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Spectrum 10K

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Location:

Orem,UT,USA

Member Since:

Apr 03, 2006

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

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

Short-Term Running Goals:

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

Long-Term Running Goals:

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

Personal:

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

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Altra Instinct 1.5 Lifetime Miles: 83.50
Altra Lone Peak 1.5 Lifetime Miles: 21.80
Saucony Guide 7 Blue 2 Lifetime Miles: 376.95
Saucony Fastwitch 6 Lifetime Miles: 200.05
Saucony Guide 7 Black 1 Lifetime Miles: 271.15
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
26.306.200.000.000.0032.50
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 12.40Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 10.10Saucony Tangent Miles: 10.00
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
6.200.000.000.000.006.20

I ran the Orem library route solo this morning. Larry had talked of joining me, but I think daylight savings time got the better of him. I know my body was sure reluctant to start running at what felt like 4:45am. Maybe that's why I ran so much slower this morning than Friday. Friday I averaged 8:01/mi on this route. Today I averaged 9:00/mi. I count it a victory that I managed to drag myself out of bed at all.

Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.20
Comments(4)
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
6.100.000.000.000.006.10

I ran the Orem library route solo this morning inside my freezer...well, it felt like I was running inside my freezer. It felt cold! My pace isn't worth mentioning, but I had three victories this morning: 1) I got out of bed, 2) I took the first step into the cold all alone when nobody else showed up, and 3) I kept my legs moving until the planned run was done.

Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 6.10
Comments(1)
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
6.200.000.000.000.006.20

Solo Orem library run. Cold again. Barely broke 9:00 pace (8:59/mi).

Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 6.20
Add Comment
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
4.000.000.000.000.004.00

Four miles through Lindon with Larry.

Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 4.00
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Race: Spectrum 10K (6.2 Miles) 00:42:22, Place overall: 38, Place in age division: 5
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
3.806.200.000.000.0010.00

This makes two years in a row we found out after I committed to run the Spectrum 10K as part of the St. George Runner Series that it conflicted with one of our daughters dancing at the BYU Marriott Center. With Karen's encouragement and my daughter's approval, I decided to go ahead and run the race this year, but I've decided I will skip this race next year if it conflicts again.

My plans for getting to and from St. George, and my sleeping arrangements while there, were more fluid than I normally like, but it all turned out well. I ended up riding down with Larry, Jolene, and their grandson Becket. I was planning to sleep at Jolene's parents' home, but we found out Wayne's wife was ill and Wayne was coming down alone. He was staying at a friend's condo and there was an extra room so I stayed with him. It was a really nice condo. I felt like I was staying at a 5 star hotel. Since both Larry and Wayne were originally planning to stay past Saturday, Kerry and his family had agreed to give me a ride back home. With Wayne's wife being ill and not coming down, he decided to head back Saturday so I rode with him so he wouldn't be alone and to allow Kerry's family to have a little more space. It's great having such generous and kind running buddies (and their families). Like most things in life, who you're with has a large impact on how much you enjoy what you are doing.

We had picked up our numbers the night before, but Wayne and I still got up and got to the start early enough to have plenty of time to warm up and hit the portapotties. The last bus in the first wave left just as Larry and company arrived. The second wave seemed slow getting back. We ended up being nearly the last people getting on the last bus.

It's good I had warmed up well and got my bathroom stops in. Just after we got off the bus they announced two minutes to the start of the race, and two minutes later we were racing down Snow Canyon.

I had been looking forward to this race for weeks. I've been increasing my mileage the past month or so, but I've been reluctant to push the pace because of the Achilles tendonitis I've been trying to get healed up all winter. It's been feeling pretty good and I hadn't wanted to push too soon and have it flare up again. But today I had decided to put it to the test. I was actually looking forward to the discomfort and challenge of race pacerunning and seeing just where my fitness is.

Given my lackluster training this winter until the last month or so, I knew the sub-40 time of last year was beyond my reach. My goals for today were 1) sub-42, 2) sub-7:00 pace, or 3) sub-45. I managed to average a 6:49/mi pace, but missed the sub-42, finishing in 42:22. Despite the fact that I finished 5th in my AD this year vs. 2nd last year, I feel really good about the results. My splits were: 6:06, 7:00, 6;30, 7:04, 7:22, 7:20, 6:24/mi for the last 0.2.

The weather was perfect, the scenery beautiful, and I really enjoyed the run. The first half of the run down the canyon I decided to let the brakes off but not push too hard. I averaged about 6:32/mi for the first 5K (20:15-ish) which I think was about right. I felt like I took advantage of the downhill while still retaining enough energy to not die on the uphill sections during the second half of the race. Once I set my effort level fairly early in the race I think I held it pretty steady the whole race, evidenced by only passing a few runners and having only a few pass me. There were a few that passed me multiple times, but I think my steady pace outlasted most if not all of them.

One of the runners that passed me once and who I never passed back was Hal Amos. He passed about 3.5 miles into the race. I could see him the rest of the race, and closed the gap a couple of times, but he finished about 30 seconds ahead of me. Larry's niece Jesse finished only 15 seconds behind me. Immediately after finishing I headed back on the route. Wayne was a few minutes behind, with Larry a little farther back, with Jolene right on his heels.

I kept going until I met up with Kerry and Laureen and their daughter Amelia (12). I finished well ahead of Kerry, but I would have traded him in a heart beat to be able to be running with my wife and one of my children. What a great family activity. Amelia has nice running form and showed some real toughness in this race. During the awards I asked if she might do it again and she smiled and nodded her head. It seemed to me that she was experiencing that satisfaction that comes from pushing your limits and enduring well.

I enjoyed everything about going to St. George for this race...the weather, my running buddies, the results...except that Karen wasn't there and I missed my daughter's performance. She earned a gold medal in the elementary school ballroom dance team match and survived 3 or 4 elimination rounds to make it to the quarter finals in the Newcomer Swing competition. As I said, next year I will be more careful in my calendaring. Maybe I'll drop the Spectrum 10K (even though I like it a lot) and try the Snow Canyon or Hurricane half marathon instead.

Saucony Tangent Miles: 10.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
26.306.200.000.000.0032.50
Saucony Trigon 5 Miles: 12.40Saucony Guide Blue Miles: 10.10Saucony Tangent Miles: 10.00
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