Old Man Still running

I started off the new month with a good after-work run.   I ran across Cedar Valley along the Pony Express trail from Eagle Mountain to Fairfield and back.   It is 10 miles of flat dirt road and 5 miles of rural pavement.   Good speed is possible.   My route can be viewed here. 

I completed the 15 miles in 2:09:37, kind of easy (3:45 marathon pace).  Going out I had a tail wind, coming back a cool head wind.  I should have brought long sleeves and gloves for the run back, was pretty chilled at the end, right at dusk.  The half-way point was Camp Floyd in Fairfield where I filled my water bottle.

My pace splits to some check-points was:

out: 7:58, 8:22, 8:40, 8:30   (1:02 out)

back 8:36, 9:04, 9:13, 9:08   (1:07 back)

Gives me plenty of room to push for quicker splits next time.

Again went out to Cedar Valley for a flat long run (17 miles) from Eagle Mountain to Fairfield and back.  I took a longer route this time with less pavement.  Very remote feeling out there.   I had a stiff headwind heading out and on the way back took my sweet time.  My pace going out was 8:45, coming back 10:03, with a 9:23 overall.  I ran this after work and finished in the dark.

Its been nice to do these after work runs with daylight, but I'd rather do early morning runs in the dark.  This seems to take away too much of the day, being away from home.  Somehow running while the family is asleep seems like my free time.   I'm ready to attack the foothills before dawn.  Just want it to get warmer!

See my route.

I took a page out of Kelli's workout book today and also did a speed workout.  Yuk.  Mine was a little different.

1/2 mile at 6:18

1/4 mile at 5:42

1/4 mile at 8:34

Total one-mile pace around 6:45.    I did this six times without rests in-between.

I didn't enjoy it, but it felt like it was helpful in getting my foot-speed up and my lung strength up.   It felt easier than running 10k at 6:45 pace.

Feels lilke I'm coming down with a cold.  I've been very lucky for months to stay well.   We'll see.   I think all the cold outdoor stuff lately lowered my resistance.

My cold hit me full force last night.   We'll see if I try to run today.  Usually that makes me feel better.

p.m. 8 miles on treamill.  Did some hill work.  6 miles at 8:30 pace with average of 10% incline.  Was planning on only 5, but felt good and kept going.   Could tell my heart rate was up more than usual due to the cold, but ended out feeling much better.

Dang!   It looks like six inches of snow out there.  What a surprise.   I need to go borrow Twinkies new snow shoes.

Feels like I'm pulling out of my cold this afternoon.   Did 10 treadmill miles at 6:58 pace with 1% incline.  It felt easy.   Recent training seems to be making a difference.

For my crazy long run today, I was out at 3:15 a.m.   My objective was to run up and over Lake Mountain, down into Cedar Valley, and then run around Lake Mountain, through Eagle Mountain, the Ranches, and then back to home.

It was below freezing with a little breeze but I was dressed warm.   There was a half moon out that illuminated against the snow.  I didn't need to turn on my headlamp while I ran on the roads.   I ran past the police station, hoping they wouldn't see me and wonder what this crazy guy dressed in dark clothes was doing out on the streets so early.

I ran a couple miles to the dirt road that heads up to the top of Lake Mountain.   Within a mile, the snow arrived.  Thankfully some trucks had been up the road after the snow fell yesterday so I could run in their tracks.  It was so quiet and peaceful climbing the steep road in the snow.  My climb would be over 3,000 feet and it got colder and colder.  It must have dropped below 20 degrees because my water bottle froze near the top.

The truck tracks headed up to the towers but thankfully there were some snow mobile tracks on the road that continued down the other side.  This is a nice long gradual descent for about seven miles.   I was amazed how much snow there was.   I ran along the snow mobile tracks and wound through the valley with just a red headlamp to light my way.  The moon was still out and I had plenty of light.   But the snow wasn't going away.   The snow mobile tracks ended, they turned back up.  But it was OK, I just bounded throught the snow.  It continued to be deep until I got down to 5,500 feet and then as I spilled out into the valley, the snow totally disappeared.

I was very surprised to see that yesterday's storm that dropped six inches of snow at my house didn't drop any snow in Cedar Valley.  I had counted on using the snow for my water bottle.   Oh well, I would run on the one bottle clear until mile 28.  It was very cool, so I didn't get too dehydrated. 

Dawn arrived, but much of Cedar Valley was covered in a low fog.   As I ran into the fog the temperature dropped again and I had to put my hand in my pockets even though they had warm gloves on.   My pace was pretty easy, I was just enjoying the early morning.  As the sun peeked over the mountain, the fog quickly dispersed where I was and I was facinated watching the fog lift toward the mountain.   Frost covered all the brush around me and sparkled in the sunlight.  I also spied a herd of 12 antelope who were watching me very closely.  It was so quiet and peaceful, one of those great running moments.

My run continued through Eagle Mountain city center now on the pavement.   I then turned on the parkway and started to see other runners out for an early morning run.  I realized that I probably looked strange with my gaitors and extra warm cloths.  But it was still near freezing.    At a park out in a field, I stopped for a long bathroom break and then headed up and over Unity Pass.   Snow appeared again.  Interesting.  No snow on the west of the mountain, but starting at the pass a bunch fell.

I continued to run on pavement for the rest of my run.  All the trails on this side of the mountain were very wet and muddy, even the road shoulders.  I stopped at the convenient store in the Ranches, drank plenty, and ate a donut.   On my way again, I finished my run enjoying listening to music and singing like crazy, feeling great.  The cows didn't seem to mind.

My route can be seen here.

That is the fifth Saturday in a row with at least 35 miles.

p.m. 5 miles with the dog while listening to the BYU game.

With my string of five Saturdays in a row with at least 35 miles, that got me wondering.  How many times in my life have I run long runs on a day?   I'll call 20 miles a long run.   It turns out that I have 180 days with 20 miles or more.  My biggest year was last year, which might explain why I PRed at RR100 last month.

2002	3
2003	7
2004	25
2005	24
2006	28
2007	26
2008	21
2009	38
2010	8

 

I have a ton more between 15-20 miles because of all my Timp runs and early morning training runs.  But 20 miles or over seems like a much bigger effort, so that is what I'm calling a long run.

Treadmill.  Four miles at 5:53.  Backed off the pace after that because quad complained.

Did it a little different this morning.  I ran to the rec center, ran the treadmill and then ran back home.   The rec center is only a mile from home, so I don't have to get all bundled up.  However running back all sweaty was a little brisk.  It was nice to get outside, even it was was pavement.  The lights across the lake are great see before dawn.

p.m.  Fast four miles of pavement with the dog.

Treadmill.   Mixture of speed and hills.  Two fast miles at 6:15 and 5:58. That is all I could take with speed.  One tough much slower mile with incline at 25% for much of it.  Fun stuff. The rest of the miles were about 7:30 pace.  I did notice the 10k mark went by a little after 45 minutes, so I guess overall I was going pretty fast.  (I didn't do the hills during that stretch). 

I'm starting to think of going into a taper.  Antelope Island 100 is just 16 days away.  I don't have any firm expectations.  Well, I do expect to win, since I'm the only one running it.  Do I expect to PR?  Probably not.   Pretty tough to push hard when I will be the only one running the course for the first 60 miles.   I'll start around 7 p.m. the evening before the big race.   I should finish the first 50 miles before 5 a.m., so I'll have a head start on the Antelope Island 50 runners.   The front runners will catch me around 60 miles or earlier, and then I will have plenty of company as people catch up to me.   Hopefully it will motivate me to try to keep pace with runners who have 50 fewer miles on their legs.   Should be fun.  I expect that I'll finish with the back of the pack, so I'll have some nice friendly company when I'm almost dead.

Eight easy treadmill miles while watching basketball.

I was really focused on this 10K because I really believed I could PR and break 43 minutes.  To make a long story short the race organizers cut the course short this year, didn’t tell us, or even mention it at the awards.  It turned out to be a 9K.  I would have been rather angry, but the race is for a good cause and in the name of a man, Rex Lee, who I really respected.  His wife also grew up with my mother.  So, I chilled out.  But the race was a mess.   I had a super race and was on pace to crush my PR, I mean crush!   I believe I would have finished in at least 41:55 if the course was the correct length.

The long story is, that I went to Provo, checked in, and then warmed up for two miles.  I felt great and fast.   The first thing that confused me is that they moved the start back about a half block further down the street, so I worried that the course would be long.   The gun went off and I started well.  The first mile is the toughest, with a hill during the second half mile.   I hit what might have been the one mile mark at 6:57.   I thought I was going faster than that, so I immediately didn’t trust the mile markers.   Next up was a very long downhill.  I found some good speed and started passing people.  I keep a tall runner age 48, in my sights who I have never beat.   I hit the mile 2 sign at 11:11, clocking a 4:15 mile.  I yelled out, “No way.”   I knew something was wrong.  I hit mile 3 at 18:01.   No way was I averaging 6-minute miles, but I knew I was averaging well below 7-minute miles.

The rest of the race went great.  I never hit a wall, and around the real 4-mile mark was passing people.  The legs felt great and the lungs were working fine.   As I was nearing the finish, I looked at my watch and concluded that my watch must have stopped at some point, no way was I on pace to break 40.  I finished in 37:50.   I was very confused.  I talked to another runner with a GPS and she explained that the course was 0.6 short.  I then remembered that in past years there were to detours on the course to add that mileage in.    I was very disappointed because I knew I would have had a PR.

The next disappointment was that they allowed 10K racers to switch to the 5K but didn’t change out their chips.   So there were several 5K racers who finished ahead of me clocking 10K placement times.  Michelle Lowry was cheated out of recognition for winning the women’s 10K because 5K runners claimed the price.  What a mess.

Well, the good news is I won my age group!  There were about 500 9K runners.   My mile pace was about 6:45 on a course with some good hills.   If the course was right, I know I would have pushed even harder.   No other old guy was even close to me and I think finished about five minutes behind.

So, I go away with a pleasing feeling that I would have finished in 41:55.   This is a great indication that my training is going very well, even for short distances.   I’m still getting faster.  If they throw out the 5K runners from the 10K standings, I probably finished around 30th place.

Oh, and I did get a kick out of the reaction of the crowd when they called out my name, Davy Crockett, during the awards.  Lots of laughing from the BYU students.   Laugh it up kids.  I bet I beat you all!

Out the door at 4:55 a.m.  Didn't go to the rec center because it always takes them several days to get the lock timer fixed up when daylight saving time kicks in.  So, I had no excuse but to brave the cold.  30 degrees out and it was pleasant.   Ran pavement.  Easy pace, about 8:30, some hills.  http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ut/saratoga%20springs/310126866228460278

p.m.  Spring is here!   Reran the same route after work with the dog.

This morning I was out running at 3:55 a.m.   I previewed (in the dark) the half-marathon course (Shamrock half marathon) being run this Saturday in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain.   It starts Westlake high school. It is a challenging course, will be fun, but really not a viable course for the long-term.   It has to cross busy roads four times and runs along a busy road without a shoulder and blind corners for about two miles.  It jumps from bike paths to roads, to sidewalks.  There are lots of turns and it crosses about 20 streets.  So not very fast at all. But there are some fun stretches including above the golf course in the Ranches, over a hill south of the Ranches, and the last two miles are fast downhill.   There is about 800 feet elevation gain and decline.

Course  Website

My splits were:  7:44, 7:59 (hill), 8:56 (hill), 7:56, 9:09 (getting lazy), 8:42 (sight-seeing), 8:22, 9:21 (hill), 9:08, 8:15, 8:35, 7:17 (downhill), 7:44, 1:20.    Total was about 1:50.   I think 1:45 is probably a pretty good time for me on the course.  I suspect I’ll push for about 1:40.

I did take a wrong turn after mile 5 (took the mistake out of my splits).  I turned too soon and did an extra 1.5 miles in a neighborhood.  I figured it out and then just went back to the mile 5 location and started the watch again.  No biggy, extra miles are good and I had time.

I did notice that the race director had painted mile marks and arrows on some nice sidewalks.   That’s not good.  They are small, not big enough to keep me on course in the dark.  I also took my sweet time checking street signs.   It was a fun run and I look forward to racing it on Saturday.

p.m.

8 miles with the dog.  15 miles in two days was probably too much for her.  She was happy to get back home.

Four fast miles with the dog to keep loose.  Will run some miles with jun tomorrow morning bright and early.

I got up bright and early at 2:30 a.m. to join jun and scottw for a long early morning run in Cedar Valley.  I helped jun map out a course that would allow him to do big miles, returning to the car or use convenient stores for aid stations.  It worked out great.  I'll let jun tell the details.   I ran about 9-10 minute miles.   I did the first 2.5 loops of the course, putting in a little over 21 miles, all in the dark.   As we passed by ranches, we would wake up the dogs and they would go crazy.  The temperature was cool but fine, probably about 26-32 degrees.  It would vary with some warm pockets.

Here is where I ran

All went well, until we finished the 2nd loop.  Jun was about 100 yards ahead and scottw about 300 or so yards behind me.  jun stopped at the car, but I went on ahead to get seven more miles.   But as I continued running up a very straight road, I couldn't see jun or scottw's headlamps behind me.  Where were they???   I continued on, then thought I saw at least one light.   At the 3.5 mile mark from the cars, I turned around, and in less than a mile ran into jun.  He said scottw never returned to our cars!!   How could that be, he was so close behind.  jun went on and I ran back to the cars.   No sign of scottw!!  His car was still there.   I shined my green light all over.

I concluded that somehow scottw had taken a wrong turn near our cars.   Come to think of it as we had been running, he had mentioned that he was all turned around and had no idea where we were.  I jumped in my car and drove all over Cedar Valley, on all the roads within three miles of our cars.  No sign of scottw.   Wow, what happened?   I was sure he was fine, but if he got lost, I realized he would have a devil of a time figuring out where the cars were. I could imagine his frustration trying to explain to someone that he had been running around in the dark with some guys, got lost and had no clue where his car was.

I drove on the first loop we did, thinking he took a wrong turn and ran that loop again, but no sign of scottw so I drove toward the Ranches and found jun.   jun told me not to worry.  He was going to continue to run.  I was worried, so I drove back to the cars to search some more.  Thank goodness, scottw was sitting in his car.  Sure enough, he had taken a wrong turn and ran loop 1 again and then got confused in Eagle Mountain city center which way to go.

Now that it is over, it is REALLY funny.  How in the world can someone get lost in a wide-open valley without any trees, as flat and flat can be where you can see for miles.   I said goodbye to scottw and then drove and found jun still running.  We had a good laugh.  Amazing.   Lesson to be learned.  Whenever you do a crockett aventure run, you must study the map and even better take a GPS.  Something always goes wrong on crockett's adventures.  You can get lost, even in a wide-open valley without trees.

p.m.   I took a vacation day in order to watch the NCAA games.  It was worth it.  That BYU game was amazing.   I did an additional 5 miles while listening to the post game.

I ran in a new half marathon, Shamrock Half Marathon, held in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain.  It starts in Saratoga Springs at the High School , heads west into Eagle Mountain, making a couple loops in the Ranches sub-divisions, and then returning to the High School.  The first and last three miles are rural, running by farms, and the rest runs through neighborhoods.  This half is pretty tough with lots of turns and about 800 feet hill climbing.

I got hit by a sinus infection yesterday, so the bacteria probably affected me, but I still pushed through it.   It was a brisk 23 degrees at the start and 32 degrees at the finish, but the sun came out during the race and made it feel warmer.  I dressed about right.   I believe there were 98 runners who started and only one other person I knew, buddy Mark Ellison.   Strange that it didn’t attract many runners from Saratoga Springs.   I did a little warm-up run, but it was too cold to spend much time out before the start.

We started a little after 8:00 a.m. and I quickly took the lead to get my legs going.   I was still leading at the 1/2-mile mark, but then backed off.   For the first five miles I really struggled to get warmed up, but after that felt much better.   My splits for miles 1-5, were 7:06, 7:17, 7:58(hill), 7:43, 7:49.   About four runners passed me before the first mile and buddy Mark Ellison passed me during mile 2.   I was able to keep him in sight for the rest of the race.   Another pack of several runners  passed me around mile 4.  At mile 5, I think I was in about 9^th place.   As I made the turn in the middle of the Ranches, my oldest son Davy was in his car at the intersection heading to work.  He honked the horn and yelled out the window.

Finally at mile 5, I felt semi-warmed up and my legs enjoyed the gentle uphill.  I was closing the distance on the pack ahead of me.   Finally we got some downhill which my legs appreciated but still a couple more young runners caught up and passed me.   The final runner to pass me was a girl, who caught me as we crossed a busy road around mile 7.5.  We crested a steep hill at mile 8.7 and I really blasted down a quarter mile dirt road very fast, almost catching three runners ahead.   My splits miles 6-9 were 7:30, 7:13 (downhill), 7:54 (hill), 7:42 (up and down).  

I was now headed back to Saratoga Springs.  I could see Mark only a quarter mile ahead, I was gaining on him, but every time I was thinking I would catch him, either he sped up or I slowed down.   I did pass a runner slowing down right before mile 10.   We crested the final hill at mile 11, and I knew there were two fast miles to the finish.  The girl and a guy were in my sights.  I passed the guy at mile 12 and then started to close the distance on the girl.  Could I catch her before the finish?   It looked like I could, came within 20 yeards, but with only a quarter mile to go, my left quad complained so I backed off.   My splits for miles 10-13 were: 6:58, 7:41, 6:55 (downhill), and 7:13.  I was obviously feeling great near the finish, clocking negative splits.  I wished the race was a couple miles longer because I could have caught 4-5 runners ahead who finished within a quarter mile of me.  

I came in at 1:37:53.   I had hoped to break 1:40 on this tough course, so I was pleased.  I came in 12^th place overall and first in my age group.  I received a nice little plaque. Two runners in their 40s were only a couple minutes ahead, so I was close to winning that age group too.   I was also pleased that all my miles were sub 8:00.  I believe I could have continued sub-8s for quite awhile more. 

For cool down, I ran for awhile on the track.   I think that is the first time I've run around a track in 30 years.   Wow, what a bore, felt almost as bad as a treadmill.  I went back to the finish and cheered lots of people as they came in.

p.m. treadmill

I'm in my Boston taper now, backing off on miles and just staying loose this week.  Oh, I will have a longish run left Friday night.  Did a hilly treadmill workout this morning, 5-15% incline, 7:30 pace, holding on to the front.

Plans for Friday on Antelope Island.  I'll start around 7 p.m.  Jim Kern will crew for me for the first 50 miles.   Jim Skaggs will drop a gallon of water for me at the first aid station location.   I'm on my own for the first 18.9 miles because there isn't crew access.  I should finish that loop by 10:30 p.m. and then Jim Kern will crew me at least every six miles.  The goal for the first 50 is to get done in 9:30.   That will give me a 1:30 head start on all the 50-mile runners who will be chasing me down.   Looks like there could be some rain on Friday.  Hopefully it will be gone before evening.

Four very easy miles.  

Last night went up to Jim Skaggs' and helped assemble the 580 or so race packets.   It took us over three hours. (six of us).   Wow, there will be a lot of runners on the island on Saturday.   Looks like weather Friday night may be somewhat miserable, cold rain turning to snow.   Looks like most of the course will get less than an inch of snow when it does turn to snow.   Oh well, it will just be an extra challenge.   It is better to face the rain/snow and dark on fresh legs than after 14 hours of running which is usually the time when you run during the night in a 100-miler.  Looks like the first part of the course that climbs up to 4800 will be having flurries/snow Friday evening. That is better than rain.   I'll probalby be going slower than planned.

Big-time taper.  No running going on, just rest.  Didn't sleep well last night, crazy dreams about running on Antelope Island.   Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight.  Looks like I will be running in a wet windy winter wonderland Friday evening.

I hope to finish in at most 22 hours.   I now plan to start at 6 p.m.  The milestones I will have in my mind are:   Reach the Ranch (32.8) by midnight.   That is a 6-hour 50K+.  Should be possible unless the weather is really bad.   Return to the start (50) by 3:30 a.m.  That is a 9:30 50.   That could be a problem if I end up having to sit in my crew car to warm up at times.   Do the next loop and return to the start (68.9) by 8:00 a.m.  That is when the 50K runners will start.  I would really like to get there before they come running at me.   From there, it is up in the air.   Getting back to the ranch (82.8) by 11:00 a.m. would be super. Fast 50 milers would be passing me, those who can do the first 32.8 in five hours.

After work heading the Antelope Island to start my  100-mile run.   Hopefully this entry will be replaced by a 100-mile race report.   Taper pains are hitting me.  I hate them.  Typical is that it feels like you pulled a muscle but you never did anything to pull it.  It will usually be sore for a day or so and you worry about it affecting your race.  Almost always it has no affect after you get warmed up.

Weather looking better.   Hopefully it will be in the form of snow, not rain.

Read my full race report.

Quick update before I go to sleep.  I ran 100 miles on Antelope Island.  I got permission from the race director and from the park.   I ran the 50-mile course twice, starting the evening before the race, finishing the first 50 by 4 a.m. and then merging in with the 50-mile race  that started at 6:00 a.m.   About half the field caught up with me.  Lots of shocked runners when they discovered I was keeping up with them yet had run 50 extra miles.  My two 50-mile times were 9:48 and 12:17.  Not bad.

My time was very good, second best 100 time I've had. However, I had lots of stomach problems that really slowed me down and the cold during the night made me have long stops to warm up in my friend's car.  However, the trails are smooth and very fast, so the times I felt good, I could really cruise and make up time.   Because of all the stomach/bonking issues, I lost at least 5 pounds.  A pretty painful way to lose 5  pounds in less than one day.

Lots more later.  I need sleep.  It was a tough,  fun experience.

Recovery going very well.  Stomach finally recovered, appetite almost back.  Very little soreness in the quads.  One little blister on the right ankle.   Looks like I'll be running again by Wednesday.   I'm going through the usual kicking myself, recalling all the times I was lazy out there, especially the last 8 miles.  Oh well. Makes me anxious for the next 100 race, but that won't be until June.  Time to pretend I can run marathons.  Boston is three weeks away.

Treadmill, 7:30 pace at 2%.   Back in the saddle.  Right quad a little heavy, but besides that, had no difficulties.  Very odd, it just feels like this is a Monday after a longish run on Saturday.  The resilience of the human body is amazing once it adapts to a high level of stress and work.  My co-workers like to recall how in 2004 after my first 100-finish, I limped around in sandals for several days at work and looked really beat up.  I couldn't run for nine days.   Now, I return to work on Monday and no one knows I ran a 100 over the weekend unless they ask. "Did you go running this weeked?"  "Yep."   "How far?"   "Uh, 100." To me it is facinating how the body systems can deal with this now like it is no big deal.