Marathon Top 10 Finishes: 7 Bridges ('15), Utah Valley ('13), Salt Lake City ('08), Top of Utah ('07), and St. Louis ('04). Ran around the equator (24901.55) in 4,388 days.
And my largest challenge to date, raise $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my cancer survivorship and in memory of those lost to blood cancer...
DONE! $26,403.70
Grew up outside Chicago and joined the blog while I lived in Salt Lake City. Now living outside Birmingham. I am married with two daughters. Wife thinks I'm crazy for doing marathons. And yes I am crazy I'm a scientist for a living...
I'm on to a good tradition. These Sunday morning hikes are such a great way to end/start the week. John and I hit a new trial, Grandeur Peak. It was a tough climb but completely worth it. It was so scenic and I felt like I was in the CO-Rockies instead of the Wasatch front. There was one crest when we went over into a field of at least 15 different kinds of flowers. The climb was from 4928ft to 8480ft in 2.3mi 1hr and 5min. The way down was TOO fast and I got a monster blister on my right heal. I ended up pealing it off and dealt with the joys of that for most of the day. Our church had their picnic at SugarHouse and then we had friends over for dinner who are leaving on their mission next month. After dinner I braved a Suicide Rock/Dog Park loop run, blister or no blister... Overall a good day.
It is Wed that I’m updated so the next three days go
together. I will try and type each entry as I had them outlined in my head
though for the specific day.
Monday, Monday… Typical crazy busy day with everything that
could pop up, pop up. After all family and work items were taken care of I
headed out the door for my run (9:45pm). I did the home 5K loop but slowly. I
initially had planned 10 for today but needed to get some sleep as well. Avg.
8:27 HR 127
AM: Memory Grove loop from work. My quads are still killing
me from the hike on Sunday. My blister is more or less a non-issue though. Avg.
9:12 HR 139
The morning was going more or less like a usual day. I had
planned two runs for the day. In lab things kept going wrong. We have a number
of summer undergrad “helpers” and some of them are better monitored than
others, I’ll leave it at that. By about 2pm I was ready to through in the towel
and head for the hills. Then I checked my e-mail and found out that I GOT MY
GRANT! That means I have a job for at least another three years. It is nice
when hard work pays off.
PM: After going home early (4:30pm if that is early) and a
celebration dinner of sushi with my family I had to drop some stuff off in lab
and then headed over to City Creek. It was a perfect evening, I’m sure the good
news of the day helped. Legs were still sore so I took it easy again. Tried to
go off road but was forced back by the overgrown trail I chose (12:51 for that
first mile). Then back on the road and up to the water shed line. About a
quarter mile before the mark there is a little waterfall. I was busy looking at
it and had to clear my nose. Upon clearing it a buck took off from the bush
about 50ft ahead across the road and bounded into the bush. I think I startled
it more than it startled me but it was still cool to see. Also, my friend the
hummingbird was dancing in the dusk light near picnic area number 8 again. Avg.
8:23 HR 136
It was nice to have the night off. Today is just getting
situated on the stuff I dropped yesterday and making sure all the paperwork is
in place for the new grant to start. Busy work I can say I actually don’t mind
doing.
AM: Commute run in the backside of campus. Avg. 9:19 HR none
is that bad???
PM: Naked nose run. After the nighttime routine headed out the door. Temp still read 90F but it didn't feel that bad. The nose run comes from the fact that I tried to control my pace by only allowing myself to breath through my nose. It forcing you to focus on your breathing and means you can't go too hard. I use it from time to time...
Interesting day. Sometimes things are not what they appear
and discussion is a good tool to get through it. Also, interoffice politics is
as entertaining as it gets. Is that coded enough for you? My right leg is still
tight, mostly the quad. Just did the 33rd south loop. Avg. 7:42
Early morning. I had my heart rate monitor on just out of
bed and it was reading between 37 and 42 bpm. Then out the door and it went up
to 120 in the first block. The heart is amazing. I did a commute run in to work
to the Firehouse mile and hit it in 5:06. It felt harder than it should have
but it was ok. Avg. 8:36 HR141
Not a very restful night. Sleep time was typical but I had a lot of dreams that I don't remember but did not allow me to rest. Then the girls woke up a little before my alarm and I felt like a slug from there on. I ended up leaving the house about 10 min late but Eric waited for me and we did a preview run of the Des 10K course. It is funny how less painful the last two miles are when you're running it at a relaxed pace and talking. As always we had some good conversation and overall it was a good run. Legs are still sore but the knee and quad are feeling much better than the rest of the week. Avg. 9 flat, since I'm a number freak I always find it amazing when the average pace is even to the second. HR 126
