Go, you chicken fat, go away!

I did 25 situps and rode the stationary bike for a while.  I'm starting to be able to walk like a normal person now.  I got my bike back from the friend that I let borrow it for a triathlon.  That will be nice to ride this weekend to get me back in the swing of things.

Today was the third annual Cheshire Chase sponsored by the Skyline Stake of the LDS Church in Mesa.  I've done it all three years.  I feel kind of bad because the last two years I haven't lived in the stake anymore, but I've been the first adult to finish.  So I take home the hardware, which is a medal that's probably nicer than the one I got at the Mesquite Marathon.  Maybe next year I'll tell them to give the medal to someone in the stake.  Maybe not.

I haven't run a lick since the marathon.  I wasn't sure how I'd do.  So I stretched out and warmed up a little.  My legs felt great, but there was some tenderness in my tendons.  I decided I would push the pace, but not get out of my comfort zone.

The first year a high schooler took off and smoked everyone.  Last year he had a broken ankle, but I'm pretty sure he was back and won again this year; 17:15.  The kid that won last year took second place this year.  But there were also more guys from the Skyline CC team there this year.  I had no chance at beating them.  They were sprinting from the get go.  Two other kids took off, too, but I don't know if they were on the CC team or not.  I reeled one of them in at the mile mark.  He decided he was going to run with me.  I told him he was doing great.  He was a very friendly kid, and quite popular; at least everybody seemed to know him.  His name was Travis.  He was a bit of a clod-hopper.  I didn't think he would last much longer, but every time I pushed it he would go too.

We passed the other kid shortly after the turn around.  That was Jared.  He used to be my home teacher.  He's got to be about 6' 5" now.  Tall kid.  With a mile to go I gave another little surge.  Travis stayed with me, breathing hard and hopping the clods.  At that point I decided he was working so hard for this that I wasn't going to let him lose to me.  I kept him honest by holding a quick pace.  We got to half a mile to go and I urged him on because it looked like he was ready to give up.  Then we got to the final turn with 0.2 miles to go.  I was pulling ahead slightly so I started yelling at him, "Come on!  Almost there!  Don't give up!  Let's go!"  He finally kicked it in and beat me by a second.  That made it exciting for everyone.  And of course made me feel good inside.

This is the Bishop.  He actually runs in his white shirt and tie.  He was on my Ragnar team two years ago.  He's pretty fast, but the last two years he's run at a 9 minute pace so more people can get their "Beat the Bishop" certificate.

This is my daughter on the right.  She's the only one that came with me.  She's standing next to our old neighbor on the left.  They both did the one mile fun run.  Ben and Eight Kid Mom are in town for Thanksgiving.  I know they wanted to do this race, but I don't think they got in until midnight.

My splits were 7:05, 7:21, 7:20 and 1:03 for the last 0.15.  My friend also measured 3.15 on his Garmin.  But with as bad as I am at running the tangents, it was probably a pretty accurate course.  My legs don't feel too bad.  The tops of my feet are sore.  And my glutes are pretty tight.  Other than that, I'm doing good.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I finally took Vinh's and Lyman's advice and went for a nice slow run.  (Sorry for those of you I just offended for saying 9:25 pace is slow.)  It was really nice out.  I thought for sure it was going to rain because I washed three vehicles yesterday.  I got about half a mile into the run and tried to pass some egg nog, but when the prarie dog started poking its head out, I immediately stomped on the brakes on that idea.  That would have to happen to me on the day I decide to go real slow.  It made the last two miles brutal.  Even with the slow pace I saw someone way up on the sidewalk walking along.  I figured I might pass them so I was playing out the scenario in my head on how I would have to say, "On your left."  Just then I heard, "On your right."  I knew who it was.  It was On-Your-Right-Bicycle-Girl again.  I wonder where she goes.  She always has this yellow back pack on, and she just pedals on down Rittenhouse Road.  Anyway I said good morning to her and told her it was nice to see her again.  I'm sure she has a pet name for me, too.

Time - 52:42 (avg. pace 9:25)

Splits - 9:27, 9:21, 9:18, 9:25, 9:34, 5:39 for 0.60 (9:26 pace)

Here's a couple more pictures from last week's marathon:

This is my Derek Zoolander Blue Steel pose.

Gary and Sandy (not necessarily in that order.)  They can't take a bad picture.

This is at the Hoover Dam.  I can't believe how much the water level has gone down.

I remember when the water surface was up to that second tier beneath that bridge.  It's kind of scary actually.