Every Race is an Adventure!

Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay

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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
6.2016.501.000.002.0025.70
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 15.30Saucony Tangent Miles: 10.40
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
3.900.000.000.002.005.90

I ran the Tuesday 2000 N route with Larry, Wayne and Kevin this morning. Wayne and I had both run marathons on Saturday. We weren't fast, but for three days after a marathon I thought we ran pretty well.

My legs don't quite feel like running race pace yet, but I don't feel any stiffness or soreness from the marathon. I'm confident that by Friday evening I'll be ready for my first leg in the relay. I think I'll run a few easy miles tomorrow to keep my legs loose then take Thursday off.

My new Saucony Guide 2s finally arrived. I wore them walking around on Saturday but ran in them for the first time this morning. They feel great.

Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 5.90
Add Comment
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
2.300.001.000.000.003.30

I ran part of the water tank hills route with Larry, Wayne and Kent this morning. I ran the 1.2 miles to the base of the first hill then walked up the hills while they ran then rejoined them on their way down.

Walking the hills alone in the early morning was nice. I enjoyed viewing the cloud-covered mountain peaks, the beautiful valley and lake, the unusually verdant (nice word, huh? - I think it means green) hillsides, and the colorful wildflowers.

On the way back I stopped to fix my shoe. As I sped up to catch up I decided to just keep going. I didn't push hard, but just tried to run efficiently and keep my momentum focused forward on the comfortable downhill from the old WordPerfect buildings down to Main Street. I was pleased to see I averaged 7:25/mi for that mile. I can tell my legs aren't quite 100% yet, but I felt no lingering aches or pains from Saturday's marathon. I don't plan to run tomorrow or on Friday before my first leg around 7:00pm. I'm confident that I'll be able to run at least the first two legs fairly well. The real test will be my third leg, the long gradual uphill around noon on Saturday...but then the third leg is always an adventure.

I'm looking forward to the relay!

Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 3.30
Comments(2)
Race: Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay (3.4 Miles) 00:24:59
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
0.003.400.000.000.003.40

I ran leg 8 of the Wasatch Back Relay about 7:00pm. It didn't seem overly warm until I started running, but with this cool spring I haven't done much heat running and with the temperature in the 70-80 range it quickly seemed quite warm.

This was a short 3.4 mile leg rated easy. It was level to slightly downhill for two miles then gained about 150 ft. in the last 1.5 miles of gradual uphill. My mile splits were: 6:48 (adrenalin), 7:11 (heat), 8:00 (uphill), 7:36/mi for last 0.4 (kick). I passed 10 other runners and was not passed.

I'll log my other two legs in tomorrow's entry.

Saucony Tangent Miles: 3.40
Comments(1)
Race: Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay (13.1 Miles) 01:37:45
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
0.0013.100.000.000.0013.10

Continuation of the Wasatch Back Relay...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leg 32, 6.1 miles, Moderate

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

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

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

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

Saucony Tangent Miles: 7.00Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 6.10
Comments(2)
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
6.2016.501.000.002.0025.70
Saucony Guide 2 Miles: 15.30Saucony Tangent Miles: 10.40
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