Every Race is an Adventure!

I ran the neighborhood 5K course (in the reverse direction) with Larry and his wife Jolene this morning. The temperature was in the low 30's with a bit of a cold wind and light snow falling. It was my first time running with Larry since he and Wayne ran the Death Valley Marathon on Dec. 2 so we just enjoyed an easy social run.

I then let my dog out to play with Larry's dog and we walked around the block and talked some more back to their house. It was an enjoyable morning.

I didn't run after Wednesday last week. On Thursday I found out my father had a stroke. I spent most of the day with him and my mother on Friday. Luckily the effects of the stroke were limited to the area of his brain that control balance and coordination. He now falls to the left when he tries to walk, and throws up when he stands up. The nausea should only last a few days. He can walk with a walker and the doctors say that within several months his brain should be able to rewire itself and he should be able to walk without the walker.

My father has already had two heart attacks, and his older siblings seem to have all had heart trouble. My dad has always been very fit and eats a healthy diet. Even in his 70's he's been doing 100 pushups and jumping jacks every morning. He was still breaking horses up until a few years ago. His cholestorol has never been a problem. It looks like it's simply genetics.

I'm hoping that if I stay fit through running it may delay what seems to be the inevitable, but I'm not going to waste much time worrying about it. I could be abducted by aliens this afternoon.

I ran alone this morning. The weather was in the low 30's and the roads were dry.

I ran the extended Orem course. This course is along well lit streets and breaks nicely into 1/2 mile segments every 4 blocks. It is level-ish, with gradual downhills when running away from the mountains (S and W) and (logically) gradual uphills when running towards the mountains (N and E).

I mention the grade only to try to explain the variance in my pace for this moderate-effort tempo run. Although my mind didn't really notice the uphills and downhills, my body must have. While I tried to maintain the same effort throughout the run, and feel I did pretty well, the average paces for each 1/2 mile were as follows: 7:47(S), 7:39(S), 7:57(E), 7:36(S), 8:12(E), 8:25(N), 8:05(N), 7:47(N), 7:23(W), 7:27 (W), 7:14(N w/kick).

Overall average for the 5.5 miles was 7:47/mi. I also ran a little over a mile total for warmup and cooldown.

The weather was a little warmer than yesterday, in the upper 30's. I repeated yesterday's run, adding an additional half mile to the beginning of the tempo run. The average paces for each 1/2 mile were as follows:

(+/-nn) = difference from yesterday, (u) = gradual uphill, (d) = gradual downhill

7:49(d), 8:04(+17 d), 7:51(+12 d), 8:16(+19 u), 7:49(+13 d), 8:23(+11 u), 8:22(-3 u), 8:14(+9 u), 8:02(+15 u), 7:28(+5 d), 7:37(+10 d), 7:35(+21 u).

I also ran about a mile total for warmup and cooldown.

My legs were not as fresh today as yesterday. My overall average pace for the 6 miles was 7:57, compared to 7:47 yesterday. Nevertheless, I'm satisfied with the run. My primary goal was just to get some more tempo miles in.

The weather was around 40 degrees. I ran our traditional Thursday run this morning, although I don't think I've run it for at least a couple of months now (since before St. George).

This course starts with the short steep climb up Main Street followed by the long steep climb up 2000 North (about a mile). To illustrate the steepness up 2000 North, I averaged around 11:00/mi going up, and 6:35/mi going down.

These hills are followed by rolling hills for a little less than a mile. I averaged 8:19/mi for this section.

Next is a half mile downhill section. I averaged 6:42/mi here.

The roughly two miles back in are mostly level. I averaged 8:20/mi for about a mile then dropped down to 7:54/mi for the last 0.9 miles.

I averaged 8:26/mi overall for the 5.7 miles. I gave a good effort, but didn't push it real hard. My left knee and right hip are feeling a little better, but I don't want to risk injury. I just want to be able to run strong at the Painter's half marathon in January.

What an adventure!

With the temperature around 50 degrees today, and a forecasted high of 30 and snow tomorrow, I decided to run long today.

I was up for a little bit of an adventure so I decided to run the Bonneville Shoreline trail over to the base of the trail to the "Y" on Y Mountain. I had the notion to maybe actually run up the Y trail.

I've been wanting to do it for a while. One of my most memorable long runs was in 1982 (I was 22) when I ran from my hometown of Springville to Provo, up the trail to the "Y", and then back home. That was my peak marathon year, when I ran St. George in 2:52.

Today I started by running the 1.5 miles from work to State St. at about 8:00/mi. I then slowed as I climbed up to the Bonneville Shoreline trail. The trail was in good shape and I moved easily along at an easy long run pace. There were a couple of forks along the way where I wasn't sure which way to go, but I ended up at the parking lot at the base of the Y trail. It turns out it's about 4.6 miles from work, pretty close to what I measured on Google Earth.

There are permanent restrooms there so I decided to make a pit stop. The toilet flushed, but the water to the outside fountain had apparently been turned off for the winter. I read the history of the "Y" on a monument, and then decided to go for it.

The trail is very steep. There are a series of 6 switch backs of varying length that climb about 1100 feet in just over a mile. I was quickly reminded of the Ragnar and "You Gotta Be Kidding Me" legs of the Wasatch Back Relay, but this was maybe even harder. I soon realized I would not be able to run to the top without stopping. I stopped various times on my way to the top. I didn't walk. I would stop, catch my breath, enjoy the beautiful views of Utah Valley, and then press on. I think the thinner air made it more difficult to catch my breath, but maybe it was simply exhaustion. Nearer the top I ran into a little snow and mud, but it was passable. The last little bit was especially steep, but I finally made it to the top. I stood exultant with arms raised in victory at the top of the "Y".

I quickly discovered the trip down wasn't going to be all that easy. I had to step carefully to not slip on the mud, snow, rocks, or steep inclines.

My average pace going up was 15:11/mi (not counting the stops), and going down it was 14:26/mi (no stops).

It felt good to be back running on the relative flatness of the Bonneville Shoreline trail again, for a couple of miles at least. At that point I apparently took the high road when I should have taken the low road and ended up on a very narrow, and then steep, deer trail. I eventually made it back down to the main trail, but not without some hill sliding and filling my shoes (and one of my socks) with dirt and tiny gravel.

After cleaning out my shoes and sock I continued the run back to work. It was hard getting going again. My legs were very heavy. I had to stop at the light at State Street. While waiting, I decided I wanted to finish as strongly as I could. I set my goal at an 8:00/mi pace for the last 1.5 miles, the first half of which involved crossing too railroad overpasses. When the light changed I started off with focus and determination. As I was crossing one of the overpasses I heard a brief honk but I was too tired to look so I pressed on. As I reached the base of the second overpass my average pace was exactly 8:00/mi with 3/4 of a mile of level road to the finish. I decided not to look at my watch again. I would simply try to focus and maintain form to the finish, trying to hang on. When I finished I was pleased to see that I had averaged 7:57/mi for the last 1.5 miles, 3 seconds faster than my goal. It was a minor victory, but a victory nonetheless.

One reason we run is because it feels so good when we stop. It sure felt good today! My run lasted 2.5 hours, and I only went about 11.5 miles, but it was still a great run. Who would have thought I would finally achieve my goal of running to the top of the "Y" again in the middle of December during my (rather long) lunch hour.

What made it even better, was that the honk I had heard was from Larry, my neighborhood running buddy. He called me just after I got back to my office to say he had seen me, and that it looked like I was running strong. That gave me the opportunity to tell him all about my recent adventure.