Every Race is an Adventure!

It was only for 5 very slow miles, but at least I got out today. I ran with Larry and Kevin and their Aussie Shepherds. Larry was wearing his studded running shoes...sheet metal screws in the soles.

I'm going to rationalize and call this a recovery week. I averaged 40 miles per week the two previous weeks. It's time to start focusing on getting ready for Painter's and then building mileage to get ready for the Squaw Peak 50.

Kent and I ran the Lindon route. Average pace 9:18/mi.

Wayne, Kent and I ran the 2000 N route. Kevin was late getting out and ran the course in the reverse direction until he met up with us. Average pace 9:30/mi (includes 2000 N uphill).

Kent and I ran the first water tank hill up to the beginning of hill two...twice...then looped down through the former WordPerfect buildings and up the hill to 1600 North. We only ended up with 5 miles instead of the normal 6 (left late, also finished a little early), but it was a good run.

Wayne, Kevin, Kent and I ran the Cascade route.

I ran the Orem library route solo. I came very close to not running. First, I kept pushing the snooze alarm from 5:00am to 5:30am. I got up and went to the bathroom then check my thermometer. It said 13°. I told myself that was too code to run alone and I was tired, so I crawled back into bed under my warm covers. As I laid there I thought of my goal to get in 40 miles again this week. If I stayed in bed I wouldn't make it. About 5:35am I got out of bed, put on my layers, and hit the road about 5:50am.

As I started south on Main I felt like I'd dressed pretty well. I was glad I was up and running. When I got to 400 N and turned east...into a frigid headwind from Provo Canyon...I wasn't so sure any more. By the time I turned south again on 400 E my face was frozen. I would occasionally move my facial muscles just to make sure I still could. On the return trip I learned that the frigid wind from the east also had a "from the north" component. It froze my face for all but the one 1/2 mile I was going west from 400 E to Main.

I was glad to get home and let my face thaw out. We read scriptures as a family right after my morning runs and I had a bit of a hard time reading with my frozen face.

I think I've mentioned before that I have an imaginary chalk board that appears in front of me whenever I'm tempted to back off the pace, cut a run short, skip a run, etc., just because it's feeling hard or uncomfortable (not because I'm sick or injured). I put a tally mark on the left side...the winner side...every time I don't give in. The right side is the quitter side. Thankfully I've put very few marks there over the years. Even though my average pace was only 9:12/mi, today I chalked a thick tally mark on the win side for just getting out and running steady even with the arctic wind biting at my face.

I ran the Wil's Pit Stop route with Larry, Wayne and Grant this morning. Grant usually runs trails in the hills at lunch time so I haven't run much with him over the years. It was nice having him run with us today. He was originally only planning on 6 miles but went the full 10.5. Wayne and I pushed ahead going up University Avenue and went past the mouth of the canyon a bit and ended up with 11.5 miles.

After we turned north on University Avenue onto the trail, I was talking with Larry and Grant and didn't notice that Wayne was pulling away until he had a pretty good lead on us. I decided to catch up with him but that took some sustained effort. From then on I was just hanging on trying to keep up with him. After going the extra distance we had to catch back up to Larry and Grant. Wayne pulled ahead and I just couldn't catch him until he caught them and slowed down again. It wasn't long after that we hit 800 E and Wayne suggested we push the pace to 400 E as we often do. I told him I was beat, but after crossing 800 E I picked up my pace and managed to stay with Wayne at just under an 8:00/mi pace. We then waited for Larry and Grant. I ran the last mile in with Larry as Wayne pulled a little ahead again. He's running well, as he should. He's been training well. He and I have both been trying to get in 40 mile weeks, which is tough for us during the dark, cold, icy winter. We're both curious to see what we can do at the Painter's half marathon in St. George in a couple of weeks.

Lindon route with Kent in the dark, cold early morning. Around a 9:30/mi average.

2000N route with Larry, Wayne, Kent and eventually Kevin. We were late getting started, hence late getting back. With 1/2 mile to go I was already 2 minutes late for morning scriptures with my family. I pushed hard, but it felt like running uphill in mud with lead legs. I was pleased to see that I averaged a 7:20/mi pace for that last half mile. It seems hard to believe that I may try to average near that pace for a half marathon a week from Saturday...emphasis on the words 'may' and 'try'.

Larry, Kent and I ran the first of big hills twice then looped through the old WP campus. I decided to push the last mile hard and ran it in 7:19.

We actually got 5 out this morning: Larry, Wayne, Kevin, Kent and me. We ran the first two miles together at about 10:00/mi pace. Kevin then asked if I needed to be back at 6:45, which is my target time to get home. We decided we needed to pick up the pace so the two of us pulled ahead. The splits for the last 4 miles were 8:22, 8:28, 8:02, and 7:51. This felt quite a bit easier than it has all winter. I think a lot of it had to do with the temperature being 30° and me wearing shorts for the first time in a long time. It felt pretty good.

I ran the Orem library route solo. I couldn't manage to generate any speed this morning and only slogged along at an average 9:44/mi pace. Oh well, at least I got out.

We actually had 6 of us out this morning! We had all 5 of the normal group of Larry, Wayne, Kevin, Kent and me, and then Grant joined us.

Kent and I played in a church bball game at 8:00am, so we didn't start our run until 9:30am. I had some pancakes before the basketball game and another one before the run. I was worried because I don't normally eat before I run, but I think pancakes work well for me.

We started on the canal road heading north, but by the time we got into Pleasant Grove we were tired of that surface and switched to the roads and ran our Lindon loop route back home. This was only about 7 miles, so Kevin, Wayne and I decided to loop up to 800 E, down to 1200 N and back home to get to 10 miles. Kevin had to turn back at 400 E to get back to a bathroom so Wayne and I pushed on alone.

Our first mile split with the group was 10:14, but we eventually sped up to where I averaged 8:59/mi for the 10.1 miles. Not super fast, with the last mile in 8:06 being our fastest mile, but it was still a pretty good workout and, if I count a mile for the basketball game, I managed to get in another 40 mile week.

Because today is a holiday (no work or school) my family stayed up late playing Bang! (an Old West-themed card game from Italy). I slept in and was going to run at 9:00am but ended up not getting away until about 10:45am. I decided to run up towards the canyon and try to get in 10 miles at an average pace of 8:30/mi or faster.

Shortly after I started an elite-looking runner who was also running up 1600 N on the other side of the road passed me quite easily and was pulling away. I picked up the pace a little but soon turned towards the high school. I thought he might be running over to 800 E and then down to 1200 N. If so, our paths would intersect there again. It caused me to push the pace a little faster than I would have, but he got there well before I did. I saw him cross through the intersection and by the time I got there he as a block or more down the road. Oh well, it got me pushing the pace early in the run.

About 4 miles into the run I was averaging 8:20/mi and feeling okay so I decided to go 12 miles instead of 10. Then I realized if I went to 6.55 miles before turning around instead of at 6.00 miles I could get the half marathon distance in. That's the great thing about an out and back route, once you go out a certain distance, there is no shortcutting the distance back home.

My mile splits out were: 8:01, 8:22, 8:15, 8:28, 8:53, 9:14, and 9:29/mi for 0.67. The pace got slower the last 3.6 miles as I got to the canyon trail that was covered with a thin layer of slush, just enough to make the footing slippery and unsure. I concentrated on keeping my center of gravity centered over the contact point of my stride to prevent the magnitude of a lateral force in any direction from exceeding the frictional coefficient of the slush...I tried to keep from slipping and falling down. This seemed to make it more difficult to keep my pace up.

My splits back were: 8:55, 8:49, 8:22, 9:11, 8:55 (0.5 mile). I then reset my lap to measure the last two miles home, which were: 8:06 and 7:58. The slush again slowed me for the first 3 or 4 miles until I got back up 800 N and off trail and back on the streets. I had to work hard to keep my pace up, and felt pretty good about the last two miles considering how tired I was.

My overall pace was 8:36/mi for the 13.2 miles. I missed my goal of 8:30/mi, but with the slush and adding on 3.2 miles I still feel good about my efforts. At least I think I should be able to finish the Painter's 1/2 marathon in St. George on Saturday a bit faster than today. There may be rain (dang it!) but with the possibly warmer temperatures, lower altitude, a mini taper, and race day magic I'm confident (hopeful) I'll be able to go a little faster, maybe considerably faster. Regardless, I'm looking forward to another adventure and seeing what I can do.

I ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry and Kent at an easy pace. My right heel was a sore this morning after yesterday's long run, but it didn't bother me much during the run. We were "blessed" with a little freezing rain during the last part of the run.

Larry, Kent and I ran the new modified Wednesday route...the 1st big water tank hill up to the parking lot, twice, then a loop through the old WordPerfect campus. We left at 5:00am instead of 5:45am because babysitter Grandpa Larry needed to be home to watch grandson Becket so Grandma Jolene could go to work.

As usual I looked at my watch near the end of the run to see how fast I had to hurry to get home by 6:45am. When I realized it was only 6:00am, I decided to add a few miles onto the end of the run. After walking and chatting with Larry and Kent a bit I continued on and ran the neighborhood 5K course. I bumped into Lyle stretching after his run near his home and stopped and talked for a while. It had begun snowing at that point and by the time I got home it was coming down pretty steadily.

As I was running on the Northridge Park trail, unlike Monday in the slush, I wasn't "concentrating on keeping my center of gravity centered over the contact point of my stride to prevent the magnitude of a lateral force in any direction from exceeding the frictional coefficient of the surface" (COKMCOGCOTCPOMSTPTMOALFIADFETFCOTS) and I slipped twice on the same patch of ice and nearly went down. From then on I made sure I was COKMCOGCOTCPOMSTPTMOALFIADFETFCOTS-ing.

I think I'll take it easy tomorrow and maybe skip Friday or just go a few easy miles as I mini-taper for the 1/2 marathon on Saturday. I wanted to still get in 40 miles this week. I've now front loaded the week enough that the 13.1 miles from the race on Saturday will get me to 40.

Kevin and I ran the Cascade course. I tried to just take it easy with the race coming up on Saturday. Average pace was just under 9:00/mi.

I finally found some time to file a race report.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of myself at this race. My mileage this winter has been better than most winters, but I've done little to no speed work. On Oct. 21 the doctor confirmed that my right hip pain was being caused by my left leg being over an inch shorter than my right (a result of a serious knee injury when I was 14). I've used various lifts in my left shoe over the years, but I finally decided to get serious. I did some research and got some lifts that maximized the height I could get within a shoe. This added about 3/8" to the height of my previous lifts. I got six of them and now wear them in all my shoes, including my running shoes.

I started running with my new lifts in late October and have been focusing on just getting my body used to the new alignment after 30+ years. My hip pain has improved. I still feel some pain in my hip at times...probably arthritis...but it usually isn't bad enough to effect my running much.

The weather for the race was cooler than I'd hoped for, but at least the rain stayed away. I was going to run in my jacket, but after warming up for about a mile I decided to hurry and drop my jacket in the car before the start. I was glad I did. I was comfortable for the whole race in just  shorts, a short sleeved shirt, my hat, and some knit gloves. There was a cool breeze after the race and I got pretty cold pretty fast in my wet clothes. They were handing out space blankets, but I opted to go to the car and put on a dry shirt, long pants, my jacket and a fleece vest.

I started the race with Wayne Fairbanks, Jonathan Crampton, and Hal Amos. It wasn't long before Hal pulled away. He went on to beat me by 5 minutes. Jonathan and I pulled a little ahead of Wayne, and then at about mile two I pulled ahead of Jonathan and ran the rest of the race alone. Wayne and Jonathan finished 3 and 4 minutes behind me, respectively.

Just before I pulled ahead of Jonathan I told him my goal for the race was to find out where my fitness was, and I couldn't do that unless I pushed my limits. I think I did a good job of that. I pushed pretty hard and held a pretty steady pace (or at least effort) throughout the race. I passed a few and got passed by a few, but I didn't crash. I feel like I finished pretty strong, but my tank was pretty close to empty. I fought back to beat a couple of strong men runners that passed me with a few miles to go, mostly because they looked like there was a chance they could be in my age division. I couldn't muster enough speed, however, to catch Josse Tobiasson or Marci Lamoreaux, who both finished less than a minute ahead of me. Marci won the women's master's division.

My mile splits on my Garmin were: 7:20, 7:24, 7:04, 7:12, 7:45 (hill), 7:12, 7:37: 7:36, 7:50 (hill), 7:19, 7:37, 7:26, 7:20. I must have accidentally pushed the start button after race because a really slow extra mile was on my watch when I looked at it later.

My official overall time was 1:36:24 (7:22/mi). I finished 8th of 50 in the Men's 45-49 age division, and 86th of 543 out of the men overall. There 22 women who beat me, all of them were in their 20's or 30's except for Marci (41), so I finished 108th overall out of 1322 runners.

Considering I've run very few miles over the last few months at near 7:22/mi pace, I'm thrilled I managed to average that pace for 13.1 miles. My old body held out pretty well and I was mentally tougher than I thought I might be.

My body recovered pretty quickly. The only concern is some plantar faciitis pain in my right foot. It started after my long run last Monday. I've picked up my mileage a little (47+ miles this week), but I really think worn out shoes is the cause. Both my #1 and #2 pairs of shoes have over 500 miles on them. Wearing my Strassburg Sock at night has helped, but I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get some new shoes this week.

I feel good about the race, but the best part of the weekend was having some getaway time with Karen. I really enjoyed the drive down and back and our brief time together in St. George. I also really enjoyed visiting my parents in Nephi on the way back. It was also very enjoyable spending some time at my friend Greg's 50th birthday party Saturday night and seeing some old friends (both long-time and aged) I hadn't seen for a while. Saturday was a full day, which is usually the best kind.

Larry and I more or less ran the neighborhood 5K course.

I didn't run this morning, but I got in a good workout playing church basketball. We had a game at 10:00pm, and we ended up playing 4 against 10. My two young adult sons and I, with my neighbor James, were the four. We were still within 14 or so I think at half time, but late in the game we ran out of gas and they ended up winning by 24 or so. It was still a lot of fun and, like I said, a pretty good workout.

I wasn't tired, and had a ton of work to do. I had been working from home until just before the game, and I continued and worked through the next day until about 11:30pm (with a nap in the middle of the day). I went into work on Friday, but it took me until Saturday to recover.

Larry, Wayne and I left the neighborhood at 8:00am. The plan was to meet Kerry at the mouth of the canyon at 8:30am then run up to the Bridal Veil Falls parking lot and back. The wind out of the canyon was so strong and frigid that when we got to the mouth and met Kerry, we decided to run back home with the wind at our backs. We wandered the neighborhood a bit and ended up with just over 8 miles before I drove Kerry back to his car. Despite the cold, it was good running with Kerry again.

With all the long work hours, I decided to use the week as a recovery week. The PF in my right foot flared up a little after the Painter's half marathon, so I figured a light week would be okay.