Old Man Still running

Thinking about my 100-mile race finishes.   I've entered 28 and finished 24.  Hopefully Tahoe Rim 100 will be my 25th 100-mile finish.  I'm so glad I finished at Bighorn 100 a week ago.  I would be kicking myself right now if I didn't.   My DNFs were 2004 Bear, 2005 Vermont, 2005 Leadville, and 2008 Leadville.

 100-Mile Finishes

1	2005 Rocky Raccoon	26:53:00
2	2005 Bear	32:23:00
3	2006 Bighorn	29:38:03
4	2006 Tahoe Rim	28:04:49
5	2006 Wasatch	34:15:00
6	2006 Bear	30:35:00
7	2006 Pony Express	25:29:00
8	2007 Pony Express	23:26:00
9	2007 Bighorn	29:00:16
10	2007 Vermont	25:18:19
11	2007 Leadville	26:15:46
12	2007 Plain	31:45:00
13	2007 Bear	28:13:00
14	2007 Pony Express	24:45:00
15	2008 Rocky Raccoon	25:38:55
16	2008 Moab	23:33:33
17	2008 Bighorn	26:45:31
18	2008 Tahoe Rim	25:54:00
19	2008 Plain	32:18:00
20	2008 Bear	30:51:00
21	2008 Pony Express	24:26:00
22	2008 ATY	22:48:00
23	2009 Moab	24:41:00
24	2009 Big Horn	33:21:00

Reading all the race reports over the weekend and following Western States 100 progress made me feel like a slacker, so I got up early to punish myself.  I ran up to the top of Lake Mountain, a 3,200-foot climb up the rought Israel Canyon Road.  It was my 24th summit of that mountain. http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?page_id=96

Boy, the road is really chewed up this year from the trucks during the spring.   My ankle was OK going up but was a problem coming down, slowing me up.   I did it in 2:19 round trip, pretty slow.  My PR is 1:58.  The view from the top of Utah Valley lights below is amazing.   The stars were also blazing this morning.   Birds were on the road snoozing and I kept scaring them.  They scared me too.  I almost stepped on one.   Toward the top it got chilly, long sleeves and gloves.  There was a pocket of  pretty cold air in the saddle where the road goes over the top.  It was warmer on the summit. 

It was a good workout, gets me ready to start climbing Timp.  My feet still are a problem from Bighorn 100.  They still don't feel comfortable in my trail shoes.

P.M.

Six mostly flat miles dirt and pavement in the blazing 95 degree heat.  Felt great.  Legs felt strong, had to hold them back.

I was out the door at 2:40 a.m. to get some miles in, less hills this morning, more miles.  Ran out to Eagle Mountain an in the hills south of the Ranches, finishing up by running across the massive Church farm with its wheat.   As I would run past the wheat, I could hear russling follow me in the wheat.   I beleive if must have been crickets or something that I would startle as I ran by causing them all to jump.   Watching the dawn arrive was cool.    My legs felt great.   This was a non-carb/fast-burning run, so toward the end I was dragging pretty good energy-wise.

Well, not really a race, but a great fun run with jun.  We ran all the way around Lake Mountain, the mountain west of Utah Lake.   See course description.  This was the sixth time I have accomplished this loop.  

We went exactly 50K by eliminating the out and back seen on the map and tightening the loop.  Jun will provide all the details. I'll let him tell the story.  I was pleased to help him go over to the "dark side" of running for the first time, the ultra-distance.  What is impressive is that he has never run a marathon. 

We started in the dark about 4:20 a.m. and took it easy for the first few miles.  We enjoyed watching Venus rise and then the sun.  The views of Utah Lake are always incredible along the east side of the loop.  Jun pushed me pretty good on the east side.   After about ten miles I finally was warmed up and could push the pace hard when I wanted to.   We made a 5-minute bathroom break at Enoch Pass and and 10-minute stop at about the half-way point were we refilled and ate goodies I dropped there the night before.

Around mile 26, in Cedar Valley, my injured foot really flared up bad.  I fell behind jun by about a quarter mile and was limping badly, very discouraged.   I finally figured out that if I ran hard, more pressure would be put on my toes and less pressure on the tendon insertion point on the bottom of my foot.  So I ran that last four miles pretty hard and set the course record of 5:29.   Jun finished in 5:39.   Add 15 minutes for our stops if you want.   It was about 75 degrees when we finished and felt very hot.   I lost about 4 pounds due to dehydration.  We both ran out of water toward the end.

It was a great run.  Jun will provide the details with pictures and video I am sure.  He is now the 6th runner to finish this crazy course.

Gave the ankle a break and ran on roads this morning.  Some crash training for the big 10K tomorrow in an attempt to learn how to run on roads.   Ran along the Jordan River.  Wow, I've never seen it so full. Also took the dog for a three-mile run up into Saratoga Hills.  The morning was very pleasant, great to be out.   Got to carb up for the big race.

Signed up for Park City Marathon in August.  What's up with this?  Three marathons in one year?   I also did this to steer me away from signing up for Leadville 100 again this year, on the same day.   I've been very tempted, but the cost for everything doing that approaches $1,000, just shouldn't do it.  Also, I dread all the altitude training needed.  So, now I've made up my mind by signing up for Park City and staying home.   Watch out, I might be going over to the "dark side" and converting to a road runner.  Sasha would be happy.

I had a great time running the Freedom Run in Provo with three of my sons.   Connor (12) and Kevin (25) ran in the 5K.  Kevin edged him out by 5 seconds.   Ryan (18) ran in his first 10K and reached his goal of breaking one hour.

My goal was to break 43 minutes and to place in my age group.  I came very close.   There were 1,358 finishers in the 10K this year.   When I ran in it two years ago there were about 900.  The race keeps growing and growing.

The first mile is uphll and it gave me trouble. My legs felt a little heavy from the 50K run a couple days ago.  By the top of the hill I was breathing hard and took some time to recover, missing the chance to really blast down the next mile.  The first two miles were 6:44 and 6:30.   Mile three is flat and heads south on University Avenue to the parade route, lined by thousands of people.   I ran toward the center of the road to keep my concentration up.   I saw buddy Jarom, Thurston handing out water at mile 3. We joined in with the 5K route and with the back-of-pack walkers clogging up the road.   Miles 3 and 4 were: 6:51 and 7:05.

Mile 5 was my problem.  I lost concentration as I became frustrated with the 5K walkers lined six-abrest across the road.   We had to dodge our way through them.  I tried to encourage many of them to move to the left so the runners had a lane.   We had to run up an out and back toward the state hospital.  Coming back down there was no sign of Ryan so I knew he was more than a mile behind.   Mile 5 was about 7:28.  

I woke back up and pushed much harder toward the finish.  There were hundreds of slow-moving 5K runners to get by, but I managed.   Mile 6 was about 7:06.   I looked down at my watch and I knew breaking 43 would be a real challenge.  I pushed almost as hard as I could and watched the clock ahead ticking toward 43.   I finished in 43:08.   A PR for 10K by 9 seconds!  I beat my course PR by almost two minutes.  I might be a really old guy, but I'm still getting faster.

I placed 3rd in my age group (35 runners) and got a sweet, impressive, crystal trophy.   It was fun being with my sons.  A fun way to spend a July 4th morning.