| 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: |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 1194.55 | 124.30 | 280.30 | 0.00 | 162.40 | 1761.55 |
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 424.70 | Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 154.20 | Saucony Tangent Miles: 177.10 | Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 270.65 | Saucony Guide TR Miles: 140.35 | Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 503.50 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.30 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.30 |
| I started the new year by finally getting out and running with Larry and Wayne again. It was great to run with them again.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.30 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| I played basketball again this morning with Andrew and company. I really stunk it up but got some pretty good exercise in. I finally hit a three pointer (after missing quite a few) near the end of the last game to help get us back in the game. I only mention it because it was probably the only highlight for me for the whole morning. At least I got some good exercise and didn't get too badly hurt (a couple of minor finger jams). |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.25 |
| I got out with Larry and Wayne again this morning. I guess we barely missed Kevin. We were planning on 10 miles this morning, but with the treacherous icy roads and strong freezing wind we decided 6 miles would be enough. Despite the conditions I really enjoyed being out running with Larry and Wayne again. I think we're all feeling quite unprepared for the Painter's half marathon in two weeks, but there is a good chance it will be at least a little warmer in St. George. I think we'll all finish it okay, but I don't think there is much chance of anything near a PR for any of us. It seems as I get older I'm more content with and grateful for what I am able to do, and don't worry so much about what I can't.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.25 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| I played in a church basketball game with my two adult sons tonight. We only had 5 players so I got a pretty good cross training workout. |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.15 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.15 |
| I ran the Lindon loop with Larry and Wayne. |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 9.40 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.40 |
| I finally got in a 10+ mile run. It will probably be the only one before the Painter's half next Saturday. I'm confident now that I will be able to finish the 13.1 miles, but it won't be very fast. I only averaged 9:23/mi this morning, but I didn't push the pace at all until the last mile or so, when I managed to average 7:23/mi. With the bad weather, painful Achilles, and career change this winter, my training hasn't been very good. I'm okay with that. My life overall has been going pretty well and I feel happy and blessed. The weather is improving, my Achilles felt okay this morning, and I love my new job.
I think my goals for next week are 1) finish without injury, 2) break 2:00, 3) break 1:45. With my spotty training this winter, I have no idea what to expect. I do know that my 1:32 time last year is far out of reach this year.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 10.40 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| I ran the Lindon loop with Larry and Wayne, enjoyable even in the dark and the cold, even though it wasn't quite as cold this morning. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Larry and I cut the Lindon loop short this morning for biological reasons. I could say we're tapering for Painter's on Saturday, but you have to be training hard in order to taper. :-)
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Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 4.00 |
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| Race: |
Painter's St. George 1/2 Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:41:34, Place overall: 171, Place in age division: 10 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.10 |
| Last year I was running 40-50+ miles per week. For the past few months I've not been doing much more than that per month, mostly due to a sore left Achilles, a career change, and bad weather. Considering my lack of conditioning, I'm quite pleased with the results of this race, even though it's 9 minutes slower than last year. I started out the race running with Wayne, even though I knew he was in better shape than me. He said he was going to start out easy. I hung with him okay for the first 5 miles or so, and managed to average sub-7:30 for the first half of the race: 7:31, 7:31, 7:13, 7:18, 7:36, 7:13, 7:27 My lack of training caught up with me on the uphills and in the latter miles: 7:50, 8:07, 7:47, 8:02, 8:26, 8:16
My time was 1:41:34 (7:47/mi). I finished 10th of 49 in the M 45-49 age division, and 171st of 1033 overall. Wayne finished in 1:38, Bill R. in 1:47, Larry in 1:57, Lyle in 2:17.
I'm encouraged that even with my pathetic training I still managed to finish in the top 20%. My left Achilles didn't bother me at all, but my right calf started feeling tight about mile 6 and two days later is still pretty sore, but it feels like it will heal up pretty quick (knock on wood). I enjoyed seeing my old Novell running buddies Tom (and Kim), Nathan, and Bill. Kim is injured and was walking the 5K just to fulfill the Runner Series requirement, so Tom walked with her (what a guy!). Nathan's daughter was running the 5K so he did, too. He finished in 19:35 (6:18/mi), 2nd in his division. Not too shabby! It sounded like Bill's training has been a little like mine this winter, and he seemed satisfied with his slower than normal 1:47 (8:15/mi) half marathon. I can relate.
Even though it was a little chillier than I hoped in St. George, it was still very nice running in shorts and not having to worry about icy roads, no shoulders, or poor footing. I felt my running fire rekindle a bit. I think once things thaw out here in Orem it will throw even more fuel on the fire. Karen and I enjoyed our quick getaway and I'm pleased with the results of the run. Life is good. No regrets.
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Saucony Tangent Miles: 13.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 3.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Six miles with Larry and Kevin. We missed Wayne but it was great having Kevin along again (even with his young dog Dash, Ozzie's boy). |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
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A brief frigid run with Larry. Mid-teens and a breeze. It was cold! With Larry's busy morning schedule today, we decided a couple of miles was enough. Last night I registered for the Ogden Marathon in May, so I guess I need to start getting more consistent with my training. I hope the weather thaws out soon.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 2.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.60 |
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Larry later confessed to peeking at us through the window. He almost turned on the light and asked us to wait for him, but he was running late, and it was very cold, so he opted to feign still being asleep. Wayne and I saw the dark house, failed to see sneaky Larry peering at us in the darkness, and left without him. We enjoyed the cold run anyway, but would have enjoyed it more with Larry, and would have been willing to wait for him. We're all planning to run the inaugural Hale Center Theater "When Hale Freezes Over" 10K on Saturday. We figured it was for a good cause. They are rookie race organizers so it could be an adventure.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 5.60 |
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| Race: |
Hale Freezes Over 10K (6.2 Miles) 00:45:59, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 1 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 1.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.20 |
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I'm glad I decided to run in the inaugural Hale Freezes Over 10K put on by the Hale Center Theater in Orem. There were 200+ participants in the 5K, 10K, and 1 mile walk. There were some issues, but for a first time event I thought it was run pretty well. RunnerCard handled the timing, the post-race food (including hot pizza) was pretty good, and they had the awards and prize drawings inside the theater out of the cold, which was nice. One hiccup was that the course markings in some spots were hard to see. There were a bunch of the lead runners that missed a major turn near the beginning. There were a lot of turns in the course as it winded through neighborhoods. Wayne missed a turn later in the race, and I had a little glitch myself on a corner where someone had apparently taken the cones. Another fairly major hiccup was that they had no age division awards, only 1st-3rd male and female in each race. No masters division, either, which I just realized I would have won (I'm 48 and the two ahead of me were 24 and 33). After the race, one of the organizers told us it was their first time and they will fix things next time.
There were only 17 men in the 10K. To my surprise, I finished 3rd overall. I've never finished higher than 10th overall before. Sure, it was a small field, but it was fun to stand on the podium and get my picture taken. I got a nice medal, a pair of Asics running socks, and a season ticket to the Hale Center Theater. I also won another pair of Asics running socks in the drawing. Every participant got a couple of vouchers to upcoming shows (and a pen, and a deck of cards, and some discount coupons to various businesses). The 5K and 10K runners started together and ran the first couple of miles together. I knew where the 10K runners were supposed to split from the 5K runners, but as we approached the turn nobody was taking the 10K turn. I confirmed with a guy at the aid station where the 10K was. I was hoping many of the numerous runners in front of me were running the 5K, but I was shocked when the only person to turn to the 10K course ahead of me was the woman in the tie-dye shirt about 20 yards in front of me. The course works its way down to Geneva road during the first half then climbs back up the second half. I didn't want to die on the uphill, so I tried to balance taking advantage of the downhill with not overdoing it. I averaged about 7:06/mi before the uphill and averaged 7:25/mi overall. I slowed on the uphill as expected, but I was pleased that I never felt like the wheels came off. I actually feel like I could have pushed quite a bit harder near the end, but there was a huge gap both ahead of me and behind, and I wasn't anywhere near a PR. I didn't feel the risk of injury was worth any potential reward for pushing really hard. I recovered very quickly from the race and feel better than I have in a long time. Mile splits: 7:14, 6:53, 7:14, 7:40, 8:06, 7:30, 6:54/mi for 0.2 - Overall: 45:59.6 (7:24/mi)
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Saucony Tangent Miles: 7.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Logging the mileage for some past runs. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| A little Church basketball cross training. |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Logging the mileage for some past runs. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 3.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 8.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.60 |
| Larry (in San Diego) and Wayne (and grandchild's baptism) were unavailable so I spent the early morning working on my talk for Church on Sunday and went out a little later to run. As I was heading out the door about 10:30am I had an impression to call Kevin. I figured he'd be busy with his family, but I called anyway. It turns out he wanted to run and it was probably the best time of the day to get it in. We ran 6 miles together then I added 2.6 more. I really enjoyed the run. Kevin and I haven't been able to run together much this winter. We talked about various things, including my talk on Sunday, which I also pondered when I was running alone. It was time well spent.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 8.60 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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I ran solo to Cascade Golf Course and back, padding softly in the newly fallen, and still falling snow. This was my first Monday run in over 3 months, a sign of my determination to step up the training. Getting ready for a marathon in May is a long climb and I figure I better get started.
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Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.25 |
| I ran solo to the Orem Library and back. There were tiny ice crystals in the air when I started, and a light snow for most of the run. There was a dusting of snow the swirled when cars drove through it. It was pretty, but a little slippery. My dog even slipped a few times when I took her for a walk after the run. I feel good about running on consecutive days...it's been "every other" for a while...and both were early morning solo runs in the snow and cold. I've had ankle and Achilles trouble all winter. I'm feeling much better. I hope I'm ready to step things up. I'm registered for the Spectrum 10K in March, the Provo City 1/2 in April, and the Ogden marathon in May. That should be enough to keep me motivated.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.25 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 8.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.25 |
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Solo morning run to Cascade Golf Course. Cold and a little windy.
I'm counting a couple of cross-train miles for the Church basketball game tonight.
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Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.25 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.25 |
| This morning Wayne and I headed towards Provo Canyon. We modified the route a little to avoid the cold headwind. I ran nearly a minute per mile faster than yesterday. I credit having Wayne there instead of running solo. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.25 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 14.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| Larry is still out of town. Wayne must have seen the snow and decided to run inside today.
I skipped running yesterday because I wanted to go at least 10-12 miles today and my body was telling me it was risky to do both. As it is, I ended up with 40 miles this week, more than twice my average weekly mileage for the past few months. It wasn't snowing when I got up, but there was covering of new snow. By the time I started running it had started snowing again and snowed pretty heavily the whole run. I had to take my glasses off after a few miles so I could see. I tried to run on the newly fallen snow most of the time because the other spots were slushy or icy. I had to go into the middle of the road to avoid a 4-wheeler plowing a driveway and slipped and thought for sure I was going down. I'm surprised I didn't pull something with my acrobatics. I headed towards Provo Canyon. The Provo Canyon trail had 2-4 inches of new snow. It was smooth running most of the way, but it felt a little like running in sand. The wind wasn't much fun either. Still, I quite enjoyed the run. I ended up going all the way to Nunn's park and back for a total of 14 miles. I felt like I was moving along pretty well the whole time, but my average pace was 9:25/mi. Some of these winter mornings I've only been averaging 10:00/mi for 6 miles, so overall I feel pretty good about the run...and finally getting in a 40 mile week again.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 14.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.40 |
| I ran solo down to 400 S in Orem and back for a total of 6.4 miles. It was dark with a cold wind...and so was the weather. I was feeling a little down for some reason and thinking some negative thoughts. What else was there to do but start singing? For a mile or so I sang...out loud...adjusting the melody to suck in air as needed...mostly songs about Jesus, and light, and the beauty of the world that I learned as a child. It helped, as it always does. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.40 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| Lindon loop with Larry. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Solo run to Orem library. Roads were a little slick this morning. |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.80 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.80 |
| Lindon loop with Larry and Wayne. It wasn't pretty (kind of like my basketball playing last night) and we all struggled a little even at a fairly slow pace, but it was good to run together. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 5.80 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| One of my daughters had to be at UVU at 8:15am for an elementary school ballroom dance competition so I couldn't run in the morning with Larry and Wayne. I managed to squeeze in 6 miles in the early morning, and was hoping to get some more in later, but that never happened. We got home around 11:00am and then at 1:00pm Karen and I left for Ogden with Kenny and Mindy Fung and our daughters who were competing with their Studio 1 dance team in the Odyssey dance competition. Their son Nathan also came along. We didn't get home until around 10:00pm. Parts of the day were boring, sitting and waiting, but overall it was a great day. It was fun sharing it with the Fungs. I was glad to support my daughters. They're awesome and I'm glad they have the opportunity to participate in these activities (even if it isn't running).
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| I was not a little surprised to see 50 on my thermometer this morning. I called time and temp to confirm and it said 49. I ran solo to the Orem library and back. I've been averaging 9:30/mi or
slower on most of these cold winter mornings. I averaged 8:30/mi this
morning, due mostly I think to the warmer temperature. I could get used to this warmer weather. |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Easy pace Lindon loop with Larry and Wayne. The milder temperature made it even more enjoyable than normal.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.20 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| A solo run to the Orem library and back. Mild temperatures again. I ran the first four miles at an easy 9:00-ish pace. I decided to push mile 5 and ran it in 7:27. Even when I backed off back to an easy pace it was faster than I was running before, 8:20 instead of 9:00. I think of this phenomenon as shifting gears. Sometimes it isn't that much harder to run 30 to 60 seconds per mile faster, I just have to mentally shift into a higher gear. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry and Wayne. This route is an oldie, and a toughie, but a goodie. I like having it back on the schedule...even though it makes for a slower average pace. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| I ran solo to a little beyond Cascade golf course and back. It was colder this morning, with a cold wind from the northwest. I don't think spring is here quite yet. |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.50 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Larry, Wayne, and I started by running the Lindon loop with Larry's wife Jolene. We then continued south to 1200 N and over to 800 E to get some more miles in. Larry cut off a little early; Wayne and I got in 10 miles. We need to start going longer soon to get ready for our May marathon, but it felt good to get in another 40 mile week.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 10.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Ran to Orem city center and back with Larry. It was good to see him out on a Monday morning. |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry and Wayne. Some bikers were slowly gaining on us as we headed up the steep hill. I jokingly asked if they had room for one more. One of them said they were our pacers, and that we needed to speed up...so I did and pushed quickly to the top. The lead biker stayed with me, but I pulled away from the others. I'm beginning to feel the positive affects of a few consistent weeks of increased mileage. I was a little scared after this run...because I felt so good during it! I always get scared when things seem to be going well...wondering what new adversity is wait just around the corner. I'm trying to do better at enjoying the good times while they are still good, and not worry so much, so I'm just going to enjoy the nicer weather and healthy body while they last.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
| Larry and I wandered the hills of north Orem and Lindon, focusing more on the conversation than the running. It was good to see Larry meet his goal of getting out both Monday and Wednesday this week (in addition to his normal T, Th, Sat). |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 5.50 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.60 |
| Larry and I looped through Lindon and cut it a little short this morning. The lawns were covered with a thin layer of new snow but the roads were clear and it wasn't too cold. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 4.60 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| I ran the Orem library route solo this morning. It was a little cold, with a cold breeze. I was glad to have long pants, layers, ear muffs, and gloves. Despite the chill, I decided to push the pace a bit right from the start. My effort was pretty consistent for the entire 10K distance, somewhere between 10K pace effort and marathon pace effort, with the first warm up mile a little slower than the rest. I ended up averaging 8:01/mi. The average was 8:06 with less than a mile to go, and I tried to push and get it under 8:00, but didn't quite make it, even with a 6:30-ish pace the last 0.2 miles. I'm feeling positive about my running. I'd like to be running faster, but I'm grateful to be feeling healthy and running as well as I am.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 10.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| Larry, Wayne and I started out toward the canyon, but inspired by the cold wind we changed course and decided to run north on the canal road instead. It was firm on the way out, but was getting pretty muddy on the way back, and we could feel the weight of the mud sticking to our shoes. Wayne and I wanted to go about 12 miles, Larry a bit less because he had already put in more miles than normal this week. Wayne and I plotted to keep Larry talking until we had gone far enough that he would have to run at least a total of 10 miles just to get back home.It turns out he had noted the distance but kept going anyway. He ended up running 11 miles to finish off a good week of running. Wayne and I took the longer way home and went 12 miles. We were both tired but managed to push the last mile considerably faster than the previous eleven (which wasn't very fast). The last mile was 7:51, with the overall average 9:17/mi.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 12.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| I ran the Orem library route solo this morning. Larry had talked of joining me, but I think daylight savings time got the better of him. I know my body was sure reluctant to start running at what felt like 4:45am. Maybe that's why I ran so much slower this morning than Friday. Friday I averaged 8:01/mi on this route. Today I averaged 9:00/mi. I count it a victory that I managed to drag myself out of bed at all.
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Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| I ran the Orem library route solo this morning inside my freezer...well, it felt like I was running inside my freezer. It felt cold! My pace isn't worth mentioning, but I had three victories this morning: 1) I got out of bed, 2) I took the first step into the cold all alone when nobody else showed up, and 3) I kept my legs moving until the planned run was done.
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| Solo Orem library run. Cold again. Barely broke 9:00 pace (8:59/mi). |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.20 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Four miles through Lindon with Larry. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 4.00 |
|
| Race: |
Spectrum 10K (6.2 Miles) 00:42:22, Place overall: 38, Place in age division: 5 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.80 | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
|
This makes two years in a row we found out after I committed to run
the Spectrum 10K as part of the St. George Runner Series that it
conflicted with one of our daughters dancing at the BYU Marriott
Center. With Karen's encouragement and my daughter's approval, I
decided to go ahead and run the race this year, but I've decided I will
skip this race next year if it conflicts again. My plans for
getting to and from St. George, and my sleeping arrangements while
there, were more fluid than I normally like, but it all turned out
well. I ended up riding down with Larry, Jolene, and their grandson
Becket. I was planning to sleep at Jolene's parents' home, but we found
out Wayne's wife was ill and Wayne was coming down alone. He was
staying at a friend's condo and there was an extra room so I stayed
with him. It was a really nice condo. I felt like I was staying at a 5
star hotel. Since both Larry and Wayne were originally planning to stay
past Saturday, Kerry and his family had agreed to give me a ride back
home. With Wayne's wife being ill and not coming down, he decided to
head back Saturday so I rode with him so he wouldn't be alone and to
allow Kerry's family to have a little more space. It's great having
such generous and kind running buddies (and their families). Like most
things in life, who you're with has a large impact on how much you
enjoy what you are doing. We had picked up our numbers the night before, but Wayne and I still got up and got to the start early
enough to have plenty of time to warm up and hit the portapotties. The
last bus in the first wave left just as Larry and company arrived. The
second wave seemed slow getting back. We ended up being nearly the last
people getting on the last bus. It's good I had warmed up well
and got my bathroom stops in. Just after we got off the bus they
announced two minutes to the start of the race, and two minutes later
we were racing down Snow Canyon. I had been looking forward to
this race for weeks. I've been increasing my mileage the past month or
so, but I've been reluctant to push the pace because of the Achilles
tendonitis I've been trying to get healed up all winter. It's been
feeling pretty good and I hadn't wanted to push too soon and have it
flare up again. But today I had decided to put it to the test. I was
actually looking forward to the discomfort and challenge of race pacerunning and seeing just where my fitness is. Given my lackluster training this winter until the last month or so, I knew the sub-40 time of last year was beyond my reach. My goals for today were 1) sub-42, 2) sub-7:00 pace, or 3) sub-45. I managed to average a 6:49/mi pace, but missed the sub-42, finishing in 42:22. Despite the fact that I finished 5th in my AD this year vs. 2nd last year, I feel really good about the results. My splits were: 6:06, 7:00, 6;30, 7:04, 7:22, 7:20, 6:24/mi for the last 0.2.
The weather was perfect, the scenery beautiful, and I really enjoyed the run. The first half of the run down the canyon I decided to let the brakes off but not push too hard. I averaged about 6:32/mi for the first 5K (20:15-ish) which I think was about right. I felt like I took advantage of the downhill while still retaining enough energy to not die on the uphill sections during the second half of the race. Once I set my effort level fairly early in the race I think I held it pretty steady the whole race, evidenced by only passing a few runners and having only a few pass me. There were a few that passed me multiple times, but I think my steady pace outlasted most if not all of them. One of the runners that passed me once and who I never passed back was Hal Amos. He passed about 3.5 miles into the race. I could see him the rest of the race, and closed the gap a couple of times, but he finished about 30 seconds ahead of me. Larry's niece Jesse finished only 15 seconds behind me. Immediately after finishing I headed back on the route. Wayne was a few minutes behind, with Larry a little farther back, with Jolene right on his heels. I kept going until I met up with Kerry and Laureen and their daughter Amelia (12). I finished well ahead of Kerry, but I would have traded him in a heart beat to be able to be running with my wife and one of my children. What a great family activity. Amelia has nice running form and showed some real toughness in this race. During the awards I asked if she might do it again and she smiled and nodded her head. It seemed to me that she was experiencing that satisfaction that comes from pushing your limits and enduring well.
I enjoyed everything about going to St. George for this race...the weather, my running buddies, the results...except that Karen wasn't there and I missed my daughter's performance. She earned a gold medal in the elementary school ballroom dance team match and survived 3 or 4 elimination rounds to make it to the quarter finals in the Newcomer Swing competition. As I said, next year I will be more careful in my calendaring. Maybe I'll drop the Spectrum 10K (even though I like it a lot) and try the Snow Canyon or Hurricane half marathon instead.
|
Saucony Tangent Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 1.40 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.40 |
| My legs were pretty stiff and sore in the morning so I waited until noon to run to let them loosen up a bit. I ran the water tank hills for the first time this year. My legs were tired, and my quads were a little stiff and sore, from the race Saturday but I enjoyed the run.
|
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 5.40 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the Lindon loop with Larry this morning at a very easy pace. The legs were still not 100% recovered from Saturday's race. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.25 |
| I ran the Orem library route solo this morning. The legs were feeling better so I pushed the pace just a notch above easy pace and averaged 8:29/mi. My left Achilles tendon was a little sore again after Saturday's race, but not too bad. I wore the Strausburg sock to bed on Saturday and Sunday night, and I've stretched well everyday, and now it feels pretty good. I didn't notice it at all this during this morning's run.
|
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.25 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 4.50 |
| Ran up 2000 N with Larry then looped down to 1200 N and back home. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 4.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.20 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| I ran the Orem library route solo again. Average pace was 8:26/mi vs. 8:29/mi last time. Roughly the same but headed in the right direction. |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.20 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 9.00 | 0.00 | 6.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 15.50 |
| With Wayne being ill this week and Larry not training for a marathon
I suspected they might only want to do 10 or 12 miles today. I've been
feeling good and wanted to go a bit longer so I went out and ran 4 easy
miles before meeting up with them. I stopped off at home in between
where I hit the bathroom, took a gel, ate half a banana, and drank some
water. I also dropped off my jacket and changed into a dry shirt. I
wasn't going to tell them I had run early, but it's hard to keep
secrets from running buddies. We ran the canal road this morning. It was a beautiful morning. It felt great to be out running. As
Larry isn't training for a spring marathon, he turned back a little
earlier than Wayne and me. We hoped to catch him on our way back, but
didn't see him again until we got back to the neighborhood. Wayne really pushed me hard the last six miles or so. I was just trying to hang on. We went from 9:30 to 8:30 to sub-8:00 pace...much of which was on the gradual uphill while running in the upstream direction on the canal road. The pace was slower than what we hope our Ogden marathon pace to be, but it was definitely a hard marathon pace effort. It felt good to feel healthy enough to push the effort. It's days like this...good buddies, long miles, hard effort, beautiful weather...that make running such a wonderful pursuit.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 15.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| I went out for a noon run today instead of running in the morning. It was still plenty cold, and pretty windy. I figured I only had time for 5 miles, and that would have to be at closer to an 8:00 minute pace than 9:00. I averaged around 8:15 the first two miles, into the wind and with a little uphill. The third mile was 8:49, with some pretty good uphill. Mile 4 was along the canal road (mostly level) at 8:02. The last mile included the 1600 N downhill. Even though it was into the wind I still managed to drop down to 7:03 for the last mile, for an overall average of 8:04/mi. This was not race pace, or even a fast tempo run, but it felt good to push the pace a bit. I'm feeling strong, and my Achilles is behaving, but it keeps reminding me to be prudent and not push too much too soon.
|
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 5.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Larry joined me for an easy 6 mile birthday run this morning. What a great way to start the day. This year is only 49, next year will be the big 5-0 and a new age division.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 1.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 3.20 |
| Larry and I braved the frigid blowing snow and ran up the big 2000 N hill, but Larry wasn't feeling well so we only got in 3.2 miles. I really didn't mind getting back indoors sooner to thaw out.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 3.20 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 9.10 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.10 |
| I ran 13 miles this morning...and walked 1 mile. I got in 4 easy miles early then met up with Larry, Wayne and Kevin. We headed north on the canal road. A few miles into the run Kevin stopped to talk with his father-in-law who was running the other direction. Larry stopped with him and Wayne and I continued on. We thought they would be right behind us, but we never saw them again until the end of the run. Wayne said he hadn't been feeling well all week and didn't know how far he would go, but he ended up outrunning me again. About mile 4 into my run with Wayne my right hip starting hurting pretty badly. I have some arthritis in that hip. I tried running through it but by mile 5, still heading away from home, I knew I wouldn't be able to run another 7 miles. Wayne wanted to get in 12 miles so I told him to continue on. I would stretch and walk a bit and join him on the return trip. I ended up walking about a mile back the way we had come, stopping and stretching along the way, before Wayne returned. I ran with him the last 4 miles and the hip wasn't too bad. My hip hasn't bothered me at all for a long time. I think the problem with my hip this morning may have been that I wore shorts even though it was pretty cold, especially during those 4 early miles I ran. I 'll have to keep an eye on it.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 13.10 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
| I was up late Sunday night, and it was cold and windy with 4 or 5 inches of new snow this morning, so I waited to run until noon. It was still cold and windy, but the roads were clear. I ran down 1600 N to 400 W, north on 400 W to the canal road, east and south on the muddy/snowy canal road, got off at the first opportunity and climbed east up a steep hill then wandered south to 400 E and 1600 N then west to home. I averaged 8:35/mi overall, running the last half mile or so at 7:52/mi, downhill, but into a pretty strong and cold headwind. It wasn't especially fast, but with the cold wind, mud, and hills mixed in, I felt good about pushing the entire 5.5 miles, and was not bothered at all by the right hip pain that hampered me on Saturday's run.
|
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 5.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Larry and I ran 6 easy cold miles on the Lindon loop. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| 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. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.10 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| 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.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.20 |
| |
| Race: |
Provo City 1/2 Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:38:11, Place overall: 60, Place in age division: 1 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.90 | 0.00 | 13.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
|
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.
|
Saucony Tangent Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
| 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. |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 5.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| This morning I ran the Lindon loop at an easy pace with Larry, Wayne, Kevin and a couple of dogs. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.00 | 0.00 | 2.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| Solo run on the Orem library route. Average pace 8:32/mi. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.20 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 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?
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.00 | 0.00 | 2.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| 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.
|
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.10 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 12.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 16.00 |
| 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.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 16.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 1.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.00 |
| 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.
|
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 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.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 7.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Time to catch up the blog. This was an evening run, 6 miles, 8:25/mi average.
|
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 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). |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 10.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 16.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 16.50 |
| 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.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 16.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 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. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 8.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.40 |
| 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
|
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.40 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 11.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.50 |
| 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%.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 11.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 13.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 20.00 |
| 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.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 20.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 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. |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.75 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.75 |
|
I ran the 2000 N hill route this morning with Larry and Wayne...nice and easy. It was a beautiful morning.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 5.75 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Lindon loop with Larry and Kevin (and their dogs). |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 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.
|
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| With the steady rain falling at 5:30 this morning I suspected Wayne
but come to pick me up. I gave him a call and confirmed that he
preferred to run at the fitness center later to getting soaking wet. I
didn't want to pay to run at the fitness center, so I was going to go
out in the rain. But then I decided to go give the fieldhouse at BYU a
try. I ran many miles there in 1982 training for my first two
marathons, but it has probably been 25+ years since I've trained there.
Kevin J. and I tried once a year or two ago but there was a high school
track meet going on. I got there a little before 6:00am. No track meet this morning. At first there was mostly just a few senior citizens
walking around or jogging. The numbers slowly increased and got younger
as the morning went on. The big loop was closed this morning.
I had originally planned on 16-18 miles for today, but with 7
1/7 laps per miles, I didn't think my sanity would last that long. I
decided to just start running and see how long I lasted. Keeping
track of laps was the hard part. I would count three laps on my right
hand, then three laps on my left hand, then one lap not counting on
either hand. Every 7 miles I ran an extra lap. I ended up doing this twice for a total of 14 miles. I didn't realize until afterwards that (7x7)+1
= 50, and 50x2 = 100, so I ran exactly 100 laps. That's a new record
for me. In high school I once ran 10 miles in 80 laps on an 1/8 mile
indoor basement track (no windows, just concrete).
This morning I averaged about 8:10/mi the first 7 miles and
8:30/mi the second 7 miles for an overall average of about 8:20/mi for
the 14 miles. Not bad for running uphill into a strong headwind. OK, it
was on an indoor track...level with no wind...but I still feel pretty
good about the run. It was kind of fun passing people over and over
again. I only got passed a few times, generally by people doing speed
work or kicking at the end of their run. It reminded me (a little) of 1982 when I was 22 years old and in sub-3:00 marathon shape. Driving
home I passed a runner we see out most Saturdays, and other days when
we run to Provo Canyon. He was soaking wet and it didn't look very fun.
I don't mind running in light or intermittent rain, but with the steady
rain this morning I was glad I decided to try the field house.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry and Wayne. After missing yesterday, it felt really good to be out running. I really enjoyed the fresh morning air, exercise, and good company. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.20 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.20 |
| Lindon loop with Larry and Wayne. I threw in a couple of miles ahead of time and later ran a fartlek mile at 7:02 pace in the middle of our run. It was a beautiful morning and I felt great. What an awesome way to start the day. |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 8.20 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Ran the Cascade golf course route with Larry and Wayne. Another beautiful morning! My hip was a little sore, probably from too much Danish ball at a wedding-related family canyon party up South Fork last night. It's been passed down in my wife's family for generations. It was a lot of fun, as it always is. I'd try to explain how we play, but I've never known anyone to understand how to play without playing it. I've also never known anyone to play it and not really enjoy it. It's kind of a cross between baseball, dodge ball, and ultimate frisbee.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Larry didn't make it out this morning, but I had an enjoyable run on the Lindon loop with Wayne and Kevin. Kevin and Larry have other commitments tomorrow morning, but Wayne and I are planning to run Provo Canyon from the mouth to Vivian and back at 5:30am tomorrow. We've really enjoyed getting out early for our Saturday runs. Only a week to the Ogden marathon. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
|
Wayne and I ran Provo Canyon from the mouth to a little past Vivian Park and back for a total of 12 miles. We started a little after 5:30am, and the sun was just rising over the horizon as we finished a little before 7:30am. It was another beautiful morning and a nearly perfect run. Our mile splits were 9:33, 9:00, 9:11, 8:54, 8:38, 8:25, 8:25, 8:05, 7:50, 7:41, 7:34, 7:34. Even though we only averaged 8:24/mi and we're hoping to average sub-8:00/mi at Ogden next week, I'm still counting these miles as marathon pace. Those first 6 miles uphill were into a pretty strong headwind. We actually held about the same effort level the entire run, except maybe for the first mile warming up. If felt good to finish with a couple of 7:34 miles without really picking up the effort level much. I've never run the Ogden marathon before. I'm running it this year for the scenery. I've heard it's a beautiful run. Wayne and I aren't going for PRs. We're planning to not push at the beginning, enjoy the scenery, and hopefully feel good enough to maybe start pushing the pace coming down Ogden Canyon and in to the finish. I'm looking forward to it.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 12.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Lindon loop with Wayne. Beautiful morning. Feeling good. Looking forward to Ogden on Saturday. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 2000 N route with Larry and Wayne. Easy pace. I'll probably only run 3 or 4 miles tomorrow as I taper for Ogden on Saturday.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| Larry wanted to run the neighborhood 5K course this morning in preparation for the annual neighborhood 5K run this Saturday. When I signed up for the Ogden marathon I didn't note the conflict. I'm really going to miss running the 5K. A couple of miles into the run my left knee started hurting so I stopped running and walked for a bit. It hurt a little while walking and actually felt better when I started running again. I was only running about a 9:00 pace at the time it started hurting. I haven't done anything to injure it recently, no hard training or long miles. It was windy and cooler this morning, and that reminded me that this is my weather knee, the knee that sometimes hurts when low pressure systems move in. I came home and checked the weather maps and sure enough there is a low pressure system over Utah. It looks like there is a high pressure system moving in, and the forecast is for warmer weather this weekend, so I'm optimistic the knee will be fine for the marathon on Saturday.
|
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 3.50 |
|
| Race: |
Ogden Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:36:38, Place overall: 272, Place in age division: 21 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 26.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 26.20 |
|
The course was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, my performance was...so so.
The day started with getting up at 2:00am (after 4 hours of sleep), leaving at 3:00am, driving to Ogden from Orem with Wayne, and loading onto a bus between 4:45 and 5:00am. Everything went smoothly until we got on the bus. We thought it was leaving, but it only pulled a block up the street then parked on the side of the street with a couple of other buses. Other buses were passing us and apparently going on up to the start, but we just sat there for what seemed like a long time. We eventually left, but our bus (and a couple in front of it) took a wrong turn heading up the canyon and had to turn around when they hit a locked gate. We finally got to the start, and after some delay getting off the bus (which we were relieved to do), we finally hit the porta johns and hung out around the fires. Personally, I think this race could easily start at 6:30am or 6:45am instead of 7:00am. It's plenty light. The sun was actually all the way up over the horizon before the race started.
Wayne and I stuck pretty close to our plan to average 8:00/mi for the first 10 miles. Our mile splits were: 7:43, 7:51, 7:47, 7:48, 7:48, 7:46, 7:51, 7:56, 7:58, 7:54 = 1:18:22 (7:50/mi). We exceeded our goal a little, but I never felt like we were pressing the pace. We ran with a 14 year old young man named Abe for some of these miles. He seemed like a great young man. I kidded him that I had a cute 13 year old daughter that maybe he could date when they were both old enough. Abe eventually pulled on ahead of us.
The next 4 miles (11-14) north and west around the top end of the lake. These were gradual uphill miles and, although I felt we kept our effort the same, our pace slowed. Splits: 8:14, 8:14, 8:22, 8:17. We ran most of these miles with a runner named Matt. We stopped for water once when he didn't and he got a bit ahead of us, then slowly pulled away.
Mile 15 includes a half mile climb. Split: 8:50. I began to feel some pain on the top of my left foot at this point. It gradually got worse and I ended up with a pretty raw sore there by the end of the race.
Miles 16 & 17 (and half of 18) are slight downhill miles over to the mouth of Ogden Canyon. Splits: 8:27, 8:27. Our pace was consistent, but a little slower as we were beginning to tire.
I welcomed the downhill of Ogden Canyon (miles 18 to 22) and tried to let off the brakes and pick up the pace. Wayne didn't come with me. I managed to pick up the pace for a couple of miles or so (I passed Matt here), but then I began to run out of gas and wished I had Wayne's company again. Splits: 7:50, 7:38, 7:59, 8:35, 8:38. At this point I realized the next 4.2 miles weren't going to come easy.
Miles 23 to 25 followed the Ogden River Parkway. I was just hanging on. Splits: 8:25, 8:37, 9:30. Yep, the wheels were officially off at this point. The interesting thing was how few people were passing me, mostly young female runners two to three decades younger than me.
The last mile or so runs down Grant Avenue to 25th Street and the finish. I managed to pick up the pace to 9:12/mi for mile 26, and it was odd to me that it was enough to keep hardly anyone from passing me, although the people I was running near had all averaged 8:10 to 8:15/mi for the rest of the course. It seems this course somehow seems to beat people into submission by the end of the race. It may have been during this mile I passed Abe.
I did manage to put together a bit of a kick and average 7:35/mi for the 0.2 miles (0.3 on my watch). There was a group of runners in front of me and I simply willed myself to be in front of them. I could have passed a few more young women just before the finish, but I did that once and felt terrible later, so I was a gentleman and let them finish ahead of me rather than run my guts out to pass them.
My final time was 3:36 (unofficial), 8:12/mi. I was hoping for 3:30 or better, and it's my slowest marathon in the past few years, but it just wasn't in me today. I'm good with that.
I'll end as I began, the course was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, my performance was...so so...but I finished. As the announcer at the finish said, every runner that ran the marathon, half marathon, or 5K today got out there and lived life today. I wholeheartedly agree. Official stats: 3:36:38 (8:16/mi), AD 21 of 116 (18%), Overall 272 of 1682 (16%)
|
Saucony Tangent Miles: 26.20 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Lindon loop with Larry and Kevin (if I remember right). |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.75 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.75 |
| 2000 N hill with Larry (if I remember right). Ran into Jeff Tulley and he ran with us for a couple of miles. I enjoyed catching up on things with him. |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 5.75 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Cascade golf course route with Larry and Wayne. Legs are feeling good. I think this is the quickest I've recovered after a marathon. Getting excited about the Wasatch Back relay next month. |
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 7.00 | 1.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| Wayne, Kevin, Kerry and I ran 12 miles this morning from the mouth of Provo Canyon up to a little past Vivian Park and back. We got started a little after 5:30am and were finished before 7:30am. I love running in the early morning. It was overcast with mild temperatures and a breeze. I loved running on the trail through the trees along the river. I saw a rabbit early on and some ducks on the river later. I commented on how lucky we are to be able to live and run here. We didn't see many people on the way up, but met a lot more people coming up when we were heading back down, many of whom I knew, such as: Rich & Marci Lamoreaux (on a 4 hour training run getting ready for the Squaw Peak 50 in 2 weeks), Josse Tobiasson, Bryan Johnson, Kolby Wight, Lyle Brereton, Sasha Pachev, Dan Bachelder (BYU Cougar Band director when I was in it). These are all good people. There seems to be a high percentage of runners that are really good people. Are good people drawn to running? Or does running help make people good? Of course, I think most people are good people, so maybe it's as simple as some people run and some people don't. I overthink sometimes. We averaged about 8:30/mi for the 12 miles. The mile splits going up were: 9:38, 9:15, 9:15, 9:15, 8:52, and 8:29. Coming back down they were: 8:41, 8:01, 7:52, 7:41, 7:02, and 7:53. At mile 11 my right hip was hurting a little. I've found it hurts less when I run faster so threw in a tempo mile. Wayne came with me as we pushed hard the last mile before the fountain at Timpanogos Park. I really enjoyed the run this morning. Good place, good time, good weather, good people, good pace, good health. I've never felt this good this soon after a marathon. There's no shortage of adversity in life (I'll spare you the details), but there are also plenty of blessings. Counting them is a much better use of time than complaining. Life's good, enjoy it!
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 12.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
|
Due to the holiday today I ran alone. I slept in late, but not as
late as I thought. I kept thinking I had slept in until 9:00am, and
that it was going to be too warm, but just before I left to run I
looked at the clock and was surprised to see that it wasn't 7:30am yet.
I guess when you're used to getting up at 5:00am every day, sleeping in
until 7:00am feels like sleeping in until 9:00am.
I normally
run 6 miles on Monday, but thought maybe I'd go 8 or 10 this morning if
I felt good. The morning was so beautiful, and great running weather,
and I ended up going 14, to Bridal Veil Falls and back. I didn't run
super fast, but I kept moving okay. I averaged 8:44/mi overall, and ran
a couple of late miles at 7:45-ish pace.
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Another beautiful morning! Larry, Wayne and I ran the 2000 N route. I didn't have much zip in my legs after yesterday's 14 miler. I enjoyed the run nonetheless. With the prospect of Kent rejoining us (he got into St. George), Larry, Wayne and I decided to settle on a weekly running plan. We think Kent likes it better that way, and our route planning has been a little haphazard since Kent quit running with us. The tentative plan is: Mon: Lindon loop, Tue: 2000 N, Wed: water tank hills, Thu: towards the canyon, Fri: open, Sat: long run (usually Provo Canyon). The weekday runs are normally 6 miles, with 10-20 on Saturday. Those who want more mileage either get a mile or two in early or do two-a-days. This plan is very similar to what we've done for quite a few years. Larry's the heart of this running group, the only member who's been at it consistently for about 20 years. He's my idol. He's never been the fastest runner in the group, and has yet to qualify for Boston, but he's held on the longest and has always been the most cheerful, positive, talkative, and encouraging to others. He got me back into running after 20+ years, and I honestly don't know if I'd still be running without him. Thanks, Larry!
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.50 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.50 |
| Larry, Wayne and I ran the water tank hills this morning. I thought Kevin and Kent might join us but Larry forgot to invite Kent and Kevin didn't make it out. We started with a detour to the baseball field at Timpanogos High School. Larry's crew had planted some Arbivida bushes and he wanted to check them out. Once we hit the hills Wayne and I pushed up ahead. We both realized we're not in hill shape, but we did okay. It will be good to run these hills regularly again. On the way down we passed Josse and her dog. She got my name right today (jk). Larry's dog Ozzie was with us and the two dogs greeted each other with a little sniffing and then, to our surprise, a litte growling. This is unusual for Ozzie, and it didn't last long.
Wayne and I pushed again the last mile home (from the old WordPerfect buildings down 1600 North), running it in 6:49. It felt good to go fast. I've done very little speed work so far this year. It's good to know my legs can still move that fast.
|
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.50 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 1.00 | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I ran toward the canyon this morning. Great weather again. At the 3 mile turn around point Kevin wanted to loop down to Wil's gas station and back up the 800 N hill and Wayne and I went with him. It took us quite a while to catch back up to Larry. With about a mile to go Wayne had started to pull ahead of us. I asked Kevin and Larry which one of them was going to go catch him, but Larry said it was my job. I closed the gap to 20 or 30 yards, but once Wayne heard me he picked up the pace and I never did catch him. We ran that last mile at about 7:10 pace, much of which was gradual uphill. I really enjoyed the run.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Kevin and I ran the 6 mile Lindon loop this morning, average pace 8:36/mi. Another beautiful morning. The weather has been awesome this week. I'm looking forward to running with some of the guys from the relay team tomorrow (6:30am, Provo Canyon). Kevin and I are going for sure. I hope some of the others show up. Wayne is busy tomorrow and is doing 20 miles today. Larry is running the Sojourner's "Gruesome Grizzly" run. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 8.00 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| I picked up Kevin then we met up with Ryan, Nathan and Kyle at the mouth of Provo Canyon. It was pretty windy, but still a beautiful morning. It was great seeing Ryan, Nathan and Kyle. We ran together for the first few miles. Nathan stopped at the bathroom at Nunns Park and then turned back after 5 miles with Kyle so I didn't get to run with him as much as I would have liked. Ryan and I pulled a little ahead of Kevin and Kyle. When we got to Vivian, Kevin's wife was waiting with his 16 year old daughter who ran back down with Kevin.
Ryan and I ran with Kevin and his daughter for a mile or two then pulled ahead. At Nunns Park we pushed the two miles to Timpanogos Park at about 7:00/mi pace. We ended up averaging 7:59/mi for the 12 miles. That's the fastest I remember running that route in a long time. We passed a guy during this stretch who said, "Young guys suck!" as we passed him. I turn 50 next year and enjoyed being called a young guy.
Nathan was headed back out for more when Ryan had less than a mile to go. He ended up going past Kevin and his daughter, too. I don't know how far he ended up going. Another beautiful morning, another enjoyable run!
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 12.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Another beautiful morning! Lindon loop (6 miles) with Larry and Wayne. I pushed mile 4 in 7:04 but the remaining miles were at an easy pace. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 6.00 |
| Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I ran the 2000 N route this morning. Kevin was pushing the hill pretty hard and got ahead of us. I decided to try to catch him. I did, but it wasn't easy. It looks like he's still got his uphill running legs. I ran the rest of the run at an easy pace. Wayne and Kevin pushed ahead a couple of times and then waited for Larry and me.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.00 |
| Larry, Wayne and I ran the water tank hills this morning. It was another beautiful morning. The mountains seem unusually green this spring. I usually like to pushed hills and then push again the last mile home, but not today. I was content with an easy pace and conversation. My left foot has been feeling a little weak this week, with some twinges of pain a couple of times on Monday. It hasn't bothered me while running, but I've decided to not press my luck this week and just keep the pace easy.
|
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.00 | 0.00 | 1.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| Larry, Wayne, and Kevin and I ran the route towards Provo Canyon. I kept wanting to run faster, but my left foot has been sending warning signals so I've been taking it easy. On the way back Wayne and I doubled back to wait for Kevin (who had stopped at a bathroom) and then we all pushed until we caught Larry at 800 E. After we crossed 800 E on 1200 N (going west) Wayne started pulling ahead. I asked Kevin and Larry if either of them wanted to chase Wayne, but they left it to me. I pushed up to sub-7:00 pace and was closing the gap when Wayne stopped at 400 E and started walking back towards me. It turns out he was only planning to push to that point then rejoin us. I motioned for him to keep going and caught him as he got back up to speed. We then pushed the last mile or so home. My foot actually felt better running faster. I guess that makes sense...more efficient stride, less pounding...and gets the run done faster so less time on feet.
|
Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| I got up early with the intent to run but I thought about some important things I needed to get done and felt impressed to do them instead and rest my foot for Saturday's run. |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 8.10 | 2.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.10 |
|
Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I ran the Provo Canyon to Vivian route, joined by Kerry and Nathan. We left around 5:30am. When Larry, Kevin and I arrived Wayne, Kerry, and Nathan were already there. As they got out of their cars Nathan's first words were, "You guys are crazy!", referring to the time of day. I tried to assure him he wouldn't regret it. We all ran pretty much together at an easy pace the first 3 or 4 miles, then Kerry, Nathan and I pulled ahead a little. Mile splits going up were: 9:37, 9:34, 9:24, 9:35, 9:02, 8:44 After a bathroom stop, we started with Larry and Kevin on the way back. Wayne had turned back after 5 miles. He's tapering for the Teton Dam marathon next week and also had somewhere to be this morning. Nathan and Kerry start to pull ahead and Larry and Kevin told me to go ahead and run with them. I get to run with Larry and Kevin all the time. Nathan, Kerry and I gradually increased to around a 7:25/mi pace. I told them about my recent pattern of pushing the two miles from Nunns to Timpanogos (and the fountain). As we rose out of Nunns the pace quickly quickened. I was thinking of pushing to about a 7:00/mi pace, but Nathan and I were soon running at a 6:30/mi pace. When we realized it he offered to back off a little but I said I'd like to hold it as long as I could. We finished the first mile in 6:36. Nathan was still cruising but I was slowing so I cut him loose. He ended up running the second mile in 6:15; I was please with my 6:52.
Mile splits coming back were: 8:42, 8:03, 7:28, 6:36, 6:52, 7:28 We ran back to meet Kerry who wasn't far behind. Nathan went on to meet Larry and Kevin while I ran in with Kerry. After chatting with him a bit, I headed back up the trail again. It wasn't long before I saw Larry, Kevin and Nathan coming. Colby Wight was a little ahead of them and stopped to talk to me about the UVM he's running next week (I ran it last year). I ended up running in with him just a little ahead of the other guys. Nathan head on down towards Wil's Pit Stop for some miles. He's sure running well...and I think he now better appreciates 5:30am runs. It was beautifully awesome this morning. I can't think of a better way to start the day...early morning, great weather, nature's beauty, good buddies, and an exhilirating run.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 13.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| I retired my old Saucony Guides today at 530 miles. The heels are worn pretty badly. I ordered new ones a couple of weeks ago, but they haven't arrived yet. This morning I decided to try out the Saucony Guide TR trail shoes I bought a few weeks ago. I'd never run in trail shoes so I didn't know what to expect. I didn't see anyone at either of the "meetin' corners" this morning. Maybe they didn't recognize me as I forgot my hat. I always run with a hat and I missed it...especially when it started raining a little and my glasses started getting wet. Since I ended up running solo, I decided to try out the shoes on the canal road. I headed west to 400 W then north through Lindon until I got on the canal road and headed SE. I decided I had time and inclination to go a little farther than the normal 6 miles this morning so I went all the way down to 800 N on the canal road, then doubled back up to 2000 N then west down to 280 W and our normal route home from there...a total of 10 miles. I didn't go very fast (about 9:25/mi overall). I liked the feel of the shoes...no pokey rocks...although they did feel a little heavier. I ran 10 miles then walked the dog, thinking about how comfortable the shoes were.
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Saucony Guide TR Miles: 10.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.20 |
| I ran the 2000 N route with Larry, Wayne and Kevin. I threw in a half mile or so fartlek section, but mostly just ran at an easy pace. It's always good getting out with the guys. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.30 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 5.30 |
| Larry, Kevin and I ran the water tank hills this morning. Since there was a chance I'd be running the marathon this Saturday I took it very easy and cut it a little short. |
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.30 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.10 |
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It was great to see Kent out this morning. He quit running a couple of years ago, but his daughter is training for the St. George marathon this year so he's back and is planning to run it with her. Well, it looks like I'm in the Utah Valley Marathon. I got email confirmation last night and another packet pickup information email this morning. Lyle and Cory were 99% sure they could get me in through a sponsor entry, and I had also emailed Hyrum about his offer from many months ago to let me run for free as a training run. I'm not quite sure which of them got me in, but I'm in. [I just noticed Lyle left a voice mail last night confirming he had got me in.]
I'm really excited to run UVM again. I'm not quite sure why, since I went out way too fast last year and didn't enjoy the last 6 or 8 miles much at all. I think mostly it's the course calling me, especially with the changes this year (more canyon, no Timpview climb or airport dirt road). I'm also looking forward to running a relaxed marathon. With the relay next Friday, I plan to run an easy training pace at the marathon. The primary goal is to enjoy the marathon while beating up my body as little as possible so I have the best chance at being fully recovered for the relay. I only went an easy 5K this morning with Larry and Kent before turning
back. I guess now I need to focus on resting and eating carbs.
Some of you may question the wisdom of running a marathon 6 days before the Ragnar Relay. I know I do, which is why I wasn't planning to run UVM even through I really wanted to. As I think of why I decided at the last minute to do it, various thoughts come to mind: 1) faith over fear, 2) no guts, no glory, 3) you only live once, 4) Get Out And Live (GOAL - from Ogden marathon), and 5) Vivir con miedo, es como vivir a medias! (A life lived in fear is a life half lived. - Strictly Ballroom). Some other sayings that also come to mind: 1) time will tell, 2) hindsight is 20-20, and 3) the proof of the pudding is in the eating. NOTE (on pudding quote): "It is worth remembering that, as the phrase is quite old, the pudding wouldn't have been a sticky toffee pudding from the sweet trolley, but a potentially fatal savoury dish. ...THE OED describes the mediaeval pudding as 'the stomach or one of the entrails of a pig, sheep, or other animal, stuffed with a mixture of minced meat, suet, oatmeal, seasoning, etc., and boiled'. ...Mediaeval peasants, faced with a boiled up farmyard massacre, might have thought a taste test to have been a wise choice."
Comparing running a marathon six days before a 24 hour 180 mile relay race to eating a "potentially fatal boiled up farmyard massacre" may be a good analogy. I'm hoping for a delicious sausage breakfast.
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| Race: |
Utah Valley Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:50:00, Place overall: 112, Place in age division: 11 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 26.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 26.20 |
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Last year I ran the inaugural UVM in 3:30 and finished 13th overall and 2nd in my AD. This year I ran the UVM in 3:50 and finished 112th overall and 11th in my AD, and I'm happy about it. As I mentioned in my blog earlier this week, on Tuesday I heard about a possible opportunity to get a free entry via a sponsor, and by Thursday I was in. I really wanted to run UVM again this year, but with the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay the following Friday/Saturday I didn't want to beat myself up too badly. The free entry allowed me the luxury of treating it as just a long training run...no pressure to run fast.
I'm happy about 3:50 because it shows that I kept to my plan to run the race at a slower pace. I won't mention that, like some other bloggers race reports described their last 5-8 miles, from roughly mile 20 on felt a little like a death march. In other words, I was no longer running a slower pace by choice. I was running a slower pace by choice at the beginning. In fact, I decided to be one of the last runners to start and run from the back as a new experience. (I love chip timing.) I decided to make a last minute pit stop and the race actually started while I was still sitting in a portapotty. I wasn't worried. I finished up and just walked to the starting line. I almost delayed too long (2 minutes 45 seconds). Just before I crossed the start they yelled to a few runners behind me that they were about to pull up the timing mats. I forgot to turn off the auto-pause on my watch, so the following splits do not
include a 1+ minute potty break about mile 9 (ran into Canyon View park
restrooms, much needed, wouldn't have made it much farther), and a stop
to talk with Tom Lee at Geneva Rd. (he had to drop out because of a bad
migraine...dang!...and he's been running so well...he can't seem to get
a break in a marathon). My mile splits were roughly: 9:20 (easy start, uphill), 7:59, 7:32, 7:54, (passing people, downhill), 8:39 (uphill), 8:04, 8:11, 8:04, (still passing people), 8:45 (pit stop), 7:56 (out of the canyon), 8:21, 8:41, 8:21, 8:21, 8:42, 8:44, 8:42, (slower on the level, but still a pretty steady pace), 8:52 (talked to Tom, met Larry on his bike who rode with me the rest of the way - unplanned, unexpected, much appreciated - as you can see from the following splits I was quickly running out of gas), 8:47, 8:54, 9:04, 9:12, 9:38, 9:36, 9:27, 9:44, 7:45/mi for 0.2 (I was pleased to have enough juice left for a decent kick; similar to Ogden last month I simply willed myself to the front of the group of 5 or 6 runners ahead of me - one still barely beat me). I enjoyed talking with a number of friends/runners after the race...after I downed about 6 cups of Gatorade. The day seemed really humid, especially at the beginning. My glasses kept fogging up the first 8 or 9 miles. Although I hydrated well during the race, I think I was slightly dehydrated by the end. My chief goal was to leave my body in good enough shape to recover in time for the Ragnar Relay on Friday/Saturday. I'm optimistic that I met that goal. I have a little soreness in my left foot/ankle (which has been there for many months), but I soaked my legs in our above ground backyard pool (which is still really cold since the weather hasn't been hot) and I feel pretty good...good enough to agree to some mall shopping with Karen and the girls this afternoon. I think Verdon (a relay teammate), who was watching his son in the marathon, was a little surprised to see me run by. He good naturedly (I think) yelled that I was supposed to be tapering for the relay. When I saw him at the finish and told him I ran 3:50, he seemed confident that I had not overdone and could recover. Like I said, I'm optimistic. I feel pretty good. I ran the Ogden marathon last month 14 minutes faster than today's marathon and felt like pushing my training again by the following Wednesday. Time will tell. Last year I ran the 1st UVM because it is in my backyard, I wanted to support it, and I thought it would be cool to say 10 or 20 years from now that I had run every one of them since it started. The goal is still intact...2 down, many to go.
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Saucony Tangent Miles: 26.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.90 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 5.90 |
| I ran the Tuesday 2000 N route with Larry, Wayne and Kevin this morning. Wayne and I had both run marathons on Saturday. We weren't fast, but for three days after a marathon I thought we ran pretty well. My legs don't quite feel like running race pace yet, but I don't feel any stiffness or soreness from the marathon. I'm confident that by Friday evening I'll be ready for my first leg in the relay. I think I'll run a few easy miles tomorrow to keep my legs loose then take Thursday off. My new Saucony Guide 2s finally arrived. I wore them walking around on Saturday but ran in them for the first time this morning. They feel great.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.90 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.30 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.30 |
| I ran part of the water tank hills route with Larry, Wayne and Kent this morning. I ran the 1.2 miles to the base of the first hill then walked up the hills while they ran then rejoined them on their way down. Walking the hills alone in the early morning was nice. I enjoyed viewing the cloud-covered mountain peaks, the beautiful valley and lake, the unusually verdant (nice word, huh? - I think it means green) hillsides, and the colorful wildflowers. On the way back I stopped to fix my shoe. As I sped up to catch up I decided to just keep going. I didn't push hard, but just tried to run efficiently and keep my momentum focused forward on the comfortable downhill from the old WordPerfect buildings down to Main Street. I was pleased to see I averaged 7:25/mi for that mile. I can tell my legs aren't quite 100% yet, but I felt no lingering aches or pains from Saturday's marathon. I don't plan to run tomorrow or on Friday before my first leg around 7:00pm. I'm confident that I'll be able to run at least the first two legs fairly well. The real test will be my third leg, the long gradual uphill around noon on Saturday...but then the third leg is always an adventure. I'm looking forward to the relay!
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 3.30 |
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| Race: |
Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay (3.4 Miles) 00:24:59 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 3.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.40 |
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I ran leg 8 of the Wasatch Back Relay about 7:00pm. It didn't seem overly warm until I started running, but with this cool spring I haven't done much heat running and with the temperature in the 70-80 range it quickly seemed quite warm. This was a short 3.4 mile leg rated easy. It was level to slightly downhill for two miles then gained about 150 ft. in the last 1.5 miles of gradual uphill. My mile splits were: 6:48 (adrenalin), 7:11 (heat), 8:00 (uphill), 7:36/mi for last 0.4 (kick). I passed 10 other runners and was not passed.
I'll log my other two legs in tomorrow's entry.
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Saucony Tangent Miles: 3.40 |
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| Race: |
Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay (13.1 Miles) 01:37:45 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 13.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.10 |
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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.
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Saucony Tangent Miles: 7.00 | Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| I forgot to set my alarm last night so I woke up late for running this morning. I went out about 30 minutes late and ran the Monday route in the reverse direction, figuring I'd meet up with whoever ran this morning. I ran two miles out and back alone. I only averaged about a 10:15/mi pace this morning. My legs felt relatively good on Saturday after the relay, but Sunday my calves were a little tight and sore. I think the 4 mile jog this morning loosened them up again. Considering the marathon two weeks ago followed by the relay this past weekend my legs feel relatively good. With hopefully better weather on the way, I think maybe it's time to kick the training up a notch...as work/family schedules permit.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 4.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 6.40 |
| I ran the 2000 N route with Larry, Wayne, and Kent. Wayne and I pushed up the big hill. Later we double backed up the hill to find Larry's dog Ozzie then pushed a little to catch back up with Larry and Kent. The rest of the run was just at an easy pace. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.40 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.40 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.40 |
| What a beautiful time of year. The weather has been absolutely perfect the past couple of days. With the wet spring, everything is green and beautiful. I can't think of much that is better than an early morning run with good friends on a day like today. It's Wednesday so Larry, Wayne, Kent and I ran the water tank hills. I'm trying to step things up a bit so I pushed up the hills, and Wayne wasn't far behind. I ran the hills in about 16:40. I consider anything sub-17 to be a fast ascent for me so I was pleased. We took it easy on the downhill until the last mile down 1600 North. As has become tradition, Wayne and I pushed this last mile pretty hard and ran it in 6:40. I was pleased as my legs felt like lead after pushing the uphill. I'd like to up my weekly mileage, but there seem to be so many other things that take up my time. At least I can accelerate the pace here and there and maybe get in a little extra mileage. This is a great time of the year. Mostly I'm just going to enjoy it.
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Saucony Guide TR Miles: 6.40 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the Thursday route with Larry and Kevin. I enjoyed the run even though my legs seemed pretty heavy. Kent was there when we met but as we were waiting for Larry he decided to start and run the old Thursday route (Tuesday's route in reverse) so he could cut out the hill and run 4 instead of 6. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| I ran the Orem library route solo this morning. My legs felt tired again, and it was pretty humid. I had to work a little to even average 9:00/mi mile. I hope it's still lingering effects from running UVM two weeks ago followed by the WBR last week. |
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 8.00 | 3.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.10 |
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It was great to have 5 regulars out on a Saturday run again. Larry, Wayne, Kevin, Kent and I met at 5:30am and drove to the mouth of Provo Canyon to run. The headwind made it a little cold on the way up, but it ended up being a beautiful morning. Kent's just getting back into running so he and Larry turned back at 4 miles out. The rest of us went to 5.5 miles before starting back down.
My legs have felt pretty sluggish the past couple of days, and this morning started no differently. I was encouraged, however, that they felt okay as we picked up the pace later in the run. I decided to push the two miles from Nunns to Timpanogos again and was pleased to manage splits of 7:11 ans 7:12. Kevin was right with me and Wayne wasn't far behind. After a stop at the fountain I saw a runner up ahead in a yellow shirt that was running well and decided to push the last 1/2 mile and try to catch him before the parking lot. I didn't quite catch him, but ran a good pace and was just behind him. My watch showed the last 0.2 at 6:49/mi. Well it looks like I'll be running the Redrock Relay in September. Larry's the team captain and has registered the team. It should be fun. Larry, Wayne, Kevin, and I are on the team (the old guys). The younger generation members include Stacia and Jeremy (Larry's daughter and her husband), Colin and Michael (sons of Larry's neighbors), Jessica and Angie (Larry's nieces), and Danette and Ally (Stacia's friends). We have our final team party for our WBR relay team on Monday. I've
been kind of looking forward to having the planning over for another
year, but now Larry's asking to draw on my experience to help organize
the Redrock relay team. Oh well, I guess that's what friends are for.
Here we go again... |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 11.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.75 | 0.25 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Today was my first day back on the track for quite a while. Since Kent has returned Monday has returned to being "speed work" day at the track. Kent and Larry were doing quarter repeats today to work on their leg speed. I'm not ready for short/fast speed work, so I just did mile repeats. Kevin came late and ran some with me and some with Kent and Larry.
My "fast" miles weren't really fast, but faster than most of my training runs lately. I ran three one mile repeats at 7:25, 7:15, and 7:05. I've been in better shape in the last couple of years than I'm in right now, but at least I feel healthy and I'm headed in the right direction. I decided to finish with one quarter mile sprint and ran it in 1:24 (5:36/mi pace). I'm still cautious about pushing too hard. It seems whenever I start to push my training hard I end up injured. It seems to be such a fine line to walk. I'm just grateful I'm running as well as I am and I'm enjoying running as much as ever. The weather has been awesome recently, if a little cooler and wetter than usual, and the world seems especially green and beautiful.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| I got up early to help Karen get all the coolers loaded for girls camp. She's one of the ward cooks again this year, as well as now being a MIA Maid Advisor. With Brittany also being a 6th year YCL with many assignments, and Emily also going to camp, our house has been abuzz with pre-camp activity. Now Amy and I are left with cleaning up the mess they left behind and trying to survive until they get back. I saw Wayne and Kent run by at the beginning of their run at the normal time as I was loading coolers at my house. I saw them again as they were finishing their run while I was loading additional coolers at another house. I saw Kevin later and he had also been helping to get his wife and daughters off to camp. I don't know where Larry was. I finally got out for a solo run after 8:00am. It was already too warm, high 70's I think. I decided to race the virtual training partner on my watch - 6 miles at 8:00/mi pace. I knew this was aggressive for me right now, especially on the Lindon Loop which has some hills, but it was something to shoot for. I was about 300 ft behind after the first mile, but caught up and built about a 150 ft lead by the end of the downhill during mile 3. By the end of mile 4, after climbing out of Lindon Park, I was behind again for good. With a mile to go I was 0.12 miles behind, and I could barely crack 8:30 for the last mile. I finished in 49:28 (8:15/mi) - mile splits were 8:28 (warming up), 7:54 (on pace), 7:24 (good downhill), 8:29 (up out of park), 8:43 (gradual uphill - getting tired), 8:30 (working hard). It's clear I'm not in as good as shape as the last couple of years, but this was another step in the right direction.
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Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.70 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.20 |
| I ran the water tank hills with Larry and Kent this morning. The weather was pretty good but it seemed a little sticky (humid) to me, as have several other mornings recently. I still think we've had some pretty great running days, and the wet spring has made for a beautiful world to run in.
I pushed the five hills again this week. Last week was 16:40, this week 16:30...right direction. I was planning to push the last mile home again like last week, but I was so engrossed in conversation with Larry and Kent that I missed the starting point. I ended up pushing the last 1/2 mile from 400 E down to Main. Last week I ran the last mile in 6:40; this week I ran the last 1/2 mile at 5:43/mi pace. I haven't had my legs moving that quickly for a while...it felt good.
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Saucony Guide TR Miles: 6.20 |
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| Race: |
Provo Freedum Run (6.2 Miles) 00:45:00, Place overall: 120, Place in age division: 4 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.20 |
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I got up at 3:45am to go secure a spot for my family at the parade. Tiffany and her friends came a little after 5:00am which freed me up to run the Freedom Run, which I've wanted to do for years but have always been left watching it while saving a parade spot. I hurried to Kiwanis Park to get registered but forgot I didn't have enough cash so I had to go find an ATM. I got registered befor the 6:00am deadline then hurried home to get my running clothes on. I thought I would make it in plenty of time but then I hit parade traffic on 900 E. I ended up parking and running the last mile or so to the park. It served as a good warm up. I saw Vern Henshaw and his daughter, Mike Jasper, and Jason Hodson at the start. Mike was planning to run at about my pace, but he was looking for some extended family members, and Jason was planning to run sub-40:00...way too fast for me at this point on this course. I didn't have time to study the course (more about that later) and had not really given much thought as to how fast to go. I quickly decided that 7:00/mi pace would be a stretch goal, but I wouldn't kill myself and would just take what the day gave me and enjoy the run. The day was beautiful, if a little warm and humid, and I did enjoy the run very much. I smiled and people watched the crowd as I ran the parade route, slapping hands with some of the spectators along the way. I was a little disappointed that Tiffany and her friends were sleeping instead of cheering when I ran by, but I shouted to them and Tiffany and one of her friends got a quick glimpse of me as I passed. I stopped for a quick drink of water at the turn from Center St. to 900 E. The only problem was I was surrounded by a lot of the 5K runners I had caught up to at this point. I followed the correct path at the first 5K/10K split, but I hadn't studied the course and wasn't aware of the 5K/10K split at Center and 900 E. I should have run the 3/4 mile loop towards Seven Peaks and back to 900 E, but alas I didn't see the 10K pointers and followed all the 5K runners up 900 E. Jason passed me going up 900 E. I asked him why he was behind me. He said his quad was a little sore but that we should still make sub-40:00. At this point I suspected I had missed a turn somewhere. This was confirmed when my watch showed only 5.4 miles when I finished...in 39:46. What a bummer! My first concern was that I not be given an award that I hadn't earned. I tracked down the official timekeeper and told him what happened and asked him to pull me from the race results. He calculated my pace and how much of the course I skipped and said he would just penalize me 5 minutes and took my bib number. At the time they were busy correcting 150 or so runners who had run the wrong race. I decided to drive down and run the section I had skipped. This meant first running back up to my car. I had averaged about 7:21/mi for the part I ran. I ran the missing section at about a 7:00/mi pace. Combining the two times had me finishing in about 45:00 (7:15/mi). I went back to check the official results to make sure they had fixed or eliminated my time. They had not, but listed me in 3rd place in my division at 39:46. A 45:00 time would have placed me in 4th, with the 5th place time (my buddy Mike Jasper) at 46:53. I found the official timekeeper again and reminded him of my situation. He remembered and went to talk to the director who was about to hand out awards. I decided to change clothes and finally head to the parade to be with my family. I checked the official results online today only to see that they still had not corrected or eliminated my time. Oh well, I tried. I know I should have studied the course, but my last minute decision to run didn't really leave time for that. However, since the fact that hundreds of runners ran the wrong course at one point or another, I don't think it was entirely my fault. Despite the troubles, I still really enjoyed the run...and it makes a good learning lesson (study the course) and, like most unexpected turns, an interesting experience and memory.
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.50 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.50 |
| I went with Larry and Kent to the track again this morning. Again I did mile repeats while they did 1/4 mile repeats. My legs felt pretty sluggish this morning. Actually, I've felt tired pretty much since last Thursday when I took the day off to start cutting down the big dead tree in front of my house, which took me most of Thursday and Friday. Saturday was the parade, the 10K, then Stadium of Fire late into the evening. Sunday was hours of church meetings and clerking, then playing games with my family until late in the evening. It will be nice to get back to work so I can get a rest. Anyway, this morning I did three one mile repeats at 7:07, 7:14, and 6:59, then 1/2 mile @ 6:59/mi, the 1/4 mile @ 6:11/mi, the 1/8 mile @ 5:44/mi., with about 1/4 mile jog between each repeat. I'm not at the top of my game, but as awful as my legs felt this morning, and as little speed work and tempo runs as I've done this year, I'm satisfied. It felt good to push harder than normal. It helped to work out some of the frustration I'm still feeling from the mess up at the 10K Saturday.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 7.50 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry and Wayne this morning. I think I'm getting spoiled by all these beautiful running mornings, but I'm sure enjoying them. The pace was really slow this morning, but it didn't feel very easy. Maybe I'll feel some zip for the water tank hills tomorrow.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.60 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.10 |
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Water tank hills with Wayne and Kent. We're hoping Larry not showing means his daughter Stacia finally had her baby...or maybe the mattress just got him again. We ran easy warmup pace to the bottom of the hills as usual. Sometimes I'm eager to start the push up the hills, but I wasn't so eager today. With Wayne's encouragement I started the push anyway. I ran the hills in about 16:42, just slightly slower than last week. I didn't push hard again until the 1/2 mile from 400 E down to Main. I felt really good on that section and ran it at 5:58/mi pace. I was really tired yesterday. I think I dozed off about 4 times at work and twice after work. Even when I was awake I had a hard time concentrating. I even forgot the Tuesday night meetings I had. They called to remind me about the second one so I showed up late, but I completely missed the first one. I got better sleep last night so I hope I do better today.
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Saucony Guide TR Miles: 6.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| Wayne and I were the only ones to show up this morning. We ran the Thursday route toward the canyon. At 800 E we saw Mike Jasper turn onto 1200 N just ahead of us. We picked it up a little to try to catch him but it wasn't happening. Just averaging 8:45/mi for the run felt hard. Neither of us really wanted to get up this morning, but we both did and now with the run behind us we're glad we did. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 20.15 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 20.15 |
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We had a good turnout for our 5:45am run: Larry, Kevin, Wayne, Tom, Nathan, Michael, Collin, and me. The weather was cool and overcast...perfect for a long run. We ran the first couple of miles together (9:27, 9:24) then Nathan, Tom, Collin, and Michael started pulling away. I stayed back with Wayne, Kevin, and Larry. I figured since Tom, Nathan and I were the only ones going 20 miles, that I would have plenty of time with them later in the run...but the gap kept getting bigger and bigger (9:34). Wayne, who had run 9 miles pretty hard last night, was only going 9 again this morning. He went with me and we closed the gap, passing Collin and Michael (8:43, 8:24). He turned back at 4.5 miles and I pushed on and closed the gap a little more on Tom and Nathan (8:20). After a brief stop for a drink at Vivian we started up South Fork. The uphill felt a lot like...well, uphill (10:08, 9:17, 10:05, 10:06). The four miles or so back down to Vivian were faster, but not as fast as usual (8:36, 8:26, 8:38, 8:16). I think my legs were feeling the effects of pushing earlier to catch up. After Vivian, Nathan said he wanted to go sub-8:00 the rest of the way down so we bid farewell. Tom and I stayed together the rest of the run, both of us content to just keep moving and finish (8:53, 9:10, 8:47, 8:57, 9:11, 8:49). We averaged 9:04/mi for the 20.15 miles. This 20 miler felt a lot like...well, a 20 miler. It was great getting to run with Tom and Nathan again, and it was great to have the run done.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 20.15 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.10 | 0.00 | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.60 |
| Larry, Kent and I went to the THS track this morning. I tried to do some faster mile repeats while they did their 1/4 mile repeats, but my "fast" miles were pretty slow: 7:04, 7:13, 7:13. I was obviously still feeling some effects from Saturday's 20-miler. Injury report: 1. The Achilles and PF trouble in my left foot that bothered me months ago seem to have faded into the background. 2. The chronic "feels like I'm recovering from a minor ankle sprain" pain in my left ankle comes and goes but hasn't really affected my running too much. 3. The chronic arthritis-like pain in my right hip comes and goes, but has been coming more than going lately. It seems to bother me less when I run at a faster pace, probably because my form is smoother and more efficient when running faster. 4. The chronic high hamstring pain in my right buttocks is minor and doesn't affect my running. 5. The pain I get in my right knee sometimes when walking up stairs still comes and goes. It doesn't affect my running at all. 6. The pain I occasionally get in my left "weather" knee hasn't bothered me much lately. It's usually related to pressure changes in weather patterns. 7. I haven't had too much trouble with blisters and chafing, but a little. Saturday's 20-miler left me with a few minor blisters. My old crippled body is showing its years, but its hanging in there. I just need to keep a close eye on it, take care of it, and listen when it tells me to back off a little. While I would like to continue to get faster and stronger, I'm just grateful for all I am able to do. The human body is amazing, even mine.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.60 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Six hard "easy" miles with Larry, Wayne and Kevin on the 2000N route. I ran the miles at what is normally a very easy pace for me, but they sure didn't feel easy. I had some gastrointestinal difficulties. After stopping at the restroom at a park around mile 5 I felt quite a bit better and managed some 7:00-ish pace for half a mile or so as Kevin and I caught back up to Larry and Wayne. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.80 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 10.30 |
| I really enjoyed this morning's run. The weather was perfect, and my legs actually felt a little zippy this morning. Larry, Wayne, Kent and I started by running the water tank hills as we normally do on Wednesday. I had decided I wanted to run the five hills in under 16:30 this morning so was mentally ready to start working when we reached the bottom of the first hill. I pushed at an effort level I hoped to be able to hold steady all the way to the top, and then I just held it all the way to the top. I felt pretty strong the whole way and finished in 15:54. Wayne and I added a little distance at the top and then joined Kent and Larry for the easy paced descent. I pushed the last half mile again from 400 E down to Main Street on 1600 North. My legs felt fresh and I felt fast. As I passed Carol Clegg and another lady walking up the sidewalk I asked them if the mountain lion was still chasing me. I averaged 5:41/mi pace for the 1/2 mile. Wayne wasn't far behind at about 6:10/mi pace. As we were cooling down Wayne suggested, joking I think, that we ought to go another four miles. I had time and I've been wanting to get in more mileage so I asked if he was serious. We ended up running another four miles on the Lindon loop at about 8:40/mi average pace. Larry grabbed his bicycle and came along with us. It felt good to run strong this morning, especially after having tired legs the past couple of days. I feel sorry for the people that slept through this awesome part of the day when they could have been out running or walking or bike riding or in some other way enjoying the amazing bodies and beautiful world our Heavenly Father has given us. I feel very grateful this morning.
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Normal Thursday run with the guys.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.60 | 0.50 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.10 |
| Wayne and I decided to go early and run 10 miles up Provo Canyon. We took it somewhat easy going up into the strong headwind (9:00+ pace). I didn't feel like we were pushing all that hard coming back down, still conversational, and averaged around 7:30/mi. After stopping at the fountain Wayne's belly was bothering him a bit so he told me to go ahead and push hard to the end, so I did. It felt good and I felt fast. I was surprised and pleased to see I averaged 5:54/mi for the last 0.56 miles. I wish I could always feel that good when I run. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 10.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 9.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| Provo Canyon with Larry, Kevin and Kent. We went up slow (about 10:00/mi) in a strong headwind. Larry and Kent turned back at 5 miles and Kevin and I went on to Vivian. We ran a little faster on the way down, but I was beat. It felt a little like the last six miles of a marathon. This was the end of my first 50+ mile week in a long long time and it felt like it. Kevin drug me to a few faster miles at 7:38, 7:18, and 7:34 but I slowed about 8:30/mi for the last couple of miles. It was also getting pretty warm by end at about 70' or more I think.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 12.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| I didn't run today. I was up early loading vehicles and beginning our trip to Lake Tahoe for the week.
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| This was my first morning running at Lake Tahoe. We were on the west
side of the lake just south of Tahoe City in an area aptly named
Pineland. We stayed in a very comfortable two story, 3 bedroom, 2 bath
cabin on Ward Creek with a balcony, large deck and hot tub surrounded
by giant pine trees. It was beautiful. The weather was nearly perfect every day (a ltitle hot one day), and never more perfect than in the mornings for my runs. On this first run I ran the 3/4 mile down to the bike path along the lake and headed north to downtown Tahoe City. I was only planning on 6 miles but it was so beautiful I wandered farther than planned and ended up with 8 miles. I stopped at the marina to ask about boat rentals (we went out on the lake for a fun couple of hours later in the day), stopped on a pier to look at the gorgeous lake, and wandered some dirt paths through a camping area. I ran at "tour" pace and averaged 8:59/mi for the run. I felt pretty good about that considering I was starting at 6500 ft instead of my normal 4800 ft. This run also had lots of rolling hills, with about 2000 ft of ascent and descent mixed in, a lot of it at the beginning and end. Our cabin was at about 6500 ft with the lake at about 6200 ft. I had to push hard the last 3/4 mile uphill to keep the average under 9:00/mi.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 8.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 8.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.25 |
| This was my second morning run at Lake Tahoe. Today I ran east down to the bike path and then south along the lake. One of my goals was to find a good rocky beach area for rock skipping. I did, and we went there later and had a great time. Morning runs on vacations are great times for getting acquainted with the area. Again I was planning on a 6 mile run and ended up running farther, this time 8.25 miles. I maintained my tradition of trying to cheerfully greet every runner/biker/walker/person I passed during my run. I found the locals and the tourists very friendly. I even received cheerful greetings when I ran past a few different groups of construction workers. I can't imagine much better running than along beautiful Lake Tahoe on a beautiful morning. I thoroughly enjoyed it and even took my hat off once while running and prayed to thank Heavenly Father for the great blessing. I ran at "touring" pace (about 9:00/mi) again. It was comfortable but not easy. I was winded and pushing, not coasting. I'm not sure if it was the elevation, the rolling hills, or my imagination, but it felt just a tiny bit harder to run at Tahoe than in Orem. I tried to stay under 9:00/mi for this run like yesterday, pushing hard up the last 3/4 mile, but I didn't quite make it, averaging 9:01/mi.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 8.25 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.40 | 6.40 |
| This was my third and final run at Lake Tahoe. Today I decided to head west up Ward Valley. I immediately questioned my decision as I steadily climbed from the start for a total of a little over 3 miles to just over 7000 ft. The total ascent was about 1800 ft. I almost made it above the tree line, but today I stuck to about 6 miles instead of pushing to 8 like the two previous mornings. I think my average pace up of about 11:20/mi had something to do with that decision. I managed mile splits of 7:25, 7:12, and 7:50 on the way back down, averaging 9:21/mi overall for 6.4 miles. I ended up not regretting my decision to run up the valley. In my three days of running in Tahoe I explored north, south, and west of our cabin (the lake was east) and it was all absolutely beautiful. We had an awesome trip to Lake Tahoe. All nine of us (parents, 6 kids, 1 fiance) got along well, we all
enjoyed most everything we did, and everything went smoothly...most of the
time. It's odd, but a line from Ursula's song "Poor Unfortunate Souls" in the Little Mermaid (one of many songs listened to on the very long drive home) sums up the trip for me, "Yes, I've had the odd complaint. But on the whole I've been a saint". We had a couple of car issues, some tired and hungry kids now and then, and some annoying sunburn (thankfully not me) but overall it was a nearly perfect trip. I feel blessed and grateful for the opportunity.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.40 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No run today. Up early to pack, clean and load for the return trip from Tahoe.
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 12.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.10 |
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We drove through Carson City and stopped in Virginia City on our way home. We really enjoyed Virginia City and stayed there longer than planned. We ended up not getting home until about 1:30am this morning. I did get to sleep for an hour or so just before SLC. My 17 year old daughter Brittany took a turn at the wheel as Karen and I were both pretty sleepy. All of our other drivers were in the other car. I woke up to Brittany merging from I80 to I15 in a pouring rain. She couldn't see the lines on the road and was just following our other car up ahead. She was nervous but did great, especially considering she's never driven on the Salt Lake freeways before. After unloading the vehicles, checking on the dog, etc. I didn't get to bed until about 3:00am. I set my alarm for 5:00am and told myself I'd decide then whether or not I would get up to run with the guys at 5:30am. To my great surprise, and Karen's, and Larry, too I think, I did get up and ran 12 miles up Provo Canyon with Larry and Kent, from the mouth to Vivian and back. It was overcast and seemed very humid to me. My shirt got very wet and felt heavy. I was content to just run easy, and averaged 9:04/mi for the 12.1 miles. I did push the two miles from Nunns to Timpanogos on the way back down. I ran the first mile in 7:11. My Garmin told me I ran 6:27/mi for the second mile, but I'm not sure I trust it. I sure didn't feel like I was running that much faster than the first mile. After the run I showered then went back to bed about 8:30am and slept until after noon. I still feel a little tired, but I think I've managed to repair our recliner (fingers crossed). My goal for the rest of the day is simply to get unpacked and get rested and ready for tomorrow, Sunday, the day of rest, which is normally busy for me from early morning until mid-afternoon. I'm not complaining. Our wonderful trip to Tahoe is already abundant payment from God for whatever small service I can give back to Him. He's a very generous partner.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 12.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.80 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.80 |
| I went to the track with Larry and Kent this morning. Once again, they ran their 1/2 mile repeats while I did 1 mile repeats. Yesterday I told Larry that after a week of pleasure running at Lake Tahoe I was ready for a tough workout and was going to run 4 x 1 mile repeats at sub-7:00. When it came time to do it this morning I felt like maybe I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I decided to give it a go anyway. I remembered a couple of quotes from President Hinckley that I heard yesterday about just doing the best you can, and doing a little better today than yesterday. It actually felt good pushing hard, in a "push your limits and find out what you can do" kind of way. As it turns out, I could chew what I bit off and ran the 4 x 1 mile splits in 6:48, 6:56, 6:55, and 6:50. Including the run to and from the track and the 1/4 mile rest laps I ran a total of 6.8 miles at 8:03/mi. I recovered pretty quickly and my body and spirit both feel good. I hope the rest of the day and week go as well.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.80 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.50 | 6.00 |
| Larry, Wayne and I started running the 2000 N route this morning. Coming back down the hill a couple of us decided that a stop back home for a bathroom visit might be a good idea. After the pit stop we went back out for the second half of the run, basically following the neighborhood 5K course in reverse direction. This was definitely just a conversational easy run, and that was fine with me. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.40 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.40 |
| Water tank hills with Larry, Wayne, Kent and eventually Kevin. Beautiful morning. I felt slow today, and my arthritic hip was a little sore, but I still pushed the hills in 16:35 and the last mile in 6:33...pretty good for me. I enjoy this run because I get to push uphill for about 1.5 miles, push downhill 1 mile, and just enjoy conversational pace the remainder of the run.
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Saucony Guide TR Miles: 6.40 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Wayne and I ran up to Provo Canyon and back. Although we both had tired legs, we decided to go 10 miles instead of the normal 6. We only averaged 9:07/mi, and the end felt like a 20-miler instead of a 12-miler, but it was still an enjoyable run, but one we were glad to have done. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 10.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Lindon loop with Larry, Wayne and Kevin. Easy pace. No zip in the legs. A little pain in left knee and right hip. Beautiful morning. Good friends. I was thinking this morning that so far this year I've done quite a bit of running, but not a lot of training. I've always been kind of a "zen" runner, without a firm training plan or schedule. I think I kind of like it that way and don't plan to change. For me, running isn't something I do, it's more a part of who I am. I'm not as dedicated or zealous as many runners, but pretty steady and consistent. I don't just run, I'm a runner. It's a lifestyle. It brings me great happiness and satisfaction. Many of my closest friends are runners. I apply much of what I've learned from running to life, sort of a lens through which I see life. One of my favorite "happy places" is being out on a run, whether alone or with my buddies or in a race. I'm grateful to be able to run. I think if everyone started their day with an early morning run, the world would be a better place...but the running trails would probably get too crowded, and it would be harder to place in my age division. You know what, that would be okay. I wish everyone could taste the joy of running.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 12.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.50 |
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Larry and Kevin were hiking with the YW, and Wayne was at a cabin with his wife, so Kent and I ran down to Wil's, up the canyon to the fountain, and back home. It's good to see Kent back running. He and I don't run alone very often. I wasn't sure what we would talk about, but it didn't seem to be a problem. I really enjoyed the run. I'm exacly sure where my fitness is. Next week's Provo 1/2 marathon will interesting...every race is an adventure.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 12.50 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.75 | 4.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| THS track with Larry and Kent this morning. It was yet another beautiful morning. There seem to have been a lot this summer. I'm a little bummed about the days getting shorter, but there's still a lot of great running to be had between now and the St. George marathon in October.
I did 4 x 1 mile repeats again like last Monday, at about the same pace. One difference is that I ran the first two repeats consecutively, without a rest in between. My mile splits were 7:01, 6:49, 6:52, and 6:50. Overall I ran a total of 7 miles @ about 8:37/mi average, with a little walking mixed in. I've been very cautious about stepping up my training this year, especially speed work. It seems this old body of mine is always on the edge of injury so I have to listen pretty carefully. To me going a little faster isn't worth the risk of not being able to run at all. So far so good...knock on wood. I tend to push my limits on race days, however. I'm looking forward to Saturday's adventure in the Provo 1/2 marathon.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 7.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry and Wayne. The uphill is never easy, but overall this was an easy pace run as Wayne and I are tapering a little for the half marathon this Saturday. We plan to run the normal runs on Wednesday and Thursday, but not push hard, then rest on Friday. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.40 |
| Water tank hills with Wayne, Kent and Larry. Easy pace, tapering for Saturday's race. |
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.40 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Larry, Wayne and I ran the normal Cascade route this morning, but took it easy and cut off a mile as part of our taper for Saturday. I saw a little lightning and heard a little thunder as I got up this morning, but there was no rain. Last night I finally started thinking seriously about goals for the 1/2 marathon on Saturday. I must be getting old because I was thinking I'd run it last year in 1:33 or so, but when I looked back I saw that I had run it in 1:29. I was almost shocked looking at my splits. All I remembered was the big hill on the highway and fading at the end and worrying about Josse passing me. I'm not sure I have a 1:29 in me this year. I think I'll target 1:30 as my stretch goal, but I'll be satisfied with anything under 1:35. I must say, however, that there's a part of me that is urging me to "let 'er rip" and do a little limit exploration on Saturday morning. I haven't been doing a lot of speed training, but I've done a little, and my mileage has been pretty good, and I feel healthy.
I believe it was Tom that first called me a zen runner. I don't follow a strict training plan or race plan, but tend to consider the circumstances at hand (weather, buddies, schedule, etc.), listen to my body, and my spirit, and then try to run whatever feels right. I think this works for me because I have a tendency to overdo and push too hard. Neither my body nor my mind tell me to take it easy unless there is a good reason.
A great part of being a zen runner is never knowing quite what to expect. Every race is an adventure. There are so many factors that determine the outcome, and it's an adventure watching things unfold and watching how I respond and discovering what I'm capable of. Another great part of being a zen runner is not being too disappointed if my performance is less than what I hoped. The finishing time is only one measure of accomplishment. The experience itself is the adventure. It will be interesting to see what unfolds Saturday morning. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.00 |
|
| Race: |
Provo River 1/2 Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:29:54, Place overall: 51, Place in age division: 3 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 13.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.10 |
|
I got up at 3:45am, picked up Lyle at 4:50am, caught a bus at Riverwoods at about 5:15am, then waited around for the start until a little after 7:00am. The weather was cool for August, and it was a little chilly waiting for the start, but it made for great temperatures during the run. The slight chance of rain didn't materialize, although the sprinklers along the trail near the end managed to get me pretty good as I was focused and working to pass a strong runner in front of me who looked to be close to my age. I managed to pass him and hold off his kick at the end. I felt pretty good going into the race, but I didn't feel like my training was quite up to where it was last year. I was pleased to end up running the same time as last year, though the couse was different last year due to the fire. I think I ran the race better this year. I didn't push quite as hard during the early downhill miles and managed to hold a pretty even pace clear through the finish.
Miles 1-4: 6:46, 6:26, 6:43, 6:30
Down South Fork Canyon - Took it easy on the brief uphill sections and released the brakes a little on the steeper downhill sections. Miles 5-6: 7:00, 6:48 Vivian to Bridal Veil - A little flatter. Miles 7-8: 7:29, 7:19 Included the uphill loop from Bridal Veil and back. Miles 9-13.1: 6:52, 6:54, 6:49, 6:55, 6:42, (5:13/mi for final kick) Last year I ran the first mile in 6:07 and the last two miles in 7:28 and 7:21, and felt beaten at the end. This year I never bonked and held a strong, steady pace through the finish, including a strong kick. Not long after the race I felt ready for more. Maybe I'm in better shape than I think I am. That would be nice. Last year my 1:29 time got 4th in my division. This year my 1:29 earned me 3rd place. The winner of my age division was exactly 1 minute ahead of me, certainly within striking distance. The only problem is that next year I'll be 50 and in a new age division.
I'm very pleased with today's race. I feel like I ran smart and pushed hard through the finish. I reached my stretch goal of matching last year's time even though I don't feel my training is quite where it was last year at this time. The temperature was perfect. The day was beautiful. I wish more of my buddies could have shared it, but Terry, Tom, and Lyle all had great runs. All in all, I think it was a pretty good use of my time this morning.
|
Saucony Tangent Miles: 13.10 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
| Kent said Larry said Wayne might show up this morning. Neither Larry nor Wayne showed up so Kent and I went to the track alone. My legs were a little stiff from Saturday's race so I didn't push hard this morning. I ran along as Kent did his 1/2 mile repeats. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 5.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Ran the 2000 N route with Larry at an easy pace. We saw Lyle near the elementary school and he ran in with us. His legs were still a little sore from the race Saturday (as were mine), but he seemed pretty excited about meeting his goal of sub-2:00. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.80 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.30 |
| Water tank hills with Larry, Wayne, and Kent. My legs were feeling pretty much recovered from the race Saturday. I pushed the hills up (16:47), and the last half mile (6:22/mi), but at about 90-95% effort instead of all out. I was encouraged by my performance Saturday. Part of me wants to bump up the mileage and speed, but another part of me wants to be careful to avoid injury. I'll just take it a day at a time and try to find the right balance.
|
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 6.30 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Cascade run with Wayne and Kent. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Lindon loop with Larry, Wayne and Kevin. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 18.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 18.20 |
| We changed up our Provo Canyon run a bit this morning. We all wanted to go at least 16 miles. The mouth to Vivian is about 6 miles, so we started by running from the mouth the two miles down to Wil's Pit Stop and then back. Larry, Kent and Collin did 16. Wayne and I went 18 by adding one mile up South Fork and then back to Vivian. We thought we might get rained on but it held off and the weather was great for running. It rained pretty hard for a while not long after we got back. I was grateful we didn't have to run in it. Splits to Wil's and back: 9:27, 9:08, 9:42, 9:38 (all hanging together)
Up splits: 9:42, 9:27, 9:16, 9:29, 9:25, 9:07 (pulling away), 10:11 (South Fork), 9:51/mi (for 0.3)
Down splits: 7:47 (South Fork) , 8:21, 8:02, 8:05, 7:57, 7:36, 7:51/mi (for 0.9) We average 8:55/mi overall for 18.2 miles.
I told Wayne I was starting to feel pretty tired with a couple of miles to go. That's when I noticed that the pace had dropped to sub-8:00. I was pleased to realize that I was feeling tired because we were picking up the pace at the end of an 18-miler, not because I was bonking.
I'm very satisfied with the run. I enjoyed it, held a respectable pace, and finished feeling tired but pretty good.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 18.20 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.50 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| THS track with Larry and Kent. Larry was feeling ill and went home after a couple of warmup laps. I hope he feels better soon. My legs didn't feel up to running hard this morning. While Kent was doing his 6 x 1/2 mile repeats, I decided to just do a 4 mile tempo run instead of the 6:50-ish 4 x 1 mile repeats I've done recently. I ran the first three miles at around 7:05-7:10/mi and the last mile in 6:48.
|
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
|
I was up late last night, and I've been really tired recently, so I chose sleep over running today. My legs felt tired yesterday, too, so I figured resting them a little before this weekend's Hobble Creek half marathon might not be bad. Unlike some people, it was hard for me to choose to sleep instead of getting up early and running. Personally, I would have preferred to run, but my body was telling me otherwise.
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.20 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.70 |
|
Water tank hills with Larry, Wayne and Kent. I didn't push the hills today, trying to save my legs a little for the Hobble Creek 1/2 this Saturday. I wasn't planning to push the last 1/2 mile either, but I couldn't resist picking up the pace a little. I had been talking about trying to equal this year my 1:26 finish at Hobble Creek last year, a 6:34/mi average pace. I was afraid of pushing the 1/2 mile downhill today and having it only be at around 6:30/mi pace. That would be discouraging to think of having to hold that pace for 26 times that distance. I decided to take the brakes off anyway. I didn't really feel like I was pushing all out, but still managed 5:58/mi pace. That is actually somewhat encouraging. The Hobble Creek race should be yet another grand adventure into realm of Paul's possibilities.
|
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.70 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| I ran 5 flat miles solo at an easy pace this morning. I had a hard time getting my tired legs moving, my hip was stiff and sore, and it felt hard to run a 9:30+ pace, so averaging 6:35/mi for 13.1 miles at Hobble Creek in two days should be a piece of cake. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.00 |
|
| Race: |
Hobble Creek Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:30:52, Place overall: 92, Place in age division: 7 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 1.00 | 13.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 14.10 |
|
Maybe I've waited long enough to file my race report that
nobody will see it. Today wasn't my best run, but I feel good about it
anyway. First the splits. I think comparing this year to the last two years is pretty telling:
Mile
| 2007
| 2008
| 2009
| 1
| 6:37 | 6:19
| 6:06
| 2
| 6:20 | 6:15
| 6:31
|
| 3
| 6:17
| 6:17
| 6:41
|
| 4
| 6:17
| 6:17
| 6:08
|
| 5
| 6:28
| 6:31
| 6:51
|
| 6
| 6:20
| 6:28
| 6:53
|
| 7
| 6:33
| 6:17
| 7:19
|
| 8
| 6:30
| 6:04
| 6:48
|
| 9
| 6:44
| 6:45
| 7:21
|
| 10
| 6:59
| 7:03
| 7:17
|
| 11
| 7:14
| 7:05
| 7:48
|
| 12
| 7:10
| 7:13
| 7:35
|
| 13
| 6:53
| 7:02
| 6:57
|
| .1
| 0:41
| 0:40
| 0:36
|
| 13.1
| 1:27:02
| 1:26:14
| 1:30:52
|
I woke up to discover two undesirable conditions: 1) digestive tract issues, and 2) an already warm morning with a forecast for near record highs. I'm not sure if I was a little ill this morning, or if my digestive tract issues were simply the result of breaking my tradition of eating pasta or pancakes the evening before a race...I had a peppery steak and cheese sandwich from the Italian Place instead. Since it is now Saturday night and I don't feel sick, I suspect it was the sandwich. I didn't have an issue during the race, but after 4 potty stops prior to the race I felt a little weak and not quite 100%. I decided to go ahead and run hard anyway to see if it was physical or mental. Looking back on the race, I think it was physical. As early as mile 2 things began to feel harder than they should, even though I was running slower than the past two years. By mile 4 or 5 I had decided I was just going to try to keep moving as fast as I could at a sustainable pace and try not to bonk. You can tell by the splits that by mile 9 I was beginning to slow, which continued through mile 12. I think the heat was a factor. I think Josse passed me during mile 9, and Jessi passed me around mile 11. With about a mile to go I met up with Tom (not racing) who began to pace me and encouraged me to begin closing the gap on Josse and Jessi. A moment later Nathan caught up to me (despite his nursing a hamstring injury the whole way), It wasn't long before Nathan and Tom were pulling away, but they gave me enough of a boost to get me rolling the last mile. I caught and passed Josse (running on 5 weeks of training), but Jessi's kick matched mine and I couldn't catch her. I feel good about hanging in fairly tough mentally even though my body wasn't at 100% today. I believe every race is an adventure, and today's had some unexpected challenges, but I feel good about my response and am happy with the results.
Update (official results): Congratulations on finishing the Hobble Creek Half Marathon
on August 22, 2009. For your records, the weather that day was
warm and beautiful.
There were 34 finishers in the Male 45 to 49 age group and
1100 finishers in the race.
Your overall finish place was 90 and your age group finish place
was 7. Your overall finish percentile was 8 while your age group
percentile was 21. Your time of 1:30:54.4 gave you a 6:56 pace per mile.
Complete results can be found online at www.SRCevents.com
|
Saucony Tangent Miles: 14.10 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
|
If anyone checked my blog this week they might be wondering if I've been running. I have, I just haven't been blogging. It's Thursday night and I'm just logging Monday's run. Monday Kent and I ended up going to the track alone. I normally do 1 mile repeats while Kent and Larry do 1/2 mile repeats. I guess I was still recovering a bit from the 1/2 marathon on Saturday because I didn't feel physically or mentally up to mile repeats. I decided to run the 1/2 mile repeats with Kent, mostly so I could rest more in between. If I recall correctly, my times were something like 3:20, 3:23, 3:21, 3:17, 3:20 and 3:02. You can tell by the last split that I probably wasn't going all out the first five. Still, I feel like I pushed pretty hard for as tired as I was.
|
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 7.50 |
| Larry and I ended up running alone this morning. I got in 1.5 miles before meeting up with him and we ran the 2000 N route, slightly modified. His dog Ozzie seemed to fall behind more than normal and we kept stopping for him. Now that school is back in I'm trying to get home by 6:45am for our morning scriptures and prayer. At 6:40am I realized I was still 1.5 miles from home, and Ozzie was nowhere to be seen again. Larry sent me home and went back for his dog. No...I didn't run the last 1.5 miles in 5 minutes. I was late and only made it in time for prayer.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 7.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.50 |
| Water tank hills with Larry and Wayne, and eventually Kevin. I didn't feel much like running this morning. When I told Larry this he asked who I was and what I had done with Paul. When we reached the bottom of the hills and began our ascent I told them I was going to push hard to purge the "not wanting to run" business. I started up strong and never let up...and actually felt pretty strong all the way up...finishing the ascent in 15:29, a 25 second PR for this year. Wayne and I add some distance at the top then began the easy descent with Larry. Around the bottom of hill 5 we say Kevin and his dog headed up. I encouraged him to finish to the top and said he could catch us. I felt bad that we weren't going to see much of him so Wayne and I doubled back before descending hill 1 until we met up with Kevin, at the bottom of hill 2. He was flying and pulled away from us pretty quickly. He slowed when he caught Larry and we all ran together until the last 1/2 mile. We traditionally push the last downhill 1/2 mile pretty fast. Again, I wasn't really feeling like it but went for it anyway. Once I got moving I got in a groove and ended up running 5:53 pace for that 1/2 mile, another season PR. It wasn't fast enough to not make me late getting home again. Doubling back (needlessly as it turned out) for Kevin was a mistake.
|
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 6.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.60 |
| My good running buddies Larry, Wayne and Kevin decided among themselves to start leaving at 5:40am instead of 5:45am to give me a better chance of getting home on time. What great guys. The only problem was that only Wayne showed up today. We did meet up with Kevin later, but he had left far more than only 5 minutes later. This was a little more up tempo easy run. I got in a little over 1/2 a mile before meeting Wayne and ended up with 6.6 miles. Leaving earlier and running faster got us back by 6:35am, with 10 minutes to spare, which I spent walking and talking with Wayne and Kevin and still barely made it in on time. We decided on an early 20 mile run up Provo Canyon, but later Larry called me at work to say that Wayne had something come up and wouldn't be joining us Saturday, and also that Mark Nelson had called and was planning to run to the top of Timp on Saturday. We have been saying how much we enjoyed it a couple of years ago when we did it and that we ought to do it again this year. This weekend is probably our last good opportunity. Larry was going to talk with Kevin and Kent. I guess I'll find out tomorrow morning if we're doing Timp or not.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.60 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.90 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.90 |
| Larry and I went out for 4-ish mile at an easy pace. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 3.90 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 |
| Today I ran to the shack on the summit of Mt. Timpanogos at 11,749 ft. The weather, companionship, and scenery were awesome. The wildflowers and other mountain flora were beautiful. I saw mountain goats, raccoons, and squirrels. I even got to witness a fairly vicious but brief dog fight dangerously near the edge on the saddle, between Larry's dog Ozzie and another dog.
|
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 15.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.50 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
| My legs were still pretty tired from running up Timp on Saturday. I was just going to run easy around the track while the others did speed work, like Larry did, but I decided I liked the idea of walking/jogging every half mile so I ran 1/2 mile repeats with Kent. Splits: 3:40, 3:40, 3:39, 3:32, 3:21, 3:04. You can see that my legs felt better as I went along. I didn't feel like pushing hard until the last interval.
|
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 5.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran an easy six miles on the 2000 N route. Quads were still sore from the descent down Timp. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.40 |
| A slow run up the water tank hills, partly because we're tapering for the Red Rock Relay, and partly because my quads were still a little sore. |
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.40 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running...resting the legs for the relay tomorrow. |
| Race: |
Red Rock Relay (173.8 Miles) 25:44:20, Place overall: 11 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 7.80 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.80 |
|
I'll try to record some of my awesome experience at the Red Rock Relay, but there's no way I'll be able to do it justice. Larry Marshall, my awesome running buddy who put the team together, was both the team captain and the captain of the Snow Van. The other members of the Snow Van, in the order they ran, were Larry, Kari, Ally, Jeremy, Liesel, and Jessi. I know Larry, Jeremy, and Jessi, but Kari, Ally, and Liesel are friends of Larry's daughter Stacia and Jessi. Like every other relay I've done, one of things I liked least was that we didn't get to spend much time with the people in the other van. They began the relay at 9:20am at the top of Brianhead ski resort. I was the proud captain of the Sun Van, the "old guy" van (all in our 40's or 50's). What a great group of old guys: Grant Skousen, Dave ('Deeks') Steck, Lyle Brereton, Kevin Jessop, Jonathan Crampton, and me. The best part of the relay was sharing it with these guys. Grant started our first set of legs off with a 6.7 mile descent from 8200 ft. to 6400 ft. Deeks, Lyle, and Kevin then climbed some serious uphill from 6400 ft. up to 9200 ft. The weather was cooler than we had thought it might be, but still pretty warm. The weather fun was just about to begin. Since it was getting into the hottest part of the afternoon, Jonathan started off his 7.6 mile hard-rated leg running shirtless. His leg runs on a rolling dirt road that eventually climbs to 9400 ft. before descending back to 9200 ft. The approaching storm we hoped would pass by us, did not. Cold torrential rain quickly turned the clay roads to sticky mud, with rivers of muddy water, and then the hail came. Before we could catch up to Jonathan his bare skin was being pelted by painful hail that left red marks on his body. We gave him a shirt, a jacket, and a dry hat and he trudged on through the awful mud up the biggest hill and on to the end of his leg. My 7.8 mile hard-rated leg continued along the rolling dirt (mud) road on the Kolob Terrace, ascending to 9300 ft. before descending to 8100 ft. at Kolob Reservoir. The storm continued, but since it hadn't caught me by surprise, I was able to be better prepared. I started with my jacket and gloves. The hail had stopped and it was just raining when I began, but with each step in the mud I wasn't sure which way my foot was going to go. The slipping combined with the weight of the clay mud sticking to my shoes made it difficult to generate much speed. My jacket and shoes were soon soaked through and feeling pretty heavy. The hail that had pelted Jonathan returned to dance with me for a bit, too. I had to stop 3 or 4 times to adjust my shoes and tighten the laces to keep my shoes on.
I had been looking forward to the 4+ miles of beautiful downhill. When I started the downhill I remember thinking how awesome of a run it would be if it was dirt instead of mud. I had a little talk with God around this point. I didn't really complain, it was more like sharing my thoughts. I said how beautiful the area was and how awesome it would have been to be able to fly down the hills. I expressed my gratitude for the opportunity to be there, and simply prayed that I (and the other runners) would be able to finish safely, without falling or turning an ankle or being struck by lightning. (We saw a lot of lightning on this relay, especially later on our night legs. It was actually quite exciting and beautiful.) I didn't expect to see dry roads again, but it wasn't long before the rain stopped and I hit solid dirt road again. My van mates took my heavy wet jacket. My heavy shoes didn't allow me to turn over my feet very quickly, but the last couple of miles down to Kolob Reservoir and the exchange were actually very enjoyable. I almost forgot to mention that when I started my lungs quickly noticed that I was running at an elevation of over 9000 ft. The weather quickly pushed that factor to the background.
After I finished, my team mates pointed out that my calves were caked with mud. Luckily, Lyle had brought a big package of wipes and I spent a number of minutes rubbing mud off my legs so I could get in the van. I did it with a smile on my face. I knew I'd remember and talk about this leg for years to come. My mile splits were: 7:36, 7:24, 9:34 (muddy uphill, stops to fix shoes), 7:54, 7:16 (dry road), 7:13, 7:08, 7:11/mi for last 0.6 miles. As I approached the exchange it was great to hear the cheering of my team mates and other runners that were there. I swear the nearby herd of cows also started to moo their encouragement as I approached.
After I was clean enough to get in the van, we headed to Hurricane and decided to eat at JBs. I changed into dry clothes in the van. Some of the others cleaned themselves in the JBs bathroom. It's good most of the other patrons were also running the relay and understood the partially undressed men in the restroom. I had some delicious french toast. We then headed back to the next exchange in La Verkin and an hour or two of rest on lawn of the nearby Church. I slept on the soft grass with only a pillow, caressed by the gentle warm breeze. To be continued in Saturday's blog entry...
|
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 7.80 |
|
| Race: |
Red Rock Relay (2nd day) (173.8 Miles) 25:44:20, Place overall: 11 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 8.80 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.80 |
|
I think Grant started off our second set of legs a little before midnight. He ran through La Verkin and then handed to Deeks who ran through Hurricane. Lyle then headed south around Sand Hollow Reservoir. Kevin finished the loop around the reservoir and back to Hurricane. His 4.9 mile leg ended up being 5.6 miles, but he stuck it out despite the rain. I think all of these guys joined Jonathan and me in the "rained on" club during these legs. Jonathan's leg along the highway to Washington was also longer than advertised. About 2:34am I began my 3.2 mile moderate-rated leg ran along Telegraph road to the rec center in Washington. My mile splits were: 7:40, 6:39, 7:19, and 8:22/mi for the last 0.2. There was a mix of uphill and downhill in each mile, with an uphill finish. I don't believe it was raining when I started, maybe a sprinkle, but it was raining pretty hard when I finished, so hard that everyone had fled from the exchange to their vehicles and Larry was not waiting when I came in. Matt, the race director, smiled as I yelled for Larry who, about 30 seconds later, finally noticed I was there and emerged from his dry truck across the street. (It's okay. I was exhausted, wet, and a little annoyed at first, but I quickly forgave my good buddy and awesome team captain. Nobody's perfect...especially not me.) It was about 3:00am when we headed to the Elders Hostel in St. George. Deeks had arranged for us to have 3 rooms with two twin beds and a bathroom/shower each. It was awesome, but we only had about 2.5 hours to sleep before getting up at 6:00am. We got up and out on time and headed to the next van exchange at Gunlock. It was along the relay route so we watched for our other van along the way. I started getting a little nervous when we reached the last exchange before the van exchange without seeing them. I was relieved to see Jessi, their last runner, about 2 miles into her 6 mile leg. It was interesting to also see a bunch of bibbed runners running the opposite direction. Apparently, there was both a 1/2 marathon and 20 mile race going on. As we waited for Jessi to come in, Jeremy explained he knew some members of the Do or Diers team. They started the same time as us and we had seen them all along the way. Jeremy said they were our rivals and we needed to beat them. As we talked with them we quickly discovered they were awesome people, but the friendly rivalry was definitely on. Grant started with a tough uphill leg as we headed towards Veyo. The woman on the Do or Diers started just behind him but could never close the gap. Deeks continued the climb to Veyo. The young female runner from the Do or Diers managed to pass him, but he didn't make it easy and she didn't get too far ahead. Lyle then took on the tough climb up the Veyo hill and the climb through Dammeron Valley that are the toughest part of the St. George marathon. He lost very little time to the (once again) younger female runner from our rivals. Both Deeks and Lyle were probably 25 to 30 years older than their rivals. Kevin then faced a long 6.1 mile run against Lex, the tall, young, fastest runner from the other team. Kevin ran strong and hung tough, but he didn't stand a chance. I think Kevin met his goal time, but Lex stretched their lead to about 10 minutes I think. We had our two strongest runners to go, but their runners were also strong. They went on to beat us by about 14 minutes I think. The runner from a team that started 20 minutes after us passed Kevin just before the exchange. This was a new challenge for Jonathan and he easily distanced himself from that team as he raced down Snow Canyon, even though he lost some time trying to find the right way to go. The organization of the Snow Canyon leg needs some improvement in the future. We found out that we had to pay $5 to drive through else drive around. We decided to drive around but it was way farther than we thought. Luckily we had a Garmin to lead us there in time to meet Jonathan. Another team we talked with wasn't so lucky and their runner ran an extra two miles before his van found him. I began my last leg, "Grand Finale", a moderate 5.6 mile leg from Snow Canyon to the finish, at 10:24am. It was about 3.5 miles of gradual downhill followed by 2 miles of uphill to the finish. I had been commenting on how I had expected the relay to be very hot but so far had run mostly in rain and cooler temperatures. I guess God heard me again and granted me a heat experience. I was fine for the downhill (6:38, 6:54, 7:09) but then the 80+ heat and the uphill combined to make me work for the finish (7:24, 8:42, 7:25/mi for last 0.5). It was great to meet my team and finish together. We mingled with family, took team pictures, and finally got to talk to our team mates from our other van. We also took a combined team picture with the Do or Diers. It was great fellowshipping with them throughout the relay. It was definitely a friendly rivalry. We even gave ibuprofen to Lex (his hip was sore) who then went on to slay us on his leg. We hope to see some of them at the St. George marathon. I think Jonathan even set up to be Facebook friends with some of them. We stopped at In-n-Out where I got a Double-Double cheeseburger (tasted so good!) before we headed home. Deeks and I shared the driving and both managed to stay awake. We made it home in time for me to watch BYU beat Oklahoma. What a great ending to a great couple of days.
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Saucony Tangent Miles: 5.60 | Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 3.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.00 |
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I ran the 2000 N route with Larry, Wayne and Kent. Even though my legs felt pretty good after the relay, I took it easy until the last mile when I realized I had to hurry to get home in time. Wayne and Kent had gotten a little ahead, but when I shifted from 10:00/mi to 7:20/mi I caught and passed them pretty quickly. My easy runs have been a little slower this year than in past years, and my fast runs have been sporadic, mostly in the form of races, fartleks, or short tempo runs. Still, I feel like I'm actually running pretty well. I'm not sure how my sore hip (comes and goes) would have handled more mileage and/or harder speed work. It will be interesting to see how I do at St. George this year.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.10 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.60 |
| I ran the water tank hills with Larry, Wayne and Kent. I wore my headlamp for the first time on this run this year, and was glad I did. It was pretty dark going up. I turned on the light just before we got to the bottom of the hills and when we got to the starting line I was off. I was in the mood to push today. I ran up the hills in 15:55, not quite a PR but good for me considering there was a little headwind. I ran down easy with the group then ran the last 1/2 mile at 5:50/mi, which was a PR for this year. It felt great!
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.30 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.30 |
| I ran the Cascade route with Larry, Wayne and Kent. Actually, at 1200 N & 800 E I saw Mike Jasper a little ahead of us so I caught up with him and ran to the turn around point with him. He always runs a faster pace than us so I had to work pretty hard to catch him. It took a minute before I could converse with him. I ran back with my group, although Wayne and Kent (similar to previous days) started pulling ahead. With about a mile to go they turned north on 400 E. I needed to hurry to get back in time so I told Larry I was going to stay on 1200 N until Main and see if I could get to Main and 1600 N before Wayne and Kent. I did.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.30 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran 6 easy miles solo on the library route this morning.With a 20-miler planned for tomorrow, I didn't want to push too hard. My right hip was also a little sore. I averaged 9:18/mi overall.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 16.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 20.00 |
| Today a group of us ran a new 20 mile Provo Canyon route worked out by Tom's friend Mike Elquist. I believe there were eleven of us: Tom, Kim, Mike, Mike's son, Nathan, Larry, Kevin, Kent, Lyle, Kris, and me. The weather stayed in the 50's the whole time. I ran with Nathan during some of the middle miles and he pulled me down to around 8:00 minute miles, which left me pretty tired at the end, but overall I feel like it was a pretty good run.
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.40 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.40 |
| I ended up alone this morning. I didn't feel like speed work, but I went to the track anyway. I decided to just do a 4 mile medium-pace tempo run in the dark. My first three mile splits were right around 7:41, with the 4th mile at around 7:20 I think. Not super fast, but it made me work some. Kevin and Dash showed up around the end of mile 3. I didn't run with Kevin on the track but we ran home to the neighborhood together.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.40 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 0.00 | 1.10 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.10 |
| It was nice having other runners show up this morning. It was a little cooler this morning. I wore my jacket but ended up feeling a little overdressed by the end of the run.
I ran the 2000 N route with Larry, Wayne and Kent. I pushed up the hill a little with Kent, but just ran at an easy pace most of the route. I did have to pick up the pace the last mile or so to get home in time.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.70 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.20 |
| Water tank hills with Kent and Larry. Cool temps. Dark, with headlamp. Strong headwind at times. Hills - 16:34. Last 1/2 mile 6:30/mi. Not my fastest, but not bad. No plans to push anything really hard before St. George.
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Saucony Guide TR Miles: 6.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Cascade route with Kent and Kevin. We ran a quite a bit faster than
usual pace this morning. Kent said Kevin was pushing the pace, but he
claimed to just be keeping up. Since Kevin seemed to be "half wheeling"
us (running slightly ahead of us) most of the time, I'll give him the credit. I didn't mind the faster pace.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Larry, Wayne and Nick were all doing their long run this morning because of conflicts on Saturday. They left at 5:00am. I couldn't go the whole way with them, but I ran the first 5 miles with them then returned home. The first 5 miles were at 10:00+/mi. The last 5 miles were at closer to 8:00/mi. I played golf at about 8:30am. I can't remember the last time I played. My 11 year daughter doesn't remember me ever playing. It was a 4-man scramble (best ball) tournament at work. We only had 3 show up so each of us got to hit every shot twice every third hole. I was just as good/bad as I remember. We all were about the same, and usually at least one of us would have at least a playable shot. I think we ended up 2 over par on 9 holes, with 2 double bogies, 2 birdies, and 5 pars. The three things I was most proud of: 1) a pretty long putt I made, 2) driving over two ponds and through rocks and trees to land my drive about 20 yards from the green on par 4 hole 9, and 3) I didn't lose a single golf ball! I don't think I'll switch running for golfing, but it was pretty fun. Driving the golf cart was fun, too.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 10.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| I walked, not ran, these two miles, but they took the place of my run today so I'm logging them. I ran 10 miles yesterday, and could have run more this morning, but I couldn't bring myself to commit to run with Kent or Kevin on their long runs this morning. I wasn't sure why.
As I was awaking after sleeping in (no alarm clock this morning) and trying to decide whether to go for a run or not, the thought entered my mind to ask Karen to go for a walk with me. She walks pretty faithfully on the treadmill. I've been trying to convince her how much nicer it is to exercise outside, but she doesn't want to do it alone and is more comfortable in the safety and comfort of our bedroom. To my great pleasure she agreed and we went to Provo Canyon and just walked from the mouth up to a little past Timpanogos Park and back. I enjoyed it very very much. It was windy and chilly at first, but it soon warmed up and we had a great walk together. She even ran a few steps a couple of times. I've always said that the greatest thing that could make running better for me would be to be able to do it with Karen, and maybe one, some or all of our children. That day may never come, but I'm going to at least try to have more days like today. Karen's not a running buddy, but she's my best buddy, and when I'm with her walking is good enough.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 2.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.90 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.90 |
| I went to the THS track with Larry and Kent. After our 1 mile warm up (running to the track plus a warm up lap), Kent did his 1/2 mile repeats, Larry did his Energizer Bunny run, and I did a 4 mile tempo run. My goal was to run each mile between 7:00 and 7:10. I didn't check my pace except at each mile. I just tried to keep movin' along. My splits were 6:51, 7:10, 7:05, and 6:58...average 7:01/mi. I think these splits are kind of illustrative of how I run a lot of my races. I often start out a little faster than maybe I should, then slow up but still run close to goal pace, then manage to pull out a little extra at the end and speed up a bit to finish pretty strong. It may not be ideal, but it seems to work okay for me. I would love to run this pace at St. George in two weeks and finish around 3:04, but that's not too likely. I simply haven't paid the price this year. I think a goal of 3:15 (7:27/mi) to 3:20 (7:38/mi) is more reasonable, and that's probably even a stretch. A lot will depend on the weather conditions and how badly my hip hurts me that day. My fall back goal is 3:30 (8:00/mi) which is a Boston qualifying time for me. Actually, since I'll be 50 by the next Boston Marathon, I think my BQ is actually 3:35 (8:12/mi) now. Whatever happens on marathon day, I just plan to take it in stride (pun intended) and enjoy the experience of another marathon adventure.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.90 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.90 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.90 |
| 2000 N route with Larry and Kent at an easy pace. My right hip was quite sore last night, but it was only a little sore this morning and didn't bother me much during the run. I think I may have to see a doctor about it. It's gradually been getting worse. My doctor told me a few years ago that it looked like I was getting arthritis in my right hip. It was very tight. I couldn't cross my right leg over my left. He showed me some stretches to loosen it up. I finally got serious this year about trying to stretch it out. I've
loosened it up quite a bit, and can now cross my leg, but I've still
got work to do. The problem is related to my serious left knee injury (youth football) when I was 14 that left my left leg 1+ inch shorter than my right. I wear a partially-compensating lift in my left shoe, but my right leg still bears more of my weight than my right. A chiropractor recently measured and found that my right leg was bearing 12 lbs. more of my weight than my left leg. He thought that might be the cause of the wear and inflammation in my right hip.
I think that my attempts at stretching out my hip after 35 years has maybe led to increased stress and inflammation on the joint. Stretching and ibuprofen may not be enough...although they'll probably have to do until after the St. George marathon.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.90 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.50 |
| Kent and I ran the water tank hills in the brisk autumn air. I backed off "full effort" on the uphill and fast 1/2 mile sections...I am beginning to taper after all...but was pleased to still ascend in 16:13 and average 6:38/mi on the 1/2 mile. |
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.50 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
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I ran the Cascade route at an easy pace with Larry and Kent. I went back looking for Larry's dog Ozzie at one point in the first half of the run, and then Larry went back looking for him during the second half of the run, so for a large portion of the run we weren't all together. Sometimes Ozzie's shepherding instincts (he's an Aussie Shepherd) are evident as he stays with the group, or stays back with a runner that is lagging behind. Other times he just seems selfish and lazy and does whatever he feels like and we have to go back looking for him. He seems kind of ... human. I'm definitely not bragging about the pace, but it was interesting that today's run was exactly a 10K in exactly 1:00:00 (9:40/mi).
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 1.00 | 10.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| This morning Kent and I made the right choice I think. We decided to do the 10 mile tempo run from Trefoil at the top of South Fork down to the mouth of Provo Canyon. I dropped my car at the mouth and Kent drove us to the top. We weren't running the the same pace, so the driving was about the only time we were together.
The autumn leaves were very beautiful, with vivid reds and oranges mixed in with the evergreens. We saw a skunk and some wild turkeys. We also various squads of soldiers in camo uniforms with boots, full packs and carrying logs hiking/running down South Fork.
This was mostly a mental run today. We wanted to see how fast of a pace we could hold for 10 miles and see how we felt going just a little faster than marathon pace. My mile splits were: 6:12, 6:48, 6:58, 6:45, 6:53, 6:59, 6:38, 6:47, 7:11, and 6:49. Mile 1 may have been a little fast, but it felt good. I was trying to catch Kent and a couple of other runners who had started down ahead of me. Mile 9, the only mile over 7:00, seemed really flat with little or no downhill. It felt really hard. I may have let up a little mentally, but I was working pretty hard. I was pleased that I was able to pull mile 10 back down to 6:49.
Kent wanted to break 75 minutes (7:30/mi) and finished in around 74. I wanted to break 70 minutes (7:00/mi) and ran it in 68:05 (6:48/mi, 8.8mph). So we both had good runs and made our goals. We're both pretty encouraged by the results. It was a beautiful day, with cool temperatures, beautiful autumn leaves and sunlit mountainsides. What a great way to start the day.
I'm only mentioning my sore right hip to point out that I'm not mentioning it. I'm trying to ignore it hoping it will go away...not my hip, just the pain. I'm a little concerned about whether it will make it 26.2 miles, but there is not much I can do about that now. Either it will or it won't. I'm going to rest it, running just enough to keep it loosened up, take NSAIDs to manage the inflammation and pain, hope for the best, and endure. At least it will give me an excuse if certain people I'm hoping to beat end up beating me instead.
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Saucony Tangent Miles: 11.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Four easy miles. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 4.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.90 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.90 |
| 3.9 easy miles |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 3.90 |
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| Race: |
St. George Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:18:33, Place overall: 542, Place in age division: 61 | Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 26.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 26.20 |
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Overall: 542 of 5617 finishers (top 10%), Men 45-49: 61 of 370 I'm satisfied, even somewhat pleased. Not thrilled. Not really too disappointed. Basically, I think I pulled out the time my training had earned me, but no faster. I ran 3:07 two years ago, 3:11 last year in the rain, and now 3:18 in near ideal conditions this year. My training has been okay this year, but definitely down from the previous two years. I think one of the prime reasons was my job change last November. At Novell I would run two-a-days twice a week - an easy run in the morning with the neighborhood guys (9:00/mi-ish), then a second more up tempo run with the Novell guys or solo at noon (7:30-8:00-ish). With my new job I haven't found a way to work in the noon runs yet, hence fewer overall mile and fewer up tempo miles. I decided on a "no risk, no reward" approach and started out on a 3:10 pace for the first 7 miles. I started feeling some tightness in my calves about mile 6...not good. I stopped twice during the race to have some Icy Hot applied.
I slipped to be
being on pace for 3:15 after the hills of Veyo and Dammeron Valley. I
hoped to be able to hang on for the 3:15, but by mile 16 my legs had lost their zip and my hip (which has bothered me all year) started hurting again. I could tell
the last 10 miles were going to be a mental struggle to just keep my
legs moving. My splits were: 7:13, 7:10, 7:00, 6:47, 7:01, 6:53, 6:53 - These miles felt pretty good. Part of me wanted to go faster, but I held back slightly knowing I didn't have the training in to support it.
8:21, 7:51, 8:08, 8:11, 7:59 - I intentionally took it easy on the hills, but I was beginning to feel myself tiring.
7:26, 7:36, 7:12, 6:41, 7:14 - I managed to pick the pace up again, but a little slower than before the hills. By the end of these miles I knew I was entering "just hang on" mode.
7:36, 8:19, 7:30, 7:44, 8:10, 8:09 - Hanging on. I just tried to keep my legs turning over. The uphills felt hard, and couldn't push the downhills much.
7:32, 8:02, 8:06, last 0.2 at 6:59/mi - The crowds the last few miles were a great boost. I slapped the extended hands of the kids whenever I got the chance trying to draw energy out of them. I tried to balance focusing on moving forward with enjoying the experience and smiling now and then. It was great seeing my wife and daughters shortly before the final left turn and the last stretch to the finish. I passed a few and got passed by a few but couldn't really put on much of a kick...that is until I got in the chute. I had just told myself there was no reason to kill myself when I guess my sub-conscious disagreed and I found myself kicking hard for the finish. It was strange. It's like my body just took over and I was along for the ride. I am very happy for running friends, some of whom I used to be able to run with and even beat occasionally, that finished well ahead of me today with awesome performances...Marci 3:15, Josse 3:12, Jessi 3:10, Rich 3:10, Hal 2:59, Nathan 2:57, RivertonPaul 2:51. The only real regret I had today was that I was in the portapotty at mile 14 when Josee passed me. I was grateful she yelled, "Paul, Josse is passing you." as she went by, but I felt bad. I hate it when I'm working hard to catch someone and then they stop right before I pass them. I felt bad I had unknowingly done this to Josse. She had earned the right to pass me in person as I was running my best. I saw her ahead after I got out, and tried to catch her for a couple of miles (7:12, 6:41), but she was just too fast.
I think the thing I enjoyed the most today was the weather...perfect temperatures...and no rain! As I said earlier, I feel good about my run. I worked hard to pull out all that my training allowed, end endured well through some very tough miles. For me, I race for the adventure, not just the finish time. I enjoy facing challenges, approaching my limits, and seeing how I will respond. I run for the lifestyle. Besides the physical and mental healh benefits, the greatest benefit is that most of my friends, including my best friends, I have met and associate with through running. Runners are good people. Whether you set a PR, ran another average marathon, simply endured to the end, or even DNF-ed, congratulations for choosing to challenge and getting out and living. |
Saucony Tangent Miles: 26.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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Six easy miles on the canal road with the guys. The hip was pretty sore the last 2 or 3 miles.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 8.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| I took this week off to rest my sore hip and to focus on my daughter's wedding on Thursday. The wedding was awesome...what a great couple of young people! Larry, Wayne, Kent and I ran the canal road again this morning. Like last Saturday, my hip was pretty sore for most of the run. We bumped into Rich and Steve(?) along the road and Wayne and I pulled a little ahead and ran with them for a while. Running at a faster pace seems to be easier on my hip than a slower pace. Wayne and I ran about 8:00/mi pace the last 3 or 4 miles and averaged 8:41/mi overall. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 8.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.50 |
| I tried to run with Kent this morning. The jog to the THS track was okay, but as soon as I tried to pick up the pace a little my hip started hurting pretty badly. I quit two miles into the run and started jogging home. At 2.5 miles I slowed to a walk. The hip hurt even walking. I think it's time for medical intervention.
I emailed Dr. Kimball. He did my shoulder surgery and I really liked him. He works with BYU athletes, including the football team (I actually saw him on the sidelines on TV a couple of games ago). He's agreed to evaluate and treat my hip. He treats athletes, emails his patients, and doesn't do hip replacement surgeries. Those are all good things. I plan to get an appointment as soon as possible.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 2.50 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| I went to Dr. Kirt Kimball yesterday to have him evaluate the pain I've
been feeling in my right hip. The good news is that after an
examination and x-rays he says my hip is in good shape. He confirmed,
as I suspected, that the cause of the pain is my shorter left leg and the resulting unevenness of my hips.
Background: In 9th grade (at age 14) I seriously injured my left knee playing youth football. I was clipped, taking a helmet to the outside of my left knee. It tore up the inside of my knee. My leg atrophied quite a lot as it healed. The doctor told me I needed to exercise it. Ironically, this is when I began running, which led to me lettering in track and cross country in high school. A year or two after the injury I noticed the hem of the left leg of my pants kept wearing out quickly from dragging on the ground. When I asked my Mom to start hemming the left leg shorter than the right, she took me back to the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Kezarian. He measured my legs using x-rays and determined that my left leg was indeed just over 1" shorter than my right leg. My dad made me a leather lift that I wore for a while, but over time I quit wearing a lift. I limped a little, but have not really had any problems for about 30 years. I ran my first couple of marathons in 1982 at age 22 (PR was 2:52). After marrying Karen in 1984 and beginning our family (eventually six children), I gradually quit running. I started up again about 2002 (at age 42) and started running marathons again in 2004. In the past 6 years I've run thousands of miles, including 13 marathons and a bunch of shorter races. I remember one marathon a few years ago when my hip bothered me quite a bit, but the hip pain hasn't been chronic until this year, where it has gradually gotten worse throughout the year.
Dr. Kimball's diagnosis is that the adductor muscles surrounding my right hip are being seriously overworked. He compared it to my left leg stepping into a hole every step. The adductor muscles around my right hip have to work extra hard to step out of the hole. They are simply being overworked and getting exhausted.
So, I plan to do two things: 1) To treat the current inflammation I plan to take "therapeutic" doses of naproxen. I've only been taking ibuprofen or naproxen when the pain was bad. Dr. Kimball says for them to be effective anti-inflammatory drugs they need to be maintained at "therapeutic levels". He recommended about 500mg of naproxen twice a day for at least 4-5 days. He said the half-life of ibuprofen is so short you have to take it 4 times a day so, while it is an effective pain killer, it is not a very good anti-inflammatory.
2) To address the 1" leg length discrepancy, I plan to increase the height of the lift I wear in my left shoe to the maximum possible and still keep my shoe on. Dr. Kimball said that most people's legs are uneven. If I get within 1/4" or so, it should be good enough. I've run for a lot of years with about a 3/8" lift. If I can raise that an additional 1/4" to 3/8", it may be enough. For any more lift, I would have to look into an external lift on the sole of each pair of my shoes. I'm not even sure if that's possible on running shoes. I will cross that bridge later, if needed. I was worried I might have a serious hip problem that could end my running career. I'm very relieved that does not appear to be the case. Now that I better understand the problem and have a plan I can move forward. The adventure goes on.
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the Lindon loop with Larry, Wayne and Kent this morning. It felt great to be out running with the guys again. The cool fall morning felt wonderful to me. I've added about 3/8" to the lift in my left shoe and have been taking naproxen faithfully since my visit to Dr. Kimball on Wednesday. The pain in my right hip has not gone away, but it seems to be getting better. I made it through all six miles of the run without it getting bad like on Monday's run. Just knowing that the problem is overworked adductor muscles and not a bad hip joint, and having a plan to fix the long and short term problems, gives me hope and confidence. After some research, I ordered G/W Clearly Adjustable Combination Lifts (http://gwheellift.com/combo.html) which can give me up to 18mm (0.7") of lift inside my shoe. Their product description states: "The Clearly Adjustable Combination Lift is the right choice for many
client needs where leg length compensation is required of greater
degree than is commonly done inside the shoe." That's me. Modifying all of my shoes with an external lift is simply not an option for me right now. It would be far too costly. My only concern is that the lift "requires considerable room inside the shoe". I may have to buy slightly larger shoes, or shoes with a taller toe box. But this will also affect my right foot which will not have the lift. I will have to find the right balance. Regardless, having high quality adjustable lifts will be a definite improvement over my homemade gel pad lifts, hopefully enough of an improvement to keep me running strong for another 20-30 years.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.60 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.60 |
|
Larry, Kent and I went to the THS track this morning. I think this was the first sub-freezing morning this fall. Between the cold, the extra clothing, the hip still being a little sore, and not running much the last couple of weeks my "speed work" wasn't much to brag about. I only ran 4 800's at 3:25, 3:31, 3:35, and 3:15. It felt good just to be running.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 4.60 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.80 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.80 |
| I ran the 2000 N hill route with Wayne in the windy cold this morning. This was my first run with my new heel lifts in my left shoe. They add some weight to my left foot, but I didn't really notice it and overall they felt pretty comfortable on their maiden voyage. Time will tell the overall effect on my running, but so far so good. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.80 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.00 |
| I ran the water tank hills with Larry and Kent in the windy dark coldness this morning. I just took it easy and didn't push much. I ran 7:45-ish pace the last mile and that was as fast as it got today. I wore the new lifts again. No troubles. Felt comfortable.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the Cascade route with Larry, Wayne and Kent. The temperature was still around freezing, but there was very little wind this morning, not even any wind out of Provo Canyon. Very unusual. We only averaged about 9:30/mi. I've run 4 days in a row so far this week. My hip has still been a little sore, but it seems to be feeling better. It definitely is not feeling worse. The new lifts feel pretty good. I'm optimistic about them reducing, hopefully eliminating, the hip problem.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 10.00 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.50 |
|
Larry, Wayne, Kent and I ran the route down to Wil's Pit Stop and back. I hate it when it I have to work so hard just to hold a 9:30-ish pace. A mile or so from the end Wayne and Kent had picked up the pace and pulled ahead. I decided I was tired of running slow. I locked into a steady rhythm and started closing the gap. When I crossed 800 E heading west on 1200 N I reset the lap on my watch and decided to see what sort of pace I could hold for the next half mile to 400 E. I caught Wayne and Kent shortly. As I went by, Wayne decided to come with me. I told him I was pushing until 400 E. He stuck with me and I was very surprised to see that we had averaged a 6:40/mi pace for the 1/2 mile. That's the fastest pace I've run since the St. George marathon and since I started using my new heel lifts. It felt pretty good. It's encouraging. It's also encouraging that I got in 5 days (32 miles) of running this week. My hip is still a little sore, but it is not getting worse when I run. Hopefully continuing to use the new lifts to even out my hips will allow me to continue to heal and prevent a repeat condition in the future.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 10.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Nobody else showed this morning so I ran to the track alone. I decided on a 4 mile tempo run. It wasn't all out; I decided to just try to keep each mile under 8:00. My mile splits were 7:56, 7:49, 7:51 and 7:30. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| Larry, Wayne and Kent all showed up this morning. We ran the 2000 N hill route. Running up the big 2000 N hill I was content to stay near the back and converse. As the group of bikers that we often see on this run started to pass us, I felt the urge to race them (again) to the top of the hill. One biker had passed. As the second approached, I couldn't resist any longer and started to push up the hill. When I caught up to Wayne and Kent, Wayne decided to come with me. We were farther from the top than we at first thought, but we hung pretty strong to the end. I passed the lead biker, got passed back, then passed him again near the top. However, in the meantime, their best uphiller, who had been farther down the hill, caught us and easily beat all of us to the top of the hill.
The sprint up the hill was a fun diversion, but I felt its effects a little for the remainder of the run. We ran and talked and ran and talked. Good stuff. As we made the turn for home at 200 W and 1600 N, with about 1/4 mile to go, Kent said it was gazelle time, referring to Larry's story of long-legged Grant sprinting that stretch once looking much like a gazelle. I took off with Wayne and Kent close behind. I couldn't tell how far back they were, but I could tell it wasn't far and I suspected long-legged Kent was going to make a final kick. He did, but I found a little more speed and managed to barely hold him off. What fun. I'm just glad I didn't pull anything.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.20 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.40 | 5.40 |
|
Larry and I ran the water tank hills this morning. We talked all the way up the hills. On the way down I couldn't even remember running up. I put the last of my six new heel lifts in my trail shoes. Just like the other 5, they fit the shoes well and felt great. I'm feeling like the heel lifts may have been an inspired purchase. My hip is feeling better and I'm beginning to feel like a runner again.
|
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.40 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| Larry had to run short this morning. Kent's knee hurt so we went short with him. I continued the full Cascade route on my own. It seems hard to just run 9:00 pace lately. I pushed one mile at 8:18 but it shouldn't be as hard as it was. I hope it's just the cold. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.10 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| Wayne, Kevin and I ran up Provo Canyon. We figured we might not have many opportunities left to do so before the snow falls. Wayne and I thought maybe we had overdressed, but with the wind it was cold the whole run. Once again it felt harder than it should to average a 9:00/mi pace. I managed a couple of miles at sub-8:00 pace, but Wayne still pulled away from me on those miles. I plan to just keep running 5 or 6 times a week as I continue to adjust to my new heel lifts and rebuild my fitness. I don't have a race until the St. George half marathon in January. Hopefully I'll be ready to race by then.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 9.00 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.20 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| I ran the Lindon loop with Larry, Kent and Kevin. We ran our usual mostly easy cold morning pace of 9:15 to 9:45/mi. As we turned to head south on a long stretch near the middle of the run I decided I needed to push hard and run fast for a while. I let out a grunt/shout and took off. I only managed about a 7:10/mi pace for the next mile or so to Lindon Park, but that was 2:00/mi faster than the current pace. It felt more like 6:30 pace effort, and it felt good to be able to expend that kind of effort. I'm obviously not in top race condition, but I feel like I'm beginning to make progress back in that direction.
|
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.20 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the 2000 N route with Kent and Kevin. We expected both Larry and Wayne this morning, but they didn't show. It's nice having Kevin back out again. This was three consecutive runs for him. We ran a slightly faster pace this morning, but still at an easy pace, about 9:00 to 9:15/mi on the flat sections. A couple of times I felt the urge to maybe push for a while, but I was just tired enough to resist the urge. I decided to save myself and maybe give a good push up the water tank hills tomorrow.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.20 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.70 |
| I ran the water tank hills with Kent today. We expected Larry, Wayne and Kevin today. What's up? That's two days in a row that Larry and Wayne have been no shows. We had a good run anyway. I pushed hard up the hills in16:29, not a PR but satisfactory. I pushed the last "fast half mile" at 6:34/mi pace. Again not a PR, but good enough. After two weeks or so of taking naproxen twice a day as an anti-inflammatory to treat my sore hip, I stopped taking it yesterday to see how I'd be without it. I'm a little hesitant to take it for too long. My hip was a little more sore than it has been for the past two weeks, but I still ran pretty well and the pain wasn't debilitating. I think I'll see how things go the rest of the week. If it remains sore, I may go back on the anti-inflammatories for a while longer.
|
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.70 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.30 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.30 |
| I ran the Cascade route with Kent. It's good Kent started running again or I would have run alone most of this week. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.30 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.80 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.80 |
| We ran the 2000 N route in the reverse direction this morning. Larry had to be back early so we left at 5:45am and only ran a short route. We had a pretty good snowfall during most of the run. There was about an inch of snow sticking to the road at the top of 2000 N. When we realized we hadn't told Wayne about the swtich to 5:45am, we suspected he might show up at 7:00am. Larry and I talked after the run while we waited for him, but fortunately he didn't show up. I would have went with him, but after standing in the cold for a while my body was happy just to get home and be warm again.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.80 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.10 |
| I wasn't mentally prepared to see 16° on the thermometer this morning. I wimped out. Instead of running in the dark and cold I ended up running at noon, when it was sunny and 38°. Much better. I enjoyed my run along the canal. I didn't run really fast but got a little faster every mile (8:52, 8:32, 8:23, 8:19, 8:04) and averaged 8:25/mi overall.
|
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.10 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.00 |
| I expected others but ended up running the 2000 N hill route alone. At least the bikers we always see came by. I didn't chase any of them up the hill, but at least I got out and ran. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.40 |
| I ran the water tank hills alone in the cold and dark this morning. Just me and my headlamp. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous about coming upon some glowy eyed predator alone in the dark.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.40 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.25 |
| It was great to not run alone again this morning. Both Wayne and Kent were there and Kevin caught up to us shortly after we started. We were only missing Larry, who I hope has been running on the beaches in Cancun this week. We didn't run fast (9:31/mi average) but ran steady, getting a little faster each mile. My goal is just to maintain a 30+ mile per week base and try to get/stay healthy between now and the end of the year, run a respectable time at the St. George half marathon in January, begin to add miles and a little speed, run a good time at the Spectrum 10K in March, and then continue adding miles to get ready for the Squaw Peak 50 in June (hopefully I get in).
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.25 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 9.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| I ran 10 miles on the canal road with Larry, Wayne and Kevin. After running alone a few times this week, it was nice having company. The temperature was in the low 30's. I wore shorts in hopes that I could run a little faster without tights. It's been a little frustrating running in the cold. The same effort seems to produce a significantly slower pace than in warmer weather. We did manage to get in one mile in just under 8:00 pace, but we were working harder than we thought we should have to. At least it was hard for all of us. Misery loves company.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 10.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Lindon loop with Kent, easy pace. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.90 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.90 |
| 2000 N hill route with Larry, Wayne and Kevin. I pushed the last mile a little because I was running late; the rest of the run was a social run. I've been feeling lately like I've been doing more social running and less focused training. I still like pushing up a long hill or running a fast mile or two now and then, but right now, especially in the dark and cold, I'm content with just getting some miles in and spending time with my buddies. The social aspects of running contribute every bit as much, if not more, to my happiness as running fast.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.90 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.50 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
| Kent and I ran the water tank hills this morning. We thought Larry and Kevin were coming out, but I guess not. It was only 19°, but that was 3° warmer than yesterday. Kent and I enjoyed our run up the hills, or at least having the run done. We didn't set any speed records, but got in a good workout. I've learned a little about work as my life has gone on. Like most kids, and many adults, I used to hate and dread hard work. I still do at times. Why would anyone ever want to do anything that took hard physical or mental effort if it could be avoided? Wouldn't the ideal be to spend every moment doing things that look, sound, feel, smell or taste good? My running buddies and I often say we like to run because it feels so good when we stop. While it does feel very good to stop, it isn't the being stopped that feels so good as the satisfaction of having attempted something difficult and accomplished it. And the bonus is that afterwards we enjoy the pleasurable times even more...things seem to look, sound, feel, smell and taste better. I believe this principle applies not only to running, but to any type of meaningful work. Since I've discovered the blessing of work, it's made work easier. Sometimes the hardest part of work is just getting started, and then having a bad attitude about it makes the work even harder. Viewing work as a blessing makes it easier to jump in and get started. Also, I've found that, beyond it feeling good to stop working, with a good attitude I can actually enjoy the work while I'm doing it. I still enjoy putting up my feet, eating pie, and watching a good movie or sporting event, but I've also learned to enjoy doing the laundry, taking out the trash, and making my legs burn pushing up a long hard hill. I'm grateful to have the ability to do all these things and so many more. Life is a wonderful adventure.
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Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.50 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| I trotted with some turkeys this morning...no wait...that's not true. We may have trotted like turkeys, but Larry, Kevin and Nick are definitely not turkeys. We just trotted along and conversed at an easy pace.We ran the Cascade route. Kevin and I ran the extended loop down to Wil's. We managed 7:45 for that mile, but only averaged 9:40/mi overall. Near the end of the run our conversation led to how blessed we are...an appropriate topic for today. Nick quoted some studies that put Utah and Utah County at or near the top of the list for quality of life. I made the statement that I can't think of many people whose quality of life is higher than mine, and it has very little to do with money or possessions. Besides the blessings of living where I live are the blessings of the people I get to live with and the true principles of happiness I'm privileged to have learned and am free to choose to live by. I am of all men most blessed.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.50 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 9.50 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.50 |
| Wil's Pit Stop loop with (as I recall a week later) Larry, Wayne and Kent. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 10.50 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| Solo run on the Orem library route. Boy it was hard to get moving on this cold morning. I barely broke 10:00 for an average pace. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.00 |
| 2000 N hill route with Larry and Kevin. We cut it short because one of us had to get back to a bathroom. |
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 2.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 5.50 |
| Water tank hills with Larry. My legs felt no need for speed today. Another cold morning just trying to keep moving.
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.20 |
| Cascade golf course loop with Larry and Wayne. The canyon wind made the cold even colder, and we were running a little late, so we cut off the far end of the loop that's exposed most to the canyon wind. I'm detecting a theme in my running of late...cold temps and slow running.
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.20 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 10.20 |
| What a great run! I haven't enjoyed a run this much for quite a while. Larry, Wayne and I started out with Larry's wife Jolene. We started up the canal road but then Jolene turn to head up the hill to Dry Creek Canyon. We decided to go with her. Neither Wayne nor I had ever been there before. It started with a long steep climb. Once we got to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail we followed it over to the water tank hills. I especially enjoyed the trail running along here. We then headed up the water tank hills (Jolene headed home) and kept going beyond the top for a mile or so. We then turned around and ran back down the water tank hills and our usual route home down 1600 North. It was a cold morning, but with sunny clear skies I was feeling pretty good and decided to push the last mile home. I felt good about running it at 7:13 pace. My hip only hurts me when I try to run fast, especially in the cold. It hurt some but wasn't too bad. Larry, Wayne and I all commented about how we want to do more trail running. We want to get ready for the Squaw Peak 50, and trail running is just plain fun. Both Wayne and I had missteps but avoid injury. Wayne said running trails more often might help with our eye-foot coordination. I don't remember hearing that term before, but I agree. Running down into the valley we commented once again on how lucky we are to live where we do. I'm sure others have different opinions, but I think it very well may be the best place to live on earth, at least for me. It's not just the beauty and opportunities available in the area, but the great people, too. And my running buddies are some of the cream of the crop. What a blessing they are to me.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 10.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
|
A Snowy Morning's Run
My body awakes before the alarm,
But my bed and wife are soft and warm.
Outside the streets are dark and cold,
And this runner's body is getting old.
But there will be no regrets today,
So on with the layers, and on my way
To the runner's corner...a little moan.
No buddies there. I run alone.
As through neighborhood streets in snow I wander,
I observe and listen and think and ponder.
The lamp-lit snowflakes gently fall,
Weaving a blanket of white over all.
My cushioned steps yield a muffled crunch,
I'm now thinking of running again at lunch.
My legs feel strong and my breathing is steady.
When spring races come, I hope to be ready.
Of what do runners think as they roam
Through snowy streets 'til they get back home?
Thoughts may travel from work to Rome,
But today, the result was this runner's poem. by Paul A. Thomas (8 Dec 2009)
|
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.50 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.20 |
| I asked Larry on our run this morning if he wanted to be "Dumb" or "Dumber". It was 1° when we headed out. Larry refers to these temperatures as "stupid cold", inferring I think that only stupid people go out when it's this cold. He's probably right, but it's a paradox. If I'm right about Larry being right, then I'm not stupid, but if he's right then I am stupid because I went running when it was stupid cold. Either way I guess I'm partially stupid, because I've been sporadic with my running recently in the cold. I'm either stupid on the days I do run, or stupid on the days I don't. I think I'll choose to think of myself as being free...free to run or not to run and still consider myself a rational and intelligent human being.
|
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 5.20 |
| |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.40 |
| We had to get back early for a ward breakfast this morning so we only managed 5.4 miles. It felt like much longer as it seemed that we slipped backward with each step in the snow. Oh well, we had Larry, Wayne, Kent and me out this morning, the most in a long time. Kevin was a little late getting out and guessed the wrong route so we never met up, but it sounds like he ran quite a bit faster than us as he tried to catch up. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.40 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Solo morning run on the Orem library route. With Sunday's big snow storm there was no shoulder to run on so I alternated between dodging occasional cars and black ice on the road and risking rolled ankles on uneven frozen slush-covered sidewalks. I hope just getting out counts for something. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 6.00 |
| Wayne and I ran the Tuesday 2000 N route. With still no shoulders because of snow we had to share the road with the occasional car, but we managed okay. After coming back down 2000 N and heading north for a while we heard female voices gaining on us. Neither of us was much interested in getting passed I guess because our pace shifted from quite slow to not quite as slow. We managed to hold them off and even pull away a bit, but we were both quite tired at the end of the run. I guess that's a good thing. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 4.25 |
| The snow from Sunday's big storm still fills the shoulders of the road, and many of the sidewalks are in pretty poor condition. Nevertheless, Larry and I still headed up 1600 N and attempted the water tank hills this morning. The first big hill is dry, but by hill #2 the road conditions were frozen and slippery. We made it up hill #2 and part of #3, mostly walking, before we decided to head back. Going downhill was more treacherous than going up. It made the bad sidewalks down 1600 N more appealing. The temperatures are above freezing this week, but not quite warm enough to melt all the snow already on the sidewalks and sides of the road. The good news is that it's only 5 days before the winter solstice when the sun starts moving north again and the days start getting longer.
|
Saucony Guide TR Miles: 4.25 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.00 | 0.00 | 2.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| Cascade route with Larry, Wayne and Nick. We left a little late. We had a comfortable conversational run until the golf course. Larry had to get back so he and Nick turned around there. Wayne and I picked up the pace and ran the full course. We actually managed a couple of 8:20-ish miles near the end. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.00 |
|
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| I ran the Orem library route solo. I pushed a little harder than normal right from the start. I averaged 8:13/mi overall, with 8:02 and 7:49 for the last couple of miles. Considering how slowly I've been running this winter, I feel pretty good about the effort. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.00 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 8.75 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.75 |
| I got a little tired on the long run this morning, and it was great! I finally got in a 40 mile week. It's been a while. Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I worked our way down to Wil's then back up to the mouth of the canyon. Wayne and I pushed ahead and went on up to the fountain. We both wanted to get in at least 12 miles so we could hit 40 miles for the week. The head wind up the canyon was pretty cold, but we endured and it felt good to turn around and head down. Wayne and I were both feeling pretty tired at the end but we managed to hang on and finish relatively strong. The last 3/4 mile was at 7:53 pace. We averaged exactly 9:00/mi overall. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 12.75 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| Lindon loop. It was so long ago now I don't remember who I ran with. I think it may have been Larry, Kevin and Kent. I vaguely remember saying something about getting four out on a Monday. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 5.80 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.80 |
| Tuesday run up the 2000 N hill. I think it was just me and Larry, with Kevin meeting us along the way. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.80 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 6.10 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| Kent and I did Thursdays Cascade route today. Like Monday and Tuesday, I was just getting miles in...no speed to speak of. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.10 | 6.10 |
| Larry, Wayne and I ran a variant of Larry's "Never Ending Hills" route. We basically wandered around the hilly streets of Lindon and North Orem until we got in six miles. Average pace was a blistering 10:40/mi. |
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.10 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.20 |
| Larry and Wayne went for a Christmas Day run at 11:00am. I couldn't make it then, but was able to get out around 3:00pm for a solo run. I was surprised to see the temperature in the low 40's. I ran in shorts for the first time in a while, but still wore multiple layers on top, gloves and a head band for my ears. I hoped to average around 8:00/mi pace, but I wasn't sure how all the food I'd eaten in the last 24 hours might affect me. I ended up averaging 7:55/mi, with the last mile in 7:22, and no digestive distractions. I really enjoyed the run. My family was all taking a break (naps, personal activities, etc....poor Brittany had to go to work for 6 hours) from family fun. I got back well before we restarted our Wii Super Mario Brothers fun. I'm hearing the game noises and cheerful (sometimes frustrated) family banter as I type. There are more of us than there are controllers so I gave mine up for a while. There were lots of great gifts this Christmas, but I've most enjoyed spending time with all our children, including our two young single adult sons, and our newly married daughter and her husband, who don't live at home. Our family is a game playing family, and we like to think we know how to have a good time. I'm amazed and extremely grateful for how blessed I am. Somewhere in my youth or childhood, or perhaps my pre-mortal life, I must have done something good.
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Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 6.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 4.70 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 8.70 |
| Even though we waited until 9:00am to run, it was still only about 11° when Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I started our run. At least it was sunny and not windy. We weren't sure what route to run...which can at times lead to an adventure. We started out running our normal Lindon loop, a.k.a. the Tri-City loop as it passes through Orem, Lindon and Pleasant Grove. As we started north up 400 E in Lindon, Wayne had the bright idea to keep running up the hill. We ended up running well over a mile up some relentless incline all the way to Battle Creek park. After a brief break to talk to some camo-dressed AirSoft gunners preparing to do a little human hunting, we started back down the hill. We followed Battle Creek Dr. all the way down to Locust Ave. which we then followed all the way to Lindon Park and back on our normal route to home. The combination of approaching 40 miles again this week, pushing hard yesterday afternoon, and running the big uphill left my legs feeling like I was at mile 24 of a marathon. I went into survival mode and locked into a rhythm that got me home. We were talking that hill miles and winter miles somehow ought to count more. We also mutally shared our appreciation to each other and how much better running is when in the company of great running buddies...and I've some of the best.
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Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 8.70 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.20 |
| I ran alone at lunch time today. I kept the pace a little quicker than normal and averaged 8:39/mi instead of the more common 9:30-10:00 of late. |
Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 5.20 |
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| I was out at 5:45am but I was alone again. I saw my son Andrew's car warming up to go to basketball so I opted for basketball with him and my old basketball buddies instead. Because of our family's morning routine I only have that option when school's out. I really enjoyed it.
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| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 3.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| I opted for basketball again this morning. We played for a couple of hours again. There were only 6 then 8 of us so their were no subs. It was great cross training. Even if that's not true, it was sure a lot of fun...and indoors and not icy or cold. |
| Easy Miles | Threshold Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Track speed mileage | Hill mileage | Total | 1194.55 | 124.30 | 280.30 | 0.00 | 162.40 | 1761.55 |
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Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 424.70 | Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 154.20 | Saucony Tangent Miles: 177.10 | Brooks Axiom Yellow Miles: 270.65 | Saucony Guide TR Miles: 140.35 | Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 503.50 |
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I rode up with Larry and Jolene Marshall and Kris Chandler. I ended up running with Collin Gibbons and Mark and Michael Nelson. We met up again with the others at the saddle on our way down. We were also surprised to see Lyle Brereton and Deniece Tracy at the shack at the top.
We left at about 4:45am, got to the Timpooneke trailhead about 5:15am (5:30am after parking on Timpooneke road and walking back to the trailhead because the parking lot was already full), and started up at about 5:45am. There were a lot of people on the trail today, but getting around them was not bad. Most hikers are very considerate. Many of them praised us for our efforts, we even drew applause from one young woman; one man said something to the effect that there are good places to run, this wasn't one of them, and we wasn't going to carry us out if we got hurt. I didn't say much back to him for fear of falling and getting hurt right in front of him.
We made it to the saddle in just over 2 hours, and to the summit in 2:35. Our descent took us 1:57, for a round trip of 4:32. This includes two fairly extended stops at the saddle, one on the way up to enjoy the view and make a few phone calls, and the other on the way back down to talk with the rest of our group and take some more pictures. It does not include the time we spent on the summit refueling, making phone calls, and taking pictures.
This was my 3rd trip up Timp, and 2nd time running it. Before the run I asked myself a few times if I was crazy. I remembered that last time I survived it and was really glad I had done it. I trusted my memory so I tried it again this time. Once again I have no regrets. It wasn't easy. My legs really burned as we neared the summit, and breathing is not easy at nearly 12,000 ft. It was dangerous. I had a few near ankle turns and a couple of slips on loose rock, but I only ended up with a small scratch on my leg (along with a lot of dirt). I wish everyone could experience what I did today. What a great experience!