The Long Run

The weather was a bit more pleasant this morning.  A little less humid and a small breeze at times.  Jenny was doing a six mile tempo run plus warm up and cool down.  Goal for her was 7:39 pace.

About two and a half miles into the tempo portion we ran into Joe and he ran with us for 2.5 miles.  We also saw Jenny's friend Carin near the water fountain and she ran with us for a short time before heading back to her neighborhood.

Neither one of us had music for today's run and we've been noticing that we have been doing more and more runs without music, but it is still nice to have once in a while.

Average pace: 8:07

Just a short run this morning in preparation for tomorrow's race.  It was raining very lightly when I started the run but it kept the temperature down nicely.  Last night it had been raining pretty heavily so there were several crayfish walking around the street trying to act tough by raising up their pincers if I got too close.

Probably do a short run tomorrow morning, and then the race is at night (12:00)

Average pace: 7:53

7:15am - Jenny went to do a 5K with one of her friends, so I slept in a little bit this morning, then went for a quick run, just a little over 3.5 miles @ 8:07 pace average.

Tried to take it easy the rest of the day but had trouble relaxing waiting for the evening's race.

10:15pm - drove down to Dunedin to the race start area.  I was on the verge of switching to the 5K which started at 11:25 instead of 12:15 for the 10K.  It had been raining off and on during the day with scattered thunderstorms.  This meant two possibilities for the 10K.  If there was lightning they might cancel the race or postpone it until the threat moved on.  Or, if no lightning but raining too hard they might shorten it to a five mile race because about 1 mile of the race runs through a park where the only lighting would be from luminaires lining the road.

But, things were looking pretty good when I got there so I signed up for the 10K.  The rain had stopped and besides I was mentally prepared more for the 10K than 5K.

Warmed up with 2.1 easy miles (about 9:00 pace), running along part of the course and joining in with some of the 5Kers on their way back.  I was able to check out one of the bridges, which has a steal grate deck for the drawbridge part of it.  Tried to do some strides but there wasn't much pep in my legs.

Although it was fairly cool for a July evening in Florida (76 degrees), the humidity was pretty high so I decided to ditch the singlet and run shirtless.  I also had a hat with me which I was going to clip on a light for the dark park section.  Decided against it and put the light in my pocket.  (I never did end up using the light during the run but it sure did come in handy when using the port-o-lets!

12:00am - Saw Dixie near the starting area said hi to him a bit and waited for the race to start.  Dixie had to run back to his car for something. I moved a little bit forward but not far enough as the crowd started to fill in.  By the time the race started I was probably about 10 deep back.

12:15am - Race starts right on time and I had hoped to get onto a good pace right away, but first I had to get through the crowd.  It was kind of fun but a little frustrating, too.  Didn't take too long, maybe about a quarter mile to get to a thinner spot.  By a half mile the crowd was pretty thin and definitely at 1 mile we were pretty spread out.  I had no idea how many people were farther up ahead. At one mile we had just crossed over the first bridge, which was the bigger of the two and had the steel grate to run over. Felt pretty good and tried to make up some time from the slow start but managed to get the split down to 6:38 instead of the hoped for sub-6:30 or maybe better.

I soon realized that running this late at night was a bit different, although I suppose not too much different from an early morning race except in this case you knew it wasn't going to get any lighter out.  I was not able to easily, periodically glance at my garmin.  And looking ahead and running to landmarks wasn't quite the same, but there were lots of people still to catch up to and that was the biggest benefit.

At 2.5 miles, we entered into the park (Honeymoon Island State Park), where as expected it was very dark.  Luminaires lined each side providing just enough light to know where the road was.  At the 3 mile mark a volunteer was calling out splits, mine was 19:44.  Happy to be under 20:00 with still some hopes of breaking 40:00 if I could negative split.  Getting close to the turnaround I could see the other runners heading toward me.  They had to get really close before you could see them.  I tried to stay as far to the right  as possible to make sure I didn't collide with anyone.  After the turnaround, it was still dark but I could now see lights off in the distance.  I saw some runners up ahead and concentrated on catching up.  The way the light was it was hard to tell if it was a runner or just a trick of a shadow.

I was thinking about how astronomers discover new planets.  They look at stars and detect faint disturbances in the light.  That is kind of what it was like to determine if someone was getting close. This section might have been the favorite part of the race for me.  Not for how easy it was to run but because it was new and challenging.  It went by pretty fast and I decided not to try and pull out my light.

Mile 3.5, back out into the light and on the causeway.  I could soon see the green traffic light at the drawbridge.  It's amazing how bright that thing looked.

About mile 5.5 a person was coming up behind me.   I tried to fight to hold my position and surged ahead for a while then ran out of steam and went back to me old pace.  The runner was very encouraging and told me to follow him and try and catch the guy ahead of me.  I didn't hang on very well, but at least  it distracted me and was my fastest mile.

Saw the parking lot up ahead where the finish chute was, turned in and saw 40:xx on the clock, gave it all I had and crossed at 40:33.  The  guy that passed me told me great race and said he was able to catch the guy in front of him and was able to get 40:05.  He must have been running pretty fast to pick up 28 seconds in a half mile.

Splits: 6:38, 6:27, 6:33, 6:31, 6:37, 6:26, 0.22@6:09

12:55 - 2:15am - grabbed some refreshments, chatted with some friends and waited for awards. The awards were 5 deep, so it took a while.  Dixie did much better than hoped with 44:39.  He had been having some not so great training runs recently but this really helped make up for any of that and should be great encouragement to continue on with 5 days/40 miles/ week.  At first, they posted Dixie's age group place as 1st.  I looked at the printout and noticed they had him with an "F" after his name, whoops!  He talked to the timing people and they corrected the error.  So, with the error fixed he was in 5th which still earned him a plaque.

2:57am - at home and in bed finally after driving home, and trying not to startle the dogs and wake up Jenny trying to sleep for her 20 mile run at 5:30

Here's the plaque they gave me:

I was supposed to meet Dixie this morning at 5:30ish to start running no later than 5:45 in the hilly neighborhood.  I set the time on my alarm clock but forgot to actually turn on the alarm.  The dog was on the bed this morning blocking my legs from stretching out, I went to move him and saw the time, 5:43! whoops.  Texted Dixie to say I couldn't make it since I had to get Jenny and the boys to the airport.  Fortunately since I had the day off I had plenty of time to do the run.  It's much nicer of course to finish the run first thing, but good to run at different times, also.

Got back home from the airport.  Headed over to the Y and did some warm up on the bike.  It was still raining a bit so I did some miles on the treadmill, 3.2 @ 8:00 pace.

Headed outside, rain had now stopped.  It was close to 12:00 now.  Normally that would be a horrible time of day to run in July but with all the rain it's been a bit cooler and the clouds kept the direct sun away.  Run felt pretty good, and soon was on a pretty nice pace.  Finished up with 9 strides at the end.

Average pace: 7:30

Did some weights afterward - leg extensions, curls, lat pull downs, bench press

Amazingly, this was one of the coolest mornings ever in July in Florida that I can remember.  It warmed up later in the day but not nearly as warm as in the northeast.

Ran by myself, first mile just under 9:00 and then all the rest slower than 8:00.  I felt like running a lot faster because of the cool weather but I have a pretty big run planned for tomorrow.  I still wasn't feeling that great when I woke up, but better than I did on Monday.  But the nice thing about recovery runs is you often feel much better at the end of the run (almost like a new person) than before it.  It worked that way today.

Average pace: 8:20

P.M. - I was going to do about 15 minutes of yoga, but I got sucked into the end of (last 15 minutes of so) "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", silly movie, but it sure helped relax me after what turned out to be a stressful day.  Did a few sun salutations, so I didn't completely blow it off.

Today's run was choose your own adventure: 1) hill repeats, 2) fartlek, or 3) goal pace run 7-10 miles.  fartlek sounded fun and hill repeats would have been good if I had had a 6-10% grade hill nearby and didn't want to do the treadmill.

I chose goal pace run.  Weather was pretty good, just a tad warmer than yesterday, a little bit of cloud cover and a light breeze, but still humid.  Warmed up with 1.8 miles easy running over to almost at Starkey Blvd to run on the bike path there.  Plan was to do the first mile a little bit slower, then get onto pace.  I felt great for the first 8 miles, last 2 weren't bad but were harder than the first 8. 

It was mostly uneventful except when I was near my turnaround point there were three dogs out with their owner.  One of the dogs was running toward me and of course it was the largest dogs of the three.  The owner didn't seem too concerned and I've run by this house before with the dogs out and they usually just run to the edge of the property.  But for some reason, I figured I'd just turn around.  So, that was the big excitement.

I've never done a 10 mile goal pace run.  I was a little faster than I should have been but I'm happy with it.

Splits: 6:54, 6:42, 6:46, 6:37, 6:36, 6:37, 6:46, 6:44, 6:43, 6:46

Cooled down with a little over 2 miles to get back home.

Ran at Longleaf with the striders this morning at 5:30.  Great catching up with a number of people I hadn't seen for a bit.  Ran with Dixie and others for parts of the run including David, Alex, Jamie, Rudy, and some others.  It was another cool morning, about 72 degrees, thankful for each non-hot morning we've been getting.

Average pace: 8:00

PM - took the dogs for a walk then did my Wii yoga routine

Slept in a little bit until 6:10, although the dogs were stirring a bit before that so I didn't fully sleep in.  I took it easy the first mile, but the second and third miles I sped up a little bit but felt a little sluggish.  Shortly after that I started feeling more warmed up.  Saw some of Jenny's friends and said hi briefly before continuing on.  Weather was a little warmer than yesterday, but still in the nice zone.

Toward the end I picked it up for the last half mile for a 6:30 pace.  I was looking at my time and not my distance when I finished.  I might have gone the extra 0.05 miles had I known I was that close to 10!

PM - similar to last night, took the dogs for a walk and did my wii yoga routine, then organized my stuff for tomorrow's long run.

17.7 miles @ 7:50 average pace including last 7.6 miles at 6:45 pace

I did not manage to fall asleep until 12:00 last night and was feeling a bit tired when I woke up at 5:00 this morning.  Met Dixie over at Longleaf about 5:40.  David came by and grabbed our bags of stuff for after the run so we'd have dry things after the run.

Started out nice and slow.  The cooler weather we were having earlier this week was mostly gone but at least it was still below 80 degrees.  Made it into the park and detoured off the trail to the restrooms.  Outside the restrooms is a water faucet, but the water is of questionable quality and warm, but I was debating whether or not to top off my water bottles based on Jenny's experience last week finding no water available on the trail.  Decided to take my chances.

Continued on the main trail.  Saw a turkey on the trail (I later found out was a female turkey) who did not want to get out of our way and refused to leave until we almost ran over her. 

I stopped to check out one of the water stops - mostly empty, continued on to the 4 mile point.  There were some other runners who saw us heading to the water cooler - they said no water today or at the 5 mile spot.  At this point I had about 9 oz of slightly warm accelerade on me but figured I could make due with that.  Dixie turned around and found some other people to run with so he could get in 14 miles.

I headed out a little bit further before starting to MP miles.  Decided I would do the last 7 and not the last 8 miles to adjust for the weather and water.  Got onto my pace and it didn't feel bad at all.  The heat, the lack of water and the sun wasn't bothering me.  It was a rare and cherished run where things just started to click.  I finished the 7 miles at MP but still had a little ways to go to get to the parking lot, stayed on pace instead of slowing down, so ended up with 7.6 miles instead of the adjusted plan of 7 miles.

Splits: 6:55, 6:40, 6:39, 6:40, 6:42, 6:45, 6:41, 0.6 @ 6:37

Hung out for a bit at the social hour.  Carol had brought a big tub filled with ice blocks, water, and hand towels - very refreshing!  The "blocks" of ice were actually more of a cylinder shape, so I asked Carol where she got the ice from, she made them using her grand kids beach buckets.

I talked to Dixie about his run, and for the first time in several long runs he did not fade out at the end but finished the last 4 miles well under 8:00 pace.

Got a ride back to my car from Paul, then headed home for stretching, some relaxing and a lot of cleaning before the family gets back this evening!

8.11 miles @ 7:59 pace, rolling hills and hill repeats

I headed over to the hilly neighborhood to run.  When I pulled out of my driveway, the temperature read 82 degrees.  As I was driving there it started to rain and the temperature dropped to 76 degrees.  The drive seemed to be taking extra long then I realized I had missed my turn and was on my way to work instead.  Turned around and headed to where I needed to be.

The rain stopped and it felt nice out at first.  I felt sluggish in the warm up but held onto the hope of loosening up and feeling better.  Ran a bit over 4.5 miles in the hilly part then headed back down the street to where I was parked.  I did 4 repeats up and down the church driveway and by that time finally felt good and ended the last mile at a 6:58 pace which felt much better than the first warm up mile.

6.55 miles @ 8:38 pace, recovery run day

Nice run with Jenny, good to have my running buddy back home.  We both had about the same thing on our schedules so it worked out great.  Although, the run was short enough that we didn't really need to stop and "picnic" on cold water and gel or shot blocks.

3 X 2K repeats tomorrow!

9 miles @ 7:45 average pace, with 3 X 2KM repeats, and 3X200m

It was warm this morning, average humidity for this time of year (96%) and a hint of smoke in the air.  Warmed up for a little over 2 miles with Jenny, then started my repeats.

They went pretty well, it was easier mentally since there was only 3 of them on the schedule.  They weren't easy but I got the job done, paces for each repeat were:

6:16, 6:10, 6:14

Followed those up with 3 X 200m with 200m jog between each one.

The best part about the run was the cheering from Jenny each time we criss-crossed our paths, it was just like being at a race!

Cooled down in the pool when I got home and stretched a bit.

 Mostly just easy runs between here and the marathon one week from Saturday.  Now it's time to reduce stress and get more sleep.

 Nice, easy run with Jenny around the neighborhood.  Good to take it easy after yesterday's run.  Nothing to complain about.

Average pace: 8:36

I've fallen behind again on posting so this entry is pretty short.

Ran by myself this morning.  Was able to sleep in until almost 6:30, which was good since yesterday evening, all of the sudden I felt wiped out and almost like I was coming down with something.

Felt good on the run and once I was closer to home thought I would pick it up a little bit, maybe to a 7:00 pace, but I kept on picking it up and did the last mile at 6:31 pace instead.

Average pace: 7:38

PM - took the dogs for a walk, played Wii Soccer Heading game on Wii Fit and came pretty close to getting a perfect game, then I did my yoga routine.

I can't believe a week from tonight will be the night before the race.  The date always seems to sneak up on me!

One last medium long run before next week's marathon.  I went to Starkey Park this morning arriving about 6:15.  Just in time to start out running with other people.  I started out slowly and gradually went a little faster.  Chatted a bit with Bob.  There was a sign "Smoke of Fog Ahead".  I thought I would take fog if there was a choice, but there wasn't.  Actually there was neither but some smokey smell left over from a controlled burn area.

At 4 miles I caught up with some more of the group and ran with several other people until I made it to my 6 mile point.

Turned around and was quickly able to get into what I thought was "marathon pace", but it was actually a little faster.  Return trip splits were: 6:40, 6:41, 6:37, 6:33, 6:39, 6:29.

Last mile felt like I was pushing the pace but the other miles did not feel like a struggle.  I hope I can get that same feeling next week.

Weather was about 76 degrees at the start and then close to 80 degrees at the end.  There was some light cloud cover so the sun wasn't too bad.

Average pace: 7:23

Spent some time at the social hour and then headed home followed by a quick splash in the pool.  I couldn't have asked for a better morning.

 Taper week!

50 minutes of running.  Pretty uneventful run, mostly easy pace.  Small scare at the beginning of the run when I had a pretty sharp pain in the back, similar to what Jenny had last week but not as bad.  It loosened up a bit on the run and it didn't seem to bother me.  Hurt a bit after the run, but went away with some advil and stayed away and hasn't come back, yay! (for not coming back).

Average pace: 7:52

4 X 1km repeats followed by 3 X 200m.

Warmed up about 15 minutes easy running with Jenny and also ran into her friend Carin out for her run.

Repeats went pretty well:

3:47 (6:06), 3:37 (5:50), 3:46 (6:04), 3:32 (5:41)

It was a bit warm out this morning but I didn't worry about it, hopefully this warm weather running will pay off during the later part of the marathon this weekend when it gets warm.

Average pace: 7:35

Well, that's it, just a few easy runs left for the week :)

Ran with Jenny this morning around the neighborhood.  Jenny did a couple of faster miles but decided not to push it much past that.  Dixie also joined us, I loaned him my old garmin.

Average pace: 8:31

Last run before taking off for Utah and Yellowstone!

One last run before the marathon.   Nice cool morning in Research Park, Salt Lake City.  My brother was starting his run also so we ran together for a bit.  Running up hill at first (which was hard) then back downhill.  Altitude about 5000' didn't feel too bad but I think I could notice it a little bit (but only when running up hill).  Feeling somewhat ready.

I knew this race would be an experience to remember but I had no idea exactly how it would unfold.  I knew that the long steep downhill and the few uphills would be challenging and maybe it might get hot during the last 6 miles.  I knew that I had a chance to do well but also had a chance to make mistakes and blow up. 

Jenny was running this race also so I would be thinking about her race while I ran mine and she would have a lot on her mind thinking about her dad who just had surgery (which went pretty well overall but took longer than hoped for) on Friday.

Start to 5 miles, STEEP!

6:36, 6:34, 6:17, 6:39, 6:50

Race started on time, lined up near the front after spending some of the morning camped out with Jenny on the ground inside the tent.  Went out at what seemed slowly at first but the crowd spread out quickly and soon picked up some speed.  It was pretty dark out but the moon was out and the city lights down below in the valley were beautiful (although I spent most of the time looking at the road).  Concentrated on not pounding too much and taking the tangents around the switchbacks.  During my third mile for some reason I thought I had slowed down to about a 7:10 pace but then the mile beeped and it was my fastest mile.  I had splits written on my arm for 5, 10, 15, 20, and 23 miles for a 3:00 time, I was about 1.5 minutes ahead but knew I had just scratched the surface.

6 - 10 miles, up and over "Little Mountain"

7:31, 8:14, 7:48, 6:53, 7:28

Course had finally hit the bottom of the downhill about 5.5 miles then started the climb up "Little Mountain".  I knew this stretch would be hard but also hoped that I would feel great the rest of the way after cresting it.  Rob Murphy from the blog drove me (and my whole family) on the course on Thursday to point out details and give some advice which was a huge help.  I'm not sure how different things might have been if I had gone in blind.  Advice for this stretch was to do your best and not worry too much about pace.  I felt like I was slogging up the mountain, but so was everyone else and I passed a few runners.  Finally hit the top of the hill and felt wonderful, it wasn't easy but wasn't such a monster (that would come later!).  Going downhill again I picked up some speed but couldn't quite get back my same speed on had on the first downhill.  Then, at the bottom of the downhill there is a short out and back slightly uphill, which felt a lot hard than it should have and slowed me down.  Fortunately I knew this was coming and knew how far the out and back was so that helped.

But, now I was about 2 minutes off the 3:00 time goal pace.  I thought there was a chance to come back but didn't know how likely it would be.  The splits were on my left forearm, written by Jenny with a pen (I had a pace Tat which I had forgotten at home along with the shorts I had planned to wear).  But on my right arm was three characters that Jenny also wrote - "I", (a heart), and a "U" - so I still had something meaningful to look at on my arm.

11-15 miles, through the canyon

7:04, 6:53, 6:58, 7:28, 7:17

The next few miles felt pretty good.  I don't remember what slowed me down on mile 14.  A few people passed me and then I soon would pass them or would maybe pass them later.  At this point I thought I could still get a PR and maybe beat my 3:06 time from February.  About 3 minutes off 3:00 goal time, so I think that was the last time I looked at my left arm.

16-20 miles, things change

7:07, 7:20, 7:48, 7:28, 7:36

Coming out of the canyon I was starting to feel pretty good.  From the course tour I knew there was a short steep uphill (which my wife and I were calling "Hogle Hill" because it sounded catchy).  I had this idea that I had conquered the tough stuff once I went over that hill.  Then, just after going past mile 17 and slowing down  a little bit to grab some water, I had trouble getting going again.  I had a sudden panic when I saw I was at just slower than an 8:30 pace and felt drained and finished.  I had never crashed this early. 

Then, a volunteer called out to me and another guy near me "You two guys are in the top 40!".  This helped me to get going again and I slowly clawed my way back to under 8:00 pace.  We hit a partial turnaround and were now on Foothill drive.  I was doing the best I could to hold together.  It was starting to get warm but it wasn't bothering me.  It was a combination of being from Florida and being blessed with cooler temps than in past years.

21-Finish 

8:15, 7:15, 7:43, 7:17, 7:27, 7:39, 1:34 (0.24 @ 6:25)

These splits were all over the place.  It was mostly downhill with a little bit of slight up hill and some flat.  I don't remember why mile 21 was slower, but mile 22 I had a view looking downhill which was inviting.  The shade on South Temple was wonderful.  Kept playing the passing game which really helped to pull me along.   At mile 24 my brother was waiting for me and tried to offer me a bottle of water which I turned down (I did not recognize him which I learned the next day that it was him and felt terrible about, I must have been really out of it!).  At about mile 25.7, Rob Murphy was there and ran along side me and helped pull me along.  He pointed out the police car down the street where 26 mile marker was and the second to last turn was.   With some encouragement I made it there and soon saw my family waiting for me near the corner shouting out to me.  Last turn and I could see the time clock, gave it all I had and snuck in just under 3:11!

My son handed me a Ho-Ho which I had been eyeing the day before the race but did not eat.  Rob pointed me over to where Sasha was and I said hi to him.  There were a few other bloggers there also who I would have liked to have met and talked to but I wanted to head back out to the course to look for Jenny.

I was waiting around the corner from 26 mile point and it was soon about 3:40 into the race which was one of Jenny's hoped for goals.  A minute later my brother texted me that Jenny was now at mile 24.  He ran her in and must have helped out a lot because she still made it under 4 hours - 3:58, her last 2.2 miles were a lot faster than miles 17-24.  Mile 17 had gotten to Jenny also, but she had a lot on her mind thinking about her dad.  But she didn't quit and did the best she could and managed to get her second best marathon time!!!

After we had recovered and showered, eaten and rested,  I took Sasha up on his offer to come visit at his home.  We set up a time to meet later.  Visited Temple Square and found a place downtown which sells authentic Belgian waffles which were exactly like the ones in Belgium which the yeasted dough and pearl sugar which carmelizes on the iron.

Drove down to Provo and had a wonderful visit with Sasha and his family.  Arrived as his friends were helping to install a backup camera on the fast running van.  My kids played with his kids and then my son Andy ran with Sasha and Benjamin for two miles while Thomas and I biked alongside.   Ate a baby carrot pulled right from the garden which one of Sasha's sons offered me and had dessert of fresh raspberries and real whipped cream that Sarah made.  Talked with Sasha about running, computers and church.   Jenny and I both talked about hitting a rough spot at mile 17ish.   "Ahhh yes", said Sasha, "there is a monster which lives there by the golf course".   It was an insidious monster indeed, but maybe I'll come back some day and be ready for it :) 

My kids were soon getting tired from a long day so we had to say good bye and head back up to Salt Lake.  But what a great day.

Always a big accomplishment for me to get in that first run after a marathon.  It usually isn't necessarily pretty but it is a start.

This morning's run was extra special.  I ran with my two brothers.  I don't think we have ever been on a run together.  It has been years since we have all been together at the same time (probably not since my second oldest brother (Tim)'s wedding in 2001.   The other amazing thing is that about 2 months ago he had several stents put in around his heart, and now he is back running.

We ran in Yellowstone near the geyser field around Old Faithful.  Went from the Old Faithful Inn to the "morning glory" pool and then back.  On the way out saw a bison out near the geysers, then on the way back the same bison was less than 20 feet from the trail munching on some grass.