Sean's Running Blog

Flew into Grand Junction to meet up with the family last night. Got a nice 10-mile run in this morning. GJ is at about 4500 feet elevation. Altitude didn't seem to both me. I was still a bit sore from Saturday, particularly in the calves but not as much as I expected. BTW...it was 71 degrees at 7am when I headed out.

Now in Monticello, UT after spending a nice albeit scorching hot day at Arches National Park. Topped out at 99 degrees. Found a nice reservoir about 2.5 miles from the hotel and ran around it twice. A 7200 feet of elevation, I really noticed the lack of oxygen. I've read that 7,000 and up is where you really start feeling dramatic effects of altitude. It was a beautiful run though. Off to Glen Canyon today.

Woke up this morning in Torrey, UT smack dab in the middle of Capitol Reef National Park. Pretty cool place. I"m not sick of the red rock yet. The hotel elevation was 6800ft. I ran an out and back along a lonely highway out to a town (village) called Grover which peaked out at 7230 ft. I definitely noticed the lack of oxygen. The hilliness made it more obvious. Good run though. Off to Provo this evening.

Ran from Timpview High School down 9th east to check out the start and finish areas of the Provo Freedom Run on Monday. Haven't decided if I am going to run that yet. Down to Center St. and then up University to meet the family at Provo High School so the kids could run around the track. BTW...the PHS track is in terrible shape. They are due for a resurfacing. But the kids had fun and we beat the heat of the day. Even had a couple of rain drops. Just for fun I ran a 5:00 mile to see what it would feel like at the higher altitude. It was harder than it should have been but to be honest, I think it had a lot more to do with having run a half marathon on Saturday then the altitude.

Easy nine miles from Timpview HS up Provo Canyon. BTW...I don't think I have ever seen a trail with more painted mile markers than the Provo Canyon trail.

Most of the family joined me today for the Sandy 5k/10k near Sandy city hall. Overall a good experience. To be honest, I ran it solely to try and win the $100. I'm still very much in recovery mode from Saturday's half marathon so my plan was to run just fast enough to win.

The course is mostly flat but there is one steady uphill and one short and steep uphill section. Nothing major. The wind was more of a factor than the hills. There has been a lot of wind here the last few days. Since there were no mile markers for the 10k, I don't really have any splits. The 10kers run the 5k course twice. There's a lot to like about two lap courses and some things not to like. It makes for a lot of dodging and weaving but it's a good mental way to break up the race especially in the absence of mile markers.

After the first mile, I led the whole way. I avoided looking over my shoulder for the first lap once I got into the lead. No point really. Lots of running ahead and I just wanted to focus on running my race. The course is completely closed to traffic which is nice. There is no chip timing which is silly but not a big deal for those in the front. More of a nightmare for the race organizers.

I forgot to hit my lap button at the one lap mark so unforutnately, i don't know how the two 5ks compared. I wish I did. I suspect the second one was slower because it was on the second lap that I really started to feel both the elevation (4500 ft.) and the effects of Saturday's half marathon. Feeling good during easy runs like I did all week has no relevance to how you feel when you run hard. At about mile 4 -- amid the hilly section -- I looked back and my competition was only about 25 yards back. I was really hoping he wasn't that close. I questioned for a moment whether I would be able to hold on. But it turns out that once we got out of the hills, I had actually increased the gap.

By Mile 6 or so you turn onto Centennial Blvd for the final straightaway. It was a pretty strong headwind, but I looked back and I was well ahead of the second place guy so I didn't do any kind of crazy sprint to the finish which made me happy.

So I ended up with a 33:01...would have been nice to have a 32:xx but no worries. I probably won't jump into the Provo Freedom Run on Monday. Calves a still pretty sore and I don't think I will do that well.