I was a competitive cyclist for years. In 2009, after racing in the Tour of Utah, I decided I had plateaued as a cyclist--I could continue to improve, but I wouldn't break through to a new level. So, I started looking for a new challenge.
I thought that challenge would be mountain biking, but I'm a terrible bike handler. I married Catherine in January 2010 and a couple of weeks later I entered the SLTC Winter Training Series with her. A couple of weeks after that I decided I'd like to run ultras, so I signed up for a couple of 50Ks to get started.
Those first races came and went, with varying results. I was looking forward to running more and possibly pushing into the longer distances, but I injured my knee in June 2010 and I've never been consistently healthy since.
I started law school in August 2010, which meant less time for training. In June 2011, Baby Elliott was born, which meant even less time for training. But she's worth it.
Baby Nora joined us in October 2013, with the same effect on training as Elliott (who, incidentally, is no longer a baby).
I (finally) finished school in April 2014 and now I'm an evil corporate lawyer in Salt Lake. I have no illusions that I'll ever get back into the shape that I once was, but I'm perfectly at peace with that. I still have many goals to accomplish and many years in which to do it.
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Miles:
This week:
0.00
Month:
0.00
Year:
0.00
Totals
Total Distance
30.20
MR10 (1) Miles: 30.20
Weight: 0.00
Mon, Oct 08, 2012
Total Distance
4.80
I ran up State into Orem and around the mall this morning before dropping down through the neighborhoods behind Gold's Gym and back home. It's nice to have some more variety than what the River Trail has to offer.
It's starting to get cold outside, at least in the mornings. This wasn't the first time this year that I've worn a base layer, but it was the first time that I was glad I did. Also, I think gloves are just barely optional right now. I think I'll wear some tomorrow.
It wasn't nearly as cold today as it was yesterday, which is a good thing for me because I forgot to wear gloves again. The thermometer at the bank near our house said it was 41 degrees, but who knows how accurate that is--it certainly felt warmer to me.
Last night Catherine and I went to the 24 Hour fitness at the end of the street to check out the facilities (with winter coming, it's time to make sure we still have treadmill access). We had a uch better impression of the place than we did when we went by a couple of years ago, and we love how close it is to our house. Also, one of Catherine's friends says the childcare is very good there. But we've had a pretty good experience at Gold's for the past couple of years, and I love that the one in Orem has those new treadmills with a 30 percent grade. If anyone has a strong preference for either Gold's or 24 Hour fitness in the Provo area, I'd love to hear about it.
I brought gloves with me this morning but ended up carrying them instead of wearing them. I guess Monday was an anomaly, for now at least.
The Samurai ran St. George on Saturday in something like 2:48 with only 5 or 6 weeks of running leading up to it. That makes me want to finally go out and run a marathon to see what I could do. Maybe I'll put my name in the Ogden lottery this year. It would be nice to have something specific to train for.
Catherine and I are running the BYU Homecoming 5K on Saturday, so I ran about two miles of tempo or something this morning. I figured I should try running fast at least once before the race.
I was so tired this morning, so I stayed in bed instead of getting up to run. But because class starts later on Thursdays, I went out for a morning run anyway. All I did was an out and back on the River Trail to Geneva Boulevard, but for some reason I ran faster than usual. I think my slowest mile was about 6:50, and my fastest around 6:20.
This afternoon, Catherine and I renewed our Gold's Gym memberships after letting them lapse about a month ago. Ultimately, we decided that the small extra drive was worth it for the ability to pay one year at a time (instead of two at 24 Hour to get the same price) and for the freaking awesome new treadmills in Orem.
To celebrate our new memberships, I ran on the freaking awesome new treadmills in Orem tonight. Only four miles, with several quarter mile intervals thrown in. It will be interesting to see how tomorrow's 5K goes, since other than this week it's been months since I ran fast, and even this week I haven't run that fast. In other words, I expect to be slow. Sub-18 and I'll call it an awesome day. I really hope I can at least break 19, though.
BYU Homecoming Cougar Run 5K (3.1 Miles) 00:18:06, Place overall: 11, Place in age division: 1
Total Distance
5.20
Catherine and I ran the BYU homecoming 5K this morning. When we ran it two years ago I ran Timp the day before and still ran a 17:11. This year I didn't run hard the day before and still barely managed to keep it around 18 minutes. I do wonder if I could have found six seconds somewhere on the course, but I was pretty pleased with the effort, all things considered. Things change.
The biggest change between then and now, of course, is Elliott. And today was her race. She's been in plenty of races in the jog stroller, but today we signed her up for the 200m kids run. She was the youngest and the smallest (and the slowest) girl in the race, but she had fun the whole time. Of course we filmed it all, and I've posted the video below (at 2:30 she stops to dance--running may not be her top priority). According to Runner Card she finished in a solid 4:14, averaging a blistering 34:03 per mile.
