I'm retired from racing. Really.

AM- Today was my only morning off, meaning the only morning I could sleep in past 4:30 am.  However, just after 5 am I awoke to a loud yet muffled sound.  Thinking it was one of my daughters, I got out of bed to help.  Nope, not them.  I wandered around, trying to locate the source.  I finally discovered it was coming from outside- I opened my door and could clearly hear the speakers from the Wasatch Back starting line, 1 mile from my house.  The dear Ragnar folks, bless their little hearts, had the first runners starting at 5 am and weren't shy about letting the whole neighborhood hear the festivities.  I drove by the circus (starting line) on the way to work, and saw a bunch of decorated vans driving from SLC on my commute.   Looks like nice weather for the run- have fun, everyone!

PM- Stink, stink, STINK!!!  I ran down to the Wasatch Back start in hopes I could win a treadmill like I did last year.  They have an incline trainer, and they give you 5 min to climb as many vertical feet as you can, with 18% min grade.  Whoever has the most vertical wins the treadmill.  The record was 468 ft.  I started at 5.8 mph, thinking that was enough, and chugged along.  It was definitely hot and my legs were tired from the miles this week, but it wasn't super killer.  With about 30 seconds to go, I realized I was a bit short and tried to increase the speed... but it was too late.  I finished with 465 feet.  Aargh.  Oh well.  Talked to a bunch of guys at the start (Bill Cobler, Nick McCombs, Seth Wold), then ran a few miles.  5 miles total, roughly.  I called Cody afterwards and told him to try, but they had taken it down by the time he got there- I even drove over with water to cheer him on and give him water.  It's too bad he couldn't get it.