Justin Park

Sasha introduced me to the blog several years ago and for the longest time I've really enjoyed reading the blogs and race reports of several of you fabulous Utah runners out there. But to this point, I haven't done so much as a lick of my own tracking/blogging. Admittedly, I've historically done a very poor job of tracking my own workouts and miles. So, being the New Year, I figure what better time to make a resolution and and see if I can start doing a better job. Afterall, measurement is supposed to lead to improvement, right? I figure that using this sort of public forum will help keep me a little more honest and regular as opposed to if I were just keeping a private log.

For anyone who cares to look at my posts, I'm warning you that they're going to be quite boring. Especially these first several months while I'm particularly busy with work (CPA). I'm a fairly unsophisticated, run according to feel-type runner. I aim for 6 morning runs a week (rest Sundays) and prefer to stick to my handful of bread-and-butter workouts and follow a general pattern of alternating treadmill days with outside days. So here it goes...

AM - 50 minute treadmill run at the Life Centre. Still on holiday from work today so I slept in and got to the gym later than usual. Could hardly find a parking spot because of all the resolutioners and (not to my surprise) one of them was on my favorite treadmill when I first walked in. Did a few slow laps around the track to warm-up, then some stretching, and did a set on the Gravitron. Didn't have to wait too long for my mill to open up. Workout went as shown below (easier to show this way rather than in paragraph-form):

- First 5 minutes at 9.5 mph, 0 incline
- Next 5 mins at 10 mph, 0 incline
- Next 20 mins at 10 mph with progressive incline (first 3 mins at 1.0 incline, next 3 mins at 1.5, next 3 at 2.0, 3 at 2.5, 3 at 3.0, and 5 minutes at 3.5)
- At 30 minutes into the workout, back do to 0 incline, still 10 mph
- At 35 minutes, up to 10.5 mph, still 0 incline
- At 45 minutes, went to 11 mph, 0 incline, to finish things off.

5:55 average pace

After some cool down, did another set on the Gravitron, then some lunges and stretching, and then called it a day.

I like this workout because it has a good little mix of incline and then some faster running toward the end. Its definitely enough to get the heart pumping and a good sweat going. Hardest part is at about minutes 27-30 while at the 3.5 incline. I usually start feeling it pretty good about then. Sometimes I'll chicken-out at about this point and backdown, but I was able to stick it today which makes me feel good for this time of year. I like to think that this run helps my mental ability to tackle hills.

A.M. - Standard Little Cottonwood out-and-back. Was out the door around 5:30 this morning since I had to be at a training meeting in Salt Lake at 8:00. This is one of my favorite staple runs. I leave my house and run south to Sego Lily Dr. Then up and over and back north to 10000 South and up the big hill and around Granite Park. Then up through the neighborhood to Little Cottonwood Rd and eventually to the park-and-ride up near the electric sign (at just over 4 miles). The way back down follows essentially the same route with a slight variation. Total elevation gain is around 585 ft. I felt pretty good today and finished the run in 57 mins flat. Gave a good effort, but wasn't pushing too hard. First 4 miles were all in the low 7s (uphill). Miles 6, 7, and 8 (downhill) were 6:00, 6:00, and 5:50. Average pace for the whole run was 6:32 which is faster than normal (usually closer to 7:00).

Haven't been sleeping well the last week or so, and last night was particularly bad. Funny that you can have those and still feel decent on the run. Must just be the stress of going back to work.

A.M. - Treadmill workout at the gym (35 minutes). All zero incline:

5 mins at 9.5
10 mins at 10
10 mins at 10.5
10 mins at 11

5:50 average pace.

A.M. - Standard Cottonwood out-and-back. Exact same route as Tuesday. Didn't feel quite as peppy as Tuesday, but pace was actually a touch faster (56:12; 6:29/mi).

A.M. - 50 minute treadmill workout at the gym. Pretty much the same progressive incline and touch of faster at the end workout that I did on Monday. Challenging, but felt good. This workout does a good job of working me and seems about right for my level of conditioning right now. For the next little while, I'm not really too interested in stepping it up much beyond this level.

Hey, for anyone reading this, I've got a question... 'Not sure if this is the best place to ask this or if using the discussion board function is better... So, I really like this pair of Adidas Aegis shoes that I'm currently using. They are a good light-weight neutral performance trainer-type shoe (around 9 oz, I think) that fit/feel good. Quite frankly, they're probably the trainer I look forward to using most. Right now, I only use them for about every other treadmill workout. However, when I get about 30 mins into my run I start getting a 'hot spot' under the ball of my right foot (never the left) that gets progressively uncomfortable through the end of the workout. I wanna say it almost gets to the point of a blister. But once I'm done, get the shoes off, and shower, its fine. I don't have this issue with any of my other shoes and really don't want to have to give up the Aegis because of it. The problem has probably been happening to varying degrees over the past 2 months. I use good wicking socks and have various different types. I lace my shoes conventionally the same way on both sides. I started using the shoes back in June and they hardly look worn since they've only been used for mill workouts (although they do have a fair amount of miles on them by now). The only things I can think of are that maybe the shoes really are wornout (though they don't look to be) or I have some kind of biomechanical inefficiency that's causing the problem. Most of my current arsenal of training shoes (see above) are slightly heavier and of the performance stability category. Not sure if that has something to do with it.

I'm thinking of putting a couple strips of tape on my foot to see if that helps.

Anyone got any thoughts/suggestions?

A.M. - Little Cottonwood out-and-back on partly snow/slush covered roads. Although I could do without the wet shoes and high volume of traffic on some of the roads (folks heading up to the ski resorts), I love running in this weather. There's a special serenity about it, especially when you get out in the dark early morning hours (57 mins; 6:50 ave/mi).