A Balance, Redefined

Single: Overall a great day. Slept in and then went for a walk with the family in Miller Park again. It is so relaxing down there with the water and the cool shade. Then we did brunch. While Kaitlyn napped I ran up City Creek. It just gets better the farther up you go. Previously I've always turned around well before the 4 mile mark. Today I kept going all the way to area 29. It is so nice up there. The rest of the day was spent relaxing with family. Mi 12-R2 Avg. 8:04 

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 280 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 262 / / Saucony Rides #1: 275 / / Saucony Rides #2: 278 // Adidas Adistar (flats): 157

AM: Well the weekend had to end sometime. It was a relaxing weekend but right back to work. Got in with enough time to do my morning run before lab meeting. This was great as the temp went above 90F today. I ran to SH with a loop and back to work via a how do you do to the family as they ate breakfast. The run was easy except the last stretch along Foothill as I decided to race the rush hour traffic. It is always great to beat cars, I didn't even have to go faster than 6:30 pace as the traffic was pretty backed up. Mi 9-R2 Avg. 8:21

PM: With the earlier start today I left at 4:30 to be home in time to have a little play time. Then  did 3 mi on the treadmill while on daddy duty. Mi 3-R2 Avg. 8:00

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 280 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 262 / / Saucony Rides #1: 275 / / Saucony Rides #2: 290 // Adidas Adistar (flats): 157

Single: I knew this was going to be a tougher work week. Two nights in a row with only 6hrs sleep. So I forewent my planned speedwork today. I had tossed around the idea of trying for a 4:30 mile down Memory Grove, 200s on the track, or the Black Sheep hill workout. I also knew that all my mileage had to be in this one run do to some additional work obligations in the evening. So in the end though I had to get into work by 6am but did manage to get half of my bench work done by 9:30 and out the door. What a difference three hours can make, it was already 72F when I started and was 85F by the time I finished. I did a mostly trail and mostly uphill run. This was a new loop I thought up that actually was uphill both ways. I started up Dry Creek over to City Creek. Then there is a steep decline into City Creek and I continued down into Memory Grove then back my normal side street route with 6x1/2 block strides. I think only 2-3 miles of the entire run were down while the rest was up. I guess the old stories of how your grandparents walked to school uphill both ways could be true… Mi 12-T2 Avg. 8:50

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 280 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 274 / / Saucony Rides #1: 275 / / Saucony Rides #2: 290 // Adidas Adistar (flats): 157

Single: I got a crazy amount of sleep last night. Oh wait I only got an extra half an hour. Do to the same work demands and TWO "surprise" meetings today I had to get all my miles in in one run. Got in early to work, then out the door at 9:30AM. Start temp 71F end temp 78F. I ran to SH and did two loops plus one track lap (75). Mi 12-R1 Avg. 7:47

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 280 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 274 / / Saucony Rides #1: 287 / / Saucony Rides #2: 290 // Adidas Adistar (flats): 157

Single: No that is not a typo I did get eight hours of sleep last night. I decided to decrease my miles for today and sleep in the extra two hours. So I just did an easy loop from home after bedtime. Went over the "new" Parley's bridge after taking a drink of water from the new drinking fountain. Went through the park and saw another large gopher snake (~3ft) then back home via mile 7 of the marathon course. I should be able to sleep in tomorrow as well as I only have to work 2-3 hours before heading up for WBR!!! Mi 7-T2 Avg. 7:45

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 280 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 281 / / Saucony Rides #1: 287 / / Saucony Rides #2: 290 // Adidas Adistar (flats): 157

Wasatch Back Relay: FRB White Team. I had planned an early run today to loosen up but had to work a few hours instead. I also decided a second 8-hr sleep night would be good prior to the sleepless night of WBR. I met Chad, Steve C, and James M. at Whole Foods and we left for Logan at about 2pm. The drive up was good and we stopped to pick up an additional runner. We met briefly at Paul’s and then all went over to the start.

It was pretty impressive to see so many people all on the same team (28 with drivers) plus friends and spouses that came to the start. We soon found out that the BYU rumors were true and they had a super stacked team. That didn’t change much as far as the race was concerned from my perspective, either way I was going to run my heart out. I knew I was one of, if not the slowest runner on the White Team and wanted to earn the honor that had been bestowed upon me. The only thing that knowing about BYU did was that it did change the overall mood for me from the Del Sol experience. Knowing our first runner was up against a sub-14 minute 5K guy was just a little intimidating. In any case we started at 5pm and van one did great. I’m not going to write about the other runners and just refer you to their blogs to not spoil their thunder.

The van I was in (Van 2) had Jake (the driver), Seth, Dave, Clyde, Logan, Taylor, and me. First, I have to thank Jake. We couldn’t have done the race without you. It was great that you offered the use of your vehicle and got us to where we needed to be on time. THANK YOU! Anyway back to the race. Being so close to home the prerace jitters were not too bad, we got to the start, started, and got to the first major exchange. There was nothing too noteworthy up to this point. When van 1 got to the exchange and handed off we were already about 12 minutes behind BYU and the pressure was on (or off) depending on how you looked at it. With the warmer temps I only did a mile warm-up. This was my easiest leg and I really wanted to break my projected finish of 5:37 pace. I got the handoff from Dave and took off as hard as I could. This was only 3.5 miles and had a slight downhill. I would guess that the temp was still about 70F at 9:23pm. The next team was pretty far ahead but I did manage 3 “roadkill” on the route. . For those that don’t know the race is run with the slowest teams starting first and the fastest starting last (the first start was at 7:40AM with over 600 teams registered). We started at 5PM with only about 5 other teams so there were a lot of people running ahead of us (some with a 9hr and 20min head start). My first mile was 5:14 and I was super excited about that but wouldn’t be able to maintain. My second mile was 5:39 and I was breathing really hard. I kept forgetting this wasn’t Phoenix we were running at 5000ft and the elevation and heat did play its toll. My third mile my wheels were falling off and I had to do all I could to stay under 6 minute pace (this mile was up hill) 5:51. The final half mile to my exchange with Seth was at 5:34 pace. Total 3.46 miles in 19:19.36 Avg. 5:35 HR 183 so I got the team an extra 7 seconds. Total ascent 248ft total descent 278ft. Then back into the van and on to the next exchange. The van I was in was great and everyone did a great job about making the experience as fun as possible. At the next exchange I did a half mile cool down. I was so exhausted. I couldn’t believe how much this leg wiped me out and was concerned about the next leg. As soon as we got to the major exchange I tried to sleep and managed about a half hour of sleep. I never got out of the car at the exchange…

Mi 5-Flats

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 280 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 281 / / Saucony Rides #1: 287 / / Saucony Rides #2: 290 // Adidas Adistar (flats): 162

WBR-Day 2. After my half hour of sleep we were off again. I felt better after getting some rest. I only did another mile warm-up before my second leg. This leg was my longest and slightly up hill. The temp had also dropped a considerable amount (to ~45F). I got out and wore gloves and a headband. Dave came in at 2:50AM and I nearly missed him, the volunteers never called out our number. Then I was off and moving and warming up quickly. This leg the goal pace was only 6:10 so I felt comfortable even with the slight uphill grade. I probably should have pushed the first half a little more but just wanted to stay in a groove. The first mile was 6:04 and I felt good about the effort. The next mile was 6:02 and I was really happy. The next mile was more of the same 6:06 (this portion of the course climbed from ~5400ft to ~5500ft). I started to get a little too hot at this point and took off my headband, the problem was that my headlamp also came off I nearly dropped it but caught it just in time. I got the headlamp back on and it was loose I decided not to mess with it and just let the bouncing off my glasses be my “running metronome”… This portion had a couple tight turns to go under an expressway I hit it in 6:17. I’m sure it was slower with the turns, the slight headwind, and messing with the headlamp. For this leg we were starting to get into the thick of the other people and passing the other teams really helps when you are running in the pitch dark, especially when they would go with me for a few steps. Miles 4 and 5 both had short steep climbs and I hit them in 6:25 and 6:11. The final stretch into the exchange was at 5:44 pace. Total 6.13 miles in 37:52.90 Avg. 6:10 HR 177 my total ascent on this leg was 863 ft with 652 ft of descent. In the end I didn’t lose or gain any time for the team with this leg but got 29 “roadkill” (Sasha you are scary with your predictions!!!). I did a half mile cool down at the next exchange.

At the next major exchange I did a little walking around but nowhere near as much as I did at Del Sol and tried to get a little more sleep. I managed about an hour. At this point we were told we were about 40 minutes behind BYU and about 40 minutes up on the Blue team so the main pressure was just trying to hit our marks. My final leg was by far my hardest. It was only 3.7 miles but it was on one of the two hardest hills on the relay named “You’ve got to be kidding” (my leg) and “Ragnar” (the name sake of all the relays hosted by this group and Seth’s leg on which he holds the record). My leg has a nice flat half mile and then climbs nearly 1500 ft in just over three miles. It was warming up and I did a short half mile warm-up and was as ready as I was ever going to be. I was pretty rested considering I’d actually gotten sleep this relay and really wanted to do my best. Dave came in at 8:48AM and I was off. As I said the first half mile was flat and I took advantage of it. Then I hit the hill, literally I ran right into it and fell down. Not really but my quads immediately locked up with the climbing. I just tried to power through it and focused on quick turnover. Mi 1 6:54. The next mile was all up and the road changed to a dirt/gravel mixture of which I got to breath in a lot of it. There were a few people to work off of and the van was super-supportive as I struggled to “run” up this thing. Mi 2 8:58. My projected time for this leg was supposed to be 8:35 pace and I was seeing that slip away but I was trying not to look at my watch and just push as hard as I could. The next mile was in 10:38 and in all honesty that was about as hard as I could push. This mile had some evil spots where it would start to level off but about the time I could get some leg turnover it would start to climb again, really messed with my muscles… The final stretch into the exchange I ran at 8:48 pace. Total 3.57 miles in 31:30.83 Avg. 8:50 HR 176 with 1574 ft of ascent and only 177 ft of descent only got 4 “roadkill”. I “lost” the team nearly 54 seconds on this leg. Back into the van and cheering on the truly superhuman performance of Seth on his climb up Ragnar. Did one mile cooldown between the next two exchanges.

Mi 13-flats

After some more great performances by the remaining guys in the van we crossed the finish line in 17 hrs and 54 min finishing in second place and finishing 35 min behind BYU out of 545 finishing teams. Not too shabby for a bunch of mostly married guys with kids and jobs versus a bunch of NCAA DI college athletes. We also finished almost 1 hr exactly in front of the FRB Blue team. Great races by all. Thank you to everyone on both teams and to all the other bloggers that I met on other teams and in route as volunteers. I also have to thank Paul for the entry and Sasha and Steve H for the sponsorship. Also, a special thank you to Harold Nez for agreeing to volunteer and help set up the finish area even though we wasn’t able to see any of the race. I hope to be a part of another fine relay with the FRB. The relays are tough and though I would have to say winning Del Sol and the drives down and back were more fun than this experience I still had a great time this weekend and am glad I did it and am happy that I was a part of another great team. I'm sure I'm going to remember about 1000 things I did and just forgot amongst the sleep deprivation so if I didn’t add the detail or forgot to mention someone sorry.

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 280 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 281 / / Saucony Rides #1: 287 / / Saucony Rides #2: 290 // Adidas Adistar (flats): 175