I spent the better part of the first mile feeling sorry for myself for jumping on the scale this morning and seeing that I'm well above 200 lbs. again. But after a few miles I said, "It's not that bad. I can still run fast. And I can lose it quickly if I make up my mind to stop eating all this crummy Easter candy." So, here I go.
I stubbed my toes on the bathroom wall this morning. Ouch. They still hurt, but I went running anyway. I saw a dead bird in the road right next to some serving tongs. Now why would someone try to cook a bird in the gutter?
My legs were so heavy today. Try as I may to run through it, it wasn't happening. So I cut my run a mile short. When I got home I could feel my lower back tightening up. I probably slipped another disc. No pain, no gain. Sweat levels were pretty high. As I was stretching out I played a game with a tiny black ant. I would try to bomb it with drops of sweat.
Yesterday I was waiting at work for my wife to bring my phone charger. By the time she brought it, it was 4pm, and I was ready to go home. So I left my bike there and went with her. I was going to run back and get it last night, but I didn't. I went this morning instead. For the last two days I've seen the lady that dissed me on the high five. But she does wave to me now. So, that's progress. I could feel a blister forming on one of the toes on my right foot. It's gonna be a nice one. The bike ride home was interesting. 2.58 miles in 12 minutes and 36 seconds. That's a 4:54 pace. Are you kidding me? People can run marathons at a faster pace than it took me to ride a bike two and a half miles? Geesh!
I'm trying to get 800 miles on my old shoes before I retire them. Smart? Probably not. The cause of my recent blisters. Probably yes. Do I look like I care? Just look at my profile picture.
I had some issues with my boy this morning. May have been the cause of the faster than normal, although not that I can't always, pace. Honestly. Will that boy ever learn?
Today was supposed to be a recovery run of sorts. So I thought maybe it would be a good time to go running with the "cats", Ginger and Cinammon. Those two don't know the meaning of the word recovery. Cinammon always has to run right next to Ginger. And I mean she's got to be touching her. When we got to the canal I let go of Ginger's leash. But after a while Ginger was missing her affection and started running next to Cinammon. Well, somewhere along the line I stopped my Garmin and didn't start it again. But I'm sure I was way faster than the 9 minute pace I was shooting for. Thanks a lot, bitches.
2011 Dayton's Dash (3.11 Miles) 00:22:20, Place overall: 8
Total Distance
4.46
My friend Gabe told me about this race. The Deacon's Quorum president in his ward organized this race as a fund raiser for cerebral palsy for his Boy Scout's Eagle project.
This is Gabe.
He sent me the link on Facebook, and I sent it out to all my local running friends. My friend Julie from my last Ragnar team came. This is she.
I wasn't sure how to run this race. Would there be fast people there? Should we run faster than Spencer and Dayton? I decided I would run hard and see what everyone else was doing.
They counted us down from 10, and as I expected some people shot right out. I wasn't near the front when the race started so I went with the flow and watched a bunch of people in front of me. I settled in to a nice 7 min. mile pace which felt extremely easy, but I knew it was the pace I wanted. I trusted that everyone in front of me would tire out.
The course followed the parking lot road then turned right at the street. The street dead ended into a cul-de-sac bulb so I could count how many people were in front of me. 29 after 0.3 miles. I told myself just to keep running my race. Then we got onto a dirt trail. I kept passing people here and there. Spencer and Dayton were ahead of me.
There was a water station at the turn around point. I wasn't sure where to turn around, but I didn't need any water. About a dozen people in front of me stopped to get a drink. This is where Spencer stopped and had an adult take over. Spencer needed to be at the finish line when everyone came in, after all, it was his Eagle project. So I passed Dayton up shortly before getting back on the road again. At this point I could tell that I was in 9th place. I ended up passing three more people, but also got passed twice. I was even chicked by two guys. (Somehow, that last sentence makes perfect sense to me.)
My splits were 7:06, 7:09, 7:23, and 0:42 (6:36 pace). I'm okay with that. I wish I was getting faster, but I haven't been doing any core or cardio work lately. That, I found, is what really helps with my speed.
So, I talked with Julie and her sister a bit after the race. Then I went out to find Gabe who was running with his son. I saw them walking in. His son was tired out. 3.1 miles is a long way for a 7 year old. (I think he's 7. Maybe 6.) So Gabe kept trying to get him to run. We got him going for a little bit. Then he stopped again. We were so close to the finish. So I leaned down and whispered in his ear that if he beat his dad, I would give him 2 quarters. Then he ran all the way to the finish.
I talked to Spencer after the race and congratulated him on the great project. He's a nice kid.
I also got to see Dayton. He wasn't too thrilled about being up so early in the morning, but I'm guessing he enjoyed himself. Fun race.
Arizona Road Racer's Open Mile May 17, 2011 (1 Miles) 00:06:09, Place overall: 16
Total Distance
2.77
I didn't think I could pull off another sub 6 minute mile tonight, and I was right. My legs are still sore from Saturday, and I'm just not as fast as I was a few months ago. But I gave it a try. When I saw the first lap was 1:30 and I was already sucking wind, I knew it wasn't going to be. Really. Coming down the home stretch with the wind blowing in my face was almost making me choke on the wind. Kind of a momentum killer, too.
But I had a good time. And I saw my college friend Urmas Grossthal. Yes I did go to college. Urmas is from Estonia. He's an interesting character. And I saw Mark, Terri, and Jim. Great runners. Great people. Great abs.
My second mile was 6:54 and I came in 12th place. That's because a lot of people didn't do the second mile. But I always go the second mile.
I've been trying to make my blog as boring as possible, but that's lame because there's some good stories to tell. For example, yesterday I failed to tell about how when I was running by the elementary school I heard this announcement on the intercom, "Students please return to your classes immediately. We are locking the school down." Coincidence that I just happened to be running by at the same time? Of course! What's wrong with you people? Also, I saw a turtle in the canal. I love turtles more than I love ducks. And last night was the third time I volunteered for the Third Thursday Adventure Run. You know what that means?
Also I saw this car on the freeway yesterday. I thought it was funny.
So today on my run I got to Val Vista and noticed a long line of cars at the stop light. That never happens so I cast my eyes round about and beheld that a truck had dropped its load of wood siding, those big 8'x4' planks. It must have slammed on its breaks and they all came sliding off the top of his truck's rack. Bonus workout for me. I got my lifting in for the day. Also the old lady regular that I've been seeing on a regular basis, oh that's good writing, was running on the other side of the street today. Weird. But she did wave at me. I shall call her orange shirt lady.
I need to get some more miles in. I didn't even crack double digits last week. I did have two races though. Anyway, no excuses. As the slogan stolen from the late great prophet Spencer W. Kimball goes, Just DO IT!
I got up to late to go running before celebrating mediocrity. Maybe I'll go later. Knowing me, probably not. Anyway, on the bike ride to work another cyclist passed me up. Like every day along this stretch I actually ride in the rocks next to the side of the road. He was out in the middle of the car lane, and he yelled, "You have the right to be in the street. Come on!" as he urged me to join him. Not really sure if you have the right to be in the street without a helmet, but what do I know?
I had a fun run this morning with 8kidmom and my boss Jared. I don't mind running on my own, but having people to run with is always better. Usually better. Sometimes better. Pass the butter. I'm not sure why, but I'm having hearing problems again lately. After I started running my hearing problems went away. Anyway, I tried to stay in the middle of them so I could listen to the stories. They were some good stories, let me tell you.
Wait. Isn't that the girl from the St. George Marathon video? Why, yes it is.
8kidmom is heading back to Utah today. It's always a pleasure to run with a celebrity. We met at Jared's house and ran with him and his wife, Michelle. We only ran 3.28 so everyone would be good to go for a nice long one tomorrow. Well, they can go on a nice long one. I'll sleep in :) I felt so dumb today because I couldn't hear anything. No, dumb means you can't talk. Deaf means you can't hear. But I didn't do a lot of talking anyway because I couldn't hear. Not that I talk a lot anyway. What are we talking about? Oh yeah, running. At least the run was nice.
At 8AM this morning my thermometer said it was 90° already. I have to go in to work today, so I decided to run since nobody else will be here. I hope. Anyway, by the time I left at 9:40AM it was up to 95°. But it felt nice. Warm, like a mother's womb.
Yesterday was such a beautiful day, and I didn't have to work. I would have loved to have gotten in a nice long run. The problem was, I got one of those horrific nocturnal calf cramps about 3:30 AM. I could barely walk in the morning. So, I've been loading up on the bananas. It felt fine this morning. My calf, that is. Not the banana.
