Every Race is an Adventure!

I ran the Orem library route solo this morning. I only averaged an 8:55/mi pace in the cold wind and snow. I'm glad I got out when I did. It started snowing part way into the run and now it's coming down pretty hard.

Same solo run as yesterday but I averaged 8:30/mi today instead of 8:55/mi. I didn't feel like I was pushing any harder. I think the faster pace was due to less cold and much less wind. It's still too cold for April. I'm looking forward to some spring-like weather.

Despite the wind, snow, and the cold I really enjoyed today's race.

I rode to/from the race with Larry and Jolene. I always enjoy being with them. Jolene ran the 5K and placed (as usual) in her AD. Larry and I met up with Wayne shortly before the race. Wayne and Larry decided to run the race as a training run. I felt pretty good and decided to race the race.

I met Tom and Terry shortly before the race started. They were shooting for 1:30, me for 1:40, so I knew I wouldn't be seeing them for long. I ran with them (probably faster than I should have) the first 1/2 mile or so and intentionally backed off as we started up the overpass. I gradually watched them pull away over the next few miles.

The other runners I saw along the way changed, me passing some, some passing me, but there were a few runners that stuck in my memory. The most useful to me was the woman in the yellow shirt who was 30 to 50 yards ahead of me from just after the start until about mile 11. She had a smooth, easy stride, ran the tangents well, and seemed to be maintaining a steady, maintainable pace very similar to mine. I used her as reference point. When I started feeling like I was slowing, I would draw encouragement from seeing her ahead running steadily and strongly, but not pulling away. She dropped her Gatorade at one aid station, and then stopped at the next one, and that's when I passed her. I felt like I'd lost my tow rope, so I decided to push even harder the last two miles. During this stretch I passed two young men with iPods and a man and woman running together. I remembered these runners passing me earlier in the race. It was exhilerating to finish strong.

Splits: 6:39, 14:27 (2 miles), 7:42, 7:38, 7:39, 15:11 (2 miles), 7:47, 7:44, 7:46, 7:54, 7:05, 0:39 (6:37/mi) = 1:38:11

I finished first in the 45-49 age division, but was apparently the only in my age division. I don't know if that is accurate. It seems hard to believe. I know there are a lot of 45-49 male runners in the area. I'll take the win anyway. Maybe they were all afraid of me...not likely...but I showed up and ran hard in the wind and cold, so I'll take the award.

UPDATE (OFFICIAL RESULTS): Time: 1:38:12 (7:30/mi), Overall place 60/417, Men 52/253, AD 1/15

I have to confess I feel better knowing I ran faster than 14 other men my age instead of working so hard only to finish first and last in my division. I was also pleased and surprised to see that I beat the 2nd place runner by 8 minutes. Still, Tom and Terry beat me by 7 and 10 minutes, so there is plenty of room for improvement.

I ran the 5.5 mile 400 W/canal road/1600N loop at noon averaging about 8:37/mi overall, with a half mile at about 7:00/mi down 1600N near the end. I'm feeling pretty good after the hard run Saturday. Just a couple of minor aches and pains.

This morning I ran the Lindon loop at an easy pace with Larry, Wayne, Kevin and a couple of dogs.

Solo run on the Orem library route. Average pace 8:32/mi.

I was planning to run with Larry and Wayne this morning, but with the strong wind and rain I guess they decided to run later. I saw Lyle running past when I was at the "meeting corner" so I ran with him. I hadn't run or talked with him for a while until I dropped off my son's car at his shop the day before. He told me he signed up for the Utah Valley marathon in June, and he's also planning on St. George. He's in his 50's and only started running 2 or 3 years ago but it appears he has caught the running bug.

Lyle was only going about 4 miles so I went another couple of miles alone. I only averaged about 9:30/mi in the wind and rain, and I think I slowed down after Lyle stopped. Oh well, miles are miles...and getting out on bad weather days builds character...like digging holes...right?

I ran the Orem library route solo again this morning. When I run alone on dark mornings that's usually the route I end up picking. I like the mostly flat, will-lit route...except maybe for the frequent canyon wind and slight uphill for most of the return trip. I averaged 8:27/mi this morning. My average pace on this route is gradually improving, although most mornings I think the temperature has more of an effect on my pace than my fitness...the warmer it is, the faster I go.

I'm getting a little nervous about the Ogden marathon a month from now. I really need to get a few long runs in, but I need to be careful to not overdo it. I'm thinking of maybe 15 or 16 easy miles tomorrow, maybe up Provo Canyon for the first time this spring, but we'll see what the other guys are wanting to do.

Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I began our morning run by bravely running into the wind as we headed towards Provo Canyon. Kevin and Larry aren't training for a spring marathon, so they weren't going as far as Wayne and me and they turned back as we continued on.

Wayne and I ended up running out 7.5 miles, from my neighborhood to a little past Bridal Veil Falls, and then back for a total of 15 miles. I ran a warm up mile solo around the block before we started so I ended up with 16 miles.

After battling the wind and uphill, it was nice to turn around and head down the canyon with a tail wind. We got in a couple of miles around 8:15 pace and one down around 8:00. The climb up 800 N slowed us down, but we managed to run the last mile in 8:09. We averaged 8:55/mi overall for the 15 miles. For a long "slow" run, we both felt like we worked pretty hard and felt good about our efforts and the results. I was surprised how quickly I recovered from the run. My legs felt strong and I had no lingering pains (knock on wood).

Our plans are to run from my neighborhood to Vivian Park and back (17.5 miles) next Saturday, and from the mouth of the canyon to Trefoil and back (20 miles) in two weeks.

I ran the water tank hills solo at noon today. I pushed with a pretty steady effort the whole run. The water tank hills themselves start a little over a mile into the run and climb about 600 feet in about 1.5 miles. My rules of thumb for a good effort run are 1) under 30 min from home to the top of the hills, and 2) around 17 minutes up the hills (PR is 15:05). Today's times were around 1) 28:30 and 2) 17:20. I ran the last gradual downhill mile in 7:26. For this time of the year I feel good about the effort and results. My left Achilles is feeling pretty good, but it's still warning me not to overdo it. Sometimes I find myself longing to be able to push as hard as I want to, with my willpower being my only limitation instead of this old "injury waiting to happen" body. But most of the time I'm just grateful to be able to be running as well as I am, or even running at all. What a great blessing running has been and continues to be in my life.

As Larry, Wayne and I were about to start our run Lyle came running by. We decided to join him on his loop of the neighborhood 5K course. As Larry described it, Lyle was running like a freight train. We had to push to keep up with him as we were warming up. After one loop Lyle split off and we continued for a second loop. Wayne and I ran around the block while Larry made a pit stop at his house, so we ended up with 7 miles instead of 6.2. Overall average pace was only about 9:30/mi.

Time to catch up the blog.

This was an evening run, 6 miles, 8:25/mi average.

I took most of the day off work. This was a later morning solo run up to Provo Canyon and back. I missed running Thursday so I put in 10 miles today (8:42/mi average pace).

Wayne and I planned a 17.5 mile run for today...from home to Vivian Park and back. Larry and Kevin started with us but ran shorter. We had a couple of surprises. First, it turns out it's 18 miles, not 17.5. The bigger surprise was that there was no water (fountain still capped) at Nunns Park or Vivian Park, just at Timpanogos Park. We took our gels anyway (before we discovered there was no water). It was sure nice to finally get a drink back at Timpanogos park.

I felt tired this whole run. I think it was a combination of three factors: 1) a 10 mile run on Friday, 2) poor nutrition on Friday, 3) church cleaning assignment before run on Saturday...pushed heavy vacuum around for 45 minutes...worked up a pretty good sweat and burned considerable energy. The end result was that I slowly ran out of gas until I was completely empty. I felt it coming during most of the run but tried to tough it out. I sent Wayne ahead with 3 miles to go and asked him to drive back and pick me up. I struggled and made it to 16.5 miles, but that was it. I was feeling lightheaded and my legs felt like lead. I was sure glad to see Wayne's Jeep. When I got home I was chilled and couldn't seem to get warm. I ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich, showered, got dressed, then got into bed and slept for a couple of hours. I made myself some French toast when I got up and recovered pretty quickly after that.

Since I missed running Monday, I went out early and got in a couple of miles before meeting the guys. We then ran 6 miles together.

I went out early again and got in 1.5 miles before going to meet the guys. Wayne called Tuesday night and said he would be running this morning. I thought Larry might show, too, but neither of them did. I ran the Lindon loop. As I was running up the trail at Lindon Park I felt a sudden twinge of pain in my right knee. I walked up the hill and then rested and massaged it some. It felt okay so I started running again. It started hurting again so I ended up walking home the last 1.5 miles or so. I was reminded why I like running...walking is slow! I iced it and took some ibuprofen. It didn't bother me the rest of the day, but it has me

I went 6 miles this morning with Wayne and Larry. I wore my strap on my right knee as a precaution, but the knee felt fine. Karen and Brittany were prom dress shopping when I got home so I decided to get another run in. After last week's running 10 miles on Friday then running out of gas on Saturday's long run, I decided this week to get Friday's run in on Thursday night so I can rest up on Friday for Saturday's 20 miler. I got in 5.5 miles. I didn't wear the knee strap and it felt fine, but not quite 100%.

I'm very encouraged by today's 20 mile run, and greatly enjoyed it.

I picked Larry up and we met Wayne at the mouth of Provo Canyon at 5:30am. Kevin was a little late and drove to Canyon Glen and ran back to meet us. Tom said he might not come and not to wait for him, so we didn't, and he didn't. It would have been fun, but life happens. Maybe next time.

It was cool and humid, and a little dark at first, and there was a little light rain, and even some brief hail, but overall it was great running weather. The Provo and South Fork canyons aren't real green yet, but I still found them beautiful and greatly enjoyed them. I was the only one going 20 miles this morning, so by mile 7 the others had all turned back and I found myself running alone the last 3 miles up South Fork. I loved the solitude, the sounds of the birds and the brooks, and the misty clouds hanging low on the mountains (reminded me of the beautiful Smoky Mountains in North Carolina).

We took our time going up, about 10:00/mi average pace, which was fine with me. After running out of gas on last week's run, I didn't want the same to happen today. I had prepared much better...ate well and rested on Friday and didn't do physical labor before the run on Saturday...and just wanted to finish the 20 miles feeling good.

The route starts at about 4800 ft, climbs about 400 ft. over the roughly 6 miles to Vivian Park, then climbs about 800 ft. with some ups and downs to about 6000 ft. over the roughly 4 miles to the Trefoil gate. As I said, I averaged about 10:00/mi going up, with splits of 10:07, 10:03, 9:56, 10:20, 9:53, 9:38, 10:08, 9:36, 10:49, and 10:40.

The return trip was considerably faster, with splits of 8:16, 8:17, 8:19, 7:43, 7:40, 7:39, 7:24, 7:34, 7:48, and 7:45. My overall average pace was about 9:00/mi...10:00/mi up and 8:00/mi back.

The jump from 8:19 to 7:43 coming back was the result of hearing footsteps shortly before reaching Vivian Park on the way down South Fork. I had passed a young female runner farther up the canyon who was stopped on the side of the road. I almost asked if she needed help, but a couple of other runners had just greeted her and she seemed fine. She was obviously fine as it was her footsteps that were quickly gaining on me. I guess I picked up my speed instinctively...it wasn't consciously. She (Rebecca I think) asked how far I was running and it turned out we were both doing 20 milers in preparation for the Ogden marathon next month. We continued to run the same pace until she ran into a friend at the fountain at Timpanogos Park and I went on ahead. I'm glad she met her friend, it kept me from getting chicked on a training run.

I finished the run pretty strong and feel great. No aches or pains. My knee and ankle didn't bother me at all. No blisters and only very minor chafing. I think I could have finished another 6.2 miles pretty easily. I hope the rest of the day goes as well.

Wayne and Larry haven't been coming out on Mondays and Wednesdays, but Wayne says he's going to start and Larry might as well. It was nice to have Wayne join me this morning, but Larry didn't we make it. We ran the Lindon loop at an easy pace. It was a beautiful morning, but a little chilly with frost on the lawns and car windows. I think I've had enough of winter-like weather.

It's almost May.

I ran the 2000 N hill route this morning with Larry and Wayne...nice and easy. It was a beautiful morning.

Lindon loop with Larry and Kevin (and their dogs).

Larry, Wayne and I ran up past Cascade golf course and back. It was another beautiful morning, still a little chilly though.

Larry's headed out of town for a wedding, but Wayne and I are planning to run Provo Canyon early (5:30-ish) again this week. We both really enjoyed the early run last week. We plan to go 16-18 miles instead of 20 this week. The Ogden marathon is just two weeks away.