Cool Runnings!

AM - woke up at 5:30, dressed and got ready for the half marathon.  My calf was still bugging me a bit, but not as much as before, so I was kind of hopeful that I might be able to still run a good race.  Got to the start at 6:10, went to the bathroom, warmed up and then did some strides.  I could feel my calf during the strides, and that had me worried before I even started.  Took off, and ended up starting a bit too fast, but found my pace fairly quickly.  First mile was around 6:25, I believe.  At this point, I wasn't very confident in my ability to be able to maintain this pace, and I think I started experiencing some negative mental attitude at this point.  My calf was still in the back of my mind.  Second mile was about 6:55, I think.  I felt like I was already redlining here, even though this was slower than my anticipated marathon pace.  On top of that, I was feeling concerned about my calf, and didn't want to risk seriously injuring it this close to St. George.  Mile 3 was 7:15.  I felt like I was already wasted - not good, and my calf was starting to tighten up.  I decided at this point that I was going to bag the race and start walking once I got to the aid station and pace Laura through the rest of the half.  This had been my plan B ever since I had the problem on Saturday.  I never thought of quitting, but I decided at that point that this race was no longer about me, as I would not have been able to get a PR, and would have run a major risk of getting a more serious injury.  I started walking at the 3.5 mile mark, and ended up walking for a mile before Laura caught up to me.  I admit, even though I knew I had decided what I was going to do, it was pretty discouraging seeing all of those runners pass by me.  I didn't start feeling better until I saw Laura start to catch up to me.  Then I focused on trying to get her up to her target pace.  We did manage to slowly improve the average pace by a few seconds per mile by the time we reached the turnaround, and then it was almost all downhill, which helped her, I think.  We hit some low 10:00 miles and had one mile below 10:00, and then Lybi joined us at the 8.5 mile mark.  I was trying to be a good pacer, but I kept letting her fall behind me.  Finally Lybi and Laura settled into a routine of catching up to me and slugging me on the shoulder in order to motivate her.  At about mile 11, I think she started to run out of gas a bit, as our splits were slowing, but she toughed it out, and finished very strong.  After the race finished, my calf was quite sore and tight, and we gathered up everyone and then headed back to Mike and Laura's, where I put some ice on my calf and sat down on the couch while Lybi finished packing us up.  Overall, a disappointing experience to not have been able to race this the way I wanted to, although I realized that the altitude had really affected me, and I would not have been able to hit my splits anyways, so the disappointment was eased by being able to help pace Laura.  In addition, we were able to have a good time visiting with Mike and Laura, and we brought Lybi's parents with us from New Mexico, where we stayed Friday night, and then Lybi's other sister Rebecca came over on Saturday evening as well, and they stayed until early Monday morning.  So I rate this as a great family time, good time being a pacer, and not so good race (for me).  Oh well, that's life.  I am going to go easy on the calf the rest of this week - all cycling for me, and will have Lybi scrape and massage the heck out of it.  No more MP miles until my calf feels 100%.

AM - Well, after several days of forced inactivity due to my calf issues, I was finally able to run again this morning.  I took it real easy and just ran 2 miles (so far) with Sparky, untimed, but it felt really good.  We have not had very much time together this week, so Lybi has not had much opportunity to scrape and massage my calf.  But we just decided that we will have her do this during couples scripture study at night - I will read to her while she massages my legs.  Sounds like a good idea to me . . . in fact, we did this last night, and that may have made a difference.  I have a big old knot deep in my calf that needs to get worked out.  At this point, I am still confident I will be able to do St. George.

PM - ran another 4 (fairly) easy miles outside.  Calf felt okay, but I could still feel the knot that was there.  Maybe I'm not getting enough electrolytes or something . . . 'cuz my other calf is starting to get tight as well, but in a different place.  I dunno.  I also noticed that my hips were pretty tight last night, so I am going to start stretching them out again as well.  Average pace of 7:45 on the evening run.

AM - 2 easy miles with Sparky, untimed, then 4 miles by myself.  Average pace for the 4 mile run was 7:40/mile.  It actually felt pretty easy, so I'm not too worried about the pace.  Afterwards, I took Sam out for 1.65 miles in 18:00.  He did a good job, although I think he is getting used to running on the treadmill, and it was harder for him to run outside because he didn't get any assistance from the road.  I also think I probably ran a little bit faster with him than he was used to.  I will try to get another 4 miles or so in later this evening, after working on the calf.  Quite  a busy day ahead of us - Lybi has a funeral at 11:00, then I am headed to the temple for a 3:00 session, where two new converts are going through the temple for the first time, and then we have a date to go on.  On top of that, BYU is playing today at 12:00, and I would like to be able to watch the game.