A couple runs

Hey everyone! I just wanted to put on a brief update (and no, I'm not updating you on a style of mens underwear). Yesterday I got in 4 miles on my same old City Creek Canyon/Memory Grove route. It won't be long until the leaves are changing up there and it will be absolutely gorgeous. I'll have to take a camera with me one of these times.

This morning I actually dragged my sorry rear out of bed at 5:0something in the morning and put in 4.7 miles. It was cloudy and raining off and on, and I think that interfered a little with my Garmin reception... it said I had only done 4.25 miles and that my first mile was over 13 minutes. Now, I may be slow, but I'm not that slow, at least, not usually. And I knew that I was going faster than that this morning. I came home and "mapped my run" on, coincidentally, mapmyrun.com, and it said I had done 4.7. That's more like it.

I've really been struggling with getting up early for runs. Part of the reason is that I've got the skinny tires that I like to spend time with, and I don't yet feel comfortable on them in the dark, so I've saved my workout for lunch time. Part of the reason is I just have really been liking sleeping lately, and I'm not sure why. I need to get back into a rhythym. I'm sure some of it is also that I'm not training for anything specific right now. If anyone has any tips or advice, I'm welcome to hearing it. :)

Today, the plan was to do an early run then ride at lunch, but alas, at lunch it was raining outside. I guess I probably should have ridden in the rain anyway, because someday I'll have a triathlon or a bike race or group ride or something that will have some bad weather planned, and those things don't get cancelled for bad weather. Usually.

Saturday's ride

Went out for a 24 mile morning ride Saturday. It was thoroughly enjoyable. An hour and a half later, with a maximum speed of 41 mph and an average speed of just over 15 mph, I can say that this riding stuff is fun. I didn't have time to follow it up with a run, however, so the brick will have to wait until this weekend. I'll introduce you all to the bike shortly. I got to get a good picture.

More updates

Wednesday I took the bike out for 12 miles, and today I ran 4 miles, both in City Creek Canyon. It's amazing how much further/faster you can go on a bike. Yeah, anyway... I haven't been feeling super good this week, with a bit of a cold/allergy-type thing going on. Hence I took yesterday off from exercising. I almost let it bag today too, but I really felt the need to get out there. I'm glad I did. The weather has been PERFECT all week... highs in the 70's, lows near 50. Ideal early fall for northern Utah.

Tomorrow I'm planning another brick workout, but hopefully a little bit longer of a ride/run. Going to shoot for about 20 on the bike and then we'll see how many I feel like I can do on the run after that. At least 5, hopefully 6 or 7. Stay tuned.

Brick!

Okay, I really need to get a new picture up, but let's just say the fat tires are out and the skinny tires are in. And with that said...

Last week I did 2 bike rides on the new wheels. One was around town and the other was up City Creek Canyon. I can go so much further up the canyon on a bike than I can on foot! :) Both great rides. I am amazed at the difference in fitness required for a bike ride, especially while climbing. I don't have the leg strength to be able to push up a long climb yet... at least not very effectively. Glad the new bike has a granny gear!

Saturday I went for a brick workout with a friend who is now training for an ironman. We did 11.4 miles on the bike then did a 5 mile run. I now know why they call it a "brick". I didn't feel that bad or anything, but when I started running it felt like we were barely plodding along (after going 40+ mph on a bike, you ARE just plodding along at ~6 mph!), but checking in with the Garmin showed a sub-10 minute mile pace! Much faster than I expected, that's almost tempo-run pace for me. We ended up averaging 15 or so mph on the bike and a 10:24 pace on the run.

I'm hooked. I think I'm going to like this multi-sport thing.

Coming soon...

Sick Sucks

This is crazy, people. I don't get sick. Well, okay, I do get sick, sometimes. But this has been ridiculous. For the last month, I've been sick 3 of 4 weekends. And we're talking Friday/Saturday sick. It really bites. Hence, over the last month, I've done exactly 1 (one)long run. Arrgh! It's intensely frustrating. My miles are really suffering as a result.

In other news, I'm finding myself being drawn to the fascinating world of multi-sport. Yes, fellow runners, I'm slowly morphing into a budding triathlete. Now, to this point, I am still very much the triathlete caterpillar, just contemplating building the cocoon that will allow me to transform into a multi-sport butterfly. As yet, I have taken my beautiful yellow mountain bike out on one ride in the last several years (which was yesterday). We went a grand total of 6 or 7 miles. It was a total blast, and it confirmed in me the desire to sell it.

Yes, I am offering up the fat tires to the highest bidder (or anyone, for that matter, that will pay me the asking price) so that I may purchase a set of skinny tires with aero bars. Due to my current financial status, these are sadly mutually exclusive. Someday I'll be in a position to have both a set of fat tires and a set (or two) of skinny tires, but right now, I have to pick. And I pick skinny. If someone will take the fat ones off my hands.

So... know anyone that wants to purchase a mountain bike??

Slackin'!!

Today a marathon went by right outside my office. I could go to the window and look down as the middle and back of the pack went running by mile 22 or so of the Deseret News Marathon. Me? I ran 4 miles of speed work on the treadmill at lunchtime. If I thought June was a down month, July's been even worse.

So far this month, I've had 9 days of running for a total of 43 miles. My lack of running is matched only by my lack of blogging! Sorry! A family camping vacation (which did include a 3 mile hike with a 30 pound almost-2-year-old on my back... that counts for something, right?) and a traditional bout with the summer cold (that is, head and chest cold) have contributed to the lack of miles. Only one long run in the double-digits (so far!) has also contributed. Not having a race in front of me that I'm registered for has been a HUGE factor. Time to get off the duff and pick something to train for, then work out a training program.

Oh, and I did redo my photography website. Check it out at www.zachjacob.com