Every Race is an Adventure!

Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay

Recent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesPaul Thomas's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewMonth ViewYear View
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Orem,UT,USA

Member Since:

Apr 03, 2006

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

HS/COLLEGE:
mile: 4:56, 2 mile: 10:21 (1978)
marathon: 2:52 (St. George 1982)
OLD MAN (20+ years later):
5K: 19:53 (Nestle/Art City Days 5K 2007)
10K: 39:55 (Spectrum 10K 2008)
half marathon: 1:26 (Hobble Creek 2008)
marathon: 3:07 (St. George 2007)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Get back to a BQ marathon time (currently 3:40).

Long-Term Running Goals:

Have fun running, keep fit, and fight middle age spread. Run consistently and injury free. Maintain a healthy balance between running and other life priorities. Encourage my ever-aging running buddies to keep running so we can continue to share runs on the trail instead of rocking chairs.

Personal:

Blessed to be married to Karen for 30 years. We have six children (4 daughters/2 sons) ages 16 to 30, and one wonderful granddaughter.

Favorite Blogs:

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Altra Instinct 1.5 Lifetime Miles: 83.50
Altra Lone Peak 1.5 Lifetime Miles: 21.80
Saucony Guide 7 Blue 2 Lifetime Miles: 376.95
Saucony Fastwitch 6 Lifetime Miles: 200.05
Saucony Guide 7 Black 1 Lifetime Miles: 271.15
Race: Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay (13.1 Miles) 01:37:45
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
0.0013.100.000.000.0013.10

Continuation of the Wasatch Back Relay...

After our first set of legs we went to Morgan High School, ate their spaghetti dinner, and tried to grab a little sleep on their wrestling mats.

Leg 20, 7.0 miles, Moderate, about 3:00am

The temperature was about 60' with a bit of a cool breeze. With no moon yet, it was dark and the stars were clearly visible. This was a downhill leg that dropped about 950 ft. over 6.5 miles with a slight uphill the last 0.5 mile.

I enjoyed every step of this leg from the very beginning. I commented to everyone of the 19 runners I passed, except maybe the last two as I was kicking for the exchange, on how beautiful the run was. Those who replied agreed.

Mile splits were: 6:40 (some stiffness in right hip), 6:14 (loosened up), 6:04 (too fast? but fun), 6:55 (leveling some), 6:39, 7:39 (leveling more, some fatigue), 7:48, 6:46/mi for last 0.1. I passed 19 runners and was not passed.

After this leg I ate a peanut butter sandwich and some other food I brought. After our second set of legs we headed to exchange 30 in Heber to await our final legs. There was some sporadic light rain that prevented sleeping on the grass, so we tried to get a little rest getting as comfortable as we could in the team van. I'm not sure I got much real sleep at all.

Karen and my two youngest daugthers were coming up to watch my third leg. As I talked to her on the phone she mentioned heavy wind and then heavy rain in the valley. We could see it coming, and during the leg before mine it hit pretty hard. During my leg it let up, but then it hit again during some of the later legs, and seemed to settle for good just after we finished. It rained very hard on the drive home.

Leg 32, 6.1 miles, Moderate

The best part of this leg was seeing Karen, Emily and Amy along the way. They weren't expecting so soon and weren't ready with the cameras when I first passed so they drove up ahead and tried again. This time all three of them were out of the car, one with a video camero and the other two with still cameras. I crossed the street to greet them and felt like a celebrity with the papperazi snapping photos.

This leg gradually climbs uphill the whole way, with the steepest climb right at the end. My mile splits were: 7:10 (Karen & the girls), 7:46, 8:08, 8:25, 8:34, 8:47, 7:10/mi for last 0.1. I was worried about this leg. With the last minute decision to run the marathon last Saturday, I was concerned that if I hadn't fully recovered this is where it would hit me hardest. Despite the gradually slowing splits on this leg, I actually felt fairly strong, and had enough for a brief kick at the end. I passed 32 other runners and was not passed.

So over the three legs, if I counted correctly, I passed 61 other runners and was not passed. I may have done better without the marathon the week before, but I really don't think so. My legs hurt less before leg three, and better during leg three, than they have in my previous 5 WBRs.

Over all I really enjoyed the relay again. The heavy rain at the end put a damper on things, but worse than that was the horrible parking arrangements at the finish. It took forever to get in and out. They really need to fix that. It left a really sour taste in my mouth after an otherwise delicious relay.

Saucony Tangent Miles: 7.00Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.10
Comments
From Tom on Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 10:56:42 from 137.65.56.16

Nice job Paul! And the rest of the team also! I did miss a bit not participating this year, although the Japan trip was an incredible, possibly once in a lifetime experience.

From Paul Thomas on Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 11:42:46 from 76.27.92.76

It sounds like you had a great trip to Japan, with the possible exception of Kim gagging on the octopus.

We had our post-relay picnic and awards yesterday. It looks like 8 of 12 plan to run next year, one unknown, and three will not run - Steve (too busy with kids), Kyle (family reunion conflict), and Bill (unemployed and watching expenses).

We missed you. There was more than one comment about how great it would be to get Tom (and Terry) back on the team. You would certainly have first dibs on one of the open spots.

Ryan's and Greg's wives ran with the Queens of Sole this year (I think that's right). Will's wife Deb may join as an alternate. If their team is like ours and replaces a few runners every year, if Kim was interested she perhaps could land a spot with them, leaving you looking for a men's team, like ours.

Of course that championship masters mens team from SF might be pretty tempting. They're pretty fast. I talked with Darin and Hal for a while at the relay. Hal chided me for not being at Nestle this year so he could beat me (hehe).

I think my next races are Provo 1/2 and Hobble Creek 1/2 in August. We'll be on vacation during the Speedy Spaniard, dang it.

I think the heat may finally be here. Enjoy the hot runs. (That doesn't sound very good, does it?)

Add Your Comment.
  • Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
  • Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
  • If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.
Only registered users with public blogs are allowed to post comments. Log in with your username and password or create an account and set up a blog.
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: