faster with age

     20 miles mt bike.

     This was my 4th straight year running this race. It's one of my favorites. In my 5 years of running races, every race I have done has been a course PR except for this race last year where I was 11 seconds slower than 2008. I kind of blamed it on the fact that '08 had the normal tailwind [for this race] and '09 had none. This year I really wanted to beat that time [59:32 from '08] and thought maybe I could go under 59 min. The weather was perfect for racing with temps in the low 50s and no wind at the start. I went out and was hitting about the pace I wanted for the first 4 miles. Up until this point there had been no tailwind and in fact a bit of a slight headwind at times. The 5th and 6th miles are where the substantial tailwind usually kicks in and I was planning on a couple of faster miles through here but today It just turned into a stronger headwind. I felt pretty good on the big hill that's the last part of mile 7 and the first of mile 8 and I just tried to stay relaxed and save something for the last 2 miles after the climb. At the intersection the light turned red with nobody directing traffic yet. Another guy and I ran out to cross in front of the stopped cars,who started going about then, and we had to do a bit of dodging. I felt better on the last 2 miles than I have in previous years and came in at 59:00. I was hoping the chip time might have me under 59 thinking I may have stopped my watch a split second late at the finish or early at the start but Milliseconds timing only posted the gun times and no chip times. I was only about 3 seconds back from crossing the start mat after the gun so it's not a big deal but I'd be ticked if I was one of the people that started 30seconds or more back. Maybe they'll have it fixed in the next couple days and I could still have my sub 59. My splits were:

1-6:06

2-6:17

3-6:16

4-6:20

5-6:22

6-6:21

7-6:38 beginning of hill

8-6:32 finish hill then flat.

9-6:14

.32-5:38 pace

     I was pretty happy with the 32 second pr even with the headwind versus tailwind on my old pr.

     Enjoyed the pre-race BBQ at Scotts house last night and enjoy some good food and good company and the chance to meet some bloggers I hadn't before.

     It was a nice cool morning in the upper 40s. Perfect running weather. I took off hoping to get in at least 10 and possibly 12 if everything felt ok. I seemed to have no soreness from the race and felt really good. My mileage has been inconsistent and I was hoping to get some decent mileage the next few weeks. I resisted the urge to pick up the pace and just kept it easy. I felt so good I ended up going 14 at overall average of 8:13 pace. My thinking was that I was making up for no long run last week. Now I'm kicking myself for running that far right after a race of that distance. About the time I finished up my right hamstring and glute got sore and were sore the rest of the day. At least I didn't pick up the pace on the run. 

     During the run, I went past a camp by the reservoir. I saw a couple of pitbull cross dogs as I went by on my way up. They were eating and didn't appear to ever see me as I ran by and the people were still asleep in the tent. On my way back as I approached, the guy was out taking down the tent. I was looking for him to spot me so he could be ready to control his dogs if needs be but he never saw me. One of the dogs was nearby and saw me this time just after I was past but it didn't bark or pursue so I figured they weren't agressive. As I got a little farther down the lakeshore I saw a couple of young kids fishing with the other dog. There were a lot of trees and brush so they never noticed me until I was quite a ways past. Then this other dog spotted me and took of at a dead run up to the road and then after me. He was not barking so nobody even noticed he was gone. I'm thinking oh great! if this dog is agressive there will be nobody to call him off and the only people within any kind of earshot were little kids. I'm not afraid of dogs for the most part but this situation was getting my adrenaline going. I already had a lot of distance on him and he had a lot of ground to cover so I continued at the pace I was going hoping he would give up and go back. I was starting to look for a big stick or rock and was about to stop and face him as he approached but about then he stopped so I just kept running and he turned and went back. I was probably never in any danger but the unknowns of the situation was a bit spooky.

     Hamstring felt a bit better today but I decided to play it safe and skip the run. I went for a 30 mile ride on my mt bike. Climbing the canyon to Thatcher summit I had a strong headwind which made for a tough climb. Medium effort for most of the ride but really hammered the last 5 miles.

     Tried an easy 5 mile run to see how the hamstring/glute? felt. I kept the pace easy and it felt fine on the run. Later that day the soreness came back while doing anything that required much walking.

     A big zero for today. I figured I had better take another day off from running but was hoping to get out on the bike. Very busy day and didn't make it out. Hopefully tomorrow.

     Still having hamstring soreness. It seams as though just moving irrigation pipe each day is keeping it sore and re straining it. I thought I could at least get in a good bike ride today but my day started at 5:30 am and the first chance I would have had was 10:00 pm and I don't have a light for my bike. I had really planned to get in some good training this next couple of weeks with some good speed work thrown in to get ready for the Des news 10k on the 24th but now it seems I've had to shift gears and do nothing.

     Hamstring is feeling a bit better but I still don't want to risk a setback by running. I was hoping to get in a good 50 mile my bike ride but once again my day started at 5:30 am and it was 8:15 pm before I got a chance to ride. Since I only had a little over an hour I decided to make the most of it and ride hard. I did my favorite mt bike loop that's 20.2 miles. I finished in under 1:10 which is a PR for me on that route which is 7 miles of pavement and 13 on dirt with some of it quite bumpy and quite a few hills.

     Decided to try a run this morning. I ran 5 miles around 9 min pace. It felt pretty good during and after the run but a little sore tonight. I'll probably just ride the bike tomorrow.

     I went for a 45 mile mountain bike ride this morning. I did the loop that takes me through the Onieda Narrows for the first time this summer. I ride through 2 different campgrounds and both had the smell of campfires and cooking breakfast lingering in the trees. The longest ride I've done this year was 30 miles and the next longest was 20. My quads were feeling pretty tired by the time I was done. It seemed like I had a headwind 70 % of the ride but very nice ride.

     3 miles 8:53 pace. Pain slightly better

     Started a bike ride but felt a little soreness in my left quad from Wednesdays ride. Decided to cut it short and only did 5 miles.

     Got out for a run after dark. right glute felt a little better. Went 5 miles at 8:29 AP

     5 miles. 8:23 AP

     Couldn't get out until after dark. The moon was just large enough to give off some light. My hammy was doing alright so I ran up by the reservoir and went 8 miles. I was able to run on the dirt roads without light. Things had cooled off a bit so it was a nice run. My hamstring still had a little discomfort at the end but not bad. 8:20 AP

     I have a field of new alfalfa I just planted and in this heat it requires a lot of watering for the first 3 weeks. For the past 2 weeks I have been moving the pipe on the field 4 times a day starting at 5:30 am through the day then going out about 1:00 am to shut it off after the last set. Moving the pipe takes about an hour and a half each time and is a lot of work. It seems to make my hamstring sore and is probably slowing the healing process. My lack of sleep probably isn't helping either. I was planning a bike ride right after moving pipe this morning while it was still cool but I was dragging so bad with 0 energy that I took a nap for a couple of hours. I was surprised at the difference in how I felt afterward and after my next pipe moving session I got out for a 20 mile mt bike ride in 96 deg temps but actually had good energy and a good ride. Amazing what a little sleep can do.

     My wife's father passed away. We caught a plane for Pennsylvania this morning. 

     Today we took a ride up to the Pennsylvania farm house which is about a 50 min drive from my wife's parents home in Milford. There is a 2.5 mile loop that is one of my favorite places to run. It is a hilly dirt road through the woods and I ran it 3 times then added a little to make it 8 miles. My hammy /glute is feeling a lot better but not totally better so I'm still keeping the pace easy.

     Back at the home in Milford today I took off in the rain that had been falling all morning. It was actually a nice time to run because it has been quite hot with high humidity the last few days. I just left without anything specific about where or how far I would run. About 1 1/2 miles from the house I found a nice single track trail that went up to the Milford Knob lookout. It was about a 500 ft climb in 1 1/2 miles but very nice and runnable all but 1/4 mile that was too  steep.Then, after running back down that trail, I found a gravel bike path that followed the Delaware river and ran that quite a ways. I saw a nice 10 point [eastern count] whitetail buck that must have been quite tame because he didn't move until I was15 feet from him then didn't act to worried. I stopped and though I might even be able to get him to come to me but he slowly wandered off. He was near some homes with huge yards surrounded by woods. I continued exploring and the miles added up until I had gone 12 by the time I got home. That was probably a bit farther than I should have got because my butt/hammy was a bit sore the rest of the day but it sure was an enjoyable run. The rain came down hard a few times but was mostly very light.

      We attended the funeral today

     We returned from Pennsylvania yesterday. I went for an 8 mile run and kept it easy. I felt good and felt like going farther but resisted after last Friday's 12 mile run left me sore later in the day. I felt good at the end but the soreness returned later in the day.

     Got out my road bike for the first time this year and went 30 miles.

     Just a short easy 5 mile run this morning. My glute/hamstring was sore [especially while moving pipe] Mon and Tues after running 8 miles on Monday. Probably still the results of the 12 miles I ran last Friday so hopefully 5 won't aggravate it. I'm planning to do a biathlon this weekend here in Preston but I don't expect much since my running the past 4 weeks has been pitiful and I haven't spent as much time on my bike as I normally do. It's a bummer because when my injury occurred I was running better than I ever have.

     I went 22 miles on my road bike this morning. It is only the second time this yearI , the first being Tuesday. I feel very unprepared for the biathlon this Saturday. I have hardly run any miles the past month and all of them slower than 8 min pace.

     Was going to do a short easy run of 4 or 5 miles but I could feel my but pain slightly and decided to quit after 1. I figured with a race the next day the extra miles couldn't help anything anyway and it wasn't worth a chance of aggravating the injury.

     Went out to "That Famous Preston Night Rodeo" with the family. We had thunder and lightning and then a huge cloud burst halfway through so I ran hard for the 2 1/2 blocks to where the car was parked and back to get jackets for everyone.

      Preston Biathlon today. This is one of my favorite races and the only race here in town that usually attracts some outside competition. In scoping out the crowd before the race I didn't see 2 of the fastest 3 guys that usually do the biathlons in Cache valley but I did see a few guys I didn't recognize that looked like they could be fast with fancy bikes and jerseys. When I got there I found out that the race would be done in reverse order of any biathlon I have done with the bikes going first and the run second. I didn't like the sound of that because I know any time I've ever gotten off my bike after a hard ride it's hard to walk let alone run. But in other biathlons, I can get on the bike after running a 5K or 5 miles maybe 10seconds per mile slower than all out race pace and not feel all that affected on the bike. In fact it feels good to switch the muscle usage around. The other problem is that drafting is not allowed and that's pretty tough to avoid in a mass bike start. There were 78 starting including teams. They started in 5 different waves using age groups to divide up. I figured my main competition wasn't going to be in my age group so it basically would end up a time trial for me.

     My main goal for the race was just to beat my best time from the race last time I did it 2 years ago of 57:41. My second goal would have been to beat my 5k time from 2 years ago but with the switch in the race order that was out of the question. My group started in the 4th wave and the 5th and last wave starting 5 min behind us was the 19 thru 30 age group which should be the fastest other than an 18 yr old ,Jesse Dunn, that has been winning all of the last few Biathlons in Cache valley. I took off in the lead of my wave but was surprised to quickly find myself 3rd place in my age group. By the time we were about a half mile in, they both slowed and I was picking up speed and passed them both easily. It didn't take long before I was catching riders from the wave that left 5 minutes ahead of us and then eventually from the groups 10 and 15 minutes up. It was kind of fun catching and passing so many people. I really had no idea how I should be pacing myself to leave enough in the tank for the run. I finished the 14 miles in 36:03 which is the fastest I have averaged in a bike race at 23.3 MPH. I felt like I hadn't used up everything and could have kept that pace another 10 miles. I got off and spent 1:03 min in transition switching shoes and guzzling some gatorade before heading out on the run. The running felt much worse than I ever imagined. I thought my legs would loosen up quickly and I would feel fine but it wasn't happening. About 1/4 mile in I had a 20 yr old kid go by me looking fresh. He was part of a team so he had just started fresh. This was the first person to pass me the whole race and it was frustrating because the pace was so slow and I just couldn't keep up. At around 1/2 mile my breathing was out of control and I almost felt like I could puke and I wasn't even running what I hope to be my marathon pace. Somewhere before the end of the first mile I finally started feeling not as bad and finished it in 6:49. Second mile I was getting a little faster but still not good and finished in 6:38. Around here I caught the kid that had passed me and went by him. mile three was my fastest at 6:30 which was my ave pace in my last 2 half marathons. This course is a bit long and I ran 5:25 pace for the last .17. Overall time was 57:58. That time was 17 seconds slower than my PR for this race but the bike course had a slight change which added 2 10ths of a mile which at my average speed would take 31 seconds. Also they moved the start/finish line for the run back a ways that added over 20 meters which isn't a lot but adds about another 5 seconds so I am considering it a PR by almost 20 seconds.

     I was second to Jesse when I finished but had to wait and see if anyone in the group behind would beat my time. One guy ended up close but not quite so I held onto second. I also beat all but one of the teams. I ended up with the second fastest bike time of the day. My pathetic run time was beat by several of the runners on teams but I was still second out of the indiviuals so I guess it was a tough run for them also. I have a new respect for people running a good marathon time after finishing a 120 mile bike ride in an iron man.