Relentless

AM - 11.75 morning practice started up today. Arctic Circle and then 2450 all the way to the top and around Hearts and then finally AC again, with some laps on the track thrown in. I just set a new monthly record - first time over 400 miles! Good start to the week; and it makes me feel a little better than I can get solid mileage in during the morning practices so I don't have to miss mileage in the afternoon/evening. (Cumulus blue 66.75)

afternoon - 7 boys team run up into Green Springs. Knee was giving me a bit of grief. The past two weeks or so, I have occasionally had a shot of pain up through the tendons(?) behind my right knee. But it hasn't been consistent or long lasting, so no big deal. It showed up, however, on Saturday while working in the yard again, but with a bit more pain. This morning it showed up around mile 9 and hurt throughout the day and again this afternoon. I may have to shut it down for a day or two to just be on the safe side. (Stratus 310.2)

Whatever is happening behind my knee hurts too bad to run on.

Still a lot of pain - no running today.

afternoon - 3 Arctic Circle and 1 turf barefoot. Needed to go out and give the knee a little test, so... Took it very easy and ran with some of the girls team. Pace was very easy, around 8:00 or slower and pain was manageable. It felt as if I had some sort of mass moving around behind my knee, but it slowly went out. When I got back, Jeff and I ran 1 mile barefoot on the turf; again very easy, but it felt good on my legs. (Precision 318)

morning - 5 Las Vegas. Everybody took it nice and easy on me as we went 5 to stretch the legs out and breathe some fresh Vegas air! The run was good though and the legs seemed to feel a bit better. I really worked on stretching and trying to work out the kinks. (Stratus red 176.85

I had traveled down to Vegas with Steve "Papa Bear", Clyde, Logan, Nick, Adam W., and James B. Stayed the night at the luxurious Sahara and ate my first of three tasty pancake meals late that night. Plan was to get up and run in the morning (see above!) and then head on down to Wickenburg/Phoenix. After the run we headed out as quick as possible and headed out. Eventually got to the start of the race and watched a few start times head out and began to get nervous.

afternoon - 1.5 Warm up with Clyde and Logan. They helped me calm my nerves a little and get ready. (Startus red 178.35)

Stretched out a lot more and said a little prayer that the leg would hold up and we would all be safe and tried to get myself mentally ready. I was feeling a bit nervous going first, as I really wanted to get the team off to a good start.

evening - 5.45 LEG 1. Race got started off with a little confusion as I was told by one race director that I didn't need my headlamp or vest, then told by the other that I did with about 3 minutes before the race. So I raced up to the van (which was locked!) eventually got in and got back to the start with about 15 seconds to go. My headlamp wasn't adjusted right, so I just held it the whole time. Let Google take the lead as he looked like he might want to push the pace, but another guy (the Tuscon running store team) and I just settled right behind him. Mile 1 - 5:27 a solid start and things were just rolling along on a slight grade up out of town. 2-5:36 About a half mile into this, I moved around Google and we took the lead, never to give it up (but I guess he did tie me for a little). 3-5:24 I hoped that around the end of this mile the grade would turn to the downhill that was shown on the elevation map. The first major incorrect assumption of the race! No downhill! Never downhill! 4-5:29 I could tell now that we were just going to keep climbing up toward the top of this pass and do the exchange up there somewhere, so I just kept plugging. The Running Shop guy was a mystery to me, I couldn't tell exactly what he was up to, but I think he was fading a little and would drop off about 5-10 feet and then work to get right back up on my shoulder. In my head, I thought he was a bit tired, but was telling himself to hold on and keep it tight so that their next guy would go blow us away. So I laughed to myself thinking, "Should I tell this guy that I am the worst of our first 4 and the next three are going to just hammer them?!" 5-5:24 The whole run is just feeling very consistent. I am happy with my knee - its a little tight, but okay. And my pace is just like I am on a treadmill (which of course is stuck on an incline). 5.45-2:19 (5:22 pace). Saw the handoff coming up and wanted to just hammer it down and kill the guy next to me, but I decided that wouldn't be the wisest of moves and just let him settle in beside me and give it to "The Man". The second Logan took the handoff, I knew it was over!

We took off to the next start and I cooled it off about 1 mile. (Ohana -6.45

beyond early AM (12:44 AM - actually not a bad start time, because it wasn't too late or too early yet) - LEG 2 (13 for the team) Cave Creek. 7.05 miles. Tried to get a little nap at the major exchange, but I just laid there. Got up and jogged a bit of a warmup around the school parking lot a few times and figured it was time to go. (Stratus red 179.1)

By this time the team had secured a solid lead and I was just hoping I could maintain it.

1-5:33 I started out in a populated area: school, shopping, etc.. and felt okay about it all. Figured I would just ease into it. And this mile felt good. 2-5:54 I started the climbing again (this was supposed to be my hardest leg, rated Very Hard, because of length and a solid climb throughout). I really started to lose focus here. I was tired and just couldn't keep the pace where it should have been. 3-6:01, Oh crap a 6 minute mile. I am in trouble now. 4-6:02 More crap another one. I hadn't seen a soul now for over 2 miles, I hope I am going the right direction. I was going through a residential area kind of like Bloomington Hills (rolling ups alternating with more ups) and I was very hesitant about where I was going. 5-6:15 About 3/4 through this mile I finally caught someone. Way off in the distance I saw a blinking light, what a relief. 6-6:10 It's official, I suck and I want to quit. 7-5:24 I didn't feel that great, but I was very mad at myself for how poorly I ran and started to grind it a bit to try and bring it down. I thought this mile was a little quicker, but I was working hard to get there. 7.05 - Just pushed the pace on in. Cooled down for about 1 mile. I guess I gained about 30 seconds on my guy here even though I ran so bad. I guess he was just as spent as I was. (Ohana -8

Off to see Logan do his amazing thing - followed by Nick being just as amazing. It was very cool to see how real runners can just crank out amazing runs after amazing runs!

AM (6:00 AM) Leg 3 (#25) 5.3 miles Fountain Hills. Got up after about 25 minutes of sleeping and did another warm up. Hit the ol' MyoMed counter and hit some of the good stuff and ran a mile to get going (Stratus red -1. The Darkhorse came flying in and almost forgot to give me the band, and I took off. The first part of leg the leg was very cool. The sun was starting to come up and I was going through this park and around a neat lake, had a little downhill, and I felt good. 1-5:23 Hooray this is the end of this, keep pushing and make up for the struggle last time. 2-5:27 Kept it rolling. 3-5:59 Now I am tired and the thrill of being done is gone. 4-5:41 Trying to use the rolling hills, but I am too tired to use the downhill and the uphill is just abusing me even more. 5-6:19 More uphill. I saw my time going up and up and just thought, "Who cares?" 5.3-1:38 (5:51 pace) I see the end and am just so happy to be done with this. I can now pass off the race to people who can fly and I can crash! Cooled down about .5 miles and just got to enjoy the rest of the race. (Ohana 5-5.8

Everyone else did amazing and the team easily won - because of great runs from top to bottom. 17:04 total for the 182(?) miles an average of 5:38/mile! We jogged in with Steve at the finish after setting up the Keiggermeister!

After a great dinner at James and Lybi W's. (thanks guys and Sarah), we (our van) decided to get a few miles in. Made it up to Flagstaff and got a hotel room. Had a great dinner at IHOP - maybe the best time of the whole trip!
Steven Abraham Lincoln Hooper Pope, Just Makin' Memories, Oh My Steven!, Soccer and American Values, and many many more - Loved It!