Speed only kills if you don't have it!

I woke up in the middle of the night with a major cramp in my left calf.  When I got up this morning my calf was super sore and my left ankle was stiff as well.  I decided that I wasn't recovered enough from last week to do a hard workout, so I made it an easy run instead.  I ran up to 2nd dam and back via the canal trail.  It took me a few miles to get going , but I felt good after that.  It was a nice morning, a lot cooler than the weekend was.  The river trail is so thick and lush this time of year and there wasn't very many people out either.  Good run.  It is funny how I call a run like that an easy run, when two years ago, after I first moved to Logan and I wasn't running much, I considered it difficult.  It is amazing what a little more training and motivation can do for you.  1:15:52

(Hurricane-274 miles)

Nice cool morning for a workout, but I had a hard time getting my bones out of bed and out the door.  I think the biggest reason I had such a hard time getting going was because I knew it was going to hurt!  I did the same up and downhill tempo run as last week.  I was hoping to do it a bit faster than last week, just so I could show some progress.  I ran over on the Island and up the Center Street hill, just over 3 miles, then started my tempo.  I ran up to Dry Canyon in 7:11, I thought I was going to die!  I tried to really push it up that long hill without going anaerobic, and it hurt.  The down hill I really hammered out too.  The mile down Mountain Road and Center Street was 4:49, a second slower than last week.  The stretch just over 1/10 of a mile was :24, I was flying!  My last mile I kicked it down hard in the last stretch to break 5:00, (4:59).  I was trashed after my tempo, but a half mile into my cool-down home I felt good again.  I added another 1/4 mile at the end of my run to make it 9.5 miles.  I was happy to break 5:00 in both downhill miles.  I could never break 5:15 in the last mile last year, and I did that mile solo, not in a 5k tempo run.  I was the most pleased with my 7:11 mile up Center Street and Mountain Road.   It sounds slow but it is a toughy of a mile up that mountain.  Good run for me today, 17:23 for a 5K in a training run gives me some confidence going into the summer.  I might not be running sub 5:00 on a flat course for 2/3s of the race, but I sure as heck wouldn't run 7:11 for my first mile either.  1:06:46 total time.

(Adrenaline-211 miles) 

Met Jon and Paul at 1st Dam for an evening run.  We ran up the canyon and river trail to Gueneva Malibu and back.  We did a lot of gabbing along the way, which is always fun.  Good easy pace.  Hot run at first but it cooled off when we got up the canyon a ways. Averaged about 8:10 miles.  1:29:32

(Hurricane-286 miles)

Easy morning run, partially in the heat.  I went down onto the Island, up into River Heights, and back.  I didn't feel super spry today, but did 3x100 meter strides in the last mile and felt better.  I tried out a pair of racing shoes that i was going to wear in Ogden but chickened out. They felt good and are extremely cushioned for a race shoe, kind of a beefy flat.  I will use them at WBR, and they willl make a good 1/2 marathon shoe for sure. 37:55

(Fastwitch -5 miles)

1000 miles this year!

Day 1 of WBR

This year was more relaxed for me than last year was, probably because I am in a lot better shape, I had to run half the mileage, and I have a little relay experience now.  Last year was fun because we got a bunch of us nobodies from Logan, plus Sasha, and ran under 20 hours with an ultra team.  This year was fun because I knew most of our team, and we would be a Top 3 challenger.  There is something about being on a team like this that has a bonding affect on you, and I was honored to be a part of such a talented team of runners and people.

My first leg was at about 11:00 pm.  Leg 12 was new this year and started somewhere on the road going up to Snow Basin.  It was a 1100 foot climb in 4 miles, not near as tough as "Ragnar" or "You've go to be kidding Me!", but still one heck of a climb!   It was very dark when I got the baton from Jon and started up the mountain.  There was only one other vehicle that passed me besides our own SUV, and that was for the runner that I caught about 3 minutes into my leg.  It was kind of trippy being out in the middle of no-where and not seeing anyone.  I had no idea of my pace during the climb, I just knew that I was working extremely hard up the mountain.  The run seamed to take forever, and I would look at my watch after what seemed like 20 minutes, and only 5 minutes would have passed.  I just kept pushing along, knowing that eventually I would see the exchange and be done.  I almost ran over Sasha when I handed off to him, he must not have been able to tell how far away I was because I sure wasn't going very fast.  I was glad that was my first leg and could get the exteme uphill in the dark out of the way.  I did the 4+ mile leg in a blazing 29:02.  It was said to be 3.9 or 4 miles (It is amazing how close Paul comes sometimes), but according to the BYU guy's Garim it was between 4 and 4.1 miles.  It doesn't really matter to me, either way I was about the right pace (7:00-7:15).  The BYU guy that I was running against only ran 4 seconds faster than I did, so I felt good about that.  I lost track of BYU after our first two legs, so I never got any other details.  I can see why people like to have their Garmins on legs like that.

I ran into my Dad, who was on a masters team of all plus 50 year old guys (CUPS), after my leg and cooled down with him until my van was ready to head to the next major exchange and try to get some sleep.

Day 2 of WBR

We did get some sleep at the third major exchange, I ended up with about 50 minutes.  I have never gotten more than 30 minutes worth of naps on one of these relays and I probably got about one hour and 45 minutes on this one.  It is amazing how an extra hour of sleep can make you feel a lot better.  Another weird thing about these relays is how fast time will pass when you are not the one running! 

My next leg was at about 5:00 a.m. and is one that I did last year.  It wasn't as bad as I remembered it to be.  It was along the shore of the Rockport reservoir, on a busy high, and usually has a good head wind.  It is kind of a deceiving leg because the map shows that you climb upto a certain point and then role in on flat the last half of the run.  In reality it is hard to say exactly with no sleep at 5:00 a.m., the mind plays tricks.  What I remember from last year when Paul biked with me, was that we climbed a lot more than we should have.  What I remember from this time is I went up and up until about 4 miles and then had a slight downhill for the next 1.2 to 1.5 miles.  I felt kind of sick to my stomach at first, but was okay after about a mile.  The head wind coming around the res. was rater annoying, but at least their wasn't tons head on traffic like last year.  I pushed it hard and felt like I was flying in some parts of the leg.  I passed about 10-15 teams, which is always fun because they don't like it most of the time.  I really don't have any idea of my pace but it felt fast, probably a lot faster than what it really was.  I pushed it hard the whole way and felt like I ran well.  The worst part about that leg is that you can see the next major exchange the whole run!  When I came in I was starting to pass about 3-4 teams and the exchange was weird.  There was not a shute to run through, and the runners were waiting off to the side of the road.  I could see Sasha, but he couldn't see me.  Jon and Dan were trying to tell me and him where eachother were, but I ran right past him anyways before we made a bad exchange.  I told Jon and Dan after that leg that I felt like I was going 5:30 pace, not 6 minute pace.  32:24

(Tangent-151 miles)

We went to the middle school in Heber after my 2nd leg and got another 45 minutes to hour of sleep before it was our turn again.   I was pleased with how my van ran all of their legs, but the 3rd one is always the most impressive, because it shows you what people are made of.  My van (Dan, Walter, Drew, Clyde, and Jon) ran some great 3rd legs.  Of course the last four are the most extreme ones of the whole relay, with elevation gain and drop.  I won't steal anyone's thunder, but they ran great! 

My last leg came quick, since I got to the exchange only a couple of minutes before Jon did, good thing I didn't have to use the potty!  I didn't have the preasure of pushing for a win or anything, but I knew that I had to run very fast in order to break 18:30:00.  Plus, the Roadrunner team, that started at 4 p.m., was running right with us at the time and had Jody Benson running the last leg against me, and I didn't want him to catch me.  I took off on this steep hill that goes up for .3 mile before you drop down the mountain, and felt like I was at a very slow crawl.  At the top of the hill I was able to switch gears and run around 5 minute pace the rest of the way down the mountain.  It didn't hurt as bad as last year with running leg 35 and 36 together, ouch!  I felt okay considering it was the very end of a fast relay and it was getting hot.  I pushed it hard down the mountain, hoping the whole time that I could hold on and break 18:30:00.  Knowing that Jody wanted to catch me and that he wasn't too far back gave me a little extra motivation.  I was breathing pretty hard for a downhill section, but that gave me confidence that I was moving fast, so I didn't let it bother me.  There was no mile to go marker in the last leg, but they are never accurate anyways.  The one I hit on the Snow Basin leg was way off or I ran an 11 minute last mile, and I am pretty sure that it was really a sub 7:00 mile.  It is always confusing when you hit down-town and they make you cross streets, go through tunnels, and turn several corners.  But finally I turned the final corner to see my team waiting to cross the line with me.  We all went across together and finished in a time of 18:29:29.  My time for the leg was 23:47.  I talked to Jody after he came in and I actually ran faster than he did down, he never told me how much though. 

It was sure good to be done!  Eventhough we had some difficulties with getting lost and having some injuries, everyone stepped up and we still ran awesome!  Weber and BYU were the only teams that beat us, but I know they are not unbeatable, especially if they follow the rules.  I was glad to see Weber win it over BYU, they should have from the beginning because they had an excellent team.  Another great relay experience, with a great team! 

I stuck around the finish to see when my Dad's team came in.  We didn't pass them until Dan's 2nd leg, so I knew that they weren't too many hours back.  They ended up finishing in a time of 22:35:35, and lost their division by one minute.  I slept the entire ride back to Logan and crashed hard when I got home.

(Fastwitch -10 miles)