Breaking the Wall

A.M. 10 with Mike, some of it. Did a mile pickup in 5:20.9 with the last quarter in 76. Jenny and Julia ran 2.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 16:19. 0.5 with Benjamin, Jacob, and Joseph in 4:10.

A.M. 10 with Mike, Patrick, and Thomas. Patrick and I did a pickup for a mile in 5:26. 2 with Benjamin in 16:19, same time as last night. Jenny and Julia ran 2 including 0.7 with Jacob.

A.M. 8 with Mike early (5:00 AM). Had to take my mother to the airport.

P.M. 0.5 with Benjamin, Jacob, and Joseph. 2 with Benjamin in 15:16. 1.5 more alone in 9:42, last 200 in 40.

A.M. Slept in, so ended up running alone. That was a blessing, perhaps, because as soon as I got back from a hard 20 mile run I found a text message telling me a client had an emergency that I was going to handle, which meant no nap.

Did the mile fast/ mile slow workout.  The slow miles were between 7:20 and 8:00, the fast varied with the terrain and fatigue effort, but most of them were about half marathon race pace effort. The splits were 5:56 (slight up, bridges) - 5:38 (rolling) - 5:44 (slight up, headwind) - 5:50 (more up, headwind) - 6:07 ( even more up. more headwind) - 5:19 (down, tailwind) - 5:18 (less down, less tailwind, probably pushed too hard on this one) - 5:30 (slight down, took it easy, relatively) - 5:43 ( bridges, turns, but down) - 5:44 (bridges, turns, no energy)

Jenny and Julia ran 2 including 0.7 with Jacob.

P.M. Joseph's first bike ride on the trail. He learned to ride his bike two weeks ago, and has been riding in the church parking lot. I decided to take him on the trail for a difference. Benjamin and I ran. We ended up with 2.5 in 21:50.  Joseph rode the first 1.63, then ran 0.87 in 7:54 (9:05 pace).

Day of rest. Went to church for the sacrament, then went to Sarah's brother's baby blessing in Brigham City, and stayed for all three meetings there. It was a fast and testimony meeting. Then we discussed Job in Sunday School, and the Elder's Quorum discussion was on the natural man. 

A.M. Ran with Mike and Patrick. Did 10. Mike and I did a pickup mile in 5:26, then I did a post-VPB 600 in 2:00 (5:20 pace). 2.25 with Benjamin in 16:58, last 400 in 90. 0.5 with Jacob in 4:27. Jenny and Julia ran 2.

A.M. Easy run with Mike, 10 miles. Jenny and Julia ran 2, including 0.7 with Jacob.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin. Benjamin ran 0.5 with Joseph.

A.M. Tempo run with Mike. 5 miles. The plan was go 6:00 for the first 3, then quicker if Mike could handle it. Turned out that Mike has gotten into great shape and could go much faster giving me a good push to where I just had to sit behind him most of the way. So we did this:

5:56 - 5:42 - 5:42 (14:00 at 2.5) - 5:30 (81,83,83,83) - 5:38 (85,86,86,81) - total time 28:28, last 2.5 in 13:58.

My legs started caving in the last mile, and I had a hard time shifting gears to get out of the 86 quarter rut. Mike was hurting at that point too and was not pushing the pace anymore as much. Finally I was able to shift gears in the last quarter somewhat, and Mike was able to respond, so we ended up with a good time for him, much faster than I expected. Caving legs were probably a result of cumulative lack of sleep, or at least I hope it will be fixed by sleeping.

We had a bit of a rhythm breaking adventure as we ran into a duck about 0.25 into the last mile of the tempo. Literally, both of us ended up kicking it. That  is the first time I've ever run into a bird like that I believe.

Finished the run with Jenny, she ran 2, I ended up with 10.5. Julia had a fever and did not run. Jenny took Jacob for 0.5.

P.M. 2.25 with Benjamin in 17:44. Last 0.4 or so hard, at about 6:00 pace. Benjamin ran 0.5 with Joseph.

A.M. Did 10.5 with Mike. 2x400 in the middle 72.8 and 69.8. 0.5 with Jacob in 4:18.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 15:21. We did a couple of pickups - a quarter in 87, and another in 88. Benjamin ran 0.5 with Joseph in 4:13.

A.M. 10 with Mike. Jenny ran 2. 0.5 with Jacob, and Jenny in 4:44. 2 with Benjamin in 16:37.

AM. 15 miles with Mike. Did a 7.5 mile tempo on the standard 2.5 stretch of the Provo River Trail. The plan was 5:52 pace until 1.5 to go, then give it a push  if the energy is present. We were a bit feistier. Splits: 5:47 - 5:45 - (14:26) - 5:47 - 5:45 - 5:50 (14:28) - 5:42 - 5:36  then 79, 77 (5:12 avg for the last 0.5), (13:54) total time 42:48. I was much happier with this run than with the one on Wednesday. Mike did great, we traded quarters until a mile to go, then I pulled him, he stayed with me until a quarter to go, then fell back 2 seconds, but that was still very solid as by that time I had sped up to 5:08 pace.

Jenny and Julia ran 2.

P, M. 2 with Benjamin. 0.5 with Joseph. Jacob was sick.

Day of rest. We had a Stake Conference. Good talks. Elder Holland talked about the grit, the spunk, and the moral courage of the pioneers, and how we should have it today. Sister Beck talked about faith. I liked her "You are doing better than you think you are but you can do a whole lot better".  Somehow it has become fashionable to beat yourself up about your shortcomings while vehemently insisting that you are doing your very best. Elder Packer talked about a number of things including agency and leadership. He also told stories, I particularly enjoyed the one about how he used a 20 mark bill borrowed from Elder Bednar (back then a young  missionary in Germany to bribe an East German train conductor so he would accept a valid passport as really valid in his eyes.

A.M. 10 with Mike Did a 1.5 pickup in 8:33.. 2 more with Julia in 17:52. 0.5 with Jacob in 4:29. Benjamin and Jenny were sick.

P.M. 0.5 with Joseph in 5:27. He was sick.  S w Dr. Brady, he had some ideas for me, will try them. Ran a mile on his treadmill.

A.M. 6 with Mike, 0.5 with Jacob in 4:15. Julia ran 2. Joseph, Benjamin, and Jenny still sick.

P.M. Flight to Montreal - company meeting. Ran a good distance through the terminals to make the connections in Detroit and Cleveland. Ran 1.5 from the bus stop to the  hotel with luggage. Was still able to run about 9:00 uphill without too much effort.

A.M. 7 miles in Mont Royal park. It was hillier than I thought, but the climb was not bad at a lower elevation. I noticed that the runners were slower in Montreal than in Provo. In Provo I do not pass people like they are standing still unless I am doing a tempo run. Today maybe I picked a bad time, but people that looked fit were coming to me very fast even though I was running a true honest easy effort. Maybe I pushed it subconsciously because it was uphill and I had more oxygen to work with at a lower elevatiion.

A.M. 4.8 in Montreal.

P.M. 1.5 back from the company meeting in the rain. That was the fastest way to get to the hotel. Then another 2 miles doing pre-departure errands. If I lived in Montreal I would get a job as a courier. The ability to run comfortably at 6:30 pace allows you to get places downtown quicker than any other way, and the air quality is actually good enough that you will not suffocate while doing it. But I do not want to live in a big city. Every time you sneeze they charge you. It costs to park your bike of all things! To get to the airport, 7 Canadian dollars by bus, or 40 by taxi.

A day of adventures. It began with me sleeping in, if arising at 1:30 MST can be called sleeping in, and missing the bus I planned to get on to go to the airport. I ran downtown (1.5 miles) with my bag, but by the time I got there, I realized the next bus will not allow me to make my flight. So I took a taxi. I had to find an ATM to get the cash for the taxi.  Part of the bummer is that I had already bought the bus ticket the night before. That was the start of the travel marathon. Then customs at the airport, and a connection to Cleveland to find out that Delta had overbooked my connecting flight to Minneapolis. The agent offered me a plan to get to SLC by 7:00 PM instead of one. I pressed her to find a better option, and she found a plan that would get me there by 4:00 PM that would involve a connecting flight from Continental to Atlanta. I took that. On the positive side of things I got at $6 breakfast voucher and a $200 certificate for Delta for the inconvenience.

I checked the Continental schedule, and realized that the flight I was supposed to be on was going to be late, and that would jeopardize my connection in Atlanta. Fortunately, there was another flight right before it that was late as well, and I had enough time to make it. The Continental people were nice enough to book me on that flight. Thus I progressed to Atlanta, and on to Salt Lake from there. Delta pt me in first class on that flight. I still do not understand why people fly first class. It is still a plane.

The entire time I was very concerned about getting sick. I already had a bit of a snotty nose when I started the trip. So I took some vitamin C, ate some garlic, and was drinking lots of orange juice to contain the damage. Planes and airports are an incredible germ factory. I suppose the damage could be reduced if they let you go outside for a walk somewhere with clean air between flights, but that will not happen until the majority of travelers are runners with concerns about being healthy for the marathon they are going to run the day after their trip.

 The travel marathon continued with a drive to Logan, bib pickup, and finally I arrived at my destination at Jason's house by 7:00 PM. So 3.5 hours of sleep + 17.5 hours of traveling from 200 feet above see level to race at 5000 feet. Great preparation for the marathon!

I considered just skipping it altogether, but just could not do it. I had to at least try. I have run Top of Utah every single year they've had it. I love the race directors. They are some of the few that really understand what it takes to be fast, and put a lot of effort into making this a great race. I felt that I needed to at least make it to the starting line if I could, and then do my very best to get to the finish in a decent time without risking my health.

A.M. Top of Utah Marathon, 2:36:06, 5th place, $250. I feel like I have just piloted a plane with a missing propeller blade, or perhaps a couple. It could not go as fast as it normally does, but I landed it safely without being too much off schedule. Not that I had ever flown a plane or ever would (my uncorrectable 20/800 vision in the right eye will not permit it), but I image that is how something like this would feel.

I woke up in the AM. Relatively minor congestion in the throat and nose. HR was 52, a bit high for that time, but no fever. I do know from experience that even a minor cold can prove disastrous in the marathon. You can fake it in the 5 K, or even 10 K, but the marathon is a different animal. The health needs to be perfect at the starting line or else...

Decided to give it my best shot anyway, then jog to the finish if I had to. Ran the first 2 miles with Sammy Nyamongo and Peter Omae (5:32, 5:22), then about half way through the third mile the pace increased, and I realized that I did not have the health to keep it. So I backed off and cruised with the goal of keeping my head above water, being thankful for everything under 6:00, more thankful for under 5:50, and exceptionally thankful for a few miles under 5:40.

Hit 5 Miles in 27:58. Steve Shepherd and and Ben VanBeekum caught up to me around 7. I ran with them for a couple of miles. Ben was just doing a tempo run - 13 miles. Steve was racing. Steve's pace was too fast for me, I backed off. Ben stopped to go the bathroom, then caught up and was nice enough to pull me to 13. That helped a lot. 10 mile split was 56:52 (28:54), 1:14:24 at the half. Not a complete disaster yet, but the body is weak and there is another half to go.

1:25:32 at 15 (28:40). Encouraging. Now I have only 11 miles to crash over. And I am still in 4th. Meaning I can get passed once and still be in the money. And even if I get passed twice, I am not going home completely empty handed, it is $50 for age division win. But the way I am feeling I can get passed multiple times once the eggs of trouble hatch. Slightly sub-6:00 average for the next 3 miles, 1:43:29 at 18. Only 8 miles to crash over, that is encouraging. Also, the fact that I could keep sub-6:00 that late in the race means the crash will not be exceptionally bad, that is encouraging as well. Maybe I might even hold on to 4th!

The two uphill miles in 6:15 and 6:24. Second one shows a sign of weakness, but I am still moving my legs. 1:56:08 at 20. Brandon Reiff from Reno came up on me during the 21st mile. I tried to hang with him, but could only do it for a minute. This however pulled me through the next mile in 6:00. This was the last respectable mile, then I started laying goose eggs with nothing approaching 6:00 anywhere close, but at least I kept my head above water with nothing slower than 6:40. During that time I started praying for the Lord's mercy so that I would not get passed, and the Lord heard and answered my prayer. I ended up with a time that did not deserve 5th in this race, but at the same time I ended up with a place that I believe my true fitness without that trip would have earned had the race been more normally competitive. The trip was not my fault. I did not go to Montreal for pleasure. I did not have a choice, it was a mandatory company trip, and I need to feed my family, I could not say no. But the Lord was merciful to me, and made up what I lost after all that I could do.

The top finishers were Sammy  Nyamongo (2:24:06), Peter Omae ( 2:25:02), Steve Shepherd (2:25:30),  Brandon Reiff (2:33:31), then right behind me Joe Furse 2:38:15.

...

Day of rest. Went to church. Good talks in the Sacrament meeting on missionary work from a recently returned mission president and his wife. The Sunday school lesson was on obedience. The Elder's quorum lesson was on the organization of the priesthood. I was a bit spacy during church due to fatigue from traveling and running the marathon. I think traveling took more out of me than the marathon. I estimate that I was about 5 minutes off due to travel fatigue and resulting sinus infection. If you had me run a marathon the day before, I would probably be about the same 5 minutes off if I had to do another one the next day.

A.M. 8.5 with Mike. 0.5 with Jacob in 4:26. 2 with Benjamin in 15:59. He made me run the last quarter in 89. Jenny and Julia ran 2.

P.M. Benjamin took Joseph for 0.5 in 4:21.

A.M. 10.4 with Mike. Met another runner named Ethan. I think he is the youngest training partner I've ever had aside from my own children - born in 1992! Did a 0.5 pickup to catch Ethan in 2;51. 2 with Benjamin in 16:54, last quarter in 90. Jenny and Julia ran 2 including 0.5 with Jacob.

P.M. Benjamin took Joseph for 0.5 in 4:34.

A.M. 10.3 with Mike and Ethan. Did a couple of pickups to show Ethan different paces, and then ran a post VPB 500 in 1:42 (5:26 pace). 2 with Benjamin in 15:20, last mile in 6:42. Jenny and Julia ran 2 including 0.5 with Jacob.

P.M. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:38.

A.M. 10.3 with Mike and Ethan. Did a pickup for a quarter in 83, and then for a mile in 5:22.7. The last 500 of the mile at 5:05 pace. 2 with Benjamin in 16:49. Jenny and Julia ran 2 including 0.5 with Jacob.

P.M. Benjamin ran 0.5 with Joseph in 4:34.

A.M. The alarm that was supposed to wake me up a week ago to go to the airport in Montreal went off this morning instead at 2:15 AM. I happened to have put it on the wrong date, a week later than intended. I got up thinking it was time to run, and started getting ready. Half way through I realized that it was too early, but by then it was too late as my body had woken up and refused to go back to sleep. So I decided to work instead and filed a MySQL bug report. That bug has been bugging me. One of our customers ran into it, but the challenge was demonstrating to the MySQL team that the bug existed without using customer data, and in a way that was reliably reproducible. Familiarity with the MySQL test driver which I originally wrote back in the day did help. Not knowing the optimizer code as well as I needed to made things difficult, but I bluffed my way through it with the help of a debugger.

Then I ran with Mike and Ethan. I felt energetic at the start of the run, but around 3-4 miles into it I was ready for a nap. I had never felt like this before, not right in the middle of a run. I really was ready to stop, lay on the grass and take a nap right in the middle of a run! I did push through it, though, and ended up with 9 miles. Decided to cut the run a bit short as I have been feeling fatigued from the trip and the marathon this whole week, but not too short.

2 more with Benjamin in 16:54. Jenny and Julia ran 2, including 0.5 with Jacob.

P.M. Benjamin ran 0.5 with Joseph.

A.M. Long run with Mike and Ethan. Due to post marathon recovery I did only 15. Mike went full 20. Ethan ran about 15. Mike and I did a couple of pickups. First a mile in 5:27. Then Mike ran a tempo - 7.5, I did the first 2.5 with him, and then turned around and ran 600 meters back to Ethan, so 2.875 of tempo in 16:25 (5:42.6 average). Jenny and Julia ran 2, including 0.5 with Jacob. 

P.M. 2 with Benjamin, 0.5 with Benjamin and Joseph.

Day of rest. Went to church. The topic in the Sacrament meeting was unusual, but appropriate for the troubled times - how to find employment and stay employed, and the talk was given by our ward employment specialist. This may not sound like a spiritual topic, but it is. When you are out of work, you go to the Lord and ask in faith. I had to do that a couple of months ago. My client called and said they were out of money, so there went my source of income. Fortunately I was prepared, and knew who to call to find work. I got on Skype immediately and contacted a friend at Percona. A week later I had work again, better paying (although more time consuming), and still from home.That setup was a blessing from the Lord for following his guidance in the past.

The lesson in Sunday school was on eternal families. The lesson in the Elder's Quorum was on obedience with exactness and doing your duty.

A.M. Ran with Mike and Ethan. Total of 10 miles. Mike and I ran 0.5 in 2:37.6. 2 more with Benjamin in 15:22, last quarter in 90. Jenny and Julia ran 2, including 0.5 with Jacob.

P.M. A mile to Dr. Brady's office and the same distance back. Benjamin and I ran 0.5 with Joseph in 3:58.

A.M.9 miles with Ethan and Mike. 3 with Benjamin in 23:54, last quarter in 91. 0.5 with Jacob in 4:46. Jenny and Julia ran 2.

P.M. Benjamin ran 0.5 with Joseph.

A.M. Ran with Mike and Ethan. Mike and I did 5x400 down a small grade on the trail. The splits were 70.8, around 69, around 69, 69.1, and 68.1. Total of 9 miles. Then 3 more with Benjamin.

Jenny and Julia ran 2, including 0.5 with Jacob.

P.M. 0.5 with Joseph.

A.M. 9 with Mike and Ethan. 3 with Benjamin. Jenny and Julia ran 2 including 0.5 with Jacob.

P.M. Benjamin took Joseph for 0.5.