee brace today and so far I haven't noticed any problems.

Highland Glen loop. Beautiful, clear, Spring morning. My legs were feeling a little tired and stiff this morning. Ran roughly the same pace as yesterday. Pushed it a little harder after Cedar Hills Drive.

Beautiful run up Provo canyon with Paul, Larry, Wayne, Nathan, Ryan and his wife. Started out at a pretty relaxed pace and then picked it up a bit as we approached Vivian Park. Enjoyable run back down to the bottom. Average pace was 8:13 and average heart rate was 148.  Spent 24:19 in heart rate zone 4 (155 to 169) which worked out to be exactly three miles. This was my longest run since Boston. My left ankle was a little sore going up the canyon, but didn't have any knee problems during or after the run.

I was still half asleep when I started out this morning and it took a half mile or so before some soreness in my left knee and hip flexors went away, but I felt great after that. A slight breeze out of the north was cool enough that I pushed a little harder to warm up. Ran regular Highland Glen loop a little faster than usual. I'm going to try to build my mileage by five miles or so this week, work in a good tempo run and a longer run on Saturday. It doesn't look like the weather will be a factor, but there seems to be a lot of activities going on this week.

Highland Glen loop. Took it easy this morning as I'm planning to do a tempo run tomorrow morning. Pleasantly cool this morning with clear skies. There is now good visibility when I head out around 5:40 or so.

Tempo run on Highland Glen loop. Two miles of warm-up then pushed the heart rate up into threshold zone 4 (of 5). Average heart rate 166. Average pace 7:45 (6:30 to 7:00 on flat to downhill sections). For the most part felt very strong. No aches or pains to speak of.

Highland Glen loop. Fairly even pace for first four miles and then picked it up a bit towards the end. This run is starting to feel fairly easy, so starting next week I'll start throwing some seven milers into the weekday mix and still do 11 to 13 on the weekends. The mileage goal for this week is 37 to 38 (up from 32 last week). Next week I'd like to do 42 or 43. No aches or pains to speak of.

Highland Glen loop. I was a little surprised that there were so few people out this morning. I hardly passed a soul (and only saw a single bunny by the pond). Warmest morning so far (upper 50's, lower 60's).

Great run up with Provo Canyon with Paul (who had to get back for his neighborhood race), Nathan and Cory. Beautiful, warm morning with temperatures around 60 at the start. With turning back to meet up with Cory, Nathan and I had 7 miles by the turnaround at Vivian Park. Average pace up was 8:30. Fairly relaxed pace on the way back down until we were about 2.7 miles from the end and Nathan put the hammer down. Cory and I tried to keep up, but he soon had a good lead on us. The pace on mile 11 was 7:16,  mile 12 was 7:14 and the last 0.72 mile Cory and I average 6:56. Average pace for the whole run was 8:12 and average heart rate was 148.

When I got back home I went for a run with my youngest daughter Amelia (10). She was inspired by all the hoopla at Boston and wants to run the neighborhood mile race in July (in preparation for her long term goal of running Boston when she turns 18). As she's just getting started we alternated running and walking.

Felt just a little stiff going down the stairs this morning before heading out. Stood out on the front porch to see what the weather was like before getting changed. It was overcast and fairly warm with little or no wind. By the time I got dressed and started running, the wind picked up out of the north. I only really noticed heading towards the high school on 40th. The soreness and stiffness I was feeling earlier was gone after the first mile. Making sure I'm ready for the relay is the main focus of my thoughts and training right now (more tempo mileage and more weekly mileage). A lot more people out this morning. Saw Kim Roberts just before crossing Cedar Hills Drive.

Cool this morning with clear skies following yesterday's rain. Temperature in the low 40's. Regular Highland Glen loop. Slight lingering muscle fatigue (a good sign). Planning a tempo run for tomorrow.

Temp run on Highland Glen loop. Skies were clear overhead with some clouds (mostly high) in the south. Temperature in the high 30's. Steady wind out of the northwest starting out. Didn't really notice it after the first mile. Didn't really have any aches or pains to speak of, although my legs were a bit tired. Average pace was 8:15, 7:48 (HR 166 bpm) during the three mile tempo section.

Ran the Kohler's loop this morning with a run up the hill on Highland Drive before starting on the creek trail. Fairly cool this morning with temps in the high 30's. Ran fairly relaxed, but picked up the pace when I was feeling good. Average pace was 8:29. May try to get another seven in before Saturday's long run.

Took it easy this morning as the top of my left knee was a little sore and I didn't sleep very well last night (probably due mostly to seasonal allergies). Temperatures were pleasantly cool under clear skies. Wore the knee brace and will have to see how it feels today before deciding what to do about tomorrow's long run.

By coincidence, Greg and I met at the corner of Deep Creek and Sunset Drive at 6:41 just as if we'd had it planned (actually when we plan to run together we never get our schedules that matched up). We talked about the relay and other things for a few minutes and then jogged down to the funeral home to warm up. He headed north (as he had to get back in an hour or so) and I headed south towards the temple for a ten miler. My splits

Average pace was 8:02 for 10.23 miles. I've been thinking about what kind of pace to put into the spreadsheet for the WBR and I'm still a bit undecided (it probably doesn't help that I've haven't run any races this year as I've been trying to recover from injuries). In some ways I'm disappointed that it's taking a while to get any speed back, but then I look back at last year and see that an 8:02 pace on that loop was what I was doing in late summer when I was in top shape. I think I'll probably go with a 7:45 as that might be the best predictor.

Ran 2.8 miles with Laureen and Amelia after I got back. Amelia showed a lot of improvement from last week so we ended up going a little farther.

Regular Highland Glen loop this morning, only I went out about two hours later. I was a little tired from getting bed late and not sleeping very well, but over all things went well. Running in the sun made me realize how little training I've done in the heat. I need to get in a few hot runs between now and the relay.

Kohler's loop this morning at 5:30. Temperatures in the mid 40's. Like many mornings, I was on autopilot for the first mile or so. I often wake up from a deep sleep and find myself running ten minutes later. I'm very used to the routine at this point, but the abruptness of the change from unconsciousness to vigorous activity still seems a bit weird at times.

Wednesday temp run on Highland Glen loop. I realized that as I was walking down to the corner that I hadn't scheduled the workout on my Garmin. I was, however, able to find an earlier tempo workout and selected "Do Workout". As I was still half asleep it looked to me like the workout started as the lower set of numbers was changing, so I started off on the two miles of warmup. It was a little cool this morning and I was glad I was wearing long sleeves and pants. When I just about to the two mile mark I glanced down at my watch and it showed two miles on the distance. Thinking that I was supposed to start the tempo section, I immediately pushed the pace up to my threshold range. As I was rounding the pond, it dawned on me that my watch never should have showed two miles on the distance. On workouts like that it counts down from two miles so it should have shown three or close to zero. I should have pushed the start button at the beginning of the workout. Knowing what threshold pace feels like, I just kept running. I may have pushed it a little harder than normal for a tempo run because I didn't know where my heartrate was for sure. Heading up the hill out of the park, I could feel my legs getting heavy and I was breathing fairly hard. I eased up a bit as the hill levels out to a one percent uphill grade, but kept a fairly steady effort. I felt like it was about 10K race pace, but unfortunately I didn't know how fast I was going. Ran hard along the trail and then jogged the last quarter mile to cool down. A good workout over all.

Kohler's loop this morning. Clear skies, still pleasantly cool at 5:30 am. No aches or pains to speak of. I'm seeing a slow, steady progress in over all endurance and fitness. I'm planning to increase the number of seven miles days each week, while keeping Saturday long runs at 13 plus. I'm also slowly increasing the number of threshold miles each week. By the end of July I'd like to be at 55 to 60 miles a week, with at least ten of those at threshold pace.