Running on Twinkies

It was raining hard this morning so I ran indoors on my treadmill. This was my first run in a while. I am just getting back into the swing of things. I ran a total of 5.6 miles in 54 minutes. I am planning on getting back into a regular running routine. I will be running in the Striders Winter Racing Circuit and training for the Ogden Marathon in May. I was excited to find this blog site to post my runs to and log my miles.

Beautiful  morning. I woke up to 3 inches of fresh snow. The snow created a soft cushion for my joints. Run time: 41:16

Cold and clear this morning. Ran 3.2 miles with .7 miles of uphill. Run time: 35:36

Another easy run today. I am still trying to get back into shape.The roads were a bit icy today but I managed to stay upright. It snowed very lightly during the run. Run time: 40:26

Tempo Run. Today was my first day since I got back into running that I did some fast miles. I did a 20 Min warmup, then fast for 1 mile, a 2 minute jog, fast for another mile, and a 20 minute warmdown. The second fast mile was easier than the first. Run time: 58:26

Easy 4 miles today. The roads were decent, most the ice has melted. Run time: 41:24

10 miles, 83 min. Today was my first long run since getting back into running regularly. My goal for the week was to run every day and I did it. Today's run put me just over 30 miles for the week. Not quite as many miles as I was hoping for, but it is a good start.

4 miles easy today. My calves were a bit tight from Saturday's run but they didn't slow me down. Run time: 39:25

I ran up the Mueller Park Trail to Elephant Rock today. 57: 39 going up and 42:01 coming down. The trail was snow packed for about the first two miles. The last mile I had to break my own trail. When I started breaking trail the snow was about 6 inches deep. At the top of the trail, the snow varied form 1 to 2 feet deep. Because of the snow my times were slower than usual. In the Summer I can run the entire trail and back in under an hour. Coming down through deep snow wasn't much easier than going up. Once I got back down to the packed snow I was able to get back to normal pace.

Normally when I run this trail (in the Spring and Summer), the trail is quite crowded and I have the watch out for high speed downhill bikers. But today I had the trail to myself. It was great.

Easy run today. 39:45

Tempo Run. Today I did a 20 min warmup, then fast for 5 min, easy for 1, fast 5, easy 1, fast 5. I followed it with a 20 min warmdown. Run Time: 58:22

It was raining a little and a bit windy this morning, but nothing to complain about. Ran 4 easy miles. Tomorrow is my first race of the year, Striders Winter Racing Series 5k.

First race of the year today. The Strider Winter Series 5k. My goal today was 7 minute miles. I came in just over that with a split of 7:06. I had not run this course before. As I was standing around at the start I heard other people mention how much they hated this course. When the race director made the announcements at the first of the race he said that it was a "5k that felt like a 10k." 

 The course had a good uphill from mile 1 to 1.5, followed by a good down, then a smaller second uphill. After that, it was mostly downhill to the finish. I thought the course was great, but I like hills. As I turned into the parking lot near the finish I thought "that was easy." It's not that I could have run it faster but the races I am use to running are longer.

This race has set the precedence for my next 5 races. My goal is to train hard between each of the series races and keep my pace the same as the distance increases. Which means my goal time for Striders 10k on Feb 21 will be 44:12. If I can stick to my training schedule, I will run the Ogden Marathon with a time of 3:06.

After the race I took my family to Denny's for breakfast. Then we went to the Treehouse Museum. It a children's hands-on discovery center. The kids loved it.

When we got home I put my running shoes back on and went out for a long run. I was only planning on going 9 miles, but I was feeling good and ended up doing 10.5. I was running along a muddy jeep road for part of my course. There a family out for a ride in one of those oversized four wheelers (rhino or something). They were just ahead of me when I got on the road and hadn't seen me. I would about catch up with them, then they would go a little faster and get ahead again. this went on for about a half a mile, then they stopped. I ran past them, said "hello" and the Mom jumped and said "Oh, you scared me". They must have been stopped for a while, because I didn't see them again after that.

Altogether, it was a great day of running.

I was snowing lightly when I started out today, but it was coming down hard by the time I finished. I ran easy today but increased my mileage a bit from last week. Run time 56:15.

Fresh snow. I ran up the Mueller Park trail today. I didn't make it all the way to Elephant Rock, I had to turn around about half way up because there was just too much snow. It snowed the whole time I was running.

When I got home I still wanted to finish my hill workout, so I set the treadmill to 12 min miles with an 8% incline and did 3 more miles. Feel the burn.

Easy 6 miles today. Run time 1:04.

Tempo run. I ran for 30 min to warm up, then went fast for 9 min, easy for 2, fast 9, then cooled down with for another 30 minutes.

Easy run today. It was cold this morning. I am ready for Spring.

Happy Valentine's Day

 Run 14 miles today with just over half of it at 7 min pace. Run felt good but I was tired by the end. I increased my mileage this week, ending the week with 45 miles. Run time 1:53.

I slept in a bit this morning, but I was able to get in a good run before going to work. The weather was warmer today, but I can't ditch my wind breaker just yet.

More snow. Why is it that the days when I want to go trail running have the nastiest weather? Oh well! I ran up the Mueller Park Trail anyway. I wasn't going to let the snow get the best of me and pushed it all the way to Elephant Rock. My time up was faster than two weeks ago at 53:34. My down time was faster as well at 33:45. The snow was wild today, but the run was beautiful.

Easy run today. 

I ran 8 miles with 1.5 miles in the middle at 6:40 pace. I was planning on running fast for 3 miles, but I have a sinus headache today and couldn't hold that pace. I hope that my sinuses are cleared up by Saturday because I am running in a 10K.

Easy 5 miles today. My sinuses were feeling better today, but I still have a runny nose. Hopefully that won't affect my race much tomorrow.

When I woke up this morning I felt icky. My cold had not improved and I had a soar throat. On top of that, my GPS was dead. I had to do this race old school with the stop watch. 

It was cold this morning, I'm not sure what the temperature was, but it was colder than the 5k two weeks ago. The race got started and I felt okay, but went out at a good pace. After about the first half mile the race had an added challenge, 50 meters of ice. Luckily I didn't slip. My first mile was 6:55. That was right about where I wanted it to be. Mile 2 was 6:30, a bit faster but it had some downhill. Miles 3 & 4 I leveled off and I was just over 7 minutes. At mile 4.5 there was a large uphill. When we reached the top of the hill I realized we weren't to the top yet. The hill kept going. When we went over the next ridge we were still climbing. Finally we crested over the top and I was able to stride out for the last half mile. I'm not sure what my splits were for miles 5 & 6 but they weren't anything great. My goal time was 44:12, but I came in at 45:49. My overall slip time was 7:23. I am pleased with the my results especially considering I wasn't feeling 100% today.

I had to go into work early today so I got up at 4 a.m. to get my run in. I saw three deer while out this morning. Run time 1:09

I ran the Mueller park trail today. The first .5 mile of the trail was hard packed and icy in spots. After that the trail was hard on top and soft underneath. Every step broke through. After two miles up my legs were complaining, so I turned around. It was a good workout.

Another early morning. A half mile of my run was on a trail. As soon as the snow melts, most of my runs will be on trails.

Today I ran from my house up the the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (the North Salt Lake side). Then I ran on the trail up to the lowest radio tower. Then I ran back home over the same route. The trail was good today. It was muddy in spots with a few stretches of snow.

I slept in this morning and missed my run. I guess all the early mornings this week were starting to get to me. When I got home from work I didn't feel much like running. I wanted to watch a movie instead. So I compromised. I ran to the video store (literally), got a movie, and ran back. I'll make it up with a long run tomorrow.

Today I ran on the Legacy Parkway Trail. I started at the Centerville Trailhead and headed North. I ran to the Bountiful Pond and went around to the east side of it. I then ran on some dirt roads through the marsh lands. I turned back and came around the other side of Bountiful Pond, then back along Legacy. The Legacy Parkway Trail is becoming popular, there were several other runners out this morning.

I didn't get my run in until the evening today. I got a cold Saturday evening and still wasn't feeling real great, so I decided I had better run inside on the treadmill. I had ran 1.2 miles when the phone rang. It was my neighbor calling to tell me that our trampoline had blown over our fence, smashed the windsheild on his son's truck and landed upright in his backyard. I went over a check it out, kind of crazy. 

After visiting with my neighbor's, I got back and the treadmill and ran another 5.6 miles. I hope that nothing else of mine is in the neighbor's yard in the morning. 

I ran up to the Bountiful Temple today. There was a strong head wind the whole way back.

I missed my last two runs this week because I was sick with a nasty cold. So to make up for it I ran 23 miles today...just kidding.

 I ran 8 miles and just took it easy. I was hoping to break 50 miles this week but I don't think that will happen. 

I got in a good run today. 18.3 miles. That is the furthest I have run since the Mid-Mountain Marathon last September. 

I ran on the Legacy Parkway Trail today. I started at the Center Street trailhead and went South. The trail ends after one mile, so I turned around and headed North. I went to mile marker 9 then turn around and headed back to where I had started. I had about an 8:15 min/mile pace for the first 15 miles. The last three I had to really push not to slow down. My overall pace end up being 8:28 per mile.  Run Time 2:34

I missed my runs for the last two days. No good excuses, I just didn't run. Today I did 4.48 easy miles. I need to get back into the habit of running six days a week, because missing two days throws my body off.

Tough workout today. I ran over 11 miles with 3.6 at a very fast pace (fast for me anyways) of 6:45 per mile. I surprised myself by being able to hold that pace for that long. 

Rest day. Race tomorrow.

I met up with Walter, Jon, and James before the race and did a two mile warm up with them. It was fun to run with them during the warm up because I knew I would not be able to keep up with them during the race.

The race course follow the same course as the 10k three weeks ago for the first 5.5 miles. We had the same nasty hill starting at mile 4.5. When I started up the hill my time was better than my time on the 10k. At mile 5.5 instead of turning dowhill towards the parking like in the 10k, we turned  uphill and continued to climb. When I crossed the 10k marking in the race my time was 45:57, only 7 seconds slower than my 10k time with a bigger hill.

I still felt great at this point so I pushed up the hill. The top of the hill was at mile 7. Mile 7 to 8 was a nice downhill. I knew I had to make up some time so I flew down the hill. My mile split was 5:50. The next mile was great as well but not quite as fast. At mile 9 the course turned back uphill for a quarter mile. It was a tough hill at that point in the race. I got passed on the hill, but caught and passed the guy back when it leveled off. I finished strong and came in with a time of 1:12:28. This is a PR for me, because in all of the races I have run, I have never raced this distance.

My split time ended up being 7:14. I am also moving up in the overall race standings. The longer runs are my strong point.

After the race I did a 4 mile cool down with Jon, Walter, and James. Then in the late afternoon, I ran 4.33 more miles with my wife and brother in law, putting me over 20 miles for the day. Whew!! 

I took it easy today. My calves are still sore from my race Saturday.

Trail run today. I ran up the Mueller park trail to Elephant Rock. 49:25 up, 37:20 down. There is still a lot of snow on the trail. Parts of the trail were not covered in snow, but they were muddy. On my way up I lost my footing once and did a face plant in the snow. 

7.62 easy miles today. 

No energy today. Hopefully I will have energy tomorrow. I am signed up for a 10k. I also signed up three of my kids to run a 200M race. It should be a fun day.

Went to the URC/FRB St. Patricks 10k with the family. My three oldest kids ran the 200M race. Connor came in second. After the race Jed didn't want to be done, he said "Let's race again." Jaxine did great as well, I think she was the first girl to finish, but she might have been the only girl.

My race went well. I didn't pay attention to my splits as I went along. I was just enjoying the run along the river.  The course was an out and back, with a mile and 5k that started at the same time. After the 5k turn around point I could finally see who was actually in my race.  

Davy Crockett was just ahead of me and took a wrong turn, and like a fool I followed him. It was just a small detour which may have cost us ten seconds. I passed him a few times but he ended up beating me. My goal was sub 7 minute miles. If I include my detour and the fact that the course was a little long, then I did it. 6:59 per mile. woohoo. 

After the race we went to Carl's Jr and I got two Spicy Chicken Sandwiches and a Big Hamburger. 

Update - It was such I nice day that I had to go for a trail run. I headed North and then went down the lower portion of Wild Rose Trail, then turned around and came back up it. I then continued North to the Bonnevile Shoreline Trail and run up to the radio towers. I then headed back home. 10.68 miles total. 

 Here is the start of the kids race. My kids from right to left are Connor, Jed, and Jaxine.

Fresh snow today. It snowing hard when I stated today but cleared up about 15 minutes into the run. It started snowing hard again towards the end of my run, but stopped when I finished. Normal weather for Utah. 

I wanted to run some hills today. I ran up to the Bountiful Temple. I ran past the temple and down to 13 East. I then headed up to the "B" on the mountain. I turned around at the "B" and headed back. I didn't make the ascent up to the temple on the way back because I was short on time, instead I just headed home.

Today I ran on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail up to the radio towers, dropped into City Creek, and went up City Creek Canyon about a mile, then turn around went back the way I came.

The trail up to the radio towers is a jeep trail and is mostly clear of snow. It was early in the morning and the ground was frozen. The trail was very hard packed. From the radio towers down to City Creek the trail is single track and had losts of snow still. There were only a few tracks through the snow and on the shadow side of the hills the snow was about 6 inches deep. As I got close to City Creek the trail clear up and stayed mostly clear up the canyon. The trail up City Creek Canyon parallels a road that can be seem from time to time. I saw 4 other runners on the road, but only one other fool like me running on the trail.

I saw 10 deer on my run today. I invited them to join me for a run, but they had their own agenda. 

Easy 4.33 miles today

I ran the Striders Half Marathon today. I wasn't expecting much from this race. I haven't ran all week because my arthritis has been acting up. It wasn't much better today, but I have signed up for the whole series and want to complete it. So I just ran conservatively today.

I checked the weather report last night and it said the weather would be about 20 degrees and a severe storm warning was in effect until noon today. I decided to dress warm. It was snowing at home when I left but at the race start it wasn't bad, there were a few snow flurries.

I did a 2 mile warmup and realized that I was dressed to warm. So I took my wind breaker off and tied it around my waist. I thought about tossing it in the bin to be picked up at the finish, but thought I might need it if the weather changed. That was a good idea. I was wearing my wind breaker pants, long sleeved mess t-shirt with my twinkies shirt over, thick gloves, and a head band.

My first mile was 7:21 and my second was 7:30. I felt pretty good and decided to maintain that pace for a while. After about mile 4, the miles seemed to be flying by. It seemed like I had just passed a mile marker cone, when I we see the next one coming up. This lasted until about mile 8. After that none of the miles seemed fast, or were fast for that matter.

At mile 8 the wind came out fierce and strong. The course turned several times but never turned out of it, we had either a crosswind or a head wind for the next five miles. There was an aid station at mile 8.5 which had Gu. I grabbed a Gu and gulped it down, it was chocolate mint flavored. I grabbed a water to wash it down with, but had actually grabbed Gatorade. Chocolate Mint Gu and Gatorade. That's quite the combination. Somehow, I managed to keepit all down. At about mile 10, the wind really picked up. Strong and COLD. I took my wind breaker off my waist and put it back on. That helped, but the wind was a challenge.

The final few hundreds yards of the race was actually with the wind. Wahoo. I finished with a time of 1:43:31. Nothing great but pretty good considering the week I have had and the wind. After the race I went home, showered, and went in to work. I am back home now and I'm quite stiff and sore. Time for some rest.

I got to the race a 7:00 a.m. and picked up my packet. Then I did a .5 mile warmup. This warmup was my first time to run since the half marathon three weeks ago. I have arthritis in my knees and haven't been able to train because of it. I wanted to finish this series so I taped my knees up and planned on running slow. Enough about me, let's talk about the race. 

It was raining before the race started. About five minutes before the start it turned to snow mixed with rain. It rained and snowed on and off for about the first half of the race. The second half of the race was dry, but we were soaked.

My first mile was 9:40. After that I decided to not pay attention to my splits becuase it would just be depressing. The aid station at mile 3 (same aid for mile 15 on the way back) had a sign on it that said Tiki Bar. All the volenteers were decked out in tropical attire. There were even some inflatable palm trees. It was fun.

At mile 12 my gps gave a low battery warning. It lasted until the finish, but I wasn't really using it today. By mile 14 my legs started to feel the fatigue of not training. By mile 16 I had to really push to keep going.

I finished the race at 3:22, which would be a good time for a marathon. My goal today was to just finish and complete the series. I did that, and I stayed injury free.

The contest lasts for moments
though the training's taken years.
It wasn't the winning alone
that was worth the work and tears.
The applause will be forgotten,
the prize misplaced.
But the long, hard hours of practice
will never be a waste!
For in trying to win you build a skill;
you learn that winning depends on will.
You never grow by how much you win,
you only grow by how much you put in.
So in any new challenge you've just begun,
put forth your best and you've already won! 

W. A. Clennan 

After doing some serious stretching, I squeaked out a small run.

Tonight I ran with the Dirt Tours with the Front. It was the first run of the year for the group. There were six of us today, Jun and Enoch from the blog, Nate who is in charge of the group, and two girls I didn't know. I ran with this group all last year and it was lot of fun. I say group, but a lot of the runs we just Nate and I.

We started at Morris Meadow in the Avenues and headed up to Twin Peaks. This route has some challenging up hils, but I was able to run the whole way. On the way down Nate and I took the less hilly route along the Bonneville Shorline Trail. This added about an extra half mile.

I really enjoyed getting out and running on the dirt again. I am looking forward to running with the group this summer. 

Ran for the first time today in Florida. My family and I are here on vacation. I ran four miles with my wife. After that we went to Disney World and each pushed a stroller all around the park. The  kids had a blast.  We had fun too.  The weather here is hot and humid.

Ran the I-Drive 5K run today in Orlando, FL with my wife and my brother. We are on vacation here and decided to run a race.

This was my wifes first race. She only started running about four months ago. I ran with her the whole race and gave her support and encouragement along the way. The race had over 1000 runners. It was the biggest 5k I have ever ran.

Susie did awesome. She was shooting for 10 minute miles. The first mile was right at 10:00, and the second mile was right at 10:00. After that she was still feeling great so we picked up the pace and set a goal to come in under 30. When we crossed the line, our chip time was 29:58. It was an excellent race for Susie's first. She is going to be in good shape by the time her half marathon comes around.

After the race we spent the day at Disney World. It was our last day at Disney World and the last day of our vacation, so we tried to get in anything that we had missed. It's been a fun week.

My brother did good on his race too. He came in ahead of us at a time of 27:26.



 

Last saturday I was signed up for the Ogden Marathon. After much thought, I came to the sad conclusion that it would be better for my body if I did not run that race. I was able to get out and run today though.

I ran up the mueller park trail to Elephant Rock. The trail was great, nice and dry the whole way. There were a lot of people out on the trail today, several bikers, hikers, dogs, a few others runners, and a snake. I made it up in 42 min and down in 27 min. 

Happy Memorial Day.

 I ran the Woods Cross Memorial Day 5K today with my wife and our two youngest kids, Jaxine and Evan. Okay, the kids didn't run, they hitched a ride in the double stroller that I was pushing. This race is a fun one to run because it is free. There are no offical times or awards, everybody just runs. There were a lot of people out for the run today which made the course very congested at times, weaving and bobbing is challenge with a stroller.. We maintained a steady pace and were hoping to break 30 again like we did in Florida, but came in just shy of that at 30:33. The kids thought is was great fun and can't wait to do it again.

I ran with the Dirt Tours with the Front run club tonight. The run started at Red Butte canyon. I got there early and did a mile warm up before the run.

Nate the organizer of the group was the only other person to show up. We ran North from Red Butte Canyon along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Then we went up Dry Creek. From there we ran along the foothills over the the Pipeline intersection. Then we turned around and went back the way we came. It was a nice night for a run, the summer weather is great.

Now that was fun.

At the last minute I decided to run this trail race because it sounded like fun. Craig and Enoch from the blog were also running this race.

The course started out on a paved trail for the first little bit, then we hit the dirt. The dirt trail headed up the first hill. I was able to pass three people up the first hill. After that there was a level section of trail.

At about 1 mile we hit the big steep hill. Thus named the Gruesome Grizzly. It was a big hill, but I was able to run the whole way up it and passed a few more poeple. One of the people I passed was Davy Crockett. He was doing well but had decided to walk the hill. The hill was about .75 miles long.

The next section was another wide level section for about a mile and a half. I tried to maintain a strong pace and was hoping to pass a few people in that section, but only passed one. Then came th downhill. I had been worried about the downhill becuase my knees haven't been doing too great lately. I was surprised at how fast I was able to do the downhill and even had to slow down once or twice because the trail wasn't wide enough for me to pass the person in front of me. I think I passed two people on the downhill.

The last part of the race back on the boring pavement. We looped around the parking lot and into the finish. I was able to pass one more guy at the very end. It was a fun race and I am glad I got up and did it. I plan on doing it next year but hopefully will be a bit faster. 

I slept in this morning so I didn't get my run in until after work. 3.2 miles at an easy pace.

I ran up the Wild Rose Canyon Trail today. It was very wet and muddy from the thunder storm last night. Some of the uphill was slick, an added challenge I hadn't planned on. This a short trail, just as you think 'hey, this is a fun trail', its over. The trail meets up with the North Salk Lake Pipeline Trail. I ran a it for a bit, then came back down the same way I went up.

I won't be getting in a whole lot of miles this week, but if I can gete a run in everyday, I will be doing good.

I ran with the Dirt Tours with the Front run club tonight. We ran up City Creek Canyon. I did a mile warmup before going with the group. We ran the trail that parallels the road up the canyon. The trail is 3 miles long, we did an out an back for 6 miles total. The trail was very green today. Lot of new growth and vegetation. 

On the back way down Nate took off really fast. I decided to open it up a bit and see how fast I could run the downhill without my knees hurting. I caught up with Nate once, but he ended up beating me down. I was surprised by how fast I was able to come down. My average pace for the downhill was 7:30 per mile. The trail is mile 13 thru 16 of the Wahsatch Steeplechase which I am running next Saturday. Hopefully I will be able to run it as fast as I did today after running 13 miles.

I played Nintendo Wii Fit for 30 minutes. Does that count for anything?

Today I went to the Utah Running Club Races. I didn't race today though. My wife, Susie, ran her first 10k. I stayed at the park to watch the kids. All of the kids ran a race today too. The three youngest did a 200 meter race. I ran along side Evan to keep him going. He finished last, but it was fun. Connor ran the 1 mile. He did great coming in at 9:33. Susie did great on her race she came in at 58:30. That is a faster pace than she ran her last two 5k's.

I didn't get my run in until the afternoon. I went up to the Mueller Park Trail today. The weather was perfect. I made it up to Elephant Rock in 40 minutes and kept going up the trail. I made it to Rudy's Flat in 1:15. Rudy's Flat is 6.25 from the trailhead with an elevation gain of 1900 ft. I rested at the top for a minute then headed back down towards Mueller Park. I saw five deer while out on my run. Of course it may have been only two deer, because I never saw more the two at once. Towards the end of the run my legs were feeling fatigue and I couldn't keep up the strong downhill pace that i had been doing. I made it down in 59 minutes.

This is the longest run I have done since April. I am running the Wahsatch Steeplechase one week from today. Hopefully I will be ready.

Just an easy morning run to loosen my legs up.

I was planning on running the pipeline trail with the Dirt Tours run club tonight, but we got rained out. I don't mind running in the rain, but the lightning in the canyon makes me a bit nervous. 

Today I ran the Wahsatch Steeplechase. I have been wanting to run this race for several years and finally did it this year. The day before the race I received an email that if the rain was bad the course would be altered and ran on the road. We have gotten a lot of rain in Salt Lake these last two weeks. The weather held out this morning and didn't rain during the whole race. I am glad that they didn't do the alternate course because I really enjoy the trails.

There were several bloggers in this race today. A few of them I met for the first time. The bloggers I saw today were Jon, Jun, Mojo, and Flyonthewall.

The course starts out in Memory Grove and heads up the canyon to City Creek Canyon. From there is gets on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and the uphill begins. I started out slow, because I knew the hills were coming. I was in a group of several runners and passing on the single track was difficult, but I managed to get around three people. A guy in green shirt passed me and commented, "Not carrying any water, You must be hard core." Ya, hard core or stupid. We continued up the trail to the pipeline intersection. This was where the first aid station was. From there we headed up the ridge.

I had a good pace up the ridge and there was usually enough room to pass somebody. I played leap frog with a few guys until we got to the steep part. The trail headed straight up the mountain and it was steep. I had wanted to run all of the uphill, but I had to walk this part. My split time for that mile was terrible.

After the steep section we had more uphill to get the the Crags. The Crags are a large rock formation that stretches across the tops of Black Mountain. Most of this section had to be walked as well. At one spot we even had to climb down a small stretch of rock. They had two volunteers at that point in case anybody needed help. When I reached the top of Black Mountain I paused for a few seconds and took in the view. It was at an elevation a 8150 ft.

Next came the brutal descent. We headed down to Smugglers Gap. Just before getting there, there was a toy monkey hanging from a tree which was banging symbols. The second aid station was at Smugglers Gap. I drank some water and grabbed a few gummy berries.

Because of the technical nature of the previous section I had to go slow. So when I got to the downhill I had lots of energy and tried to open things up. Parts of the Smugglers Gap trail were nice and soft and could easily be run and other section were very overgrown and had to be walked. There were two steep sections that had a rope along side the for support. The rope was needed today.

That trail came out on to a really nice trail that lead to the top of City Creek Canyon Road. The third aid station was at the top of the road. I made a quick pit stop in the outhouse. Heading down the road I was able to go at a really good pace and had my fastest mile split. The course continued down the road for a few miles then went onto the trail that parallels the road. The soft trail was nice relief from the pounding road.

Part way down the trail I feeling fatigue and couldn't hold a strong pace. I came to the fourth and final aid station. I drank some water and grabbed some M&M's. They gave me the kick that I needed but it didn't last to the finish.

The trail came down to the road and I got passed by two girls who I had passed way back on the downhill. I didn't want them to pass me but didn't have the strength to keep up with them. I just kept going as fast as I could. We were going down the same road that we had gone up at the start and I was struggling to get a 9:30 mile. On the way up I was doing an 8:30 pace.

The finish wasn't really mark, the race just sort of ended at the park. I was shooting to come in at 3:20 and was about ten minutes under that. I don't know what my place was but I will update when it is posted on line. It was fun race and I will definitely run it again. I have listed my splits only to show how crazy of a race this is.

mile 1 - 9:17

mile 2 - 12:50

mile 3 - 11:14

mile 4 - 11:33

mile 5 - 12:05

mile 6 - 13:49

mile 7 - 23:03

mile 8 - 20:46

mile 9 - 11:32

mile 10 - 9:45

mile 11 - 7:05

mile 12 - 7:29

mile 13 - 8:15

mile 14 - 8:44

mile 15 - 9:30

mile 16 - 9:23

last .4 - 8:45

Five miles nice and easy today. I am recovering from the Wahsatch Steeplechase on Saturday. Saturday night I could hardly bend my legs. Sunday I felt better but things my muscles were very stiff. Today, well, my quads are tight, my knees ache, and both achilles are sore, but I was able to get a run in.

Ran with the Dirt Tours tonight. We started at the Sunnyside Trailhead across from the zoo. We ran on the upper part Bonneville Shoreline Trail over to Red Butte Canyon and then ran the Circuit around the canyon. I not really sure if its officially called the Circuit, but that is what I call it. It was a challenging run this soon after Wahsatch Steeplechase, but if was fun. After the Circuit we ran the lower part of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail back to the trailhead.

I ran on the Mueller Park Trail up to Elephant Rock and back today. The trail was very wet. It rained on and off a little during the run but wasn't to bad.

3 miles just before bed.

Today I started my run at Cheese Park and headed North to the Deuel Creek Trail. I went up the canyon about a mile then came back down.

Today I sent in my registration for the Logan Peak Trail Run. So it's now official, I will be running 28 miles next weekend.

We went camping last night at Fort Beuna Ventura. This morning we got up and I ran 6.5 miles around the park with my wife. She had already ran 3 with my mom before I ran with her. It was good that we got our run done in the morning because it rained all afternoon.

I warmed up with 1.25 miles on the road the walked up to Mueller Park where Dirt Tours was meeting tonight. I met Maurine there tonight, it was nice to finally meet you. We had a good turn out tonight, some trail runners Ryan and Lindsay came and also Nate, the run organizer.

When we started up the trail, Nate was in the lead and he was setting a fast pace. I kept up with him for about 2 miles then he disappeared ahead of me on the trail. On the way up we passed two scouts troops. We also ran passed a group of four bikers who were heading up the trail. I love that feeling. I ran hard but didn't see Nate again untill Elephant Rock. My time up was 35 minutes, 10 min mile average pace. Nate and I waited at the top for a few minutes, but we weren't sure if the other runners we going to run all the way to the Rock or not.

As we headed back down we ran into to Maurine who was almost to the top. She told us that Ryan and Lindsay had turned around at the bridge. So we headed continued on down as she headed up the trail.

Shortly after leaving Maurine we heard the sound of motor bikes coming down the trail behind. Yes, motorbikes are aloud on this trail but I have not seen them on it much. The motor bikes caught to us and passed us. Neither of them had on helmets and they were going fast. Nate and I comented on how stupid it was for them to be riding like that withouts helmets. I was a little worried about the hikers heading up the trail that could be hit by these guys, but luckily there bikes are loud enough to give hikers enough time to get off the trail. It wasn't ong before we caught up with the bikers. One of them had wrecked and fallen off the trail. I ask if he was alright. He said he was fine and we continued on.

The bikers were now behind us again. We caught us with Ryan and Lindsay and warned them that these idiots were coming. The bikers caught up with us and passed again, but this time I decided to give them a run for their money. I went into high speed down hill gear and stayed right on there tails. I was doing about a 5:30 minute mile. They stopped at a little viewpoint and I flew passed them. The race was on. I stayed ahead of them for the next half mile but finally let them pass me on the switchbacks. I made it to the parking lot just before they left.

That is the fastest down hill I have done in a long time. My knee feels better right now than it should after blasting down that hill. We'll see how it feels in the morning.

When I came home from work, my wife had just finished making a batch of granola. So I had a bowl and went out for a run. I took it easy tonight. Just wanted to get stretched out good before Logan Peak this Saturday.

Today I ran the Logan Peak Trail Run. It is a gruelling run that starts in Logan, goes all the way to the top of Logan Peak, and then comes back down to Logan.  After about 1/2 mile the course turned and I was able to count the number of people in front of me.  I was in about 50th place...don't ask me why I counted to 50 while running.  I was able to pass a few people up dry canyon.  The first aid station was at the top of dry canyon.  The aid stations for this race were awesome!     I ate some dried fruit, drank some electorlytes and grabbed a few pretzels.  The trail continued up out of the canyon.  There was a tree that had fallen down that we had to climb over.  While crossing I hit the back of my hand on a pointy branch and drew blood.  Our next challenge was snow.  Well, I thought it was snow until I tried to cross it and it turned out it was ice.  It was only about 6 feet to get across it but it was a technical challenge.  This was the 1st of many snow crossings.  After the snow we got a little relief with some downhill.  The 2nd aid station was about mile 12.  This would also be the 3rd aid station after running an out and back course to the peak.  On the trek up to the peak, I was able to see the lead runners coming down.  And again I counted to see my current place and I had moved up to 28th.  When I got to the top of the peak I ran around the radio tower, I think you only had to touch the radio tower and then head back down.  The views from the peak were great.  Coming down from the peak, there was a lot of snow so I had to use my 12" skiis...sometimes bigger feet are an advantage.  I had to decide whether I wanted to run in mud, snow, or alternate between the two.  At one point I stepped in the mud and my foot dissapeared into it.  Then it came out with a sloshing sound.  When I got to the 3rd aid station I stayed there a little longer to get fueled up and also to talk to Maureen who was reaching it for the 1st time.  I told her how much fun going up to the peak was.  The next section had a lot of uphill, most of which I walked.  Finally the uphills ceased and I started the descent into dry canyon.  Just before reaching the 4th aid station, which was the same one as the 1st, I came to a natural spring so I stopped and washed my hands and splashed water on my face.  At the aid station I took my longest break.   I got fueled up, caught my breath and headed down.  Going down the rocky trail, I got a little sharp rock in my shoe and had to stop and take my shoe off to take it out.  I figure this is why I didn't come in 1st.  Coming down dry canyon I knew I was close to the finish, but I'd been running for over 5.5 hours and my legs were telling me they were done.  Occasionally I would find myself walking on the downhill and had to mentally force myself to start running again.  I completed the race in 6:11:51.  I think I came in the top 30 but I'm not sure.  At the prize drawing after I got a bottle of cactus juice.  I guess you spray it on your body, not drink it.  I forgot to put on sunblock before the race and got a little red.  This race was 28 miles so I'm going to count it as my 1st ultra-marathon.  It was a blast and I'd love to do it again. 

Of course I didn't run today. I am not that crazy.

Quick little run

I was out of town last week and slacked off on my running and it spilled over into this week. Today I got back to it though. I ran up the Mueller Park Trail today. I didn't go all the way to Elephant Rock, instead I turned around about a half mile before that. It was a good run but I need to get back into the habit of running everyday. 

I ran the Mueller Park Trail again today. I made it all the way to Elephant Rock today, my legs felt much better than they did yesterday. As I came down I passed several people coming up the trail. I usually only see a few people on the trail or none at all since I run it early in the morning. But today lots of people were out enjoying it.

Tomorrow I am going to a half marathon in Farmington. This race will be different for me than most. My wife is running in it and I will be the one hauling the kids around and cheering her on. It is her first half marathon and she is a bit nervous, but I think she is going to do great.

I have change up my training strategy a bit lately. I am trying to avoid running on pavement and sidewalk as much as possible. Which is great because that means that I get to run trails everyday. The trails seem to be more gently and forgiving on my knees than the roads are. I ran the Mueller Park Trail again. I run this trail a lot because it is a great trail and it is very close to my house. The run felt good today and the early morning weather was great. On the way down I passed a few other runners and a few bikers. This trail is very busy during the summer. I think I will run this trail again tomorrow.

It was nice and cool this morning. I ran the Mueller Park trail again today. Just after I reached Elephant Rock a few mountain bikers showed up. I started down the trail and one of the mountain bikers started just behind me. I decided to run hard down the trail and see how long I could stay ahead of him. He was close to me a lot of the way down but never came close enough to pass me. I stayed ahead of him for the whole 3.4 miles and made it down in 23 minutes. It sure was fun to outrun a mountain biker.

I haven't had internet access for the past few days so I am catching up on my blogs. I have been camping at a family reunion at Albert Moser Campground. It is near Franklin Idaho. 

I ran up a little trail up to a ridge above the campground with a cell phone, because the was no cel phone service in the campground. I made a phone call up on the ridge, the headed back down to camp. The trail was not the best and looked as if it doesn't get used much.

My family and I rode with my parents up to the Pat Hollow Crash Site. It a place up in the Idaho mountains where in 1953 a C64 crashed with 37 passengers and 3 crew men. There were no survivors. It was my first time up to the site. My grandfather had came up here the spring after the crash and described to us the awful scene on the mountain side. There is a monument there with the names of those who died and there are few small pieces of the wreckage on the ground. 

On the way down from the crash site we can to the Skyline Trailhead. I decided to get out and run the trail which would meet back up with the road at Willow Flat campground. I had not been on this trail in several years and it was great to be on it again. For the first four miles it averages it has some severals ups and downs. The elevetion flucates between 8000 and 9000 feet. The views along the trail were great. After four miles I was at an intersection of trail and turned off of the Skyline trail to dropped down into Willow Flat campground. The trail is rough and has a lot of steep downhill. I ran up thios trail four years ago, but I was glad to be going down today. The trail drops 3500 feet in about 3 miles. I made to the campgrounrd in 1:18. I wasn't planning on running, so I was wearing levis. I did have on an old pair of running shoes but hadn't ran with them for years. The weather was very hot that day and I didn't take any water with me. My mom met me at the end of the trail and took me back to our camp. I survived the run and drank lots of water back at camp.

I ran on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail heading South from the North Salt lake side. I ran up to the lowest of the radio towers. My calves were burning a bit and wanted me to stop and walk the hill, but I pushed to the top.

Today I was planning on running the Wahsatch Steeplechase course. But I slept in and had a lot of things going on today, so maybe I will run that next week.

I ran the Mueller Park trail today instead. I ran all the way up to Rudy's flat. I like to think of this run as a double 10k. It's 6.2 miles each way, this first being uphill, the second downhill. So my first 10k took me 1:15 minutes. My second 10k took me 48 minutes. It was great morning for a run.

I didn't get my run in in the morning, and then I had to work late. So just before bed, I hopped on the treadmill and squeaked out a few miles.

Today I ran on the Sessions Mountain Trail. This trail is a brutal uphill grind. My first mile split was 21:14. I was trying to run it, but there are some steep sections. The only relief on the trail is section that are still uphill, but note quite as steep. My second mile split was 20:20. Awesome, it was faster than mile 1. After running the grueling uphill for 45 minutes I stopped and headed back down the way I came. The trail continued on up but I didn't have time to go higher. I had climbed 2072 in just 2.25 miles. Nearly 1000 feet per mile. The downhill was great, although I couldn't go as fast as I would've liked to because of the steep sections.

Where were you at 6 a.m.?

I was out on the Wahsatch Steeplechase course. I didn't run the whole course, just some of the fun parts. It should be good training for the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase next Saturday. I started and the Bonneville Shoreline Trailhead in City Creek Canyon and headed up to the base of Black Mountain. I turned around when it got to the nasty steep section and head back down the same way I had come up. It was a great morning for a run.

I haven't been running this week because my knees have been bothering me. I was starting to wonder if I would still be able to race on Saturday at the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase. Today my knees felt good enough that I was able to get a run in on the Mueller Park Trail. 

 I ran the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase in 2006 and came in at a time of 2:30. I think I was in better shape at the time. This year I may have to treat it as more of a training run, but we'll see how it goes. The weather for the weekend is looking great, so regardless it should be a fun run.

Today I ran the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase in Park City. I finished in 2:33:21, 39th overall, and 14 in my age group. I am happy with the results. This was the second time I have run this race, I ran it in 2006. This race has gotten much more competitive since the last time I ran it. In 2006 I finished in 2:30, 15th overall, 7 in my age group, and I didn't get chicked. This year 5 women beat me to the finish line.

I saw Jon Allen before the race and wished him luck. I don't think there were any other bloggers at this race. I did a 1.5 mile warmup before the race started.  After a few announcements we were off at a little after 8 a.m. The course starts out heading up a dirt road straight up the ski hill. After a half mile up the road we turn off onto a beautiful single track trail. My first mile was 12:46, that may sound slow, but I was wondering if I had started out too fast.

Just after mile three, something bit my leg. I quickly bushed it off, but I didn't see what it was. I had a stinging pain in my leg for about a half mile, but after that it was fine.

The course continues up and up. I was able to run most of the uphill until we got to the insane section. The final ascent up to Jupiter Peak is a scramble up a very steep hill. I had to walk this part. I looked at my GPS as we were going up and it wasn't sure if I was moving or not. At the top of the peak I touch the flagpole and started to run again. If you look on the Park City Ski Trail Map, the final ascent to Jupiter is a black diamond run. The downhill felt great, but it was short lived. There was a second peak for us to ascend, Tri-counties Peak. I walked a bit going up that hill but it wasn't as bad as Jupiter. Then the real fun started.

The downhill singletrack was a lot of fun. There was a small log on the trail with dirt over it that looked like a jump to me. So I leaped off of it was pulled a big back scratcher and stuck the landing. To bad there wasn't a camera man near by. The girl just behind said "Whoa, nice form!" I was feeling really good on the downhill and started to pour it on. I passed several people on the way down, too many to count.

Towards the end of the race there were a few rolling hills which are really tough after all that downhill. I am happy to report that I stayed strong on the uphills despite the pain. In the last quarter mile I passed two more guys. One of them had a good kick at the end and I couldn't hold him off. I finished strong and I think this has been one of my best races this year.

Here are my splits:
Mile 1 - 12:46
Mile 2 - 12:01
Mile 3 - 11:33
Mile 4 - 9:21     my fastest uphill mile
Mile 5 - 13:27
Mile 6 - 12:47
Mile 7 - 17:53
Mile 8 - 10:36
Mile 9 - 7:45
Mile 10 - 6:37
Mile 11 - 7:03
Mile 12 - 6:27     flying!!
Mile 13 - 6:49
Mile 14 - 7:26
Mile 15 - 7:24
Mile 16 - 7:35

Two miles at an easy pace today. I am still recovering from my race on Saturday. The bug bite which I got during the race has gotten worse. I think that it may have been a spider that I brushed out of its web as I ran by. On Sunday I had a two inch area around the bite that had turn a pinkish color. Yesterday is was red and today its purple. The strange thing is that it doesn't hurt. I called my doctor and he recommended to take benadryl and watch for infection. Hopefully it will clear up in the next day or so.

First of all, I need to apologize to all my readers for my serious lack of running lately. When I wake up in the morning I have been too sore or too lazy to run. So I plan to run in the evening, but that doesn't seem to happen. I need to get back into the habit of running everyday.

For this run, I was camping at a family reunion in Heise, Idaho. I ran from the campground up the road to Kelly Canyon Ski Resort. That was 3.3 miles, so I decided to run up to the top of the resort. For those who might be familiar with this resort, I ran up a trail on the backside called Moose. This resort is not big and only has 1000 ft of elevation gain from bottom to top. The route I went up was about 1.5 miles. I came down the front side of the mountain which was steep and fast. Then I turn off onto a switch back trail called Rattlesnake. At the bottom, I ran back down the road back to camp. This is now the fourth ski resort that I have ran to the top of. The other three being Grand Targhee, Park City, and Snowbird.

I will be in Maryland all next week for work. Hopefully I can get some runs in while I am there.

I am in Maryland for work this week. I ran along a boardwalk on the coastline and down some of the streets in the town I am staying in. I wish I knew where some trails were to run on around here. Perhaps I will find some before I leave.

I found a trail. I asked some of the guys I was working with out here if they knew of any trails. They told me to go to St Mary's Lake. At the lake there was a 7 mile loop trail around it. The trail was great. It had several foot bridges, some rolling hills and lots of winding single track. Running out here is a bit different than running at home since the average elevation for this run was 87 feet.

Today for my run I decided to check out the exercise gym at the hotel. I got on a large treadmill that had all kinds of bells and whistles, but I couldn't figure out how to get it started. After pushing a few buttons, I got it going. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith was playing on the TV. I settled in and watched the show. I was enjoying the show and not paying much attention to my running. When the show ended I had ran over 11 miles, 3.5 of which were at a decent pace. Perhaps I should incorporate watching a Star Wars show into my weekly workout.

Tonight is my last night in Maryland. Tomorrow night I will be sleepling back home in my own bed. I headed out for own last run. After going only a quarter of a mile a nasty little bug flew into my eye. It stopped me in my tracks. I walked for a little bit and was going to just walk back to the hotel to was it out, but after blinkly my eyes several times I was able to keep running. I only did three miles tonight because I am in unfamiliar territory and it was getting dark.

Today's run was a learning experience. There is no such thing as a bad run. Sometimes there our those runs that teahc us lessons. I woke at 4:30 a.m. but went back to sleep. It was getting hot by the time I went out to run. I ran on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to City Creek Canyon and then ran up the canyon. My plan was to run 20 miles, which I did. After running 12.5 miles I started feeling very fatigue. I had not brought any Gu or any other type of fuel with me. I did have water but that was all I had. The night before I had been traveling back from the East Coast and had not eaten any real dinner. I was ready to be done, but the shortest route back to my car was the same way I had come. I kept plugging along. At mile 15.5 I had to go uphill for about 2.5 miles to get out of the canyon. I made up with some walking and running, more walking than running. The last two miles I pushed as best I could to the end. At this point it was about 1 p.m. and was very hot. I completed the distance but not in the time I thought it would take me. 

Lessons Learned:
If I wake up at 4:30 a.m. I should go out for a run while it is still cool.
Take Gu or other types of fuel with me on long runs.
Eat a good dinner the night before a long run. 

Mueller Park Trail. I started my run at 5:30 this morning. It was much cooler than my run on Saturday, but it was still dark so I had to use a head light. My uphill miles were a bit slow today, but the downhill felt great and I was able to really pick things up. 

I am up at my parents house in Newdale, ID today. I ran one of my old routes that I used to run in high school. I felt like I was running fast but I was no where near as fast as when I used to run this route. This weekend we are taking are kids to Yellowstone. Should be lots of fun.

Spent the weekend in Yellowstone. We stayed in West Yellowstone and went into the park two days. We did a lot a hiking to geysers and waterfalls. Sometimes I was pushing a stroller, other times I was carrying a kid in a backpack, sometimes I had a kid on my shoulders, and occasionally I was just walking. The kids loved it. We definitely need to do it again some time. 

This morning's run, I was running through West Yellowstone when I found a trail. The trail was called Riverside Trail. It went about a mile through the trees, then came to the Madison River. It was a cold morning and there was a lot of steam coming off the river. The trail followed the river for about a mile then looped back through the trees and back to the start. I really enjoy finding new trails to run on.  

Today is 09-09-09. So I ran 9.09 miles at a pace of 9.09 min/mile (6.6 mph on my treadmill). I was going to wait until 9:09 p.m. to start the run but decided to run earlier so that I could get in 9.09 hours of sleep tonight. Okay that last part was a joke, I never get in that much sleep.

Tonight I ran with the "Dirt Tours with the Front". This was the first run that they had hosted in about 2 months. Nate the host for the group has been in Eugene, Oregon and nobody picked up the slack while he was gone. 

The run started at Morris Meadow in the avenues and ran up to Twin Peaks. Nate was running strong tonight but I backed off the pace a bit a just took it easy. I didn't want to burn myself out before the marathon on Saturday. I just wanted to get in a good run to stretch my legs out. The evening weather was nice and I enjoyed a nice sunset as I drove home. 

No miles today. I am running the Mid Mountain Marathon is Park City tomorrow. This will be my third time to run this race. In 2006 I finished in 4:23. In 2008 I finished in 4:03. I would love to break 4 hours this year, but my training through the summer has been hit and miss, so I might not be able to do that. I am going to shoot for the average of my two previous times and come in under 4:13.

Unfreakin' Believable!!

I beat my time from last year (4:03:02) and still did not break 4 hours. I missed is by 100 seconds. If I had just run each mile 4 seconds faster I would have made it. O' well I'll get it next year.

Before the race my stomach was a little upset, which played an interesting roll in my race that I'll get to later.

Before getting bid numbers there were three waviers we had to sign. One for each of the ski resorts that the trails goes through, Deer Valley, Park City, and The Canyons. Some of the wording on the wavier for The Canyons was very funny. It said "I further recognize that The Event offers more challenges than regular Alpine activities in that I may launch off a jump and will attempt to cross a body of water while on skis or a snowboard." I don't remember doing that last year. Unfortunenately they hadn't added these features to the course.

If anyone has been considering running this race, I would highly recommend it. They have the nicest prerace bathrooms of any race that I have been to. I'm talking world class restrooms. They actually aren't even called restrooms, the sign on the door said 'Gentlemen's Lounge'. Well, after taking care of business in the Gentlemen's Lounge, I headed outside to do some stretching and warm up.  

We got started a little after 8:00 a.m. The first mile is on the road to get the field spread out. I think there were about 200 runners this year. I took the first mile a little fast to get a good position on the singletrack. The rest of the course is singletrack with lots of ups and downs. The hills are actually pretty mello compared to the other races I have done this year. My pace for the first couple of miles was faster than I had expected but it felt comfortable so I didn't slow up.

About mile 9 I took a chocolate clif shot. At mile 10 there was an aid station and I drank some gatorade. After a half mile my stomach let me know that it did not approve of that combination and I stopped and puked for the very first time during a race. I was a little nervous after puking because the first time I ran this race I got dehydrated. I didn't want that to happen today. After a few minutes I felt fine and drank well at the next aid station. Luckily my stomach approve of everything I comsumed after that. I didn't use any more clif shots after that, instead I used shot bloks. They had both clif shots and shot bloks at each aid station.

When we came around a bend on mile 12, I pointed out to the guy who was running by me that we could see the finish from there. It's a mental challenge to see the finish but realize that we're not half way yet. I crossed half way at 1:56, so I was ontrack to break 4, but I also knew that the second half of the course had some difficult sections. 

Miles 18 thru 20 are challenging. Most of it is runable but there is a lot of uphill and I was going pretty slow. There is a large steep hill on mile 19. On fresh legs this hill would be no problem but after 19 miles it seems like a monster. I had to walk up it, I think most people did.

After crossing the high point on the course (around 8500 ft) it got really fun. The downhill singletrack is great. I still had a good amount of energy and was able to go fast on the downhill. The are several switchbacks where you can see how close you are the the next person. Some of the corners on switchbacks were difficult to run fast.

On the way down I was moving at a good clip when I caught my toe on a rock or a stump. I thought I was going to go flying into the trees. But after a few scary steps trying to get my feet back under me and not fall on my face, I was upright again.

Towards the end there are a few rolling hills that are challenging to run. I knew I was close to 4 hours so I ran the uphills. After coming over the crest of the last hill, I could see the finish again. The time was 3:55. There were still a few switchbacks to get down to the finish and then run around a building and into the chute. I really pushed down those last switchbacks, but it wasn't quite enough. I finished at 4:01:39. I am still happy with this finish. It was a great race and more bloggers need to come a run it next year.

Here are my splits 
Mile 1: 8:17
Mile 2: 9:37
Mile 3: 9:42
Mile 4: 8:44
Mile 5: 7:55
Mile 6: 8:55
Mile 7: 8:17
Mile 8: 8:37
Mile 9: 9:35
Mile 10: 9:42
Mile 11: 8:56
Mile 12: 8:24
Mile 13: 9:00
Mile 14: 9:41
Mile 15: 11:13
Mile 16: 10:43
Mile 17: 10:20
Mile 18: 13:38
Mile 19: 13:47
Mile 20: 12:10
Mile 21: 9:24
Mile 22: 10:03
Mile 23: 10:46
Mile 24: 8:52
Mile 25: 7:38
The course was about 1 mile short according to my GPS. 

I'm sorry that this blog is so long, but the race did take me over 4 hours to run. 

Ran tonight with Dirt Tours. We ran the Red Butte circuit. It was my first run since the marathon. My legs felt pretty good, but they are still recovering. There was a bunch of tiny bugs out tonight. I got bugs in my mouth and bugs in my eyes. When the run was done I had tiny little bugs pasted all over my forehead. 

Mueller Park Trail. I started up at 6 a.m. It was still dark and I had to use my headlamp. When I got to Elephant Rock there was a group of 4 people the who had just hiked down from Rudy's Flat in the dark. I continued to head on up the trail. About 10 minutes after Elephant Rock it was light enough that I could turn off my light. I made it to Rudy's flat in 1:20. That's about 5 minutes slower than normal, but still great. A large group of scouts was camped at Rudy's. I chatted with them for a minute while I ate a clif bar, then headed back down. The downhill felt great as usual. On the way down I passed several bikers and hikers coming up. Today I also saw three other runners on the trail. Saturday's are busy at Mueller Park. I made it down in 54 minutes which is a great time. 

Avg pace up 12:42 min/mile (1900ft Gain)
Avg pace down 8:34 min/mile (1900ft Loss) 

I didn't sleep in this morning and actually got up and got a run in. I ran the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to the Radio Towers. I then went up to the second set of towers. I considered running up to the third set, but didn't have the motivation to do so this morning. The weather was cool this morning but not cold. 

Yesterday was a terrible day at work. There are 457 people employed at my work. Yesterday, 246 of them were giving termination notices. I was one of the luckly ones that will still be employed. This was the first layoff we have had since the economic down turn. The company thought that they could keep everyone employed and make it through but ended up with a big loss. Hopefully we will make it through now and this won't happen again. I am glad I still have a job but I feel awful for all the people that I have worked with who are leaving.

I ran with Dirt Tours tonight. We ran up City Creek Canyon. The grass is getting really tall along parts of that trail. In some spots it was up to my shoulders. I've never seen it that tall before. I usually don't post my splits for training runs, but tonight they were pretty good, so here they are.

Splits: 9:48, 9:12, 9:12, 8:58, 8:21, 8:16 

No miles today. I am resting up because I have a race tomorrow. I am running the Xterra Wheeler Canyon 21K. 

I got to sleep early last night a got a great night sleep. I woke up at 4 a.m. I drove to the finish of today's race. It finished at Snow Basin Ski Resort. I got on the first bus and we headed down to Pineview Resevoir. I got my number and did some stretching and got warmed up. It was about 45 degrees. Perfect tempurature for starting a race.

We started at 7:35 after a loud canon went off. The first two miles were on the road. I was trying not to start out to fast but was averaging about a 7:30 pace. After crossing the spillway we went down Ogden Canyon just a little then headed up Wheeler Canyon. Up and Up and Up. It was all runnable but kept going up until mile 7. Then we went downhill for a 1.5 miles. The downhill was great but it was short lived as the rest of the course was basically uphill with an ocasional short downhill. When we came out of the woods at the finish we had to go uphill for about 200 yards before turning toward the downhill finish. I finished in 1:45:08. As I was crossing the finish line they anounced "Matthew Ricks from Bountiful, Welcome back to the Party." I was expecting my time to be closer to 2 hours, so I was excited. I also placed 3rd in my age group. This is the first time I have placed in my age group this year. I got a medal for it and a box with 6 vanilla bean Gu's. The course was beautiful. The leave were changing colors and the trails were awesome. I also qualified to attend the Xterra Xduro World Championship in Hawaii on Dec 6, but I don't think I will be able to make it.  

Mueller Park Trail. I ran up to Elephant Rock today. I was surprised how good my legs felt after having raced on Saturday. On the downhill I had to keep reminding myself that this was supposed to be a recovery run and not to go too fast. Mueller Park is great this time of year, the colors are all changing and the temperature is perfect.

Legacy Parkway Trail. Tailwind for the first 2 miles. Turned around. Strong headwind for last 2 miles.

I've got my downhill speed back. In the past I have been able to go fast on downhill trail runs, but this year it has not been the case. I have arthritis in my knees. I take medication for it and that keeps it under control. Back in February I went off the medication because we wanted to have another child. I needed to be off of it for three months before we could get pregnant. Being off the drugs caused my arthritis to flare up, which put a damper on my running. I still had my endurance but I lost my speed, especially my downhill speed. We got pregnant and I got back on the meds. It took a few months before they were taking full effect. I have been building my speed back up and today I think that I have gotten it back.

I ran with the Dirt Tours tonight. We ran Mueller Park. About a mile and a half up the trail we started to see patches of snow. As we reached Elephant Rock there was a fair amount of snow that hadn't melted and the trail was nice and soft. I was running behind a guy named Ryan. There was a couple with two dogs hiking down. Ryan stop and walked around them. As he did this one of the dogs lunged toward him tried to bite his wrist. The owner got him off and started yelling at the dog. Ryan had a large hole in his sweatshirt but the dog didn't break his skin. It was surprising to have a dog react like that when it was with its owner. It was even on  leash. We made it to Elephant Rock with a fastest time for this year, 34:38. We rested for a few minutes and then headed down. The other guys told me to lead out because they knew that I like to run the downhill fast. The trail felt great today, so I just relaxed and really opened things up. About halfway down I had lost the other guys and was still gaining speed. Because of the recent storms, there weren't a lot of people on the trail so I didn't have to slow down or stop much. I was impressed at how fast I was going, yet it didn't feel like I was pushing the pace or running all out. I made it down in 22:28, also a record for this year. This is not the fastest I have ever ran this trail. Once last year I made it up in 33 minutes and down in 21. Considering the conditions of the trail, snow, mud, and slush, I felt like I was really moving.

Splits:
Mile 1: 10:46
Mile 2: 10:27
Mile 3: 9:31
Mile 4: 8:27 .4 up .6 down
Mile 5: 7:12
Mile 6: 6:02
last .8: 4:41 (5:47 pace) Whoa!!

avg pace up: 10:11
avg pace down:  6:36

I got a new pair of trail running shoes today. This is the first time that I have actually bought trail running shoes. Running shoes are expensive. I ran easy today to break them in. I along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail from Cheese Park. It was cold this morning, but I don't mind running in the cold.

Mueller Park Trail. I didn't have to worry about mud today because the ground was frozen. The trail was great today with a few frozen puddles and patches of snow on the sides. It is taking longer to get light in the morning. I had to use my head lamp for the entire run today.

Time up 42:00 avg pace 12:21
Time down 32:29 avg pace 9:33

After I put the kids in bed tonight I got on the treadmill and turned on the TV. I was flipping through the channels when I came across the 2007 Ironman in Hawaii. It was very inspiring and motivational. There was one guy who completed the race with no feet. He only had stubs below his knees. I definitely have no excuses. Another competitor had finished the race in fourth the year before got injured and ended up walking most of the marathon portion and came in 892nd place. When he was asked why he didn't just drop out, he said "It is disrespectful to your other competitors to drop out just because you are having a bad day." I admire people who finish the race no matter what.

Ran with Dirt Tours tonight. We started at Red Butte canyon. We headed North along the Bonneville Shoreline trail. The first mile had an elevation gain of about 100 ft and a split time of 9:37. Just before Dry Creek Canyon we turn up a steep hill toward Mt Vancott. This hill is one that should be considered a walker, but I was determined to run it and focus on my hill running technique. There were a few short patches that I did have to walk. Mile 2 gained over 1000ft in elevation and my split time was 18:51. If you are doing the math I ran the second my twice as slow, but the elevation gain was ten times greater. We made it to the top of Mt Vancott at 2.1 miles. From there we dropped into Red Butte Canyon. Almost literally. The first 15 ft was cliff that we scaled down. After that it was a steep technical downhill into the canyon. I think that downhill was steeper than the uphill, but I won't know for sure unless I run the route in reverse. 

Mueller Park Trail. The snow from the earlier storms had all melted. The trail was nice a soft today.

Time up 42:11 (avg pace 12:24)
Time down 31:15 (avg pace 9:11)

This was a race for diamonds. Real diamonds. The grand prize being a $2000 diamond from S. E. Needham Jewelers. To win you not only had to run fast, but you also had to dress in a wedding related costume. The scoring was based on the judging of the outfits and finish position.

I decided to go all out with my costume. I wore a black tux with long tails, a silver vest, and a silver bow tie. To top it off I added a top hat, white gloves, and a cane.

This race started at the USU quad in Logan. Most of the course was downhill and ended in front of the jewelery store.  There were several people dressed up in a lot of crazy outfits. A guy dressed up like flowers? A girl dressed as the wedding cake. Maryann was there in a full wedding dress with a long train. 

When the race started I thought I was starting awful fast, but it was a much shorter race than I am used to and I usual don't run that fast. The outfit didn't seem to slow me down much, I occasionally had to pull my hat down a little so that it wouldn't blow off. The course went right past the Logan Temple and there was a couple just outside of it getting their wedding pictures. What a sight we must have been running by.

Here is a shot of me flying through the course. It is blurry because I was going sooo fast.

Here comes the bride

Maryann and I after the race.

Some other runners after the race. From right to left Allie, myself, Maryann, I don't know the names of the other runners.

Well for my efforts and speed I won second place. A $1000 Diamond. The first place winner carried a wooden/cardboard car through the whole race. It had tin cans tied to the back of it. Third place was a photographer with the cake knife in his head.

This is the biggest prize I have ever won from a race. It is a good thing that I won a diamond because my anniversary is coming up. 

2.5 easy miles just to keep my legs feeling loose. I ran on the treadmill so that I wouldn't be tempted to go too fast or run up a mountain. I am running the Pony Express 50 on Friday. I will probably do one last easy run tomorrow.

Less than 24 hours until the Pony Express 50 miler.

I have completed my first 50 miler.

I ran the Pony Express 50 miler. This was a free race put on by local ultra runner Dacy Crockett. The were no aid stations, so each runner had to supply there one crew car to support them while they ran. I ran the race with Craig Lloyd (Jun). His mom crewed for both of us. She was awesome. We had her stop every 4 miles so that we could refuel and fill our water bottles. 

After the first eight miles we walked leaving the car for about five minutes before starting up again. We felt strong during those early miles, but walked so that we could make it through to the end. Our time at the half marathon mark was 2 something. I forgot to look at my watch at 13.1, so I didn't get the exact time. We averaged about 9 min miles (while running) for the first 25 miles. We hit the marathon mark at 4:40.

During the second half of the race Craig's IT band was giving him lots of trouble. We started walking for part of every mile so that he could stretch it out. We would run .75 and walk for .25. This helped him ease the pain, but he still struggled with almost every step. We stayed together and the walking was helping me too, since my muscles and joints were getting pretty worn out. It was good to stay together to keep each other motivated.

At mile 40 Craig was able to find a rhythm that minimized his knee pain. After that we made very short stops at the vehicle and made up some lost time. The finish line was just a point on the road where they had put a Slow Children at Play sign. We crossed the line together and tied for second place with a time of 10:42:49. First place went to Phil Lowry who had come in at 9:30:30, over an hour before us. 

This was a very fun race and I am excited that I was able to complete it. I didn't have any major troubles during the run. Just kept plugging along. I did get a nasty sunburn though. I had put on sunblock, but not very well. The were some spots I missed and I have streaks of red on my arms and legs. It's Saturday morning now, and my sunburn feels worse than my muscles. Note for next time: Apply sunblock better. 

I also got to meet some awesome bloggers. Smooth and Leslie. 

I did 2 miles today at a super easy pace. I just wanted to stretch my legs and see how well my recovery was going. My muscles were tender but not painful. My right knee feels weak and probably needs a few more days of easy running.

No miles today. I went up to Logan today to visit family. While there I went to S. E. Needham Jewelers to use my gift certificate that I got at the Race for Diamonds two weeks ago. I used it to get my wife a pair of earrings. I got her a pair of oval hoop earrings that are 14k white gold with 24 small diamonds on each and a total carat weight of .7. They are really pretty and she loves them.  

Today I decided to try a run on the roads. I haven't done much road running this year. It felt good but was a bit boring. Trails are much funner. I actually did a bit of a workout today instead of just running, which is what I normally do. I ran 6 miles with 2 one mile intervals at about marathon pace or just a bit faster.

Bonneville Shoreline Trail. I headed out at 5 a.m. today. It was very quiet out today. Just the sound of my footsteps and my breathing. It snowed lightly during most of the run. I tried out my new headlamp today. It has three different brightness setting and worked great. My old headlamp didn't have a strap across the top and would slide down as I ran. The trail was nice today with only a little snow on it and a few muddy spots. Avg pace: 9:51

Happy Halloween!!

Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Same route as yesterday. It was warmer today which made me sweat more. The trail was also more muddy. there was a section of the trail that had clay-like mud that would stick to the bottom of my shoes. I saw three dear on my run today. One doe with two bambi's. They didn't seem to care that I was running by and let me get within about 15 feet from them.

I wanted to run longer but didn't have time today. I am baptizing my oldest son today. 

Easy run early this morning. I was going to throw in some fast miles, but my knees said, 'not today', so I just took it easy. Avg pace: 9:39

Only three miles today. My knees were just not cooperating. I think it is because I have been eating too much sugar this week.

Short little run on the treadmill before heading to the airport. I am being sent to Alabama for work this week. My knees felt better today than they did Saturday. Hopefully they will be at 100% by the end of the week. Perhaps some low elevation miles in Alabama will help.

I'm working Alabama this week. I did 3 miles on the hotel treadmill tonight. Just enough to warm my legs up. I don't want to run to hard because I am running the Moab UltimateXC 50k this weekend.

I have completed my first 50k. I picked a doozy for my first one. I would not recommend this race for someone who has arthritis in their knees like I do, but I loved it and will definitely run it again.

We traveled down Friday afternoon. Myself, my wife, and our four kids. We left at 2 p.m., figuring traffic would be fine at that time, but at 2:15 we were stuck in non-moving traffic at 54th S on I-15. It took us an hour and a half to get 90th S. There was a bad wreck involving 8 cars that had shut the freeway down for a while. Traffic after that was fine. Since we were running behind schedule, we stopped in Price and had dinner at JB's Restaurant. I had chicken penne pasta with broccoli. It was a good pre race meal. We got to Moab about 8:30 p.m. The packet pick up was still set up at Eddie Mcstiff's and I got my number and free shirt. We headed down to the Lazy Lizard. A group of small cabins at the South end of Moab. I slept pretty good, but woke up a few times to the sound of rain on the roof.

I got up at 6:30 and  ate a bowl of cereal and a banana. Then we got the kids dressed,  fed, and headed up to the start. At the start I put on my GPS and turned it on. It only stayed on for a few seconds then shut off. The battery was fully charged when I left home, so it must have been bumped on during the drive down. The race started at 8:30 a.m. There were three races, a 10 miler, a 20 miler, and a 50k. All three races started together at the same time. The start was on the road, but quickly converged onto a jeep trail heading up Prichett Canyon. It was a cold morning, probably around 35 degrees. I had on a wind breaker over my running clothes. Prichett Canyon was the first of 3 monster climbs that I would encounter during the race. Not only was it a climb, but it was a technically challenging trail with lots of rocks and mud. After three miles I was burning hot. I took my wind breaker jacket off and tied it around my waist. I still had the pants from my wind breaker on and wouldn't be able to do anything about them until mile 10 where they had drop bags. The canyon continued up for another two miles. The top of the canyon was rather steep but I was able to run the whole way up. At the top of the hill was the first aid station. I drank some heed, grabbed some pretzels and M&M's and started into the downhill. Each aid station had M&M's and I gladly took advantage of it at each one. The technical downhill was a blast. I was able to move up a few positions. The trail and views were wonderful and I was really enjoying every moment of this race. We came to another canyon and ran along the upper edge of it. We were on a jeep trail with a 200 to 400 foot drop on the left side. The trail headed over the hill to the right and we dropped down into a different canyon. At the base of the canyon was the second aid station and the bag drop. I took the wind breaker jacket off my waist, but struggled to get the pants off over my shoes. I finally got them of, but had lost some time. The course headed up a dirt road (Kane Creek Rd) to Hunters Canyon. Here we did an out and back up the canyon, 2 miles up and 2 down. There was a clip at the end of the canyon that we used to punch a hole in our bib numbers to show that we had made it to the turn around. This trail was fun with several small water crossings and a small arch we had to duck through. By doing the out and back I could see my position in the race. At this point I was in the top 20. The course continued on up Kane Creek road, then dropped into a dry riverbed. The ground was very sandy, but the rain from the night before made it firm enough to get good footing. After the river bed came the second monster hill. I hadn't walked at all up to this point. I didn't make it very far up this hill before I was walking. I walked at a good pace, but it was a very long, steep hill that seemed to keep going and going. At the top of the hill I could see for miles. The views were great. The trail then headed downhill, but the uphill had taken so much out of me that I couldn't run the downhills as hard as I would of liked. We came to a small slot canyon the we had to go through. It was so narrow at the end that I had to turn sideways to get through. Great fun. At mile 17 there was another aid station. I was feeling a bit dehydrated, even though I had been fueling good. I ate a half of a peanut butter sandwich, refueled with heed and M&M's of course and headed on. The course had several sections which were across slick rock. It was well marked and easy to find which way to go. There was another aid station at mile 20. I was starting to slow and had been getting passed. The next section was a nice downhill trail back to the start. The Colorado River was on the right and a magnificent rock face was on the left. Back at the start was another aid station. This was the finish for the 20 miler. The course for them was actually 23 miles. The rest of the course was another out and back with some added features. We dropped down into another riverbed and crossed under the road through a 15ft pipe. Then headed passed the first monster hill and came to a ladder that went up a rock face about 12 ft. At the top of the ladder there was a volunteer that said "watch out for cactus." This was a new terrain challenge, cactus plants with long spikes all along the trail. I managed not to get poked. Next came a rock climb. There was a rope to hold onto as we climbed up and volunteers to support us. Only one person was allowed on the rope at a time. The next mile was rolling hills on rock and sand. Then a second climb.  Downward this time. I slid right down. The trail then headed down to the road. This was the only paved section of the course. It was only about a mile long. After the road, we came to the third monster hill, Moab rim trail. There was an aid station at the base of the trail. They said that it was two miles up and two miles down. The trail was a brutal uphill climb up rock and what seemed like a 45 degree angle. I walked all of this hill. At the top was another clip to punch a hole in our bibs. I had to come down slowly because my knees where pretty torn up and just couldn't go fast. I came down the trail, along the road, up the rock I had climb down, down the other rock, down the ladder, back through the pipe and to the finish. At the finish I had one guy on my tail. Coming out of the riverbed was a steep muddy trail that would've been a walker at this point, but I was almost done, so I pushed hard up the trail and finished strong. The guy behind never caught up. I finished in 6:23. I haven't seen the official time yet and don't know what my place was, but I will update things when the results get posted. I was very excited to have finished with such a good time. I was expecting to be a least an hour slower had told my wife not to come up until 4 p.m. (7.5 hours), so she wasn't there to see me finish. They had a BBQ set up at the finish for all the racers. I got a hamburger and was just sitting down to eat it when I saw my wife pull up. She had decided to come up an hour early to be sure to see me, but still missed my finish. We stayed in Moab another night and drove around to some of the sights with the kids the next day, including "Scooby Doo Rock" which was the kid's favorite. It was a great weekend.

First run since the 50k. I think my recovery is going well. My right knee was a bit tender for the first two miles, but was feeling good at the end. I kept things pretty slow today, but it felt good to run again.

1001 miles. I finally made it into the 4 digit numbers. The miles this year have been a lot of fun, and have included a whole slew of races. One 3k, three 5k's, one 8k, two 10k's, one 10 miler, two half marathons, one 16 miler, one 17 miler, one 30k, one full marathon, one 28 miler, one 50k, and one 50 miler. Looks like I had a race in almost every distance. I am going to do at least one more 10k before the year is over. I will be running the Run to Feed the Hungry on Thanksgiving Day in Idaho Falls.

For today's run I ran the Mueller Park trail.  The was snow on most of the trail, but it was packed down all the way to Elephant Rock. I went a little slow today but still made good time considering the conditions.

Time up: 42:00  (12:21 avg)
Time down:  30:00 (8:49 avg)