"PRIOR PREPARATION PREVENTS PISS POOR PERFORMANCE"

I love his taper time...with the cut in the quanitity of miles, the miles that I do sure feel good and my quality (speed) is rising. Yahooooo!

Later today I will get out for an 6 to 10 miler at a slower pace. I sure love taper time....

Today I am going to run the Nestle 5K route to get a feel for the new course that has been introduced for the 2010 running.

Yo FRB's, I went and ran the course, actually I just jogged it, and I think everybody will really be pleased with it. This is an easier course than the old one.  the starting line is at about 4750 ft elevation which climbs to 4815 at about 1.3 miles out where you run up about a 200 step hill and then return back to the track at the school. The return trip is a gentle down hill run where you can really kick ass and take names.........I think I'm really going to like this new course.

.25 mile shake down jog earky today. Continue carb loading until 2:pm today. get to bed early so as to get in 8 hours of sleep before getting up at 2:30 am to travel to Provo.....

Nestle 5k day!

Yes it was and it turned out to be almost everything I hoped I hoped it would be. Right from the start of the morning I met up with Kimme and Kathie and Barbara while I was standing in the shadow of the big gray temple of doom. We said our hellos and then planned on getting in about a 1 mile warm up run. We did it with no apparent problems. Then it was off to the starting line and working through all the guess work on what was going to transpire in the next 3.1 miles? Thats where we met up with Alisa K and Madie....

My stated goal was to get a first place in my age group but my main goal was to run well without doing something stupid and mess up UVM this coming saturday. I wanted to run it in 20 minutes?

Oh well, the big guy with a whistle a bullhorn sounded the start and we were all off and running. The course unfolded just like I left it on thursday....3.1 miles and it went the same way as I practiced it two days ago. I shouldn't have but I watched my garmin and noted that I did the first mile in 6:53 minutes, followed with a 7.18 minute second mile and a third at 6:57 which leaves 59 seconds to give me a 22:08 overall race time. Hey thats  7.1 minute average.

Although I am more than satisfied with my run today, because I was trying to be conserative. I know I could have cut off at least one minute per mile of my time.....Oh well, theres next year. This year was my tenth time to run this family fun time 5k in the past ten years. 

After we all finished our races we ran back up the course and ran in with Grandma Barbara....she took 1st place in her age group. Congrats Ms. B.  Kathie pulled in a 3rd place plaque. Hey, Baldman running won a big BBQ and a real cool bird house, his young 7 year old daughter placed in her age group....I think she did her 5K in 33 minutes!!!!

At the awards ceremony I managed to get second place in my tired old man division, not bad for sand bagging my race! Next year I will be the young legs of a new age group and those old men better get out of my way, I will get my first place!

So if this wasn't enough to make my day the best ever, I drew out in the raffle and was awarded an IPOD TOUCH.....talk about dumb luck with a bib with the number 18 on it.

So thats my story and I'm sticking to it......till next year.

6 mile recover run early this morning. I'm feeling really good and I'm really excited about doing the UVM this coming saturday. The taper time has worked wonders on all aspects of my mental, physical and spiritual game.

easy 5 miler on hill course

4 mile shake down run...nothing serious on semi-flat course. The run went well and the recovery from last weekends 5k race seems to be complete......just in time to go get all beat up at a marathon this saturday. I guess thats how this all works.

rest day, no more running till saturday at the UVM.....Start carb loading process...

continue carb loading and getting in as much rest time as possible. Visit the UVM expo/packet pickup @ 4:pm when it opens.

Well, just a few more hours before we will all be gathering by the big yellow school busses to run the Utah Valley Marathon...Good luck to you all!

Hey we want to ride to the start with as many bloggers as possible. We will be hanging by the first bus till we get a big group assembled.....then board and go.......see ya!

Showtime!

 Slick does Utah Happy Valley Marathon! by Tom Slick on Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:34 am

This won't be a very long report but it will be a very special one to me in so many ways. The UVM was my first marathon since my knee injury of July 2008 that I was able to run injury free. It was a great day to run a marathon. MarkO picked me up at about 2:45 am and we were off to the races. When we arrived at the mall in Provo we quickly surveyed the area around the finish line so as to become more familiar with where this marathon ended. Then we went over to the buses ad waited for a few of the gang to show up. After a while we met up with BeMo, and DoG, and MarcE, Maynard. It appeared that everybody was getting a bit restles and started to board the outbound bus to the starting area. On the bus the same fun banter took place, I managed to sit next to a young lady that was doing her first marathon, so we had one of those fatherly coach conversations about how I thought she should approach her upcoming first 26.2. MarcE sat with a gal from France and it turned out that the girl I was setting with spoke French and these two had quite a conversation. At the starting area, which was a bit mixed up, we managed to stand in a pasture that was filled with knee high grass and weeds and a plethera of PoP's. Of course we were there so early we were able to take our choice and walk right in. Then we all gathered at one of the three fire pits and hung out and met up with several other runners. About 30 minutes before the race started we were hurded out of the first staging area about 300 yards to the big blue starting arch and a bunch more PoP's that were crowded right next to the starting line. Seems to me that allthe PoP's should have been at the the starting line but pushed a little bit further back from the starting line. In the starting area I met up with several running friends from my neighborhood and out of the blue there was Marcie and Smooth and the french girl and so many other faces that I am having a hard time remembering. MarkO and I lined up together as near to the starting line as possible with Marcie and Teena and the rest of the gang. Then it was off to the races...... Just before the start of the race it started to rain fairly hard and I thought that this was really going to ge a misserable race! The as suddenly as it started it lightened up. I took off my garbage bag and folded it up and stashed it in my waist band just in case it got thick again. MarKO pretty much ran this race together. We started off the race in the higg 7's and did that for about 5 miles. I had actually wanted to press my time and push the pace a bit harder but this pace seemed to be the one that I was settling into. I ended up running 8 of my 26 miles under 8 minute miles. I averaged 8.1 minute miles overall. As the race jockyed down the hill we, MarkO and I ran into MarcE and Teena and a million other runners. We continued on and finally made it to the junction where we got on highway 189 and rean head on into the Deer Creek series of little hills. They weren't too bad at all. We continued and ran down the highway for what seemed like forever as the wind pushed us from the rear and the rain continued to to keep our front sides wet. I remember seeing and hearing AlisaK yelling at us from one of the early pit stops and encouraging us to push on and later on during the race we were hailed form a moving motor vehicle. As the race drug on I started to get into my pace and MarkO moved out ahead of me with MarcE and Teena leading the way. Man that woman can scoot down the street... So at about mile 20 or 21 I took stock of my pyhsical and mental attitude and decided that if I was going to make a move on my goal time it was now or never. I opened a gel pack and slammed it and made my move. I caught up with MarkO and as I passed him I told him if he was going to make his move on Teena it was the time to do it because she was really putting the move on us at that time. I looked ahead and painted a target on MarcE and Teena's backs started to cut the distance between us. I finally caught up with MarcE and pressed ahead and caught Teena. Then I thought to myself I had really screwed up, cause now I'd have to keep up the pace or they would catch me and leave me in their wake. As I ran into my last miles of the race there was that up hill overpass that really looked wicked as you approached. I knuckled down and did that mile at 7.58 minutes. As you were going over the overpass you could see the finish area and this was a really big lift to be able to see how close the finish line was. So then it was time to get out my cigar and put on a big grin for my kodak moment. As I went over the finish line I heard a familiar voice and saw the smile of Mrs. Kristie Fit. It was a very welcome conclusion to a really great day on the road as she placed my finisher medal around my neck. Then another woman approached me and welcomed me to the finish line, it turned out to be "Beth", MarcE's wonderful wife and two of their boys Ethen and Christian. Wow, what a great welcome to the finish line and the end of a really great marathon. My Garmin splits: 1. 7:44 2. 7:42 3. 7:44 4. 7:59 5. 7.43 ( Sure hated to have to stop at a Gray Temple of Doom) 6. 9.07 7. 8.12 8. 8.31 9. 8.02 10. 8.09 11. 8.26 12. 8.01 13. 7.58 ( Half way 1:46:XX) 14. 8.16 15. 8.22 16. 8.08 17. 7.54 18. 8.17 19. 8.13 20. 8.09 21. 8.8.07 22. 8.05 23. 8.20 24. 7.58 25. 8.04 26. 8.16 .2. 2.02

3:33:48 (Gramin time)

3:33:45( Official Chip time)

Oh ya, I managed to place 4th in my old man AG.

I sure had a great day running and hanging with all my friends!

Cougar, thank you so much for hosting a Forum Flyer get together post race, it was a blast to get to rub elbows with some of our group of crazy running people and their families.

It was my special treat this weekend to invite Marc and Beth (from Texas) into my home for the weekend with their two boys Christian and Ethen! I had a wonderful time getting to know them better! Well, thats all she wrote......You all be careful out there!

took the day off after the UVM.....this marathon is going to become a super destination marathon. It's got everything going for it. I am going to put it on my yearly list of must do marathons!!!

I went out about 11:am today and got in a 4 mile recovery run. I felt great!

Out for a 4 mile recovery type run. tonight. Feels good enough I will start getting ready for SGM. I've got goals to conquer and many many miles to run before I sleep.

I can't believe that my schedule already calls for an 11 miler this coming saturday......anybody interested in running the Porter Rockwell Trail with me? 

got up and changed my running schedule....out the door at 3:45 am for a 4 miler....wow it was nice in the cool crisp black morning air!!!! I think I have completed my UVM recovery, I'm ready to launch into SGM training!

another 4 miler this morning...

5/18/2010 BOSTON ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION SETS DATE TO OPEN REGISTRATION FOR THE 2011 BOSTON MARATHON BOSTON, Mass. – Registration for the 2011 Boston Marathon® will open on Monday, October 18, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. (ET) and will be conducted online at www.baa.org. The 115th Running of the Boston Marathon will be on Monday, April 18, 2011. Entrants qualify for the Boston Marathon by meeting time standards which correspond to age and gender, and the qualifying standards for the 2011 race remain unchanged from recent past years. Qualifying standards for the 2011 Boston Marathon must be met on or after September 20, 2009 at a marathon certified by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport (or foreign equivalent). Also, the registration fee will remain at $130 USD for residents of the USA. For last month’s event, the race filled in just over two months, and the B.A.A. anticipates the maximum field size for the 2011 race also to be reached quickly. The field size for next year’s Boston Marathon remains as it has been in recent past years. In 2010, the race had 26,790 entrants and 22,721 finishers. Full registration information, including a list of qualifying marathons, and a list of the B.A.A.’s Official Charities for the Boston Marathon is available at www.baa.org. The B.A.A. has organized the race since the inaugural Boston Marathon in 1897 when the field consisted of 18 entrants and 10 finishers.

Easy 6 miler this morning, getting ready to ramp it up and get my tired old butt ready to run the St George Marathon for my 12th time. I'm going to try to run it in my fastest time..god willing and the creeks don't rise!!! 

8 miles this morning at a comfortable pace. Seems as though all the stressors from the UVM are subsising and training is becoming more fun again!

Rest Day.....no running today, I just worked on my car in the garage today. It is very relaxing and therapeutical. Happy Fathers Day to all you Fathers. 

easy shake down  run.....

Very nice almost marathon paced run....at 3:45 am. I just love running in the cool crisp dark morning air!

6 mile easy pace run / 3:45 am.......cool and dark!

3:45 am easy 6 mile run.......

6.4 mile hill run....

Just a rest day,  decided to do 13 on Sunday.

13 long run paced miles this morning. The run went off very well. Felt a bit tired at the end but no more than usual for a medium length run.

I've restarted my nutrition program, which never really got stopped. I gained a couple of pounds while I was recovering from UVM and being lazy. So now that I've acclimated to my new lower weight I will move forward losing more fat and gain more lean muscle mass. The goal I am setting for myself is 157 lbs by the time I toe the starting at the St george Marathon.

Yowzza! 3:45 am comes early...but it was rather cool this morning. Think it was about 64 degrees for my 6 mile recovery run from Sunday. I can't decide if I like doing my long run on saturday or sunday! Seems to me that if I do my long on saturday, early,  morning It gives me all day sunday to recover. I can sleep in till about 8am and work on my car project in the garage and then I can run on Monday. Maybe I'll have to switch one of  my weight lifting days to sunday? Yea, thats the ticket!

7 mile am fun run this morning....the ambient temprature was just a few degrees warmer this morning.

"When you approach a problem, strip yourself of preconveived opinions and prejudice, assemble and learn the facts of the situation, make the decision which seems to you to be the most honest, and then stick to it. - Charles Bowles-

a rather warm morning 6 miles......79 degrees!      Just a walk in the park....