Old Man Still running

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.