Trying to improve my running

Pretty flat run just wanted to do somwthing quick this AM before going to work. All of the miles were faster than 8:30. I tried to push the last mile extra and the split was 7:54.

AP: 8:10/mile 

Wanted another quick run with a little more distance and a bit more of a hill. I was still able to go out pretty fast on this the average pace was still 8:10, even though there is a bit more of a hill on this. Interestingly I used to feel like this was such a hilly route. Today I was trying to get the 2nd mile the one with the main hill under 8:30, it was 8:32/mile.

AP: 8:10, Vert 110 

Ran on the trail through Saquaro park by my house again. I was able to run the steep hill much easier than prior. it felt really good to do. I wish again there was a better steep hill that didn't have so much loose rock for me to fall on. I seem to slip almost everyday on this trail. Saturday I ended up with a bunch of cactus thorns in my ankle and arm I didn't even notice all of them until several hours later. Today my fall was more of a stumble I went down but not to painful. I guess that running trails is good to get used to all of this stuff.

AP: 11:12/ mile. The second mile with the most elevation gain had an AP of 14:24. 

Nothing special (Wade road to the pass) on paved roads. The first mile was a little slow, I think just warming up 8:39 the third mile had the big hill in it and was 8:54. I think 2/3 was uphill and 1/3 was down hill.

AP: 8:21/mile 

Did a new steep hill that I found not too far from my house. Here is the course on Garmin. This hill was really hard not as hard as some of the trails but I couldn't blame not running on the difficult terrain it is a dirt road but smooth. It was good training though. The grade of the hill from the gate was 13%, with the steepest part of the hill (about 0.25 miles) being 21%. I wasn't able to run the whole thing I will keep trying it until I am though. it was almost as slow coming down as going up b/c I thought I would fall and kill myself.

AP: 11:05/mile, Vert 342 ft (334 in 0.5 miles).

Wanted to do a long run today. I decided to go out on the trail by my house and see where they go. The first part I have ran a bunch and I went up the steep hill to the saddle by sombrero peak then I went down the other side and ran over the back of that ridge into Avra valley and decided to run up to the hill with the radio towers I did yesterday and see how hard that is after having run for a while. The first hill I thought was less steep then the second hill but it turns out it is just as steep (15.5% 361 feet) as the overall hill up to the radio towers (13% 334 feet). It was a nice run through the dessert with a bit of scenery I haven't seen. I then did a little hill just after 4 miles that I used to feel was quite hard, it seemed like nothing today. A little blip after having gone 4 miles. It didn't slow me down hardly at all. It is amazing the different perspective. the radio tower hill was quite hard after having gone just over 6 miles to get there. I ended up walking a lot more of it than yesterday. I did try and push it as much as I could though. Then I jogged home on the roads. Great run. I need to remember to put on sunscreen though. I forget how long it will take me to do these runs I was out for almost 2 hours and got a little burned.

AP: 10:37/mile. Time 1:51:28

Hard to get going today. just run flat stuff. with small hills. was going to take it easy in my barefoot shoes. nothing spectacular.

AP: 8:19.mile 

I ran the loop by my house climbing to the saddle of Sombrero peak, with the second smaller hill on the way home. I was able to run further than last time, and the second hill on the way home wasn't very hard at all (no walking). I was only slightly faster than when I did it a couple of weeks ago  (11:16 today vs. 11:24 prior). It felt really good today though.

AP: 11:16/mile 

Ran the hill up to the radiotowers again today. I was trying to focus on running further up the hill. I made it a lot further than I did last Saturday (not surprising considering Saturday I ran 6 miles before getting to this hill). Additionally today I went back and ran up the hill partway after coming down. I think that will be my plan there is a gate partway up the hill and I will try and gage how far I can run past that gate and then run it again a little further each time. Today I was able to run 0.05 miles past the gate. On the second run I went back to the gate. I think I will try and run it again this week and maybe try and do it a couple of times a week until I can run the whole thing hopefully. Here is the Course.

AP: 11:41/mile 

Did the same hill today about the same results as yesterday. i probably should have taken a day off in the middle but I wanted to do something quick and i wanted to do that hill again this week. I was able to go a little further before having to walk today. I decided I am going to from now on do the lap from the bottom of the steep part til I get to the top and see what the split is that will give me something better to track.

 AP: 11:48

This was a road run up Wade road some small hills. Felt really good in the Merrell barefoot shoes.  The 3rd mile was in 8:41 and had the most elevation gain 123 ft. O/w all of the miles were under 8:30.

AP: 8:11 

This was a beautiful run in the drizzle this AM. I ran on these trails out in Saquaro NP about 3 miles from home. I didn't realize that there was much elevation gain, but I guess it turns out there was a decent amount it was just gradual over several miles. The loop was really nice and relaxing though. I was tired after playing basketball last night I think that and the run convinced me to not try and climb Sombrero peak today.

AP: 9:38 

Ran up Wade road today. Unfortunately my watch ran out of batteries halfway. I know it was 3.6 miles and had about 100 ft of vert it took me about 30-35 minutes. I was super tired and wasn't feeling it today. So I am just glad I got out there and did something.

Ran the local loop and part way up Sombrero peak saddle. Felt pretty good. Probably b/c I took yesterday off d/t sickness. Still feel sick today. would have liked to go all the way to the saddle and make the loop but not enough time/energy.

AP: 10:17/mile 

Ran the Saquaro park loop by my house today. I did backwards so I hada bit steeper up hill and then after that had the steep uphill climb up to the saddle of sombrero peak. I wasn't able to make it as far up the saddle as yesterday, I think mainly that was because of my cold. However, doing it backwards may have added some difficulty as well. On the way back I took a longer route to add on some additional miles.

AP: 10:17 

Ran up the radiotower hill again. I did more of the uphill than before after coming back down. I don't feel like I was able to go much further up the hill (without walking) to start than previously though. I think from now on I will start tracking how long it takes me to get up the hill as a measure to quantify if I am getting better.

Today it took me 6:48 to get up the hill and it was an average 16% grade.

Ran on the trails out in Saquaro park it was beautiful though it is really starting to get hot down here now. I was getting pretty wiped by the end. I think it was close to 90 when I finished. I guess I am going to need to bring more water with me. Another interesting factor I hadn't really thought of for these trail runs is snakes I stepped right over the top of 2 snakes that were basking in the middle of the trail. I didn't see them until I was on top of them. Fortunately they weren't rattlesnakes, but I think I am going to have to be more careful and pay closer attention when running the trails now that snakes are out.

AP: 11:13/mile 

Wasn't able to sleep really well last night So I got up earlier and ran the Sombrero saddle loop again today. I went a bit of a longer way and I added in an extra hill on the way to the saddle to get some more vert. I still didn't get much further up the saddle actually than I usually do but I was able to get to the same spot despite having ran the other hill prior. I was also happy that I made it up the first hill without stoppiing since I wasn't able to do that prior.

AP: 11:56/mile 

Ran up the Radiotower hill again. I was able to go up a decent amount further than on the previous run. I ran the steep part of the hill in 6:24 which was 24 seconds faster than last time.

I ran the loop around Saquaro park today. I did it the normal way I do without climbing a hill before getting to the hill to go up to the saddle. I was able to go a bit further. I guess it turned out to be only 0.05 miles further, but there was 42 additional feet of elevation gain in that short distance. If I can keep making a little progress like that each week it will only take me another 5-6 weeks before I can get all the way tot the top without stopping. I guess that is a goal.

Ran up Wade road in the Merrells. I was trying to go fast to see how much I have changed since I started running. I compared it back to a run that I did up Wade road back in the first of january that time I didn't go as far up Wade so had about 60 ft less of elevation gain. and it was a bit shorter 4.2 miles. I did it at that time in 37:47, AP: 8:58. Today I did a little bit further and went further up Wade road my time was 38:29 AP: 8:13. My slowest mile which had the steepest portion of the hill in it was at 8:35. That was a bit encouraging I am hoping to get faster still. I think the hills are helping.

I did 2 runs today the first one was a family run. I pushed Lucy and Chase in the jogging stroller and Juli pushed Ella in the other stroller. I think it was pretty fair because I had the 2 heavier kids (100 lbs) and she didn't want to run very badly. we ran down Pima farms road, which is nice and flat. It is only a bout 1 mile down it, so I took some detours into the various neighborhoods and ran up scenic drive at the end. Juli's Phone said she did 2.2 miles and I did 3.5. I finished a little bit before her and went back to push her in the last little bit. It was fun to go out as a whole family though and the kids were happy to get out of the house after being cooped up all week d/t Lucy's sickness.

AP: 8:26/mile 

The second run was up the radiotower hill again. I made it 105 ft further up the road. I think I can make it all the way to the top of this in the next couple of weeks.

ran the radiotower hill was only able to go just a bit further than last time. no more than about 100 feet though. I was able to run 100 miles this month. I ran 6 days/week for almost every week this month as well. I only missed 2 days. My goal for the next month is not to get so many miles but instead to focus on vertical feet. In April I was able to run 8800 feet. In March I was able to run 11,692 feet, a good portion of that (1700 feet) was in Utah in 1 day up to flag rock. I am going to go for 13,000 feet this month. I think I will be running this route a bunch it is short and a good amount of vert.