Well, I'm all 'stered for the Ogden marathon in May.

30 miles / 5:17:50 / 10:35 avg. Left from my house just before 6:00 AM. Clear skies and 58 degrees. It was sunny by the time I finished and 78 degrees. Good LSD (long slow distance). I ran conservatively to insure I could cover the distance. I crossed the marathon in 4:37:12. About half the miles were on dirt road as I stuck to the west side of town and ran on the cattle road and on the trail in the bird refuge. I guess bird hunting started today as right around 7:30 AM hundreds of shotgun reports echoed throughout the wetlands to the south of where I was running.. I wonder who drew their weapons first, the "men" or the birds.

Before the run I ate half a banana and a slice of whole wheat bread. Also had a couple cups of coffee and some water. I had my hand held water bottle and a half gallon cached on the cattle rd. I got to the cache about 12 miles into the run. I refilled my bottle and continued out 3 miles then back and refilled my hand held again and finished off what was left in the half gallon bottle. At mile 25 I was able to refill my hand held at the mystery field track and that was plenty for the final 5 miles. I ate the first gu about an hour and a half into the run, then ate one every 45 minutes to an hour. I took in  600 calories total. S-caps every 45 minutes to an hour. I wish there were a way to have a clone run with me without ingesting gu's or s-caps just so I could see what difference, if any, they made. I didn't cramp up at all. I would say I bonked mildly the last 4 or 5 miles, but it wasn't very severe. I was able to keep moving. So, I don't know.

I mostly wanted to get this run in for the psychological boost of covering 30 miles, I didn't think about pace at all. Actually, I would say this is the strongest I have felt mentally during a long run. I think experience plays a big role. I knew what to expect and didn't freak out when I started feeling like I was tanking. I know these lulls come AND go during extended runs. Also, I've learned to be patient with the discomfort; it's there, it will persist, just run. With three weeks until the Goblin Valley 50k, this is my last long run. Though if I feel okay next Saturday or Sunday I may do 18-20 easy miles. 

I played little mind games to help get through the run. When I got to 5 miles I thought "I've covered 1/6th of the distance". When I got to 6 miles I considered "gee, I've covered 1/5th of the distance already". At 7.5 miles I assured myself that I had already run 1/4 of the distance and I only had to repeat what I'd just done 3 more times. Piece of cake. At 15 miles, well, yeah, halfway there! Then it was a matter of how much was left. Just beyond the 16th mile I was happy to report to me that I had less than 14 miles to go. I did this for every mile. At 22 miles I felt like I could see the light at the end of the tunnel as I had less than 8 miles. No problem. I run "easy 8's" all the time. But once I finished up mile 28, the last two miles I had yet to cover loomed quite large in my mind. I got through them. It was warm by the time I finished, I'm glad I didn't start any later this morning.

No issues whatsoever with the finicky left foot.

I sure like runnin'.

WET 65.5 miles

5 miles / 8:42 avg. Recovery/progression run. Mystery field track, 1:00 PM, 82 degrees. No soreness at all from yesterday, due to the easy pace. Feel some fatigue in the legs though.

Splits: 9:26, 8:52, 8:42, 8:28, 8:00.

WET 65.5 miles

No run today. 

Busy day at work. 

  Experiencing the fatigued feeling in my head that I seem to get a couple of days after a 5 hour run. Maybe what I need is a brain transplant. Otherwise I feel great!

8.2 miles / 8:12 avg. Mostly cloudy, 66 degrees. From work. Good day.

Splits: 9:20, 8:15, 8:00, 7:52, 7:50, 8:14, 8:04, 8:10, + .2 mi. @ 7:44 pace.

WT 62.4 miles

Take out my first mile and it's an 8:04 avg for the 7.2 miles.

7 miles / 9:50 avg. on the hill infested fire break road before work this morning. Post rain, 60 degrees. 

So for the last two years I've been slowly, carefully, working my legs and feet into more and more minimalist running shoes. I feel the the shoe I ran in this morning is my reward for this effort. The New Balance MT101 is a trail shoe I've been anticipating for months; it was finally released Oct. 1st and I got a pair in the mail yesterday. All I can say is: YES!

WT 60.4 miles

8 miles / 8:39 avg. From work. Partly cloudy, 58 degrees. 

WT 58.2 miles

Looks like night runs tonight and tomorrow night for me.

5:45 PM / 10 miles / 10:05 avg. On the fire break road in the gloaming. 60 degrees but I felt pretty chilled by the time I got home. 1,700 ft. vert.

WT 68.2 miles

12.2 miles / 1:37:33 / 7:59 avg. Got started at 3:15 PM after work today and ran on the LPT. Sun and 65 degrees.

Splits 8:26, 8:02, 7:45, 7:58, 7:50, 7:56, 7:51, 7:52, 8:41 (stop for water and gu), 7:44, 8:02, 7:52, +.2 @ 7:25 pace.

WT: 45.4 miles

Easy 5. Bluff trail. PC, 65 degrees. Interesting how 30 miles at a 10:35 pace (9 days ago) takes a lot LESS out of me then 12 miles at an 8:00 pace (yesterday). My legs just felt trashed today.

WT: 50.4 miles

7.2 miles. Kaysville wilderness park, north to Fernwood and back. 11:11 pace. Sunny, 63 degrees.

WT 49.4 miles

Giving up the delusion that I'm going to get a run in today.

13.1 miles / 1:56:44 / 8:54 avg. From work. Sunny, 62 degrees. A perfect Autumn day.

WT 47.5 miles

5.1 miles / 8:38 avg. From work. Sunny, 71 degrees felt very warm.

WT 42.6 miles

15.1 miles. Easy pace. Left from work around 12:30 PM and ran an extended commute home. 70+ degrees and sun.

WT 57.7 miles

Wife got lasik eye surgery this morning. Awesome to observe the process. Catch up at work today. Trail run after work. Just FYI.

5.4 mile trail run on the fire break road after work.

WT 45.9 miles

Easy 8. LPT. Sun 65 degrees. 

WT 46.7 miles

3.5 miles / 8:40 avg. One mile boardwalk loops at the nature preserve. Sun, 65 degrees. Short and easy progressive run. Splits: 9:01, 8:49, 8:27, +.5 @ 8:09 pace.

wt 50.2 miles

I'm rolling out of town in a few minutes. I may run a couple of miles either today or tomorrow once I get to my camp site. Then the 50k on Saturday. Looks like cool temps and maybe some rain! Perfect! I'll blog y'all on Sunday eve.

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" 

If indeed Emerson's words apply to my running habit, then my mind is microscopic. I'm just going to keep running, even though it gets me nowhere, I'm not fast, I won't win or place, it hurts, and it's time consuming...foolish? So be it.

29.8 miles / 5:08:33 / 10:21 avg.

I drove to the Temple Mountain area on Thursday and set up camp, about a 20 minute drive from the starting line at Goblin Valley State Park. The weather was pretty nice all day. I crawled into my tent around 8:00 PM to read a little and hopefully get to sleep early. I was still awake around 9:00 PM when it started raining. Then it rained, steadily, all night. Literally. It just never stopped. Finally around 8:00 AM on Friday there was a break in the rain. Just enough time to get some coffee and pancakes made, and then it started raining again. By 11:00 AM, I was quite bored with sitting in my tent, reading, listening to the rain. So I decided to drive into Green River to fill up with gas and take a drive up the Green River road. It's about a 90 mile round trip. I was thinking that I could find something to do until 6:00 when the race dinner/packet pick up started. Well, after a couple of hours hanging around town I was quite bored and decided I would pick up my bib etc in the morning before the race, so I drove back to camp. It had been raining off and on all day. On the way back I drove over to the dirt road where the first part of the race is run, it was extremely muddy. I drove up the road a couple of miles looking for a dry stretch to take a short run on but none was to be found. The mud was thick. I had thick mud caked all over my jeep. Embarrassing for me because it made me look like one of those guys that likes to go "mudding" just so I could drive around with mud all over my vehicle, which is unlike me. Plus, I wasn't willing to make the drive back to Green River just to wash my car. So I was stuck with embarrassingly thick mud caked all over my car for the rest of the weekend. I can't tell you how much this bugged me. Anyway, I got back to camp, the sky was clearing up a little. Earlier in the day I had considered just packing up and going back home, skipping the race the next morning, because the conditions were so bad. But with the weather clearing I decided to wait until morning to make my final decision. Being Friday night, other campers started showing up in droves. I assume some of them were there for the race. I got to bed around 8:00 PM for a couple of hours of reading. I had my alarm set for 5:15 AM. The canyon got quite loud during the evening with the sounds of cars frantically driving up and down the road looking for a camp spot before the light dwindled into dark. With the steep canyon walls, every sound echoed; every door shut, stake drive, voices. Lots of teenagers in one group, and what teenager can resist the sound of their own voice echoing off the canyon walls? The noise became almost musical in a way, as all the echoes blended together. Surprisingly, everybody pretty much settled down around 10:30 or so. I slept pretty well, but woke up around 4:00 AM and got out of my tent for a bathroom break. The moon was full or close to it and it was like daylight outside. I couldn't get back to sleep because I was worried about sleeping through the alarm. No problem, I felt rested and it was a really nice morning with the moon and all. I like not being rushed in the mornings. So I made coffee, ate breakfast, changed into my running gear and covered up because it was pretty chilly out.

I got to the park around 6:45 AM, got my packet, organized my drop bag and then hung out at the starting line chatting with other lunatics who think running 31 miles is a good time. Saw Kelli (I wish I knew how to provide links to other blogger's blogs), met for the first time Smooth and Leslie Petersen. I really love how this blog has introduced me to other runners who I otherwise would not know. It's nice to make a few connections at the races and have a little "virtual" history with the bloggers. Before the race started we were informed that the turn around for the 50k had been pulled back a couple of "k's" due to the mud on top of the pass where the original turn around was. If we were OCD we could run the "gauntlet" a couple of times at the end of the race to make up the distance if needed. Whatever. A runner like me (uncompetitive, slow) isn't too concerned with this. I was just looking forward to a good long run in beautiful surroundings. The race started. I ran with Kelli for about a  mile before she pulled off ahead to do what she does so well come race day, excel! In the second mile I stopped at a campground bathroom facility we were passing to take care of some last minute business. ( a two star morning for those keeping count). I felt good. No tightness or fatigue in the legs. I wasn't feeling that extra little umph that tells me I'm going to have an exceptional day. But that only happens on training runs. Never on race day, yet. The mud wasn't bad at all as it had stopped raining almost 12 hours ago. In fact, the rains had made the course completely dust free for the day, which I think was a plus. I met and had extended conversations with several runner along the course and thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the run. The aid stations were great. I ate cookies,  potato wedges, bananas and a little Heed. At the turn around I got my bag and dropped my gloves and hat, grabbed a couple of gu's, then tied my bag back up. When I went to grab my water bottle that I had set on the tail gate of the truck, it was gone. I looked all over for it. It was a really weird moment. I wanted to hurry and get back to running but my water bottle had simply disappeared. It kind of threw me into a state of mild vertigo for a moment. I determined that someone must have accidentally grabbed it (it was an "Ultimate Directions" bottle with a black strap, I had seen a lot of them on the course today), and decided to just get going, without it. I wasn't too concerned about hydration because there were plenty of aid stations. I had to take a little more time at each station as I filled up with as much water as I could before moving on. The weather by the way was ideal. Partly cloudy and I don't think the temps got above 60 degrees. Couldn't have ordered better weather for this run. I was really starting to slow down around the 20 mile mark. My legs were crampy and I just couldn't keep up form or pace. Luckily I had someone to run with those last few miles. I didn't get his name but we had some good conversation which helped take my mind off the complete failure of my body. Still, I was holding up okay, and moving forward. During the very last mile, known as "The Gauntlet" which is was kind of nice because the surface was softer and  the path was marked with little plastic pumpkins. Just something kind of goofy and a nice distraction to get through the end of the race. Anyway, with about a quarter mile to go my body just sort of shut completely down. I was getting tightness/pain in the chest and a wave of nausea hit me, and didn't go away. I stumbled to the finish and took a few minutes with my hands on my knees trying to get a grip. Anytime I stood up straight I felt extremely dizzy. I've never experienced anything quite this severe during a run before. I have no idea what happened. I quickly recovered though and was fine. I hung out for about an hour and ate, talked with Kelli, who of course completely rocked the day! Saw Smooth and said hi. I left before Leslie Petersen got in. I was in a hurry to get back to camp and pack up for home. I could see the clouds starting to gather again and decided to head home Saturday night instead of Sunday. I couldn't take any more rain.

On the drive home, I encountered one of the most severe hail, rain, lightening, thunder storms in my life. I was white knuckles on the two lane highway 6, as the sound of the hail and thunder was deafening. Semi's passing going the opposite direction were shrouded in billows of rain as they approached and passed, making visibility even more limited. It was crazy. I actually started hydroplaning. At first I thought the car was being thrown around by crazy wind, but then the "traction" warning light came on the dashboard and I realized I was basically floating down the highway on a plane of water. Spooky. About a mile down the road the traffic had come to a complete standstill. An accident up ahead. It was about a half hour before they started allowing small groups of cars through at a time. As I finally made my way slowly past the accident I saw a little red sedan that had been completely shredded by a collision with a semi going the opposite direction. Also there was a body on a gurney covered in a white sheet. The combination of driving through that storm, and then seeing the result of that accident had me kind of emotional when I called my wife to tell her about it. I usually have a more clinical perspective when it comes to things like that, but this was  just a little too close for me. I looked on ksl.com and found out that that both people in the sedan had been killed. They had apparently drifted head on into the path of the semi. Hydroplaning no doubt.

 So anyway, those few who read this blog may or may not know that one of my favorite things about going away is to come back home. Love it here. And feel grateful for my wife and the comforts of home. Not to be taken for granted.

After sleeping on it, I'm really not that disappointed in my pace for the run (10:21 per mile). Roughly 3,000 feet of vert certainly slowed me down a bit, and the terrain. All in all, I had a great day. I'm looking forward to trying this one again, and hopefully something longer in the not too distant future.

Post script: the 101's were totally great for this run.

I'm taking another day off and am planning on going really easy this week. My legs feel pretty good, I can manage walking without looking injured. I do feel fatigued, but a couple of good nights sleep will take care of that. 

8.5 miles / 8:33 avg. From work, mostly cloudy 38 - 40 degrees, some snow, some sun, all nice. Splits: 9:27, 8:30, 8:34, 8:36, 8:21, 8:24, 8:25, 8:25, + .5 @ 8:18 pace.

WT 41.8 miles

5.6 miles / 8:58 avg. Jensen park. Mostly sun, temps in the low 40's. Strugglefest.

WT 43.9 miles

6 miles / 10:13 avg. Fire break road. Sun and 50 degrees. Fully enjoying my Post Race Free Mileage Pass this week.

WT 49.9 miles

No run today. Took the dogs for a nice hike in the hills. BEAUTIFUL morning!

13.1 miles / 1:49:01 / 8:19 avg. Bluff trail from Jensen park - north, out and back. Overcast, 58 degrees. Good training run for me considering one week after goblin valley run. Negative split by about a minute.

Splits: 8:56, 8:39, 8:18, 8:13, 8:09, 8:06, 7:56, 7:59, 8:31, 8:21, 8:31, 8:15, 8:15, +.1 @ 7:33 avg.

WT 33.2 miles

No run today. Late last night I noticed a pain just below my right knee, like at the very top of my shin bone. It feels just like a bruise. It didn't show up during my run yesterday, so I'm hoping I just whacked my leg against a table or something. It still hurts today though, so I'm just not going to chance it. I've achieved my 200 mile monthly minimum anyway. In fact I ran a total of 205.8 miles for Oct. I only ran twenty days this month so my average per run comes to 10.29 miles. My plan for November is to just run without any pressure, hopefully staying in the 50 mile per week range. I may do a 5k for Thanksgiving. I want to really jump up the mileage in Dec, Jan, and most of February. I should easily reach my goal of 2500 miles for 2010. 

Happy Halloween!