Old Man Still running

Recovery run up on what I call Tickville Ridge.  Legs a little heavy but I still grabbed four Strava Course records on the way.

Its been at least three years since I ran a half marathon.  I thought I would give it a try on a pretty fast course that starts a mile or so up Provo South Fork and ends at Provo city center.  It had only been one week since finishing Salt Flats 100 in a respectable time, but I recovered very fast and Thursday the legs felt pretty good. So, why not get a nice long tempo run in.   I looked at the entrants and from what I could tell, thought I had a chance to win my 55-59 age group.  It looked like my competition would be Hal Amos who finished 2nd last year to Skip Morehead.  Skip wasn't coming.  I've never beat him.  I thought I needed to finish in around 1:30-1:32 to pull off the win.

We of course got up there very early and had to try to stay warm for more than an hour.  I hated trying to stand around the fire and eventually noticed the drop bag bus had people in it.  That worked but we were booted out with 30 minutes to go, so I ran up the canyon and back.

There were about 900 starters.  My first miles were 6:24, 6:35, and 7:00.  I was stuggling with my pace and breathing, but on the 4th mile, I seemed to warm up and my legs enjoyed pushing things a little harder and I ran a 6:43.  From that point on I generally stayed near the same group of runners, passing a few and got passed by a few.  Several would stop and walk at the aid stations, but since I carried my bottle, I ran all the way and could easily pull ahead each time.

I was surprised that even though I ran that 100 last week, the legs felt pretty good.  Around mile 7 my lower right shin started to hurt and that really spooked me.  That is my problem bone that keeps fracturing.  I slowed a little 7:11, and the pain went down and eventually disappeared.  My 11th mile was the slowest, 7:22.  I just lost concentration for awhile until I noticed on my watch that I was slowing down.  My consitency was good and I brought it home and ran 6:41 pace for the last bit.

I finished in 1:31:48, about two minutes off my PR, but still not bad considering all the factors.  I did grab my age group win and Hal Amos did get second, about three minutes behind me.   I was pleased and felt great at the finish.  No cramping, no sore muscles.

Ridge run

Today a picture of me appeared on the ESPN website.  I was contacted by an ESPN contributing writer doing an artlce on Grand Canyon R2R2Rs and he interviewed me.  His article appeared today.  http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/story/_/id/10870741/endurance-sports-grand-canyon-runs-beautiful-spiritual-problematic

Treadmill and two on JRP.

Couple runs, neighborhood speed work and dirt road hill work out near Hidden Hollow. During the last three weeks I've claimed about 50 Strava course records within five miles of my house. Some local runners have notices.  There are several that were pretty tough, but I still got them.  Nice motivation to push some segments hard during my runs.

Morning run around West Mountain at the south end of Utah Lake. This time I added a summit. I really love this run. Before sunrise, watching the reflections off the lake. At Dawn hearing the birds and ducks. Watching the sunrise. Seeing the ranchers and farmers starting their work for the day. And now I’ve found my favorite dirt road climb. The climb to the top is about 5.4 miles and 2,400 feet of climbing. It is a very steady climb with a smooth fast surface, very runnable in both directions. I was able to run most of the way to the top. I filled up on water twice at Lincoln Beach campground which is about half way around and also near the road to the top, so it all worked out well. Good training for Pigtails 150 in two weeks. It feels like I’m closer to race shape than I have been in 2.5 years. Last year was hampered with a hamstring injury and the year before a massive stress fracture. It is nice to be able to train hard.

Random Eagle Mountain Run

Treadmill, Fox Hollow Run, City Creek at Lunch

Eagle Mountain speed work

Lake Mountain foothills

Run around Tintic Mountains.  Started about 2:45 a.m.  41 miles.  Great fun.

I'm moving to Strava.  You can find me there as Davy Crockett

Went to Washington to run Pigtails Challenge.  This is a 9.4 mile loop course.  There are also 100 and 200-mile distances.  The 200-milers started the day before, the 100-milers the day after.  I'll write a blog post.  The course rolls, so there are short climbs along the way but the surface is fast, not technical. Sea Level altitude was amazing. It rained for about 5 hours or so during the day but no big deal, nice and cool. I wanted to push the pace for the first 100 to see what I could do and I was very surprised, heading for sub-20.  In fact I ran 82 miles during the day.  I did need to put on the brakes after mile 95 for a long stop of feet-fixing, just could delay it anymore and continue past 100.  So I didn't make the sub-20, but still did a 20:34 which would have been good for 3rd place the next day in the 100.  The last 50 was rough.  I took very long breaks, ready to quit, but after the breaks felt better and continued.  At about mile 135, I was pushing a longer uphill section hard, passing lots of 100-runners but bad pain hit my right knee.  I basically walked the rest of the way slowly, being very careful.  Up until that time I had been battling for 1st place with a younger guy for more than 100 miles.  But I had lost motivation and didn't care about placement.   We were more than 20 miles ahead of everyone else so I knew they wouldn't catch me.  My last 50 miles took me 19 hours, so 39:48.   I was pleased.  I finished in time to avoid a second night running and instead went to a motel.  The leg pain kept me up most of the night.  But a day later, it looks like I will be fine.   It was a great low-key event.  I've been enjoying going to the lesser-known races.

Recovery run along Church farm

Run up Deseret Peak, first time there.  Hit snow on the trail at 8,000 feet.  Covered trail at 8,500.  Took deer trails up a south-facing slow to a ridge at 9,800 feet.  Could see that the final accent to summit is still all snow covered.  Bushwhacked down over into the next valley, joined up with the trail the loops around to the north but hit snow in the trees again, so bushwhacked down another valley until hit a trail.   It eventually connected with a motorcycle trail that took me back to my original valley and then I ran up the road two miles to my car.  Good fun.  Love random runs like this.