Y5K #19

Normally I post these on Monday morning, but as I'll be out of town for a few days, I'm posting it early on Saturday.  2 weeks in a row with 3 runs pleases me. Nice to be seeing some progress. Here's the details:

• Monday: Did my first 7.5/1 split and I have to say that 7.5 minutes is a long time to be running and I'm starting to go far enough that I might have to start planning some new routes.  Today I ran out of sidewalk and had to finish my outbound leg on the shoulder of the Van Winkle Expressway. Granted it was a pretty roomy shoulder in all but one tiny section, but I'd still rather not end up there again.  In any case, I felt pretty good throughout most of my run, especially considering that I went downhill first and had to come back uphill. All in all, I went 3.8 miles in just over 45 minutes. My feet are feeling a little sore, but it more of a soreness that I would expect than any weird foot pain. Just feel like I ran a few miles, which I did.

• Wednesday: Did another 7.5/1 split and went back to my old standard, the uphill front half/downhill 2nd half spot. It's exciting to be going further than I've gone in the past. But I guess in part that was because the beginning training schedule I was using pretty much always had me going about the same amount of time, just the split of jogging and walking changed over time. I keep wondering if I should cut back to just 3 legs and keep focusing on a distance of around 5k if that's my ultimate goal... Don't know.  In any case, I went 3.7 miles in 42 minutes.  If I just look at the non-warm-up/cool-down portion then I did 3.1 miles in 33 minutes. So that's basically a 5k with just 3 minutes of walking, with half of it being uphill. Sometimes it seems doable that I could actually run a full 3.1 miles without stopping. I mean does a minute of walking really rest me THAT much? Actually it kind of does.  Ah, patience...

• Saturday: Thought about running Friday night, but was feeling kind of worn out, so I decided to wait til Saturday morning.  And Saturday morning I was kind of lazy, so it ended up being about 10:15 before I finally got out for my run.  So not quite as cool as it might have been if I'd gone at 9 or something.  Nevertheless, I decided I push for 4 sets of 8 minutes jogging with 1 minute rests in between. And it went much, much better than I could have ever hoped.  I took a route that had me alternating between uphills and downhills in a neighborhood not far from my house, and I was surprised at how well I did. I never really felt like I was going to die (is it sad that that's my measure for a "really great" run? That I didn't feel like I was going to die?).  Having just mapped my expedition, I can happily say that I just finished my first 4 mile trip (4.02 miles in 45:45).  Looking at the portion that I ran, I probably jogged about 3.6 miles in 35 minutes.

Old Book, New Book #37: The Hobbit -> 2001: A Space Odyssey

For as short and easy of a read as The Hobbit was, it felt like it took me quite a long while to finish reading it.  Partly I've just had a busy summer, and partly the fact that I remembered nearly all the details of the story (minus at least one twist that took me by surprise near the end) kept me from being all that excited to keep coming back and reading to see what happens next.  It was interesting how much simpler The Hobbit is than the Lord of the Rings books.  Much easier to read.

And still it was a fun read. I'm excited to see what Hollywood can do with this material, and it'll be interesting to see how they find another movie between The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings films (the plan is to make 2 more movies).

Up next? 2001 by Arthur C. Clarke. Only 10 years late. :)  I can't remember where, but I read something not too long ago about the fact that Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, director of the iconic film worked together in putting together both the book and the screenplay, and that with a few minor differences they are pretty closely linked. And since my mom always told horror stories of having to sit through the film (something about half an hour of "just colors"), I've managed to avoid seeing the movie, but I figure the book form can't have 30 minutes of colors flying by.  And it's only about 300 pages so if it is just colors it should be a pretty quick read. :)

Y5K #18

Finally, a week with 3 days of running again. I'm continuing to raise the bar every 3rd run, albeit ever so slightly.

• Monday: Sitting here sweating up a storm after another 6.5/1 day.  Definitely have more energy when I take 4 days off instead of running a 3rd time in a week. :)  Definitely my furthest run yet: Just a smidge short of 3.5 miles in 38.5 minutes.  Run 7 minutes on my last leg mostly because I didn't want to check my watch until I made it to a place I had in mind.  Good run today. I'll take it.

• Wednesday: Due to some extenuating circumstances, I was a little pressed for time this evening, so I decided to do a 7/1 split, but only do 3 legs instead of 4.  So I figured I could push a little harder than I usually do, along with running a loop that ended mostly uphill.  I got back to the start of my loop with a minute left on my 3rd set, so I just went a little further and then walked back when my running was done.  Ended up doing 3 miles in just under 31 minutes.  Hopefully I can get back to doing 4 sets next time, but I'm glad I at least got a run in today.

• Friday: So, last night (Thursday), I went and played volleyball for 3+ hours and I loved every minute of it, but this morning I was definitely feeling my age. Back, ankles, legs, and especially knees were stiff and sore. Guess I need to start icing after volleyball, too.  In any case, after work today I was not in the best mood for a run.  Considered getting up early tomorrow morning before I head off for fun times, but in the end, I just said "let's do it, and hopefully the consequences aren't too bad".  So I did a 7/1 split again today, a full 4 legs, and although they were a little slow (just over 3.5 miles in just under 41 minutes), I got 'er done, and that's what I feel best about.  Now I just hope I can still walk tomorrow. :) Now for some quality time with some frozen peas... 

Thankfully, my knees were doing alright Saturday morning, which was good because I did a fair amount of walking in the morning at Lagoon.  Feeling pretty good today with 2 days off, and looking forward to getting 3 more runs in this week.

Y5K #17

The running continues...

• Monday: Busted out another 6/1 split tonight. Ended up running after dinner rather than before, which wasn't my favorite, but it was cooler out than when I usually end up running so that was nice. Not quite as sweaty as I sit down to map out my run. Did 3.24 miles in 37 minutes.  Didn't hate life too much when I was done. I'll call it a win. :)

• Wednesday: Was not feeling it today - a little sleepy, had some weird foot pain during the day (I think due to walking around barefoot on the hard ground at Raging Waters last night). Anyway, I eventually made it out the door and gave a 6.5/1 split a shot. And I survived! When I first started jogging, after my warm-up, I felt like I was running like an old man, but eventually I felt like I was back to my normal trot, at least for most of the jog. The foot pain only popped up once or twice on my run which was nice. Hopefully it's a one day kind of thing.  Running a little bit more, I went a tiny bit further, but in about the same amount of time. 3.35 miles in 38 minutes.  Doing a rough estimate of the non-warm-up/cool-down portion, looks like 2.8 miles in 29 minutes (26 minutes jogging and 3 minutes of walking breaks in between).

 And that was it for running this week. I played volleyball and swam on Thursday night for Brandon's birthday, and then Friday I went up to Bear Lake for camping and boating and sitting in the sun.  Got home in the early evening Saturday but could barely keep my eyes open. Hoping for at least 2 days of running this week. Maybe 3 if I don't get too busy on the weekend...

Summer Hodgepodge

So, rather than make several separate tiny entries, I just wanted to share some random stuff from the summer that hasn't made it on the blog yet:

While George was still in town, we had an extended Tripp family gathering at the Benson Grist Mill complex in Stansbury, and had a good time eating and socializing. I got a couple good pictures there.

Elise picking flowers

Sunset

The kids on a horseless wagon

The next morning, I took this fun video of George and (George) Austin:


And then later that day, Lucy recorded me and Austin singing the fireworks song that I made up on the 4th:


Some pictures I took from other people's Facebook accounts:

Group shot at Delicate Arch

A fun group shot from Sand Hollow

"Silly" group shot from Lava Hot Springs

Y5K #16

Now that my crazy July is over, I was finally able to get out and run 3 whole times this past week:

• Monday: Decided it was now or never for pushing forward, and I took a tiny step up to running for 5.5 minutes each leg with the same 1 minute walking rest in between.  Went just over 3.1 miles in 35 minutes. Had some weird tingling in my left elbow at the end. So that was new. :)  Also, discovered that 5 kilometers = 3.107 miles. Here I was thinking it was 3.2 miles. As if that makes a huge difference. Don't know how I got the wrong number in my head.

• Wednesday: Did another 5.5/1 split and went just shy of 3.2 miles in 37 minutes. Which means I went faster on the way out than I did Monday, but a couple minutes slower coming back. Probably due to the fact that I went slightly downhill on the way out, plus down a short steeper section that I had to come back up on the way home. 5.5 minutes of jogging is feeling doable though. Does that mean I need to go to 6 next time? I don't know. And I don't know if I'll find time to jog on Friday or Saturday. Guess we'll see.  Oh, and the numbness in my arm didn't make a reappearance so that was nice.

• Saturday: What's that? Can it be? 3 runs in the SAME week? Crazy, I know. I don't know if I managed that once in the entire month of July.  Anyway, it felt good to be back out there today, and to have a Saturday with a little bit of flexibility in it after a few weekends of traveling.  And as if that wasn't enough, I even stepped up to 4 sets of 6 minutes jogging with a 1 minute rest in between.  AND I was feeling okay enough at the end of the last set of jogging that I decided to go an extra minute. That's right, I did 25 total minutes of running today, and only 10 total minutes of walking (counting warm-up and cool-down even).  Anyway, partly I attribute it to the fact that I took the same route as Monday's run where I go almost entirely uphill on the way out from my house and then coming back it's almost all downhill.  Daft Punk's live album ("Alive") kept me company, and there were even a few points where I was able to not think about the fact that I was running at all, and just let my body take care of it while I was thinking about other stuff. So that was nice, too.  Guess we'll see what my body has to say tomorrow about my pushing things this week. For now, I'm very pleased with my progress. Oh, and total distance was about the same as Monday, 3.25 miles, but in only 35 minutes.

On the whole, my best week of running yet. My knees have been a little more sore when I run, which is just to say sore at all, because they really haven't been much of a problem so far. I'm trying to make sure to ice them after I run, so hopefully that doesn't turn into a big problem.  Looking ahead at this week, I'm optimistic about my chances of getting 3 good runs again. Been toying with the idea of taking one run a week and just seeing how far I can run without stopping to walk, so that I can maybe get an idea of how close I am to being able to run a full 5K.

Y5K #15

Have I really been at this for 15 weeks? That's a lot of weeks.

• Tuesday: Despite my sinuses bugging me pretty bad the last hour or so of work, I came home, took a double power nap (40 minutes), and got dressed and went out. Even though it was a little rainy. And a lot thundery.  I only got rained for about 2 minutes, but the thought of getting struck by lightning did cross my mind more than once.  In any case, my sinuses didn't bother me and felt a bit better after the run.  I tried a variation on last week's new route that saved me from jogging in place at traffic lights, but had me going up a pretty decent incline most of the first half. Ended up doing just short of 2.9 miles in 31.5 minutes. Oh, and I did (yet) another 5/1 jog/walk split. Someday I'll move up to something more. I mean today I did 5.5 minutes on my last set, but that still doesn't feel like much of a change.  In any case, glad I made it out to run, and I'm always surprised at how going for a jog on days when I don't feel like it always leaves me feeling much better afterward. Like it never makes me feel worse afterward. Never.

• Thursday: Today my body turned to me and said "Really?! Running twice in the same week? Do we DO that?"  And yes, we did.  And it wasn't exactly awesome, but it's done.  Stuck to 5/1 split again and did 3.1 miles in about 35 minutes. So yeah, a little slower than Tuesday, but I guess that's to be expected since this was the first time I've ran twice in the same week in about a month. We'll take it.

I went up to Lava Hot Springs Friday night and camped and then floated the River of Death Saturday  morning, so that was it for my running for last week. But 2 days is better than 1, right? Looking at this week it seems like there's a good chance I'll be able to get 3 days of running in, so I hope my body is ready for that. :) Maybe I'll even think about running for longer than 5 minutes at a time. If I'm ever going to run an entire 5K (that's like 30 minutes of non-stop running), I guess I better keep pushing on.