Every Race is an Adventure!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I finally found some time to file a race report.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm sleeping in my Strassburg sock every night (it really seems to help) and planning on a full running week again this week.

Today Kent and I ran the normal Monday Lindon loop.

Wayne, Kent and I ran the 2000 N route. The hill was as steep as ever.

I ended up running alone this morning. I almost went back to bed, then I almost took the flatter library route, but ended up sticking with the Wednesday run up the water tank hill.

Along the way I intersected courses with Lyle and Kris for a bit. Lyle startled me, but even the adrenalin I had a hard time keeping up with them. Not a lot of energy this morning.

When I reached the parking lot in the early morning dark there were two cars parked with their driver's windows together. The cars were dark and I couldn't tell if anyone was in them or not. I was little afraid of witnessing a drug deal or something so I carefully skirted around them and headed back down. We've been running the first hill to the parking lot twice, but once was enough.

I don't think I'll make a habit of it, but I decided to tack on the missing distance by taking a loop through the nearby cemetery. It was pretty cheery (not) running in the dark and cold and thinking about where Karen and I might be buried (we haven't discussed it I don't think). I even got a good whiff of skunk to brighten things up.

At least I got up and got a run in.

Wayne, Kent, Kevin and I ran the Cascade route. Another low energy morning, but at least I had company.

Since school was out and I didn't have to drive the carpool I decided to play basketball with my son Andrew and my old bball buddies this morning. We had to go to a small gym and had a couple of subs, so I didn't get much of a running workout, but it was fun.

Wayne, Kevin, Kent and I ran from the neighborhood up to the water fountain in Provo Canyon and back. Larry met us before the run, but only to tell us he was sick, which is why he hadn't been out all week. His dog Ozzie decided to run with us anyway. Larry came and picked him up after a bit.

I was a little hesitant to run towards the canyon after how cold and windy it was last week, but it wasn't bad this week.

I ran the Lindon loop solo this morning. Just after the midway point, as I headed back toward Lindon Park, I heard large dog tags running behind me. I often run with Ozzie and Dash, and I thought maybe Kevin had started late and was catching up to me with Dash, but it didn't sound like them. I decided to try to ignore the clinking dog tags and, similar to when I hear footsteps in a race, just keep focused on moving forward. When racing I consider looking back a sign of weakness. I wasn't really afraid, but I averaged about a 9:00 min pace for the whole run and about 8:00 min pace for that stretch, so I must have been a little nervous. A medium-sized, and quite friendly looking, dog eventually passed me and then visited a nearby tree. It ran ahead of me for a bit but then I heard a voice behind me calling his dog. There was a busy street ahead so I stopped so the dog wouldn't cross. I guess it was the other runner's turn around point, because before he got close enough in the darkness for me to see him clearly, he called his dog to him and headed the other way. More important than the dog not attacking me, his owner didn't catch and pass me.

I did eventually cross paths with Kevin and Dash a couple of blocks before I finished as they were just heading out.

I was a little surprised to find myself alone at the corner this morning. Out of Larry, Wayne, Kent and Kevin I figured at least one of them would be out on a Tuesday. I headed out solo on the 2000 N hill loop. I'd only gone a couple of blocks when I was hailed by Tim Hakala. He's been running with Nick and Daniel (real early birds, they get done before we start at 5:45am). He was only planning on about 4 miles so I (willingly) cut out the mile up and down the steep hill and we just did the 4 mile loop. He's under some stress at work and figured the run would help. I asked about the company he started up not long ago and he did most of the talking. I didn't mind. It was interesting to me and it seemed to help him to talk about it (at least I hope it did). I dropped him at his house and went another 1.5 miles. I'm glad there are people, like Tim, that are really smart and are willing to take risks and create new products and new businesses. They allow people like me to have jobs.

Solo run on the Orem library route. 8:44/mi average pace. I had some deep thoughts about running to stay ahead of my mortality and keeping old age at bay. I should have written them down then. It's now 5 days later and my memory doesn't last that long anymore.

Yet another solo run, this time on the Cascade route. We often cross paths with Mike Jasper on this route, but no such luck this morning. I would have been happy to alter my route and run with him. Another day, another run. Just trying to maintain a good base and endure the winter. Average pace 9:23/mi.

Kevin said he was going to run, and I knew his family was out of town, so when we wasn't out I knocked on his door and waited for him to get ready. I got nearly a mile in running up and down the street in front of his house while waiting. It was worth the wait to have some companionship on a run again. We ran a modified Tuesday route, cutting out the 2nd half of the big hill to fit the route in the time we had. Average pace 8:59/mi.

Wayne, Kevin and I ran up to the bridge in Provo Canyon that marks the 5 mile turn around point from our neighborhood starting point. Wayne and I were pretty tired by the end, but Kevin seemed pretty fresh. We only averaged 9:08/mi. The first two miles were pretty slow and we had some 8:30-ish miles in the middle and near the end. I still don't understand how I can average 7:25/mi for the Painter's 1/2 marathon and then have 9:00/mi, sometimes 9:30/mi or slower, seem so hard.on these cold winter morning runs.

Well, I got another 40 mile week in. The PF isn't gone, but it isn't worse and seems to be getting better. I hope to just follow this pattern until warmer weather arrives, when I plan to step my training up a bit.

I started this week off with yet another solo run. I ran the Lindon loop. I just took it easy. Average pace 9:40/mi. Another day, another run.

2000 N route with Wayne and Larry (w/ Ozzie) at the beginning, then Wayne and Kevin (w/Dash) at the end.

Solo run to 800 E, to Center St, to Main, back to 1600 N and home.

Church basketball game at night--6 (us) against 15 (them). We took them to overtime but then lost.

Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I decided to join up with the Sojourners Running Club for their LA (Lactic Acid) Freeway run. It was a tough but enjoyable run.

I didn't run Thursday or Friday because my heel (PF) was pretty sore. It bothered me a little on the run today, especially on the last few miles of downhill. I think I'd prefer for it not to hurt.

2000 N hill route. 6 miles, average pace 10:02/mi.

After a quarter of a mile or so with a sore foot and slush splashing up past my knees I turned around and went back home.

Neither the speed nor distance was much to brag about, but I got out with by buddies for a very slow 10K.

2000 N hill route. Left late. Cut it short. Ran very slow.

Six miles, average pace 9:51/mi.

Nice easy 8.6 mile run with my buddies. Average pace 9:47/mi.

2000 N hill route. Average pace 9:49/mi.

Thanks, I needed that!

The run today was just what I needed. I've had the blahs off and on for weeks. I've just been enduring, waiting for my PF pain to go away and for winter to finally end. Last night I felt especially glum.

On Jan 18, the MLK holiday, I pushed the pace on a solo half marathon distance training run in old shoes (500+ miles) and ended up with PF pain. I felt good about my performance in the Painter's half marathon that Saturday, but it aggravated the PF. I used my Strassburg sock for weeks along with other treatments I've used successfully in the past, but even with backing off on pace and distance in my training it didn't seem to be getting better. For the last 3 weeks I've only been running every other day and at a very easy pace.

Thursday I finally made my first visit to a podiatrist. His diagnosis was, not too surprisingly, Plantar Fasciitis. He took an x-ray of my foot. He said my foot looks good, but that I have a high cupped arch that strains the fascia when it compresses. He recommended a 3/4 length sports orthotic to support my arch to prevent it from over-compressing and straining my plantar fascia. I like it when things make sense to me.

The orthotic won't be ready for 3 weeks. Meanwhile, I've decided that running on my foot hasn't made the PF worse, and not running hasn't made it better, so I might as well just go for it. This morning I cut the arch support area out of an old light-weight insert I used to run with and put it under the insole of my shoe to give my arch a little additional support. It seemed to work well.

I ran with Larry, Wayne, Kevin, and Kent this morning. I was only planning on 8 miles, but when we reached 4 miles Wayne, Kevin and I decided to go 10 instead. I just felt like I needed to push hard mentally this morning.

I just blogged my runs for the last three weeks this morning, such as they were, and my fastest average pace for a six mile run was 9:50/mi I think. This morning I ran 10 miles and averaged 8:58/mi, running the first mile in 10:06 and the last mile in 7:35. The first four or five miles were at an easy pace, which then gradually picked up to the end. The last few miles I felt pretty tired and just tried to hold on and push through it.

As I said, a good hard run was just what I needed. If I can survive the forecast snowstorm tonight and tomorrow, maybe the warm sunny weather predicted for next week will mark the turn around, and the beginning of a shiny new running season. One can hope, and hope is a powerful thing.

Lyle passed me in the opposite direction as I headed to the corner this morning. I said hello but resisted the temptation to run with him just in case someone was waiting for me at the corner. Nobody was there so I cut over to Main St. in hopes of catching Lyle. He often runs the neighborhood 5K course. I guessed correctly and ran with Lyle for about 3 miles. I very much enjoyed his company.

Lyle said he was going slow because he had a cold. We averaged 9:15/mi together. After he dropped off I slowed to around 9:35/mi for the next 3 miles of wandering I did around nearby streets.

The PF was no worse after the harder run on Saturday.

2000 N hill route with Larry, Wayne, and Kent. Run slow, talk, another day, repeat.

Solo run on Orem library route this morning. It's good to have 3 days in a row of running again, but still just taking it easy.

I thought I might have company this morning, but I ended up solo. I decided to run the normal Thursday route and see if I bumped into Mike Jasper as we often do. If so, I'd run the full route with him. If not, I'd cut it short to 4 miles as a mini-taper before the Spectrum 10K on Saturday. I didn't see him.

I wore the lighter shoes that I normally only wear for races. I wanted to try out the new lighter-weight heel lift I got recently to use for races instead of my heavier everyday lifts. It felt great. Between the lighter shoes and the lighter lift I could definitely tell the difference. Without really pushing too hard I averaged 8:15/mi instead of typical 9:30-ish pace I've been running lately. I pushed somewhat, but not all out, on the fast 1/2 mile down 1600 N and averaged 6:45/mi.

I don't plan to run again until the race on Saturday. It will be interesting to see what I can pull out.

It was a short but sweet trip to St. George to run in the Spectrum 10K. I rode down and back with Wayne and we stayed with Larry and Jolene at her parents' house. They were excellent hosts and made us feel very welcome.

The weather was perfect...a little chilly at the start and warm but not hot at the end.

I started with Wayne and Nathan, and near Gene, a 58 year old moustached runner from St. George I always seem to bump into in St. George races. We didn't stay together long. Nathan and I went out fast, with Wayne and Gene a little behind. I ran the first downhill mile in 5:38, with Nathan about 10 seconds ahead of me. During mile 2 he pulled ahead and I didn't see him again. He went on to finish in 38:06 (6:08/mi), finishing 19th overall and 3rd in his division.

My heel was just a little sore before the race, and shortly into the race I quit thinking about it at all. I did notice some unexpected tightness in my quads during the fast first downhill mile, but it too went away and wasn't a problem.

Mile two was 6:52, significantly slower than mile one. I didn't feel like I'd overrun mile one. This was a flatter mile with some rolling washes and I didn't want too push too hard. I was passed by a few runners, but not many.

Mile three was 6:43. There was more downhill than mile two. I was trying to keep the pace up while keeping in mind to save just a little for the tough uphills yet to come. At the midpoint I had averaged 6:24/mi. Some quick math told me I would have to average 7:36/mi for the second half to meet my goal of averaging 7:00/mi. Knowing how tough the second half is, I knew it would be a challenge.

Gene passed me around the mile three marker. I saw him gradually pull away during the next couple of miles and he went on to finish in 41:39 and win the 55-59 age division.

Mile four, in 7:12, had some downhill but also included a little uphill into the first neighborhood loop. I was mentally prepared for the uphill to be hard, and it was. Miles five and six, in 7:41 and 7:49, were even harder. I watched the overall average pace climb from 6:24/mi at the midpoint to 6:59/mi just before the last downhill with about 1/2 mile to go. I was thrilled to see it drop to 6:58 on the downhill.

I finished officially in 42:55 (6:55/mi), 42:57 (6:57/mi) on my Garmin, 55 of 734 overall, and 7 of 27 in my age division. I feel very good about the effort and the results.

Wayne also had a good run. He met his goal of breaking 45:00, finishing in 44:10 (7:07/mi), also 7th in his division.

Larry also ran well, finishing in 53:07 (8:33/mi), but Jolene ran even better finishing in 51:43 (8:20/mi). Larry attributes it to him running the race heavier than he ever has, Jolene running it lighter then ever before. I think he may have something there. Lyle also did well, finishing in 54:25 (8:46/mi).

It was a every enjoyable trip all around. I very much enjoyed it.

I ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry, Wayne and Kevin. I had some pain in my heel, but it wasn't too bad. It usually hurts the worst after sitting around and sometimes feels best when I'm running. I plan to run easy miles for the next couple of weeks until my orthotic is ready, then for at least a couple more weeks after that. If the heel feels better, I may push the mileage, but probably not the speed. I need to maintain pretty good mileage if I'm to have any hope of completing the Squaw Peak 50, UVM, and WBR in June. I wish they were spread out a bit more, but it is what is. I've got no goals to be speedy, just to finish.

I woke up as a 50 year old man this morning. As I got up to go to the bathroom and get ready to run I noticed the PF pain in my right heel was being very successful at trying get my attention, and some left knee pain was making some noise, too. After going to the bathroom I decided to just crawl back into bed. As I laid there, cuddled comfortably up next to Karen, I asked myself if I really wanted to start the next 50 years by taking the easy (lazy) path. That isn't what I wanted, so I got up, got dressed to run, stretched my foot well, and headed to the corner to see if anyone would be joining me this morning.

Nobody was there, so I ran alone. I would have very much enjoyed running with a buddy or two (or more), but running alone allowed me to ponder on the past 50 years. I felt very grateful, and thought I ought to post something on Facebook today. I quickly realized that I had so many memories and blessings that it would be very difficult to fit them all into the small amount of text allowed in a Facebook post. As I thought back, I tried to boil big things down to a single word or two. Here's what I came up with:

"Paul Thomas is 50 years old! Countless memories and blessings, itty bitty writing space. Life. Love. Karen. Six (+1) children. Family. Heritage. Running buddies. Friends. Good people. Earth. Creation. Physical activity. Beauty. Music. Freedom. Knowledge. Opportunity. Inspiration. Faith. Hope. Charity. Forgiveness. Peace. Joy. Contentment. Gratitude. Looking forward to the next 50 years..."

When I'm running, and feel like letting up, or cutting short, or giving up, I envision a chalkboard hanging in the air in front of me, just above my head. It's for keeping score. I put a tally mark on the left side of the board every time I want to quit and don't. The right side is for when I give in and give up. It's amazing how motivating this imaginary chalkboard is to me. I love putting tally marks on the left side of the board, and hate even the thought of having to put a tally mark on the right side.

I got two tally marks on the left side today. The first is for getting out of bed and running alone on my 50th birthday with a sore knee and foot. The second is for averaging 8:59/mi instead of 9:05/mi. The route I ran to the library this morning is mostly downhill out, and mostly uphill back. My average pace was at around 9:07/mi the first half. I pushed a little harder on the way back hoping to get around 9:00/mi for the run, but as I neared the finish my average pace was 9:05/mi. I knew I couldn't make it all up in the remaining distance, but decided to push hard anyway. As I reached my house and the planned end of my run, the average pace had dropped to 9:02/mi. I decided to hold the fast pace for as long as it took to get the average pace down to 8:59. It only took to the end of the street. To illustrate how hard I pushed at the end to meet this goal, my mile splits for this 6.2 mile run were 8:54, 9:02, 9:11, 9:32, 8:52, 9:00, and 6:22/mi for the last 0.2 miles.

The endurance I've learned from running...the putting forth that extra bit of effort...the not giving up...the holding on a little bit longer...the earning the left-side tally mark...have helped me in all areas of my life. As I'm sure each of you is personally aware, life is not always easy. In fact, it seems it rarely is. It's my personal experience that if we just hang in there, believe in ourselves, courageously explore our limits, work hard to take advantage of our opportunities, and don't get too discouraged when we fall short, that over time...say 50 years or so...we can look back see just how far we've come, how blessed we are, and how the hard times have made us stronger.

The last three verses we read in our family scripture reading this morning (Alma 26:35-37) touched my heart as they seemed to be saying what I had felt during my run this morning:

"35 Now have [I] not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never [was a man] that had so great reason to rejoice as [I], since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

"36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God...who has been mindful of [me], [a] wanderer in a strange land.

"37 Now my [friends], we see that God is mindful of every [person], whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his [children], and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen."

The title of my running blog is "Every Race is an Adventure!", and my life has truly been a great race so far, a great adventure. It should be even better now that I'm clearly over the hill and running on a gentle downhill grade.

Wayne and I started out the Thursday Cascade route, opting to go up 1600 N instead of the normal winding route to 1200 North. As we were descending 800 E toward 1200 N we saw a runner and dog cross 800 E on 1200 North. It turns out Kevin was just a little late leaving and was trying to catch up to us on the normal route. We chased him chasing us for a while, trying to yell loud enough to get his attention, but the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. Finally, when we reach the windbreak of the large trees along the golf course, I was able to yell loud enough to get his attention and he waiting for us catch up.

Our mile splits gradually got faster from 10:28 going up the first hill to 8:18 for the last mile home. Average pace 9:09/mi.

I ran the Lindon loop solo. Average pace: 9:35/mi.

Larry, Wayne and I started north on the canal road then decided to head up to Battle Creek. We then, eventually, got on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and headed south. We saw a lot of deer, a rabbit, some quail, a mountain biker, another trail runner, and beautiful clear views of the valley. We need to do more trail runs like this. I very much enjoyed it, and it seems like good preparation for the Squaw Peak 50. While it was only 10 miles, with all the hills it was hard work and took us well over two hours. I'm figuring it may have been equivalent to a 12-14 mile flat road run.

I could feel stretching in my heel/PF area, especially on the steep uphills, but I backed off when it felt overly stressed and it never got too bad. I feel like there has been some improvement in the PF arena. I've been using NSAIDs, Myomed cream, a massage ball, icing, stretching, some barefoot strengthening exercises, and the Strassburg sock every night. I should get my new orthotic in a week. Thankfully, the PF pain is not getting worse with continued running. I'm cautiously optimistic.

For my own records, I switched yesterday to using aspirin as my NSAID. I've traditionally used naproxen because you can take it less frequently. I switched to ibuprofen for a while because it was widely recommended and used by so many. I am now trying aspirin. My family has a history of heart disease. When I asked my dad's heart doctor what I could do, he suggested maybe taking a baby aspirin everyday. That was years ago, and sadly I have not been doing it. I've decided that now that I've turned 50 that maybe I should start. I figure I can take the 81mg low dose table daily, and take the higher recommended dosages when I have the need...headache, injury, etc. We'll see how it goes.

Lindon loop easy.

2000 N hill route.

Water tank hills for the first time this spring. Rough road at the top...a little dark...but it felt like seeing an old friend again.

Cascade route. Kevin and I pulled ahead so I could get back on time. I didn't have my Garmin, but based on my Ironman I think the pace for the 3 miles on the way back was just under 8:00/mi.

Lindon loop. Average pace 8:51/mi.

Thanks, Larry! It was a great run!

I didn't start out grateful. We didn't have a plan for today's run, but my goals were:

1. Get to 40 miles for the week...finally back to where I was before the PF pain started.

2. Get in 12-14 miles as a stepping stone toward 20+ milers I need to start getting in soon.

3. Get home before 10:00am to watch LDS General Conference.

Larry wasn't aware of my goals and suggested a selection of tough uphills starting by going up 2000 North. Wayne suggested we also run some of the trail we ran last week. So off we went.

I started thinking...It took us 2:15 to run a 10 mile similar route last week because of all the steep uphill. I started thinking that all three of my goals were suddenly at risk. With all the slower uphills, I didn't think I'd be able to get in the 10 miles I needed in the less than 2 hours I had to run.

I asked Larry what prompted him to suggest all the uphills. I guess I sounded like a whiner, because I was told (not by Larry) that I could run whatever/wherever I want, and that I should be more positive. I felt pretty bad so I dropped it and decided to just go with the flow.

At the top of the first big hill we stopped to wait for everyone to get to the top. I decided it was silly for me to stop when I wanted more miles. I decided to just keep running and double back at appropriate points to rejoin everyone else while still getting in a little extra distance. That plan worked out well through the rest of the run.

I ended up having a very enjoyable run. The training on the hills and trail were good prep for the Squaw Peak 50 in a couple of months, and I managed to meet all three of my goals. I didn't get in 12-14 miles, but I feel the effort I expended was equivalent to a level 12-14 mile run.

I'm still feeling some PF pain, but it didn't bother me during the run, and it doesn't seem to be getting worse running on it, and has even been feeling a little better. I messed up and missed my podiatrist appointment on Thursday (I thought it was on Friday) so now I have to wait two weeks for the next open appointment slot to pick up my orthotic, unless there is a cancellation.

I'm still hopeful spring weather will come to stay soon.

The kids are out of school this week. I had a little extra time this morning so I went a couple of extra miles. I guess everyone else was sleeping in so I ran alone.

I'm in a tricky place of trying to balance between injury recovery/avoidance and bumping up my training to be ready for the Squaw Peak 50 in June. As of last week I'm back up to 40 mile weeks. Now I need to push my way up to 50, including some longer long runs.

I was thinking as I was running this morning (a great benefit of being a runner by the way) that a key to injury recovery and wise training is to listen...to your body, to your running buddies, to other running experts, to your gut, to your spirit, to the Spirit of God.

I watched and listened to 10 hours of "church" on Saturday and Sunday. Many may think I'm nuts...or might feel the same...but I thoroughly enjoyed it. When running up Provo Canyon I love drinking from the fountain near Timpanogos Park that runs 24x7 year round. I call it the fountain of youth. It always seems to renew me. As I watched the LDS General Conference, and listened to modern prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ share their love, their knowledge, their witness, and their wisdom, the Spirit of God spoke to my heart. I felt like I was drinking from the cool, pure, and refreshing fountain of heavenly truth and love. I was renewed. As with running, now I just need to listen, move forward, be diligent and patient, find the right balance, avoid injury, endure well, and enjoy the adventure as I try to become the best I can be.

"All by myself. Don't wanna be, all by myself, anymore." These lyrics crossed my mind several times as I was running this morning.

I guess I did the unpopular thing this morning by getting up to run on this frosty April morning during spring break. For the first time in a long time not only was I running alone, but I didn't even see another runner or pedestrian along the way.

I ran the normal Tuesday hill route up 2000 North. My speed led me to think of my pace as "ultra pace"...not as in "ultra fast", but more as in "so slow that I might actually have a chance of finishing an ultra marathon at that pace." In other words, not a whole lot faster than walking. Like most things in life, if you just show up and get started and keep moving forward you'll eventually get done, even if it takes longer than you hoped. Sometimes that's enough. Two of my favorite talks this past weekend were on diligence and patience. I think those principles apply here.

It was cold again this morning, but at least I didn't have to run alone again. It was good to see Kent and Larry out. We ran the water tank hills. There was a dusting of snow. That, with my glasses fogging up a bit, made it difficult for me to see the rocks and ruts but I managed okay. On the way down Larry caught a toe on a rut and dropped. He hurt his hands and ribs, but after walking a bit went on and finished the run. He'll probably be sore. I hope it's nothing serious.

Kent and Larry yesterday. Wayne and Kevin today. That's two days in a row I haven't had to run alone. That's good. Some consistency would be nice, but right now it's kind of like opening a Christmas present every morning. When I go out to run I never know what, or better who, I'm going to find.

It was an easy run. We averaged just under 9:00/mi, with some 7:00-ish during the last mile. My plan is just to continue to consistently get miles in, gradually increasing mileage up until the Squaw Peak 50 in June. Speed is not a concern at this point. Trying to get my PF healed is. Today was encouraging. My heel felt pretty good. My regimen of Strassburg sock every night, morning stretches, aspirin, Futz ball massaging, and some occasional foot strengthening exercises seems to be helping.

I ran an extended Lindon loop solo this morning. Average pace 8:58/mi.

Larry, Wayne, Kevin, Kent and I did some trail running again today. First we ran to the mouth of Provo Canyon and up the paved trail to Timpanogos Park. From there we worked our way up the mountainside to the upper road that we followed back to the top of the water tank hills. With his injured rib Larry wanted to go shorter so he took a different route and we met up with him along the road.

There was a 5K trail race going on so Larry and I decided to go off road and follow the trail. The others wanted to get back so they went on down the hills. Along the trail we met up with two older ultra marathon runners we had met last week. They weren't doing the race either. I talked with Mel for a while. He told me he tried to get his buddies to run trails years ago but they wouldn't. Now at 76 (I think) he's the only one still running. I know we've sure been enjoying trail running of late. We're blessed to have so many great trails so close.

When we reached the finish line for the race we stopped and talked with Hawk Harper and others for a while. I wanted to go a little farther along the trail. Larry's ribs chose the less bumpy route down the road.

With all the uphill, and being on my feet for nearly 3 hours, by the end of this run I was pretty tired. And 45 miles for the week is the most I've done for a while. I think this kind of training is just what I need for Squaw Peak. I just hope my body can hold out.

What a great run this morning. I feel blessed. I wish everyone could have experiences like these on a regular basis. I think everyone would be a lot happier.

Solo run on Orem library route. Avg. pace 9:30.

It took some willpower to get out and run solo in the heavy, wet snowfall. I earned a solid left-side tally mark this morning just for that, even though my avg. pace was only around 10:00/mi.

I ran the water tank hills this morning...alone again, naturally. I remembered to take my headlamp and was glad. The upper two hills were even worse than they have been. In addition to the tire ruts that were already there, it looked like horses and a bevy of runners had all went up when the road was muddy. There wasn't a bit of smooth road to run on anywhere. I ended up walking most of the top portion, up and down, to avoid rolling an ankle. The net result was I only had time for 5.5 miles instead of 6.

Cascade route...solo...nicer weather. I enjoyed it. I would have enjoyed it more with company and no foot pain.

A perfect 5 for 5 this week...I've run everyday...and everyday I've run alone.

I left early this morning to try to get in an extra couple of miles. I looped around to see if anyone came out at 5:45am, but didn't see anyone. I was a few minutes late so I just continued on the Lindon loop that we have been doing on Fridays. I decided to run it in the opposite direction for a change. I don't think I've ever run that route in the reverse direction. It changed the dynamics quite a bit. I welcomed the variety.

I hit the 8 mile mark a little more than1/4 mile from home. Right about then I felt some tightness, kind of a knot, beginning in the top of my right calf. I decided to stop, stretched it lightly, and then walked for a couple of minutes. It soon felt fine. I jogged the rest of the way home without it bothering me. There was some tightness there in my post-run stretching, but thankfully no pain.

I've been re-reading "This Running Life" by George Sheehan. I bought it, hard cover, for $1.98 at the BYU Bookstore back in the late 70's or early 80's. It was my first book on running and had a significant impact on my running. I read yesterday about a bunch of running B's. Big toe - try to wear out your shoe under your big toe; Buttocks - upper body quiet like riding a horse, below the waist is the horse where all the work is done; Belly Breathing - use the diaphragm to breath; Back - keep the back straight to open airways; Balance - the functions of the upper body are breathing and balance. I added Beat - a turnover of about 180 steps per minute...3 per second...a 1-2-3 waltz beat per second.

I was thinking about all these B's during the run and trying to monitor how well I was doing. I think focusing on "Big Toe" got me to run on my forefoot more, which worked the calves harder.

It was a good run, and I really enjoyed the milder weather. I hope the better weather helps get my running buddies out more regularly.

It's been a busy but good day. It started with 2.5 hours of awesome trail running, followed by 3 hours of neighborhood clean up (mostly loading green waste into dump trailers), followed by hauling furniture (couch, love seat, headboard, large dresser with mirrors, side table, bed frame, wood kitchen table, and 4 oak chairs) out of storage in our basement and to Tiffany & Sean's new apartment (our oldest daughter and her husband). Frankly, I'm surprised at how well my aged body has held out.

Since this is a running blog I'll detail the run a little. This was my first run to the "rock pile". It was also Wayne's and Kent's first time. Larry had been there before, but it had been a long time. We started up the water tank hills then cut off on the bottom of hill 5 onto the trail to rock pile. We all commented on how beautiful and enjoyable it was running on the trail. We saw many deer and some grouse. The weather was cool but not cold. I was only wearing a short sleeve shirt and shorts with no ear band or gloves (for a change) and was comfortable the whole run.

The rock pile is...a pile of rocks. We met another runner there who was waiting for his buddy. He told me two important things about the rock pile, 1) on your first visit you should add a rock to the pile, 2) don't touch the other rocks because apparently it is quite common for people to urinate on the rocks. I added a cube shaped rock to the top of the file. I didn't feel the urge so I didn't urinate on the rocks, nor did I touch them.

We decided to take Trail 51 from rock pile down Dry Creek Canyon. There was some mud, and some frozen snow, to deal with in places...and I rolled my right ankle about 6 miles into it, but the ankle's okay and overall it was a terrific run! I very much enjoyed the flora, the fauna, the weather, the terrain, and the company. I think we all felt the same and questioned why it had taken us so long to discover the awesome trails right in our own backyard. I think it was Kent who said that these have to be some of the best running trails in the world. I would have to agree.

I talked with Joe Martel, a veteran trail runner, and he told me runners measure runs on asphalt by distance and trail runs by time, dividing by a reasonable guesstimate at pace to determine mileage. I divided 2.5 hours by 11:00/mi and got 13.6 miles. Based on how hard I worked and how tired I was that seems about right.

I'm beginning to gain an appreciation for what I have ahead of me in the Squaw Peak 50. The course is probably fairly similar to today, except the it climbs to over 9000' instead of 6000', and I'll be going for 12+ hours instead of today's 2.5. Am I nuts?!! Of course I am, I'm a runner. How will I ever know if I can do it if I don't try?

This morning's run didn't go as planned, but it's all good. Larry said he and Nick were going to meet Joe Judd, a former neighborhood runner who now lives a few blocks outside the neighborhood, at 5:30am instead of 5:45am. I decided to go out early and join them. What I didn't know was that 5:30am meant 5:20am and meeting at Joe's house at 5:30am. After determining I was alone, I decided to run 1/2 mile loops around the block to see if anyone came out at 5:45am. Nobody did but I kept running loops anyway.

After a bit I came around the corner to see Larry, Nick and Joe walking up my street. They were following the neighborhood 5K course and were taking a walking break. Joe hasn't run for a while. I finished my loop around the block and met them at the NE corner and ran then walked then ran with them back to Joe's house. It was enjoyable chatting there for a while, but I wasn't getting much running in.

We eventually left and I ran back home with Larry and Nick. I had 18 minutes before I had to be home so I left them and got another couple of miles in (loop to 1200 N and 400 E) for a total of 5.5 miles. That didn't seem like enough, so after family scriptures and prayer I ran another couple of miles worth of loops around the block until it was time to take my daughter to school. I ended up with a total of 7.5 miles.

The ankle I rolled on Saturday was pretty stiff and sore Sunday morning, but loosened up pretty quickly. It was still a little stiff and sore this morning, but much less so and loosened up and didn't bother me during my run.

I'm planning my first two-a-day in a long time tomorrow. I'm looking forward to my first noon trail run with Grant and Joe and company from work. I hope I can keep up.

In the morning I ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry, Wayne and Kevin. Larry cut it short because his ribs were still hurting him. He's been pretty tough running with sore ribs. I hope they start hurting him soon.

At noon, I went trail running with Grant, Joe and Dan. Grant had to turn back early because of time constraints. The rest of us ran to the rock pile and back. I enjoyed running the trails. Joe powered up the hills, and Grant and Dan can sure fly downhill with their long legs. My uphillers were really burning by the end, but I didn't fall too far behind.

It's been a long time since I've run a two-a-day, run in the sun, and run 12.5 miles on a weekday. Overall, I survived it pretty well. It's still a little intimidating to think that Squaw Peak is 4 times that long. I averaged about 11:00/mi. There's no way I'll run Squaw Peak that fast. I'm hoping to manage around 14:30/mi if everything goes well. My training is not where I hoped it would be at this point, but at least today was a step in the right direction.

Kevin and I started on the Wednesday route toward the water tank hills, but my legs were still heavy from running there the day before so I convinced Kevin to morph it into the flatter Thursday route to Cascade. I felt bad I couldn't push the pace a little more for Kevin, but my legs were dragging. We only got down to around 8:40/mi near the end, and averaged about 9:00/mi overall.

It was cold and stormy this morning...and so was the weather. Life has been a little hard lately (I'm very blessed, no real complaints). After going to the bathroom, checking the temperature, and watching the storm outside, my first inclination was to crawl back in bed and curl up with my pillow, so I did. I was thinking maybe I would spend the whole day that way, but by 5:40am something inside of me had got me out of bed and by 5:49am I was on the road. It wasn't long before heavy snowflakes were landing on my glasses making it difficult to see. I eventually took them off and stuck them in my pocket. I managed to run the Thursday route by rote, but the pace wasn't much to brag about.

What a great run...although it felt more like a series of runs. I started running from the mouth of Provo Canyon at 5:30am with Larry and Wayne. A little over 2.5 miles into it I turned back so I could meet the guys at the mouth of the canyon for our 2Slow2Win2Dumb2Quit team run. I stopped at the Timpanogos Park restrooms on the way back for a much needed bathroom stop.

When I got to the parking lot the last members of the group were just arriving. I hope I don't forget anyone, but the runners included Kerry, Greg, Dan, Deeks, Will, Scott, and Tim. We all ran together to begin with and I got a chance to talk with most everyone for at least a little bit. It was nice talking with everyone.

We all had different goal distances for the run. One turned back at 3 miles, four at Bridal Veil Falls, one at 4 miles, and Dan and I went on to Vivian Park. As Dan and I ran back to the mouth we ran into Larry, and then Kevin. After reaching the parking lot I turned back and ran back to find Larry and Kevin. I met them at the fountain at Timpanogos Park and ran back to the parking lot with them.

Winder Dairy had a truck there giving out free samples of their new milk chocolate recovery drink. It was cold and tasted very good and seemed to have a lot of good recovery stuff in it.

My goal today was about 18 miles and about 3 hours. I ran 18.75 miles in 3:02:01. The average pace was 9:42/mi. It wasn't fast, but fast was not my goal. This puts me over 50 miles for the week...another step up in my training. I'm still feeling some pain in my heel, and my hip got a little sore in the latter miles, but overall I'm feeling pretty good and am still optimistic about being ready (enough) for the Squaw Peak 50.

I went out a little early to get some extra miles in. I ran loops until the normal meeting time to see if anyone else showed up, but no such luck. Or maybe it was good. My legs felt very heavy and I ran very slowly.

It was good to see Wayne this morning. We ran the 2000 N hill route. It wasn't real speedy, but it was quite a bit faster than I could manage yesterday morning.

It was colder and very windy this morning. I wandered the streets alone for 5.1 miles. I stopped for a while and talked with Lyle as he stretched in front of his house after his run. I appreciated his mechanic's advice on my Suburban issues.

I ran the Cascade route solo, taking the old WP building corner instead of going past THS. Same old thing...not too speedy, but getting the miles in.

I ran with Larry and Wayne this morning. We started at the mouth of Provo Canyon and went up South Fork and back. Wayne and I went a few miles farther than  Larry, but we all had a good hard run.

My goal today was to get in a 3.5 hour run and 20-ish miles. I made that goal, 3.5 hours and 19.2 miles, but the last 6 miles or so really tested me. About mile 13, coming down South Fork, a very strong and cold head wind suddenly hit us, bringing with it a pretty good snowfall. We were quickly wet and cold. The head wind and snow continued for the rest of the run. First my ears got cold, then my thighs, then my right hip started aching and getting stiff, then my hands got very cold (even with gloves on) and some of my fingers started aching and going numb.

With about 3 miles to go I had to stop at Nunn's Park to go to the bathroom. I had slowed so much that Wayne had already pulled way ahead. It was welcome stop for a couple of reasons, one of which was to warm up a bit. For the last few miles my ear plugged up. I had taken to gasping/groaning/moaning with nearly every breath to keep moving, and the plugged ear made it echo through my head. When I finally finished I was soaked to the skin and very cold.

I feel much better now that I'm showered and dressed in dry clothes, including a sweater, but I still feel cold and my fingers are chilled. What a great run! It has to help my 50-mile trail run training...although I still feel like my training is on the low side. Oh well, we do the best we can with the cards we're dealt.

I went out early and got in a couple of miles running around the block waiting to see if anyone else came out at the normal time. I didn't see anyone so I decided to run the neighborhood 5K route a couple of times. I passed Lyle running the opposite direction a couple of times, once alone and once with Kris. My average pace was about 9:45/mi.

I got a 1/2 mile in early then Wayne and I ran the 2000 N route. Average pace about 9:40/mi.

Larry, Kevin and I ran the 2000 N route again. We cut it a little short for Kevin to make a bathroom stop at the Jr. High. We took the hill at a very slow pace today and the average pace for the run was only about 11:00/mi.

Larry, Wayne and I ran the Cascade route. It must have been opposite day, because it was windy everywhere except near the mouth of the canyon. The winds must have been canceling each other out.

I wore my new Saucony Guide TR 2 trail shoes this morning for the first time. I plan to wear them on our 4.5 hour trail run on Saturday and I wanted to get in at least one run in them before then. They felt good.

Larry wore his new Nathan HPL 20 hydration vest to try it out before Saturday. It looked pretty sweet. Mine should arrive today.

As Red Riding Hood said in "Into the Woods", I'm excited and scared to go "into the woods" for a 4.5 hour trail run on Saturday. I'm not afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, but I'll likely encounter fatigue and burning muscles (on the uphills),  and possibly nausea, blisters, chafing, heat and exhaustion. Sounds like an adventure.

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone.
All of the bad feelings have disappeared.

Actually, I didn't really feel any pain or bad feelings on our very long run today, which is why I do have increased optimism...I do think I can make it now...to the end of the Squaw Peak 50 that is.

Larry and I ran for just over 5 hours. We started at Dry Canyon with Kevin, Grant, Bruce, Joe and Joe's neighbor (I forget his name now). Kevin, Grant and Joe's neighbor weren't going long so they headed back after a while. Larry and I were holding Joe and Bruce back so they went on ahead on the descent from Rock Pile to Canyon Glen.

Larry and I weren't exactly sure which way to go. We maybe took an indirect path to Canyon Glen but eventually got there. We then proceeded to Bridal Veil Falls park and began the climb up Squaw Peak. Joe had given us good directions and we found "the chute" pretty easily. What a climb! We finally made it to Hope campground. At that point we'd been out about 4 hours and decided to start down and head for home.

On our way out of Hope campground we came upon some Boy Scouts and their leaders carrying their coolers and gear on the long hike back to their cars. They were glad to see us and welcomed our offer to help carry some gear. It turns out it was Bishop Larry Howell and the 11-year old Scouts from the 12th Ward in our stake. I carried a (heavy) dutch oven in one hand and helped a Scout named Thayson carry a cooler with the other.

After we reached their vehicles, Larry and I headed down Squaw Peak road. We eventually cut across on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and explored/adventured our way to Smith's Ditch road and down to East Lawn Cemetery. Once we knew where we were going to come out I called Karen (as planned) and she met us just as we reached the entrance to the cemetery. It was sure good to see her.

The total time on my watch was 5:03, which included all of our rest time except a bathroom stop I made at Nunn's Park. It showed a total distance of only about 17.25 miles, at about 15:00/mi pace. I feel okay about that because we ran (walked) a lot of tough uphill, and I never really pushed very hard. I still felt okay at the end of the run, and recovered really quickly. The distance was about 1/3 of the 50 miles, so at that same pace we could finish in about 15 hours. I think I can make it.

Our new Nathan HPL 20 hydration packs worked out very well. They were very comfortable. The Dirty Girl gaiters also worked well. My new Saucony Guide TR 2 trail shoes were also very comfortable and I ended up with just the beginning of a small blister on my left instep.

This was my longest run ever (by time) to date, a few minutes longer than mine and Kerry's Boston Marathon adventure. I was surprised a bit by how quickly I recovered. Trail running, especially at an easy pace, is apparently far easier on my body than pavement pounding at a steady pace.

The weather was perfect for running and I thoroughly enjoyed this run with Larry (and the other guys while we were with them). What a blessing it was to be able to do it. What a beautiful place we live in. The scenery was amazing.

There's nothing quite like a Monday morning solo run in the rain. As I mentioned to Larry on Saturday's long run, some ultra marathon advice I read online is to just keep moving forward. ("Keep moving forward" is also the motto from the movie "Meet the Robinsons".) It's probably the single most important thing I've learned from running. It applies to so much more than just running a long race. This morning it got me out of bed to run alone in the rain. I've got a goal to be as ready as I can be for the Squaw Peak 50, and this 6.2 mile run in the rain at 9:28/mi average pace was one more small step in the right direction.

I ran the 2000 N hill route, 9:41/mi average pace.

Another solo run. I started the normal Wednesday run up the water tank hills. As I started up the dirt road at hill two it felt too soft. I didn't want to run in mud, so I ended up running the paved first hill up to the parking lot twice, then dropped down 800 E to 1200 N then back up the 800 E hill and down 1600 N to home. With all the hills my average pace was only 10:24/mi.

It was good to see Larry and Wayne out this morning. We ran the Cascade route at an easy pace. Between leaving a little late and not running fast I was a little behind schedule so I pushed the last 0.4 miles or so home at about 6:30/mi pace. I was a little pleasantly surprised that I still had that kind of speed in me, if only for a short distance.

I met Wayne and Kevin at the mouth of Provo Canyon at 5:30am. Actually, Kevin was a little late so he parked at Timpanogos Park and we met him there. On our way there, John Gillespie joined us and ran with us as far as Vivian Park. There he and Kevin headed back. Wayne and I ran up past South Fork Park until our Garmin's showed 8 miles. We should have had 16 miles when we got back to the parking lot, but we ended up with 21 miles.

When we reach the Bonneville Shoreline Trail turnoff near Bridal Veil Falls Park, we decided to go on up a ways. We were too late to join the John Bozung group who were preparing the trail for the Squaw Peak 50 in 3 weeks, but we saw a biker and other runners, including Rich & Marci Lamoreaux and Paul Nielsen. We ran with Rich and Paul for a bit...Marci was up ahead.

I took Wayne up far enough to get a feel for the climb up the chute to Hope campground. We turned around when our Garmins showed 15 miles and headed back to the Provo Parkway Trail and then the last 3 miles to the parking lot.

I learned (was reminded of) two key things during this morning's run: 1) old guys shouldn't forget to take pain killers before a long run, and 2) dirt trails are much easier on the body than asphalt. The last few miles were tough. My old friends, right hip pain and right PF heel pain, decided to return for a visit at the same. I'm somewhat proud of my response when I was so tired I could barely keep moving. It makes me feel like a true runner. I picked up the cadence of my foot turnover and focused on maintaining good running form. In other words, when I got so tired it was hard to keep going, I tried to go faster. One great side effect of going faster, besides running more efficiently, is getting done sooner.

Wayne was only planning on about16 miles and 3 hours. He stayed with me for 21 miles and 4+ hours. Good running buddies are a true treasure. We both felt good about the run. It should benefit me in the Squaw Peak 50 on June 5, and him in the Teton Dam Marathon on June 12.

By the way, we were expecting sun but didn't run into any until about mile 18 or 19. That was fine by me. It was great running weather, but I guess some heat training would be good.

It was nice to have Kevin out this morning. It was a beautiful morning. We ran the Lindon loop. Our 8:47/mi pace was far from race pace, but a little faster than most of our training runs through the winter and wet/cold spring. We actually had several minutes to talk after the run before I had to go in.

2000 N hill route with Larry and Kevin. We left late and ran slow so we had to turn back on the canal road and cut the run a little short to get me back home on time.

I ran solo the modified water tank route I ran last week, up the first hill to the parking lot twice then down to 1200 N and back up the 800 E hill.

Wayne and I ran the Cascade route. We actually managed sub-8:30 pace for a mile near the end then sub-8:00 the last 1/4 mile, but only about 9:00 pace overall. But that's faster than most of my training runs this year, so I'll take it.

Ever since I developed PF pain in my right heel in January I've been trying to get in enough miles to have a hope of finishing the Squaw Peak 50 without the training making my PF pain worse. I've been fairly successful I think. The pain is still there, some days worse than others, but it's not getting worse and is manageable.

I've been focusing on more miles and time on my feet instead of speed, so I'm curious to see how much speed I'll be able to pull out for the neighborhood 5K on Saturday. I plan to not run on Friday to rest my foot a little. We have a team run Saturday morning so I plan to run 6-8 miles easy early in the morning with my teammates as a warm up for the 5K. I don't plan to PR or win the 5K so I'm not concerned about how fast I can run, just curious. There are a lot of fast youngin's in the neighborhood. It will be fun to see who shows up and how we all finish.

I drove to the mouth of the canyon for the scheduled team run at 5:30am despite the cold, wind and rain. I didn't know if I would find anyone there. Kerry was there waiting in his car. We had decided to not run since we were both planning to run again later, but then Ryan came. It was his only time to run so we decided to go a few miles with him. After about 3 miles (at Nunns Park) Kerry and I turned back and Ryan went on (to Vivian Park I think). Like many bad weather runs, it took a little effort to get started but it wasn't so bad and we felt good about having done it afterward.

It was still cold and rainy as the time for the neighborhood Fun Run 5K approached. I was proud that Amy and Emily still decided to go with me and do it. By the time the race started the rain had let up. It was a little cold at the breakfast afterward, but the sun came out and it wasn't too bad. On the way home afterward Amy said she had fun with Libby and was glad she went. Emily had so much fun with Brianna that we were some of the last ones to leave.

Turn out at the race was somewhat light due to the bad weather. I think there were about 25 walkers/runners plus some bikers. I was worried about some of the fast youngsters like Kurt, Nate, Lecy, Tiffanie, and Brianna. They've all been running at 6:00-ish to 6:30-ish pace recently. Fortunately, Tiffanie and Brianna were the only ones who showed up for the race. Brianna's mom told me Brianna's knee had gone out this week and she considered not running, but like any true runner, she was there. Brad Davies, a 40-something who moved into the ward recently, ran a 23:00-ish 5K recently was also there. I thought I could go faster than that, but without doing much speed work in the last 6 months I wasn't sure.

As the race started various children pushed to the front as usual. As they faded and we settled into position Brad was slightly ahead of me with Tiffanie's footsteps right behind me. Before the first mile marker Tiffanie and I had passed Brad, and Brianna was behind him. They both held pretty strong to the end, but the race was between Tiffanie and me.

Tiffanie was plugged in (wearing headphones) so we didn't talk much. For the first 1.5 miles or so I could hear her footsteps right behind me. For the next mile or so we were pretty much side by side. As we ran the uphill at 1600 N she pulled a little ahead, and as we header north up the hill on 210 E she extended the lead. She ended up beating me by 18 seconds, a well earned victory.

I finished 2nd overall in 21:31. It's far from a PR, but given my training this year and the weather conditions I'm satisfied. As the first male finisher, I got to take home the traveling trophy and record my name on it. It's an old New Balance running shoe mounted and painted with gold paint. The matching shoe is the women's traveling trophy. The tradition of the traveling trophy started 4 years ago. I'm the first non-teenage runner to win it, so I guess that's something, even though it's probably only because there weren't any teenage young men that ran the race today. My time is about 3 minutes slower than the other times on the shoe. Oh well, sometimes the key to success is just showing up.

My splits were 6:41 (uphill), 7:26 (flat), and 7:30 (uphill). My watch only measured the race at 2.99 miles.

After I finished I ran back to meet up with Emily. I found her about 1/2 mile from the end and ran it with her. As I recall, this was the first time I've ever run with one of my children, definitely the first time in a race. I loved every second. She has good running form and finished strong, 14th overall. I hope this positive experience leads to more running. She's a natural.

Despite the cold, windy and rainy start to this day, it's turned out pretty darn well so far. Life's good.

Tuesday run up 2000 N with the guys.

Water tank hills with Kent.

Cascade route with Larry, Wayne and Kent. Just running easy pace this week and next while tapering for the Squaw Peak 50.

I had offered to help John Bozung today to clear/mark the trail for the Squaw Peak 50 from Little Valley to Big Springs. Due to rain in the forecast, John was thinking of postponing it until Monday. I had decided to just go ahead and run with my buddies at 7:00am. About 6:45am John called and said the weather looked good. He wanted to go ahead with the run, but nobody had shown up. He asked if I could still help out. I hustled to get ready and was at Vivian Park by around 7:15am.

John got another couple to change their running plans and help out. His name was Adam, but I've totally spaced it on her name and their last name. John's neighbor drove us through Wallsburg to Little Valley and we started from there about 8:30am and finished at Big Springs about 3:30pm. The four of us covered 14 miles in about 7 hours. We cleared deadfall, cut a path through some steep snow at one point, marked the trail with ribbons, and painted blue cougar paws along the way.

The scenery was beautiful, especially at the top at about 9500 ft. I'm going to have to remember to stop occasionally during the race to appreciate the vistas, and maybe snap a few pictures.

I wasn't sure if this long of a run (with a lot of walking) was a good idea just a week before the race, but it was good to see and experience this tough part of the course near the end. I survived it pretty well...one face plant, a few slides down the snow, and an array of leg scratches...and now I know what to expect. It is a little intimidating, however, to think of doing this again on Saturday, having run 35 miles just to get to where we started.

Physically, the hay is in the barn. I'm either in good enough shape to finish this race, or I'm not. I plan to take it easy this week to make sure I'm recovered and rested as much as I can be. The work that remains is to figure out the final logistics...what to eat, drink, wear, carry, and put in drop bags.

I'm feeling fairly confident, a little anxious, and overall pretty excited. Regardless of the outcome, it will a life experience, another adventure into the outskirts of my perceived limits. I feel blessed for the opportunity.

I went 4 very easy miles this morning. I felt a little pain in my left knee (my bad weather knee) that scared me a little, but after walking a bit it felt better. The weather was beautiful. 

I ran the 2000 N route at a very easy pace. Larry, Wayne, Kent and I started together. Wayne turned back early for a bathroom emergency, and Kent eventually pulled ahead. Larry and I just slogged along at taper pace, talking about our plans for the Squaw Peak 50 on Saturday, my run on Saturday, and his camping trip.

I was a little late getting out, and Larry was even later. Kent was on time. None of us started together but we eventually met up part way up the water tank hills.

It was a beautiful morning. Larry and I stood around and talked for a while about the 50 miler on Saturday, and about what kind of tree I should plant in my front yard to replace the big dead tree I had to cut down last year. My neighbor Terry Peterson, the one with the beautiful yard, was out so I consulted with him as well. I think I'm leaning towards a Sugar Maple.

Last night I did some rough estimating of paces for the different sections of the Squaw Peak 50 and it added up to 11:47:00, roughly 14:00/mi. My stretch goal is to break 12 hours. My primary goal is to finish. My fallback goal is to survive without serious injury or death. Should be fun.

Overall 167th of 219 finishers (20 DNF)

Male 50-59: 22nd of 29 finishers

Race Results:

http://racecontrol.kd7bbc.org/event/lookup?evt=b18eef84-7072-11df-8a3b-001ec21c888f

Course Map & Profile

http://www.squawpeak50.com/sqpkcrse.htm

I don't have time for a full race report now, maybe later today. In short, this race pushed me beyond any mental and physical limits I've ever approached before. My previous longest distance run was 26.2 miles. It's now nearly twice that at 50 miles, with many very steep miles and treacherous footing (snow, mud, rocks). My previous longest duration run was 7 hours (just last week). It's now more than double that at 15 hours and 19 minutes. I fought through heat, humidity, knee pain, hip pain, PF pain, a rolled ankle, 4 falls, chafing, blisters, and calf and thigh cramping. Still, I was able to run the downhill miles clear to the end. I finished hours slower than I hoped, but I finished. A number of times when other runners asked how I was doing, my answer was "I'm enduring." There is much to be said for enduring, and I feel very good about my efforts and the results.

Below are more details than anyone but my future self might care about, but feel free to read on if you wish:

Several years ago the notion entered my mind to run a 50 miler when I turned 50. With the Squaw Peak 50 Trail Run in my own backyard, I never considered any other race, despite it being described as the 3rd toughest 50 miler in the country.

Last year, at 49 with 50 just around the corner, I seriously questioned whether I would be able to dedicate the time to training that would be necessary. A conversation with Rich Lamoreaux, who had completed the SP50 multiple times, convinced me I could complete it with just slightly more training than normal marathon training. I recommitted and submitted my registration in December. I made it on the waiting list, and eventually into the race.

Training history since the St. George Marathon last fall:
History: My left leg is 1+ inch shorter than right due to knee injury at age 14.
I have a "bad" left knee, that acts up occasionally.
Oct 2009: Bad right hip pain up to and during SGM.
Orthopedic surgeon recommended larger lift for short leg.
I started wearing 3/4" in-shoe lifts.
Nov 2009: 30+ miles/week
Dec 2009: 40+ miles/week (except holidays)
Jan 2010: 40+ miles/week (until PF injury on MLK day)
Feb 2010: 30-ish miles/week for a few weeks
Late Feb, early Mar: 3 weeks of 20 miles or less trying to heal PF
PF wasn't getting better so I decided to push the mileage again.
PF wasn't getting worse, so I increased the mileage.
mid Mar to mid May: Gradually increased from 30 to 50+ miles/week, with 7 straight weeks of 40+
Taper - three weeks: 35, 32, 15

I ran the Painter's half marathon in January and the Spectrum 10K in March to get into the SGM via the Runner Series. Other than that, I did very little to no speed running as I tried to get miles in without aggravating the PF. I finally went to a podiatrist for the first time in my life, and he prescribed orthotics. The PF had already improved quite a bit before I got them, so the jury is still out on whether the orthotics have helped much.

(For all you barefoot running proponents out there, I've read Born to Run and understand the potential benefits.)

On race day, I had a little knee pain, hip pain, and PF pain, but none were bad enough to cause me serious concern. I tried some KT tape on my bad knee as a precaution, but ended up pulling it off early in the race.

I drove my buddy Larry up for the early 4:00am start for those expecting to take 16 hours or longer. His training had been considerably less than mine. I was hoping for closer to a 12 hour finish so I started at 5:00am. I ended up catching Larry at about mile 12. He ended up missing the cutoff at AS #8 by about 5 minutes and wasn't allowed to finish. Mostly he was very disappointed, but he did admit that part of him was very glad to be done.

Some of the runners I knew who also ran were Joe Martel (12:17), Rich (11:41) & Marci (11:12) Lamoreaux, Paul Nielsen (14:11), and Steve Earl (14:11). I never saw Joe, Rich or Marci during the run, but ran the first part of the race with Paul and Steve.

I ran the water tank hills with Larry, Wayne and Kent. It was 4 days after the Squaw Peak 50 and 4 days before the Utah Valley Marathon. My goal was to see how my legs felt to help me decide whether to run the marathon.

As I jogged up to the meeting corner, I had some pain in my right heel, my left knee hurt a little, and my feet still felt a little beat up, but I felt up for the run.

The PF-related heel pain felt better as I warmed up. I've been used to this since the PF flared up back in January. It feels a little different after hyper-extending it 3 times during the 50, but I'm not too concerned about it.

The feet felt a little tired during the run, but nothing to worry about. With a few days more rest they should be fine.

The left knee only really bothered me on the steep downhills where I had to watch my footing.

When I hit the level section between hills 2 and 1 on the way back down I picked up the pace to catch up to Wayne and Kent. I was moving along at a fast pace and my legs felt great. It felt good to open up and run fast. I passed them just as we began the descent down the steep first hill and the knee didn't bother me when I didn't have to brake to watch my step.

I'll decide on Friday whether to run the marathon, but it looks like a go. With the "no rocks, snow or mud", secure footing, and a mostly gradual downhill course, I think I'll be fine if I don't push the pace. I took it easy last year and ran 3:50. This year's course should be faster. That's only about 1/4 as long as I ran last week.

Well, this is embarrassing...or at least enlightening. I was wondering what it would feel like for a 50 year old man to run the Utah Valley Marathon the week after running the Squaw Peak 50 Trail Run as his first ultra-marathon. Not too surprisingly, the answer is...not very good.

I finished in the very slow time of 4:28:59. It started out okay, but that okay feeling only lasted about 6 miles. I guess that's about how much I had recovered from the 50 miler, because familiar feelings returned...sore heel, sore hip, sore left knee, tired feet. As the steady rain began, my pace slowed. My splits were:

8:02, 7:27, 7:45, 8:24, 8:49, 8:57, 10:37, 10:30, 9:30, 9:49, 10:38, 9:49, 9:35, 9:34, 11:43, 12:25, 12:20, 11:07, 11:01, 10:29, 11:16, 10:57, 10:37, 10:21, 8:14/mi at the end.

The good news is I finished, but I couldn't have without help from my son Andrew and from Larry. I called Andrew and asked him to bring me a knee brace so I didn't over do it on my left knee. He met me at Bridal Veil Falls Park with two different braces. I crossed the highway and ended up putting one on each knee. They started to help almost immediately and I didn't worry about my knees for the remainder of the marathon. As I approached the mouth of Provo Canyon I met Larry on his bike. He road the last 7 or 8 miles in with me. His conversation kept me going. Those miles were hard. What am I saying, all the miles were hard, except maybe the first six.

So my experiment this year is to see if a 50 year old man...specifically this 50 year old man...can run the Squaw Peak 50, the Utah Valley Marathon, and the Ragnar Relay on consecutive weekends and survive. Two down, one to go. After a very cold bath I actually feel much better. I'm optimistic.

Wasatch Back Relay - Leg 11 - Up to Snow Basin - Very Hard

I started this leg at about 8:23pm and the weather was pretty nice.

After the steep climbs in the Squaw Peak 50 two weeks ago, this steep climb on the way up to Snow Basin didn't seem quite so steep, but running uphill is never easy. It was even harder for the guy on the backcountry.com team that carried a canoe the entire leg. As I passed him I told him I was pretty sure he was working a lot harder than I was.

My pace slowed from 9:30 to 10:30 to 11:00 as I neared the summit, but I kept my feet moving pretty steadily and felt like I ran pretty strong. I managed 6:24/mi for the last downhill mile.

I passed 6 other runners on this leg and was not passed by anyone.

Wasatch Back Relay - Leg 23- Rockport Reservoir - Moderate

I started this leg at about 6:40am. There was a cold headwind so I wore my jacket. The sun came up during the leg and it warmed up enough for me to unzip my jacket a bit and pull up my sleeves, but the headwind never stopped. Near the end it was so strong I had to turn my hat around so it wouldn't blow off. I just focused on trying to keep my feet turning over and my body moving forward. I finished this 5.6 mile leg in about 49:30 (8:47/mi). I passed 8 runners and 6 passed me. A lot of the elite teams caught up with us during our second legs. You can tell the elite runners because they pass you like you're standing still.

Wasatch Back Relay - Leg 35- Guardsman Pass to Park City - Very Hard

I started this leg at about 3:52pm. It has been pretty hot, but the heat didn't really affect me on this leg. Shortly before my leg started I felted really tired and didn't much feel like running...a feeling very unusual to me. Lyle asked me when I had last eaten. I realized it was around 8:30am, over 7 hours ago. I had been so concerned about digesting the pancakes, eggs, and sausage that I had forgotten to eat anything in the meantime. I decided to quickly down an eGel and hope for the best. It must have worked, because I felt pretty good as I started to run and passed 10 runners in the first couple of miles.

I was warned shortly before my leg that it had grown from 5.4 miles to 7 miles, because of construction I think. What I didn't expect was when we turned off the road a couple of miles in and ran most of the rest of the way on a single track trail through the trees and along some dirt roads. I was glad I had been doing more trail running this year, and it was a lot easier than much of the Squaw Peak 50 course, and very beautiful, but I still had a few missteps and nearly rolled my ankle once. Two runners passed me on the first section of trail. I passed one of them back when we got back onto a dirt road.

I enjoyed this leg and felt like I ran it pretty hard. I passed 18 runners and was passed by one. I averaged 8:13/mi. I was surprised to see a bandage over Lyle's eye when I handed off to him in the exchange. I later learned that he had been stretching leaning on the side of a Honey Bucket portapotty. The wind had been gusting and just as someone opened the door a strong gust of wind caught it and it whacked Lyle in the face. He got some first aid attention and had it bandaged up by the time I got in and ran the last leg very strong. They thought he might need stitches, but after he got home he said it didn't look too bad, and he was too tired to go to a doctor, so he just super glued it. What a tough guy.

This was one of my slower relays, but given that I'd run the Squaw Peak 50 two weeks earlier, followed by the Utah Valley Marathon one week later, I feel very satisfied with how I did.

My teammates were awesome and I had a really enjoyable time. Everyone ran strong and worked well together to make everything come off without a hitch. It was yet another successful relay.

Well, I'm back in the saddle again...but a little saddle sore. After the 50, the marathon, and the relay I found myself physically beat up and...a little unexpectedly...mentally tired of running. I didn't run a step last week, which normally would drive me nuts, but it didn't bother me...and I maybe even enjoyed it a little.

Thankfully, I've got good running buddies to keep me from straying too far. I was talking with Larry yesterday and he said they were going to the track this morning. I was still feeling some pain in my knee and heel, but decided to go see how it felt to run on them. Larry didn't show, but Kent and Lyle did. They ran 1/2 mile repeats while I just ran slow laps.

I had a hard time generating any speed this morning. My knee and heel did hurt a little, but I think it was my right hip and overall stiffness that kept me running slow. I had read Tom Lee's blog from Saturday where he said, "Those darn scar tissue areas just don't ever seem to completely be happy, but I've found they do alot better being active than when doing nothing." I've learned that before. I'm learning it again. I believe Sasha calls it active recovery.

My current plan is to return to a previous plan to take aspirin regularly. My dad's heart surgeon recommended aspirin to me as a precautionary treatment for my family history of heart attacks, and it is a long established anti-inflammatory that should help with my arthritic hip, bad knee, and PF pain.

Gee whiz, I sound like I'm 80, not 50. I was talking with a good brother at church yesterday whose father is 87 and suffering from Alzheimers and is unable to care for himself. We had been talking about how life can be challenging at times. He mentioned that he is grateful just to be able to take care of himself and deal with the challenges each day brings. What a great attitude. The martial artist Bruce Lee said, "When you feel pain, you know that you are still alive." Gladly, I'm still alive.

I just realized I quoted both Tom Lee and Bruce Lee. I wonder if they are related?

I ran the Tuesday 2000 N hill route with Larry, Wayne, and Kent. Kevin joined us about half way through. Today felt better than yesterday, although the route starts out going up the 2000 N hill so it was hard to tell at first. I was working harder than I'm used to just to run 9:00/mi during the middle of the run, but I was encouraged by running the last mile at just under 8:00/mi. The normal pains were there, but not too bad.

I ran the water tank hills with Larry, Wayne and Kent. I was encouraged when I got to the bottom of the first hill and was actually feeling a little bit excited to head up the hills. I pushed pretty steadily and reached top in 17:26, not a PR but respectable. Wayne finished well ahead of me. He's been training well, with a focus on hills, and it shows.

On the way back Wayne and Kent had gotten a little ahead when we reached the gradual downhill on 1600 N from 400 E to Main. I decided to take off and see if I could catch them. I had just mentally committed and started to accelerate when Larry realized his dog Ozzie hadn't crossed the intersection with us. I looked back and couldn't see Ozzie so I applied the brakes and went back with Larry to look for him. He wasn't too far behind. After we made sure he got across the intersection safely I restarted my acceleration down the hill. By now Wayne and Kent were far out of reach, but I managed to average about 7:10/mi pace for that half mile. If felt good to get my legs moving again.

After all the slogging I seem to have been doing recently, I'm beginning to feel sorta kinda a little bit like a runner again.

Larry decided to run 13 miles with his wife and her friend this morning, so that left Wayne, Kent, Kevin and me to run the Tuesday 2000 N hill route in reverse. I felt okay, but I was the last one up the first hill, the second to last up the big 2000 N hill, and the last one to the finish corner. I still feel good about the run. It's good to see the others running so well.

I told them to enjoy beating me while they still can. I was trying to challenge myself more than challenge them.

Kent and I drove to the mouth of Provo Canyon and met Wayne at 5:00am to start a 16 miler. We were expecting Larry and Kevin to join us this morning. We missed them.

We stayed together up to Vivian. I needed a potty break so I told them to go on ahead. I could see them about 100 yards up the road when I started, but I could never close the gap. We proceeded up South Fork until we got to the 8 mile mark. They actually went a bit farther and were on their way back down when I hit 8 miles and turned around to join them again.

I managed to stay with them until we got back to Vivian, but my knee, heel, and hip were beginning to complain, especially my hip. On the return trip from Vivian to the parking lot they gradually pulled ahead of me until I couldn't see them anymore. The miles got harder and harder for me. I felt like I was just hanging on at the end of a bad marathon day (like UVM a few weeks ago). With a mile or two to go, I saw Josse and a couple of her friends. I think she said they were marking a course for a race. I stopped briefly to say hello. She's visibly pregnant. I felt a lot like I imagine it feels for a pregnant woman to run...like I was carrying another person. My mile 15 split was actually 10:07...that's pretty slow.

Wayne had run the three miles to Timpanogos Park at 7:10/mi. He's been training hard and it's paying off. He ran back to find me and we ran the last mile or so in together. After stopping at the fountain of youth for a refreshing drink, I picked up the pace the last 0.75 miles and managed an 8:42 split for the last mile...still slow, but faster than 10:07.

I think 16 miles was probably farther than I should have gone today. I think my body is still recovering from my abuse of it in June. Still, I feel like I'm rebounding and I'm optimistic.

Today's running was much more encouraging than Saturday's. Larry, Kent and I ran to the THS track for interval training at 7:15am. Kent and I did five 1/2 mile intervals with a 1/4 mile rest in between. Larry did 1/4 mile intervals.

My 1/2 mile splits were 3:17, 3:26, 3:30, 3:29, and 3:15. We always try to make our last interval the fastest. When I went too fast on the first interval (first lap was 1:30) I was concerned I wouldn't be able to do it, but on the last interval I managed to pull out enough of a kick on the last straightaway to make it.

I would prefer my splits to be closer to 3:00 than 3:30, but last Monday, after a week of no running, I was so stiff and sore I couldn't even get down to a 9:00/mi pace when I tried to push the pace (at the track, but I wasn't doing intervals). On Saturday's 16 miler I only averaged 9:39/mi and again felt stiff and sore. Getting a few intervals in at 6:30/mi to 7:00/mi pace, relatively pain free, was encouraging. It's not so much where you are on the path that matters, but the direction you are heading and that you just keep moving forward.

I ran the reverse 2000 N hill route with Larry, Kent, Wayne, and (a little late coming) Kevin. I felt pretty strong, especially pushing up the big 2000 N hill near the end. I tried to pick up the pace just a little on the downhill to work on my foot speed a little, but my body didn't like it too much, mostly my right heel and right hip.

I can't seem to shake the pain in my heel and my hip. My left knee is also still bothering me a little, but it's bothered me most of my life and it doesn't have me too concerned. I tried playing tennis with my family on Monday. My hip was pretty stiff, and whenever I tried to change direction quickly from right to left my right heel hurt pretty badly. I still managed to beat my two young adult sons, but I it hurt so much I decided not to run the next morning.

I was in a 4-man best ball company golf tournament early Wednesday morning so I didn't run that morning either. I play golf and tennis about once a year whether I need to or not, and it shows. I used to do both more regularly, so there is some muscle memory, but I'm mostly not so good...but I have fun.

Kent's wife Melinda drove us up to Trefoil then Larry, Kent and I ran home from there. It was a beautiful morning for a run.

Just as we started I decided I'd better visit the nearby portapotty so Kent and Larry went on ahead. My goal today was to push the pace a little the 10 miles from Trefoil to the mouth of the canyon, so having to chase them at the beginning gave me a little extra motivation.

I caught them between about 2 miles down South Fork. I was cruising at around a 7:00/mi pace so I decided to keep going. I ended up averaging 7:02/mi for the 4.3 miles from Trefoil to Vivian. It was by no means a PR, but the pace was about twice as fast as that same stretch at the end of the Squaw Peak 50 last month. It felt good to be able to generate a little speed again.

After a quick drink of water I decided to continue on down towards the mouth of the canyon. I back off the pace just a little to try to avoid running 10 minute miles at the end like last week. I ran the first mile after Vivian at 8:11. I knew the following miles were a little faster so I set my goal at averaging 8:00/mi or faster the 5-ish miles down to the fountain at Timpanogos Park. I ended up averaging 07:54/mi.

I decided to visit the restroom at the park. When I got back to the fountain Kent was just arriving. I told him I wanted to run 7:30 pace or faster the last 3/4 mile stretch to the mouth. I averaged 7:14/mi. Overall, I averaged about 7:30/mi for the 10 miles from Trefoil to the mouth. Again, it is not a PR, but for how slowly I've been running of late, I was feeling quite pleased.

It didn't last. I told Kent I was going to jog back until I met Larry, but it didn't take me long to change my mind. My hip had tightened up and I couldn't generate any speed at all. My feet also felt tired and I felt the beginning of a blister on the ball of my left foot. We still had 3 miles to go to get home, so I slogged back to the mouth of the canyon to wait for Larry. I didn't have to wait long, but it was long enough. My hip was so stiff and sore that the last 3 miles home were very hard and very slow.

I was struggling to keep up with Kent and Larry anyway, but then they started talking politics and pulled away. Even taking the diagonal shortcut past the high school I still finished well behind them. I was just glad to be finished. After averaging 7:30/mi for 10 miles, my splits for the last 3 miles were 11:32, 9:52, and 10:25. Part of its probably fitness, but I think a large part is my dang right hip (inflammation, arthritis?) and right heel (PF pain). When they decide they've had enough they seem to put the brakes on and I feel like I'm running through drying concrete. The hip has been hurting off and on for almost two years now, the PF pain in the heel off and on since January. Enough already. I'm seeking inspiration on how to proceed forward, but I'm optimistic that sooner or later this too shall pass.

Track work with Larry and Kent. I'd call it speed work, but it's not all that speedy. I think of it more as "focus on form" and "push the pace a little faster than a normal training run" and "maintain form and hold pace even when it becomes difficult" work.

We bumped up from 5 to 6 1/2 mile intervals today. My heel and hip were sore and stiff this morning so I was a little slower than last week: 3:44, 3:32, 3:36, 3:31, 3:35, 3:19.

It was only a few years ago I averaged about this pace for the entire St. George marathon. Sigh.

Wayne, Kent and I ran the 2000 N hill route. We held a pretty steady pace. Nobody felt much like pushing the pace, and that was fine by me. The morning was beautiful, the weather pleasant, and the conversation engaging. But we still missed Larry and Kevin.

Water tank hills with Larry, Wayne, and Kent. It was a beautiful (and a little bit warm) early morning.

As we took the sharp left turn up to the parking lot to begin hill #2 I noticed a runner coming up behind us at a pretty good clip. I realized I had been in talking mode instead of working mode. I wasn't about to just let him blow by so I switched to work mode and began to pull away. I later found out he turned off at the parking lot, but at least he got me moving. I climbed the 5 hills in 17:20...not a PR but pretty good for me.

I continued up to the 3 mile point then turned around and ran until I met up with the others. We took it easy back down until the last fast half mile from 400 E to Main on 1600 N. Kent was a little ahead and began to pick up the pace. Larry was just starting to say something. I said, "Talk fast or run fast", as I accelerated to cruising speed. I felt pretty smooth and fast (for a change). I felt a little pain in my hip and heel that kept me from going all out, but I was pleased to see that I averaged 6:39/mi for that half mile.

Today's run was enjoyable and encouraging.

2000 N hill route in reverse with Wayne and Kent. Gratefully, none of us felt like pushing up the hill very hard. I pushed yesterday kind of hard, so we'll call this a recovery run.

Kent and I ran the Wil's Pit Stop loop with 4 additional miles up Provo Canyon. We managed to avoid the heat until the last few miles home. Those miles were tough, but we endured.

Kent and I did 6x1/2 mile intervals this morning. Some days just seem harder, and today seemed to be one of those days for both of us. It seemed warm this morning, and my legs also felt a little sluggish.

My times for the 1/2 mile intervals were 3:39, 3:41, 3:28, 3:39, 3:42, and 3:23. These times were a little slower than previous weeks, but mentally I felt like I did a little better.

I've been using my new foam roller for a few days now. It seems to work out the knots in my calves even better than "The Stick", but it seems to be helping the most with my hip. I finally feel like I'm able to get to the hot spot in my hip that has been hurting for years. As I've been able to roll it out, I feel like it's helping. Time will tell.

Another warm morning, though slightly cooler. Larry, Wayne, Kent and I ran the 2000 N hill route. Part way up the big hill I decided to take off and push to the top. I felt pretty good and pulled a little ahead, but I could still hear Wayne and Kent not too far behind, talking comfortably as they hung not too far behind. We ran together down the hill and north into Lindon. When we got to the next hill Wayne and Kent paid me back and out pushed me to the corner. Again we all ran down the hill together. Shortly after we turned south at the corner we noticed that Wayne had quickly pulled away. I was impressed at his pace, but decided to at least make the effort to catch him. I couldn't close the gap, and was relieved when he reached the stop sign and turned back. It turns out it was just a little fartlek.

It was a good run. It was nice to have 4 of us out. Kevin stopped by as we were talking after the run. He had worked out with his daughter this morning. What a blessing to have to have such a good group of men to run and associate with.

We expected Wayne and Larry to join us, but Kent and I went up the water tank hills alone. We ran pretty well, but neither of us had that extra gumption to push really hard. I'll credit the headwind up the hill, with a nod to the higher than normal humidity, with maybe some lingering effect from recent runs. Like after most recent runs, I'm covered with sweat with water dripping off the brim of my hat. It reminds a little of running in Ohio, but I just checked. The humidity here is 52%, the humidity there is 83%. I withdraw my complaint. What a beautiful morning!

Just Kent and I again. Reverse 2000 N hill route. Some training runs are just training runs. We worked pretty hard but nothing noteworthy.

We met Larry near the end at the bottom of the 2000 N hill. He tried running a little on his pulled hamstring, but without much success. He said the other two times (in 20 years) he's pulled his hamstring he was okay a couple of days later. I hope that's true again.

Kent, Kevin and I left at 5:00am to beat the heat on our 18 mile Fort Utah run. Apparently Larry's leg was still bothering him because he didn't show. We missed Wayne as well.

Kent and Kevin both had GI tract issues during the run, but other than that it was an enjoyable run. We started early enough that we didn't get sun until about mile15. We stopped at Macy's for sports drink, but I had just taken an eGel a little before that so I opted for water from the fountain.

Kevin had to stop again just before we got to University Ave. Kent and I didn't think we could stop and get going again so we went on ahead. We expected Kevin to catch us, but it turns out he stopped another time or two, once to watch his daughter play soccer for a couple of minutes. Still, he finished only 6-7 minutes behind us.

This run wasn't speedy, but it's always good to get a long run behind you. It's a bonus to actually enjoy the journey.

Kent, Larry and I headed to the THS track again this morning. I did 6 x 1/2 mile intervals in 3:33, 3:34, 3:30, 3:29, 3:28, and 3:28. I've been much faster than this in past years, but this year my focus was intentionally on long, slow miles preparing for the ultra marathon last month so I'm not surprised nor too disappointed that I've lost some speed. The nagging injuries (which are improving) and packing some extra pounds have also slowed me down. I feel pretty good about this morning's workout. I was pretty consistent, felt stronger, and was a little faster than last week. It was a beautiful morning out running with my buddies. No complaints. The glass is definitely at least half full.

I helped Karen get loaded and off to YW Camp this morning so I missed my run with the guys and went out a little later on my own. Since traffic had begun to fill the roads, I decided to run over to the THS track to run. I decided on a warm mile to get there, a 3 mile tempo run, then a one mile cool down to get back home.

I was a little surprised at how much warmer it felt to run at 8:00am instead of our normal 5:45am. It was only about 70 degrees, but it was warm enough that I noticed it the whole time and was soaking wet with sweat dripping from my hat when I finished.

I shared the track with a couple of other older runners and with a couple of dozen girls from the THS soccer team. Kevin's daughters are on the team. I saw and said 'Hi' to Lizzy, but I never located Katie, but I was pretty hot and tired so I could have missed her. Those THS soccer girls train hard. It's not surprising they were state champs last year. For one drill they were doing they split into two groups. One group would sprint for half a lap. When they finished, the other group would start. As soon as the second group reached the first group, the first group would take off and run the second half of the lap. As soon as they completed that half lap, the second group would take off again. So each group would run half a lap then rest for as long as it took the other group to run half a lap. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

I just ran my 3 mile tempo run. I stayed out of their way, which meant running in lane 4 (and a little farther) instead of lane 1 now and then, but it was all good. I wanted to stay under 8:00/mi and my mile splits were 7:40, 8:00, and 7:47. I ran a cool down lap then an easy pace home. Not a spectacular run, but it was enjoyable and it's another run done.

Kent and I ran the water tank hills. Kent said Larry's hamstring flared up again on yesterday's run. I don't now where Wayne's been, I think he's been working out of town and getting home late. We're never sure when Kevin is going to show up.

I didn't have much zip in my legs up the hill today. I did run considerably longer up the hill than Kent did...not farther, it just took me considerably longer. About half way up it started raining on us and it rained much of the way back down. The mud quickly began sticking to our shoes. We got pretty wet, but by the time we got back down to the pavement the rain had stopped. In fact it didn't appear that it had even rained down there.

Another run done.

Typical Thursday run.

Spent the night at YW Camp at MIA Shalom to help take down camp in the morning. I missed my long run but the rewards were well worth the cost.

I got in this one run while on vacation in So. California this week. I ran to a nice trail that wasn't too far away and got to greet a number of other runners/walkers. The weather was great all week, but running just didn't make it into the schedule again. We rented a home in La Habra with a private heated pool so I did get in quite a bit of pool time along with a great day at Six Flags, an enjoyable visit to the Griffith Observatory, a trip to the beach, and other enjoyable and relaxing family fun. I've been blessed with a wonderful family. We had a great week, even with the clogged toilet and keys getting locked in the car.

My 15 year old nephew Dalton, who runs cross country in Delaware, was visiting us with his parents so he joined us for our Monday run at the track. He was considerably faster than us, even faster when the cheerleaders showed up to practice at the track.

We did 7 x 1/2 mile repeats with 1/4 mile rests. My splits were 3:20, 3:26, 3:35, 3:33, 3:27, 3:29, 3:20. As I've said before, my speed is down from previous years, but at least I'm moving in the right direction.

I should mention that Tim Hakala joined Kent and Dalton and me today and he is running really well. He beat me fairly easily on at least one of the intervals.

My nephew Dalton and his parents stayed an extra night so he was able to run with us again. This time Larry, Wayne, Kent, and Kevin all showed up. Larry's hamstring acted up early and he had to bail. The rest of us took turns trying to run at least fast enough to give Dalton a bit of a workout.

Kevin went with Dalton up the big 2000 N hill. Wayne chased him on the north section up to the intersection. I pushed him down the hill to the west, where we got down to 6:15/mi pace for a while. Wayne was the only one with enough zip left to push the pace with Dalton the last couple of miles back home. Overall Dalton was a positive influence on all of us, as we finished the course at least 3 minutes (30+ seconds/mile) faster than normal. Dalton is a good runner with a lot of potential. I expect him to have a good cross country season. I think we old guys did okay today, considering we are all at least 3 times Dalton's age, with Wayne being closer to 4 times his age.

Water tank hills with Wayne and Kent. Larry joined us on his bike to get in some cross training without straining his injured hamstring.

We all pushed the hills pretty hard. My time up was 16:40. Kent easily surged passed me up the last hill. Wayne finished just a little behind me. Kent and I took it easy all the way back home. Wayne pushed the last mile or so and finished well ahead of us.

Larry's injury is a bummer, but Wayne, Kent, and Kevin are all running really well this year. They've all outrun me in various training runs this year. I need to pick up my training so if they finally beat me in a race this year (yep, that's a friendly taunt) it will mean something.

I should note that some of the them have beaten me in races in past years, just not recently. Gratefully, I seem to have an extra gear in races that has allowed me to hold them off. I'm not so sure about this year.

Reverse 2000 N hill route with Wayne and (eventually) Kevin. It was another beautiful morning.

I was a couple of minutes late. I saw Wayne's Jeep parked at Larry's and no Kent at the corner. I figured they had left already so I took off to catch them. When I got up 200 W a bit and still couldn't see them up ahead I began to think maybe Kent and Larry didn't come out this morning and Wayne was still waiting in his Jeep. As I began back I saw Wayne round the corner.

We ran a bit of a quicker pace than normal, and after pushing up the first hill about halfway through the run we were both breathing pretty hard. We met Kevin coming the other way just after the hill. The long climb up the 2000 N hill was hard, but we managed to maintain a respectable pace.

We stood around and talked a while after the run. It was very pleasant. What a great way to start the day.

Kevin invited me out for 5 @ 6. I wish it were 5 miles @ 6:00/mi, but it meant 5 miles @ 6:00am. Kevin may have been there in spirit, but his body didn't make it so I ran alone. I feel like I held a steady pace the whole way, but the headwind led to an average of about 9:20/mi out and 8:20/mi back.

I think the biggest lack in my workouts currently is 3-5 mile tempo runs. It's too late to help me at the Hobble Creek half marathon next week, but there is still time for them to help me a little at St. George in October. These are the kind of runs I used to get in at noon in my previous job. I haven't been able to work regular noon runs into my new job yet. Oh well, we all have to balance priorities. Running has slipped a notch, but I'm still grateful to run as well as I am and overall life is treating me very well, far better than I deserve.

Kent and I had a great trail run this morning. The weather was perfect. Wayne and Larry (on his bike) started out with us, but Wayne could only run for an hour and they both turned back at the top of the water tank hills. From there Kent and I headed up to Rock Pile then continued on toward the saddle of Baldy. At a fork in the trail we saw two runners ahead of us who took the left fork. Neither of us had been up there before so we decided to follow them.

They turned out to be two strong female runners. We didn't get their names, but one of them mentioned that she had won the masters division in the St. George marathon. We ended up stopping and talking together for a few minutes at the top of Dry Canyon. They seemed to know the trails so we asked them about a few of them. It sounds like the run up over the Baldy saddle is a nasty run, so it's could we followed them on the left fork when we did. They headed down Dry Canyon and we headed north another 2.5 miles to Battle Creek then headed down and followed the pavement 2.75 miles back home. I stopped my Garmin at one point and forgot to turn it back on for a while, but I think we went about 14 miles in 2 hours and 45 minutes.

After the first 7 or 8 miles my uphillers were beat. Fortunately there weren't too many hills after that, but my legs ached on the few there were. I especially enjoyed the downhills, especially the gradual downhills. Unlike on the Squaw Peak 50, my hip didn't bother much on this run and I was able to open up on the downhills.

The scenery was beautiful the whole run, but some of the vistas, especially a few overlooking the valley, were breathtaking, with the morning sun stretching across the valley, lake, and distant mountains on a clear, cool, sunny morning. I can't imagine too many better ways to start a Saturday.

Kent, Larry, and I headed to THS. Monday is track day. Tim showed up a little later.

This morning I felt the best I've felt in a long time, with very little pain and a little bit of zip in my legs...just a little. My 7 x 0.5 mile splits were 3:32, 3:31, 3:34, 3:27, 3:25, 3:24, and 3:18. These splits are on the faster end of what I've been doing the past number of weeks.

Comparing my last 3 year's splits, many of them are very similar from year to year, with some lows and highs mixed in. A rough average breakdown is:

Miles 1-4	6:20/mi
Miles 5-8	6:40/mi
Mile 9	6:45/mi
Mile 10	7:00/mi
Miles 11-12	7:10/mi
Mile 13	7:00/mi
Last 0.1	40 secs
	1:27:45 (6:42/mi)

My last 3 year's times have been 1:27:02, 1:26:14, and 1:30:52. I'm not in 1:26 shape this year. My stretch goal is my average of 1:27:45, but I'll be satisfied with anything at or under 1:30:00.

To hit 1:27:45 would mean my average pace would have to be 3:21 per half mile, which is a fast half mile interval for me on track day, where I run 3.5 miles at roughly that pace, not 13.1 miles. Of course Hobble Creek has some great downhill where the track is flat, and then there's always race day magic. I'm excited to once again experience the adventure of a race to push my mental and physical limits and see what's in there.

Great run on the 2000 N hill route with Wayne, Kent, and Kevin...and the running was almost secondary. What a blessing to have such great men to run with. We missed Larry.

Avg Pace: 9:08/mi (10:46 and 9:54 on the hills, then 8:32, 8:39, 8:44, and 8:10)

Wayne, Kent and I ran the water tank hills. I didn't charge the hills this morning like I often do, partly because of starting to taper for the race Saturday, and partly because it was warm and I just felt sluggish, but I managed to hang in there and not fall behind. My time up the hills was 17:57 compared to 16:40 last week.

It was really warm this morning, low 70's I think, and I didn't enjoy that much. Like Tom mentioned on his blog recently, I run much better in cooler weather. It is forecast to be warm on Saturday for the race, but it starts up the canyon so at least the first part should be a little cooler.

I'm tapering for Hobble Creek Half on Saturday so I ran the Thursday route with Wayne and Kent but left out the big hill at the end. It was windy but was sure warm again this morning.

I shared some Paulosophy during this morning's run that I discussed with my family recently. It seems many people want to look thin and fit and have a healthy tan without actually exercising regularly, eating well, and working and playing in the out of doors. Similarly, many want the fruits of their labor...big house, new cars, a life of ease and abundance...without actually doing the labor. It's like wanting to run a PR or BQ without consistent training.

The point I think many miss is that the true value of the fruits of our labor...the inner peace, joy, satisfaction, and happiness...derive from the labor. After 50 years of life experience, I've come to firmly believe in the law of the harvest. A fruitful harvest requires sustained effort (sowing, watering, fertilizing, weeding), patience, and the blessings of heaven. In many ways, the value of what you get out of something is largely determined by what you put into it. Work is not a four letter word; it is a key ingredient for a productive and happy life.

The results aren't much to brag about, but I got what I deserved...dang it. My performance was way down from the past few years:

As you can see, at no point did I have any chance of equaling previous years, and it went downhill from there.

First, it really bothered me that the race started 38 minutes late on a day forecasted to be in the mid to high 90's. It was light enough to see well by 6:00am, light enough to read a book by 6:30am, the race wasn't scheduled to start until 7:15am, and it didn't start until 7:53am. I think they need to move the start time up to at least 6:30am. At least then when it almost inevitably starts late, it will be closer to 7:00am than 8:00am. But that said, everyone had the same conditions so I can't use that as an excuse.

The reason I didn't run any faster was because I haven't been training hard enough to run any faster. I've focused on long, slow distance this year to get ready for my ultra marathon in June and pamper my PF, knee, and hip pain. I've stepped things up a little the last month or so, but then then I missed a long run to help at YW camp and only ran once the next week while on a family vacation.

In the race, I felt okay about running a little slower the first few miles. I knew my training was down and I hoped by not going out to fast I might last a little longer. No such luck. I just kept getting slower and slower, getting passed gradually but steadily by a host of runners.

With two miles to go I had slowed to 9:12/mi pace. About that point I saw a man about my age try to pass me. I decided I could do anything for two miles and decided to test my mental fortitude and hold him off to the finish. He tried 3 or 4 times to pass me over the next mile, but I eventually pulled ahead enough that I couldn't feel him behind me anymore. I kept pushing and passing people clear to the finish. It was a good thing, because there were three runners in my age division who finished 6 seconds, 7 seconds, and 21 seconds behind me. I would have finished 8th instead of 5th. The 4th place runner, Hal Amos, was 10 minutes ahead of me.

I went to the track with Kent and Larry. We also saw Kris there.

I opted for 3 x 1 mile intervals plus one 1/2 mile and one 1/4 mile, with recovery time mixed in. As I recall (no watch with me), my mile splits were 7:13, 7:30, and 7:39. The 1/2 and 1/4 were at a little faster pace that that, but not much.

After my less than stellar performance at Hobble Creek on Saturday, it has convinced me even more that it's time to step up my training. I think perhaps the greatest need for me right now is 3-5 mile up-tempo runs, with some warm up and cool down. I would love to do them at around 7:00/mi pace, but to start with I need to start doing at least one a week at around 8:00/mi pace or faster. Our current Tue, Wed, and Thu runs have more uphill than I would like for a tempo run. Maybe I'll consider switching Thursday back to the flatter run to the golf course. I need to add some midday runs. Maybe that's when I could to the tempo run. I'll have to ponder some more.

I ran the 2000 N hill route with Wayne and Kent. We met Larry near the end.

I felt better this morning than I have for a long time. I surged ahead up the 2000 N hill, then again on the gradual hill to the intersection as we headed north, and then again on the downhill after that (about 6:20 pace). My right calf was feeling a little tight after that so I didn't push hard again the last couple of miles.

After going from 9:12 pace to 7:33 pace at the end of the race on Saturday, I've decided that maybe I've lost some of my mental toughness. Why was I running 9:12 pace when I was capable of running a much faster pace? Those thoughts were going through my mind when I decided to surge this morning, and I actually felt better when I was pushing the pace. I noticed that neither my hip, nor my knee, nor my heel bothered me this morning. Maybe I'm finally turning the corner. My weight was even down to the lowest it has been in a quite a while this morning. I'm choosing to see the glass as half full this morning.

Kent and I ran the water tank hills. I pushed up the hills in 16:25 then ran the last fast 1/2 mile at 6:36/mi. The whole run was a little more uptempo than usual. I felt good.

It's kind of funny. It's like something clicked or snapped in my mediocre half marathon performance last Saturday. When the old guy (my age) tried to pass me with two miles to go I realized I was being mentally weak and decided I wasn't going to let him pass me. When I was able to go from 9:12 pace at mile 11 down to 7:33 for the last mile I knew I needed to step up my mental toughness. I've stepped up my game these last three days and pushed harder. They've been the best training runs I've had for quite some time. I've felt stronger and faster, and more like the runner that I used to be. Even my lingering pains seemed to have backed off. I hope this is indicative of a turnaround and better things to come.

Thursday 2000 N route, faster than normal.

Easy run up Provo Canyon. I wish I could have gone longer. I had an appointment at 9:30am to put down our old family dog Skittles, followed by her burial in Nephi at my parents' property. It was very helpful to talk with my buddies, especially Larry.

The day was difficult, but it ended up being a good family day. We all felt it was her time to go and felt comfort knowing she was now free from pain. I'll miss her eagerness, joy, and unconditional love for me.

With school (and driving the kids to the Jr. High) back on, I knew I had to go early to get our normal track workout in so I left at 5:30am instead of 5:45am. After the 1 mile warm up over to the track I decided to do a 3 mile tempo run instead of 1/2 mile intervals. My mile splits were 7:29, 7:53, and and 7:35. Kent showed up during my 3rd mile to start his intervals. I ended up running 4 x 1/2 mile intervals at 3:34, 3:27, 3:24, and 3:25 before I had to head home. Relatively speaking, it was a good workout for me.

Tuesday 2000 N hill run. Avg pace: 9:15/mi 

I'm trying to remember back, but I'm pretty sure this was the Wednesday hill run when Martin and Tim joined. It was Martin's first time with us up the water tank hills, and he had easily out run most of us the day before, so I decided he wasn't going to beat me up the hills on his first try. I pushed hard up the first hill and left Tim and Martin and the others behind and never looked back. I ended up running the hills in 15:36, more than a full minute faster than my previous PR this year. It felt good. On the traditional fast 1/2 mile down 1600 N at the end of the run I pushed again and ran 6:08 pace, another 2010 PR for me I think. I'm definitely feeling a little faster than earlier this year. I think I like it.

My Garmin battery was dead for this run and I'm logging it over a week late. I think this was just a normal Thursday run. I don't remember feeling very fast.

Kent, Wayne and I ran the 20 miles from Trefoil to the lake. We started early. The weather was perfect and we didn't really get any sun until late in the run, and then we were shaded most of the time. We met Larry & Jolene and Kevin near Macy's, about 5 miles from the end. They had started at the lake and were our ride home.

I'm counting all the miles as (slow) marathon pace because they weren't easy. Kent and Wayne kept up a pretty strong pace the whole way and kept me working.

Mile splits: 8:52, 8:38, 8:19, 8:04, 8:18, 8:10, 8:14, 8:12, 8:15, 8:18, 8:23, 8:22, 8:35, 8:38, 8:57, 8:03, 8:39, 8:42, 8:57, 8:53 = 2:49:36 (8:28/mi)

I usually feel good if I can average around 9:00/mi for a 20-miler. I feel pretty good overall about the run, but I didn't like the way the last 2 or 3 miles felt. Wayne dropped down to 7:30/mi or faster, and Kent also easily pulled ahead of me. I struggled. I decided I didn't want any 9:00+ miles so I worked hard just to get 8:57 and 8:53 for the last two. I missed two long runs (YW camp and family vacation) where Kent and Wayne did 18 or more miles. It was noticeable today I think, as I faded hard at around 18 miles.

Labor Day. Kent had said he was going to go out later, at 7:30am. I hadn't committed, but decided to go out then. I didn't see Kent so I headed over to the THS track for some speed work. I saw evidence of a race being set up, but the track was free so I started. By the time I had completed 5 x 1/2 intervals (3:21, 3:31, 3:25, 3:29, 3:30) quite a few people had arrived at the registration table over by the school and some were warming up on the track. My buddy Tim ran along side and I learned that it was the T-wolf Trot, a 3 mile fundraiser for the THS cross country teams. It was only $10, but I didn't have any money with me. I thought the race would be more fun than more intervals, and I wanted to support the teams. Luckily, I bumped into my neighbor Brad who was there to run it (his son is on the team). He loaned me $10 and I registered shortly before they moved us to the starting line.

The high schoolers took off like it was a 50 yard dash. I gradually reeled in some of them over the next couple of miles (not the fastest ones). I found myself slowly gaining on my daughter Emily's friend Brianna. I barely beat her in our neighborhood 5K earlier this year. I caught her with a little less than a mile to go. I briefly thought about hanging back, but then an old guy passed us both and I had to go after him. I never caught him, but I pulled ahead of Brianna. I didn't give her another thought...until she passed me around the final curve on the track and pulled easily away to finish ahead of me. I think I enjoyed her beating me almost as much as she did. It was a good finishing time for her. I love seeing young people work hard and succeed, especially at running. If I was her motivation (and victim) this time, that's okay.

Kent showed up late after helping out his dad with an urgent matter. I felt bad for him as he had to dodge people to get in his intervals but, to his credit, he finished them.

I didn't have money for the breakfast so after mingling for a while I headed home for a shower. I still made it back before the results were available. I finished 35th of 122, 31 of which were 18 or younger. I think two 41 year old men and a 37 year old woman beat me, but I won the 50+ age division. I finished in 21:01 (7:09/mi). They said it was 3 miles but my Garmin only measured 2.93. I was right; it was way more fun than running more 1/4 mile intervals.

Tuesday 2000 N hill run. I can't remember who was there. Avg pace: 9:12/mi.

Wednesday water tank hill run. It was nice to see Larry out. We've missed him. I was content to just run along with him, talk about the Red Rock Relay coming up on Friday, and let the others push up the hills this week. I had worked extra hard on Monday.

Thursday run with the guys minus Larry (he was heading out to St. George prior to the relay). I averaged 9:02/mi, which with the big hills is not bad for me.

We left Orem about 10:00am. It was already dark and cool when I finally got to run my first leg which started at 8:20pm. This was Leg 12 - "SUU Fun Run", a 5.4 mile "easy" downhill leg. I enjoyed everything about this leg except the narrow shoulder and having to worry about cars now and then. I passed 4 runners, but one of them was especially satisfying. I chased him forever. I guess he was trying to stay ahead of me for just as long because when I finally passed him he said that if I was going to pass him anyway he might as well finally stop and tie his shoe, which he did. He probably didn't know that I stepped on it hard as I started to pass him to try to keep him from hanging on. He may have eventually been able to wear me down, or catch me when I had to come to a dead stop for what seemed like forever to wait for a traffic light at a busy intersection. At the second busy intersection I pushed hard to get through just before the light changed.

I passed 4 other runners and was not passed.

Avg. pace: 7:03/mi

It was still dark and pretty cold (42?) when I started my second leg about 5:00am. I wore a long sleeve shirt over my short sleeve shirt and wore my knit gloves. This was Leg 24 - "Very Veyo", a 6.9 mile "medium" downhill leg. Actually, it's basically the first 7 miles of the St. George marathon from Central to Veyo, with a detour at the end to get to the van exchange.

Shortly after I started I noticed a relay bracelet (the one passed from runner to runner) that someone had dropped. I stopped and picked it up. I shortly caught the next runner in front of me, but it was not his. I proceeded to catch the girl in front of him. She was wearing headphones so I showed her the bracelet and loudly asked if she had hers. She nodded and held up her arm to show me, only to discover that it wasn't there. She was grateful and asked me to "slap it on". I did and moved on to catch the next runner. I chased one young guy for miles. I think we passed 7 other runners before I finally caught him. When I passed him he said something like, "Wow, you're really movin'." I soaked it in, and pulled away.

There were a lot of runners along this leg, but about half of them were not in the relay. With three weeks to go before the marathon, many local runners were starting early in the morning to get in a long run along the course before it got too hot.

I passed 24 people, but I think only 12 were part of the relay. Again, I was not passed by anyone (relay runner or otherwise).

Avg. pace: 7:20/mi

It looks like 7:20-7:30/mile might be good goal pace for this section in the marathon in 3 weeks.

My third leg was leg 36 "Zion Finale", a "hard" uphill leg of 7.5 miles. The uphill was tough enough, but between my 2nd leg at 5:00am to my 3rd leg at 2:40pm the temperature went from cold to hot. It climbed 50+ degrees from 42 to 94.

I was feeling a little pain in my hip and knee, and felt more like taking a nap than running, but I figured that would pass once I started running. What concerned me was the heat and the uphill for 7.5 miles. Fortunately (for me not them) it was also very hot for Kevin and Curt's legs and we were prepared for my leg. I say we, because my pit crew took perfect care of me. As I requested, they stopped 4 times for me. At each stop they had two cool cups of water for me, one to drink and one to dump over my head. At 3 of the 4 they also had a paper towel soaked in ice water that they stuck into my shirt on the back of my neck. Each stop was perfectly timed to prevent a melt down and re-energize me.

With two miles to go I sent them on to the finish and pushed on up to and through Springdale and on to the finish. I was thrilled to average 8:20/mi for the first 4 miles in the heat with the uphill. My right foot started to feel uncomfortable, like there was a bunch in my sock on the ball of my foot. I've got blisters there before when running on hot roads. I stopped twice to quickly pull off my shoe and take a look, but I found nothing wrong with either my sock or my shoe so I continued on. Then either the hills got steeper (I know they did at the end), the heat got hotter, or I just plain ran out of gas, or a combination of the above. My mile splits slowed to 9:02, then 9:17, then 9:45, then 9:40/mi for the last (steeper) half mile. I was very glad to see my teammates and the finish line.

There weren't many runners to pass, but I did chase down four. I managed to finish the relay without getting passed (mostly because the fast teams happened to pass us during other teammate's legs).

Avg. pace: 8:49/mi

One of the best parts was Wayne and Deeks being willing to drive from Springdale to Payson. I was in no condition to drive for a while. That cheeseburger at Carl's Jr. when we stopped for gas at Cedar City was pretty enjoyable, too.

I went to the track with Kent and Jeff Tulley. Tim and Martin were there waiting. They ran intervals. My legs hadn't recovered from the relay so I just ran easy laps around the track. There is no sense in risking injury this close to the marathon.

Tuesday 2000 N route with Kent, Wayne, and Lyle. The other three of us we're still a little beat up from the relay and Kent started pulling away up the hill. I didn't want him to think relay runners were wimpy so surged to catch him then worked to stay with him to the top. After going down the hill in Lindon, I spent the rest of the run chasing Wayne, with the others behind us a bit. It was a good training run.

Water tank hills with Kent and Jeff. I pushed the hills pretty hard but and was just a little slower than last week, 15:52. I'll blame it on the headwind and running with a headlamp in the dark. The last fast half mile was at 6:12/mi pace. My fitness is down from 3 years ago, but it's at a high point this year. I feel pretty strong and confident as I approach the St. George marathon in 2.5 weeks.

Thursday Lindon-2000 N hill route.