Every Race is an Adventure!

I went to the THS track with Larry and Kent. After our 1 mile warm up (running to the track plus a warm up lap), Kent did his 1/2 mile repeats, Larry did his Energizer Bunny run, and I did a 4 mile tempo run. My goal was to run each mile between 7:00 and 7:10. I didn't check my pace except at each mile. I just tried to keep movin' along. My splits were 6:51, 7:10, 7:05, and 6:58...average 7:01/mi.

I think these splits are kind of illustrative of how I run a lot of my races. I often start out a little faster than maybe I should, then slow up but still run close to goal pace, then manage to pull out a little extra at the end and speed up a bit to finish pretty strong. It may not be ideal, but it seems to work okay for me.

I would love to run this pace at St. George in two weeks and finish around 3:04, but that's not too likely. I simply haven't paid the price this year. I think a goal of 3:15 (7:27/mi) to 3:20 (7:38/mi) is more reasonable, and that's probably even a stretch. A lot will depend on the weather conditions and how badly my hip hurts me that day. My fall back goal is 3:30 (8:00/mi) which is a Boston qualifying time for me. Actually, since I'll be 50 by the next Boston Marathon, I think my BQ is actually 3:35 (8:12/mi) now.

Whatever happens on marathon day, I just plan to take it in stride (pun intended) and enjoy the experience of another marathon adventure.

2000 N route with Larry and Kent at an easy pace. My right hip was quite sore last night, but it was only a little sore this morning and didn't bother me much during the run. I think I may have to see a doctor about it. It's gradually been getting worse.

My doctor told me a few years ago that it looked like I was getting arthritis in my right hip. It was very tight. I couldn't cross my right leg over my left. He showed me some stretches to loosen it up. I finally got serious this year about trying to stretch it out. I've loosened it up quite a bit, and can now cross my leg, but I've still got work to do.

The problem is related to my serious left knee injury (youth football) when I was 14 that left my left leg 1+ inch shorter than my right. I wear a partially-compensating lift in my left shoe, but my right leg still bears more of my weight than my right. A chiropractor recently measured and found that my right leg was bearing 12 lbs. more of my weight than my left leg. He thought that might be the cause of the wear and inflammation in my right hip.

I think that my attempts at stretching out my hip after 35 years has maybe led to increased stress and inflammation on the joint. Stretching and ibuprofen may not be enough...although they'll probably have to do until after the St. George marathon.

Kent and I ran the water tank hills in the brisk autumn air. I backed off "full effort" on the uphill and fast 1/2 mile sections...I am beginning to taper after all...but was pleased to still ascend in 16:13 and average 6:38/mi on the 1/2 mile.

I ran the Cascade route at an easy pace with Larry and Kent. I went back looking for Larry's dog Ozzie at one point in the first half of the run, and then Larry went back looking for him during the second half of the run, so for a large portion of the run we weren't all together. Sometimes Ozzie's shepherding instincts (he's an Aussie Shepherd) are evident as he stays with the group, or stays back with a runner that is lagging behind. Other times he just seems selfish and lazy and does whatever he feels like and we have to go back looking for him. He seems kind of ... human.

I'm definitely not bragging about the pace, but it was interesting that today's run was exactly a 10K in exactly 1:00:00 (9:40/mi).

This morning Kent and I made the right choice I think. We decided to do the 10 mile tempo run from Trefoil at the top of South Fork down to the mouth of Provo Canyon. I dropped my car at the mouth and Kent drove us to the top. We weren't running the the same pace, so the driving was about the only time we were together.

The autumn leaves were very beautiful, with vivid reds and oranges mixed in with the evergreens. We saw a skunk and some wild turkeys. We also various squads of soldiers in camo uniforms with boots, full packs and carrying logs hiking/running down South Fork.

This was mostly a mental run today. We wanted to see how fast of a pace we could hold for 10 miles and see how we felt going just a little faster than marathon pace.
My mile splits were: 6:12, 6:48, 6:58, 6:45, 6:53, 6:59, 6:38, 6:47, 7:11, and 6:49. Mile 1 may have been a little fast, but it felt good. I was trying to catch Kent and a couple of other runners who had started down ahead of me. Mile 9, the only mile over 7:00, seemed really flat with little or no downhill. It felt really hard. I may have let up a little mentally, but I was working pretty hard. I was pleased that I was able to pull mile 10 back down to 6:49.

Kent wanted to break 75 minutes (7:30/mi) and finished in around 74. I wanted to break 70 minutes (7:00/mi) and ran it in 68:05 (6:48/mi, 8.8mph). So we both had good runs and made our goals. We're both pretty encouraged by the results. It was a beautiful day, with cool temperatures, beautiful autumn leaves and sunlit mountainsides. What a great way to start the day.

I'm only mentioning my sore right hip to point out that I'm not mentioning it. I'm trying to ignore it hoping it will go away...not my hip, just the pain. I'm a little concerned about whether it will make it 26.2 miles, but there is not much I can do about that now. Either it will or it won't. I'm going to rest it, running just enough to keep it loosened up, take NSAIDs to manage the inflammation and pain, hope for the best, and endure. At least it will give me an excuse if certain people I'm hoping to beat end up beating me instead.