3/12/11 (Saturday) Run

Today was the longest run of my training schedule.  I was suppose to run 18 miles in 2:09:00.  That is a pretty fast sustained speed, and I already doubted I could do that, especially on legs that are not well rested.  I ended up running 19.25 miles in 2:42:13.  I hit the 18 mile mark in 2:30:31 and the 30k mark (18.64 miles)at 2:36:24.

I had already decided that I would run 30k just because I have raced twice at that distance and was wondering what I could do it in.  When I got to the 30k point I still was far enough away from home I did not want to walk so I just kept going.

I ran outside today.  My most wonderful life partner dropped me off on Antelope Island, just a couple miles north of Garr Ranch.  I choose this route because it is the route of the Layton Marathon that I plan to run in October.  Though I have driven that road many times, I had never run it and I need to start familiarizing myself with it.  I am glad I did.  It is billed as a mostly flat course with one "good hill" at mile 7.  I started a little further north of the official marathon start so I hit the "good hill" at about mile 5.  While I have been on worse, it is a "really good hill".  My GPS reads at its most steepest, which is not too long before the top, and to be fair, not for a long distance, is 10%.  Given approximations of GPS that might be as low as 8%, but that is still a good hill. The overall hill is almost a mile long, but most of the grade I would say (going off the Garmin GPS and how it felt) was probably in the 2-4% range.  The best part is getting to the top and having an equally long downhill : )  After you get past this hill the course is mostly flat (after the downhill part), but the five first miles I ran it had a lot of rolling hills.  Not bad, but still a presence and deceptive of a "mostly flat course."  Just to be clear, once you get across Antelope Causeway it is actually a 1/2-1% grade in many places.  You are still climbing from the ultimate low of the the Great Salt Lake.  That is not bad but to me "flat" = 0% grade.

The bad news is that it took me considerably longer to run it then what I was supposed to do it in.  The good news is I believe I was very close to my PR and I was not running on rested legs.

Road hazards...Right before the two mile mark I was approaching a bison that was about 80 yards off the road.  Initially I thought nothing of it but when I was still about 300 yards away from him (not being sexist here, it was a him ; ) he looked up at me.  I thought he would just look at me and go back to grazing, but he continued to watch me.  He was all alone and obviously disturbed by my presence, even being far away.  I know nature and this is unusual for these bison.  He was also alone, and bison are a herd animal, so there is some reason he is on his own.  No other bison were even in sight.  I looked around in case he charged.  No rocks, no trees, not even big bushes.  No way I could out run him.  I slowed my pace and kept him in sight out of the corner of my eye.  No direct eye contact and slowing down was an attempt to be less intimidating to him (no quick movements).  I was wearing sunglasses, but bison aren't exactly known for their intelligence and he could easily mistake them for me just having big eyes.  Once I got past him I sped up for about a 1/4 mile to make sure he was far behind me where I no longer would be a threat or worth the effort.

About two miles later I came across some other bison that were about 25 yards off the course.  I did have to slightly modify my course this time.  I ran out in the high dead grass to afford them a wide berth.  These actually did not seem very intimidated by me but too close to take any chances.

Total mileage for the week = 51.25