An enjoyable but wet weekly training run

I ran my 5-mile training run in the late afternoon. There was a slight drizzle during most of the run and a heavier run during some of the run. I parked at the East Pavilion In South Jordan and ran north to look at the tunnel under 10600 South (still flooded and more water in it than last Saturday). I then ran South into Draper City and then ran back to the East Pavilion.

Quite a few trees have been planted along some pastures in Draper. With the warmer weather we've been having, these trees have taken off, and the trees have a lot of new leaves. The trees are in the open and get a lot of sun. The trees that were planted north of 10000 South have new leaves but not nearly as many leaves as the trees further south in Draper. These trees have more shade during the afternoon.

I saw two large, white Pelicans in the lower fishing pond in South Jordan. A year ago there were two Pelicans that hung around for a couple of weeks in the Spring. It's nice to see them back again (of course, these might not be the same ones that were here a year ago). The following picture is from the web.

My runs are dedicated to Bruce

My running friend, Bruce, who comments frequently in this blog has been diagnosed with cancer. Tomorrow is his first treatment of chemotherapy. For the next several weeks, he isn't able to run, and a bunch of us in the forum at running.about.com decided to let Bruce know he has our love and support during this difficult time in his life. My run today, and all of my runs during the next few weeks are dedicated to Bruce.

Five miles at dusk

My wife and I spent an hour in the morning pruning the rest of our roses. This past winter was really hard on roses. I had to prune the sticks down to almost ground level before I found green wood and leaf-buds.

After we finished the roses, I was busy all day helping my wife get ready for an Easter party for our grand kids. I spent a good part of the day on my computer printing Easter pictures for my wife. Last night when I started printing pictures, I could tell the blue color wasn't printing. I spent a couple of hours this morning trying to get my ink cartridge filled and then finally going to a different store and buying a new cartridge. My wife had glossy card stock that I used for the pictures, and the pictures looked like they had been printed on photo paper. The glossy card stock is less expensive than photo paper. The pictures are old fashioned pictures of kids, rabbits, and similar things and look really cute. The pictures are on a CD that my wife bought a few years ago.

During the day we had a terrific storm pass through the area. Southern Salt Lake County, where I live, only had rain, hail, thunder, and lightning, but northern Salt Lake County and the mountainous areas east of Salt Lake City had stronger winds that blew over trees, knocked out windows, and shut down the power-system. I waited until the storm was over and I had most of the pictures printed for my wife, and then I went running. The sun was just going down when I started, and it was dark when I finished. The tunnel under 10600 South was still flooded, and I ran back and forth from 9400 South to 10600 South, as I've been doing for the past few runs. Actually, the water in the tunnel was down to about 2 inches, even though the water in the Jordan River is about four inches higher than it was last week.

I had a pretty good energy level for 3.25 miles, and then I started getting tired. I stopped to rest twice during the last mile, and the rests of about a minute each really rejuvenated me such that I felt fine. My wakeup heart rate was 62 this morning, higher because I only had about 5 hours sleep for two nights this week. I went to bed at the same time I usually go to bed, but I woke up after 5 hours sleep and couldn't go back to sleep. I did have 7 hours sleep (my normal amount) last night.

Nothing like running in the rain

I ran my weekly 5-mile rest run this morning, and it was one of the best runs I've had in the past month. I had a good energy level during the run, alternating 1 minute running and 1 minute walking, and I kept a pretty constant pace during the running segments, probably running around 14 minutes per mile. It rained (sometimes a drizzle and sometimes a light rain) during the whole run. The temperature was around 50 (F).

As I've mentioned in past posts, my nylon jacket needs to be sprayed with Silicone because it doesn't repel water very well, and when I finished, my Pearl iZUMi shirt was damp. I'm glad I didn't run longer, because I was starting to get cold due to a stronger breeze that came in during the last part of the run. As soon as I got home, I jumped into a hot shower and enjoyed the heat. However, I drained the water tank, and when the water started to get cooler, I got out. I ate a bowl of hot oatmeal for breakfast, and I've been comfortable during the day. I wore running shorts during the run, but my legs didn't feel cold. I've never had problems with my legs getting cold. In Massachusetts, I would wear shorts until the temperature got down to freezing. I remember one run in shorts while the temperature was down to 27. Now that I'm older, I switch to long pants when the temperature is in the low 40s.

There is still water in the tunnel under 106th South but not as much as in the past few days. I guess the two pumps that are running 24/7 are slowly draining the tunnel. A lot of water, though, is coming into the tunnel through several pipes along the west wall of the tunnel that catch water draining from the ground around the tunnel.

Spring is a great time for running 6.5 miles

I did 6.5 miles today. The first 1.5 miles was walking in my neighborhood while two of my grandkids drove our electric jeep around. Later in the day, after half an hour nap, I ran 5 miles on the Jordan River Parkway. I'm really enjoying the two-phase timer that I bought. I have each phase set for 1 minute, and it beeps at the end of each minute, telling me I need to change pace. The tunnel under 106th South is still flooded, and I ran the 5 miles back and forth between 94th South and 106th South. I had planned on stopping at 4 miles (so my total for the day would be 5.5 miles), but I felt fine (although a little bit tired) and I continued another mile.

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. It means the bitter cold of winter is gone. Leaves are budding on the trees, and blossoms are appearing. The ducks are leaving the river and going off somewhere to have babies. Today was that way. Temperature in the low 60s (F), lots of people and dogs on the Parkway. Lots of sun and almost no breeze. Another great day!

I was tired today but got in 3.5 miles

I woke up feeling pretty good. Three grandchildren are staying with us for 10 days, and they wanted to drive a battery-operated plastic jeep that we have, so I postponed my run and went with the kids. We made two loops around the neighborhood where I live, a total of about 1.5 miles. My grandkids took turns driving the jeep, and I walked behind them. I felt pretty good during that walk -- high energy and a peppy feeling. About three hours later, I drove to the Jordan River Parkway for my mid-week run. Instead of feeling peppy, I felt tired, and when I reached the Parkway, I sat in my car for a couple of minutes wondering if I really wanted to run. I finally got out of the car and went south. I'd gone about half a mile when I decided the two miles from 100th South to 106th South and back would be all I could do. On the way back, I did mostly walking. It was a nice day to be out, pleasant temperature and sunshine, but not a nice day for me to be out. I also walked the 1.5 miles yesterday while the kids drove the jeep, so yesterday wasn't a full rest-day. Maybe that caused me to be tired today. What ever the reason, I'm glad I didn't push myself to go further today.