Over the past few months I have been pushing speeds on pavement and it has actually been a lot of fun. Today, I went a bit nuts and threw down just over 16 miles. That made for some PRs.
10k PR – 47:19
10 Mile PR – 1:18:34
Half-Marathon PR – 1:45
25k PR – 2:09
Here are some other recent flat terrain PR-earning runs:
Over the past few months I have been pushing speeds on pavement and it has actually been a lot of fun. Today, I went a bit nuts and threw down a 25k PR.
As is my custom, in the winter I start running lots of flat pavement in the name of convenience and trying to rest recurrent IT band problems (vert makes that worse). With some IT issues stemming from my New Years Revolution Run, I decided to hit the pavement. In previous years that is what CAUSED my IT band pain and also what caused stress fractures on my ankles. This time, it let to hip bursitis (I think). Woot woot! So… that means resting and not running as much + stretching and strength training.
I am considering dropping my yearly mileage goals and focusing on strength training more so I can run injury free. I sometimes feel like the push for weekly miles leads me to run when I have a free hour rather than hitting the gym. With little free time, I think “I can’t waste this hour at the gym, I need to get in my miles!” I wonder if more gym time (especially during the winter when getting time on the trails, which don’t seem to cause these injuries, is harder anyways). Plus, I don’t have to run in the inversion smog in the gym. Hmmm.
Its a bummer too, because I have increasingly been enjoying evening runs on the pavement. It is also so convenient to just pop out my front door and run for an hour with minimal gearing-up or driving to/from a trailhead. I am also getting hooked on the exhilaration of running flat and “fast.” Fast for me, at least. However, I looked back at when I started running in 2013 and my average pavement pace actually IS a lot faster than it used to be. Progress! Now I just need to learn how to prep my body to be able to do it injury-free.
Some fun (and freezing) road runs.
Some trails, which didn’t seem to aggravate the hip!
I was stranded in Springville for 2 hours while a kid was at a birthday party, so I hit the BST. It reminded me of the BST above Farmington and Fruits Heights.
Springville BST was crawling with deer and carpeting in SO MUCH of their droppings. Also, a lost comrade.
Having seen some recent pictures of Grove Creek Canyon in the snow, I just had to hit it. Before work I trudged up to the bridge before work. Gorgeous.
Gotta get above that inversion smog!Cliff-ciclesThe morning light bouncing off of North Timpanogos was breathtaking, but the pictures couldn’t capture it very well. So, black and white.
Thankfully, the back pain from last month did not return and I was able to fit in a number of runs and hikes (not listed here, but on Strava) during the remainder of August.
I ran a bigger version of the squiggly wiggly. Lots of fun.
Some HOT BST action:
Ready to get the burn on!
An awesome morning run up Grove Creek to Chris Flats. Bagged my first Mountain Goat sighting.
He just sat on the ledge above the trail watching me, curious.North Timp ridge from Chris Flats
I even ran some pavement. Possibly the first time this year! Actually, it was kind of exhilarating to click off miles at a faster pace than I’m used to, but it was painful.
Pavement?! What is wrong with me?!
Plus, some nice blister pains during an attempted Big Baldy Summit. Woot woot.
