Every Race is an Adventure!

I started the new year by finally getting out and running with Larry and Wayne again. It was great to run with them again.

I played basketball again this morning with Andrew and company. I really stunk it up but got some pretty good exercise in. I finally hit a three pointer (after missing quite a few) near the end of the last game to help get us back in the game. I only mention it because it was probably the only highlight for me for the whole morning. At least I got some good exercise and didn't get too badly hurt (a couple of minor finger jams).

I got out with Larry and Wayne again this morning. I guess we barely missed Kevin. We were planning on 10 miles this morning, but with the treacherous icy roads and strong freezing wind we decided 6 miles would be enough. Despite the conditions I really enjoyed being out running with Larry and Wayne again. I think we're all feeling quite unprepared for the Painter's half marathon in two weeks, but there is a good chance it will be at least a little warmer in St. George. I think we'll all finish it okay, but I don't think there is much chance of anything near a PR for any of us. It seems as I get older I'm more content with and grateful for what I am able to do, and don't worry so much about what I can't.

I played in a church basketball game with my two adult sons tonight. We only had 5 players so I got a pretty good cross training workout.

I ran the Lindon loop with Larry and Wayne.

I finally got in a 10+ mile run. It will probably be the only one before the Painter's half next Saturday. I'm confident now that I will be able to finish the 13.1 miles, but it won't be very fast. I only averaged 9:23/mi this morning, but I didn't push the pace at all until the last mile or so, when I managed to average 7:23/mi.

With the bad weather, painful Achilles, and career change this winter, my training hasn't been very good. I'm okay with that. My life overall has been going pretty well and I feel happy and blessed. The weather is improving, my Achilles felt okay this morning, and I love my new job.

I think my goals for next week are 1) finish without injury, 2) break 2:00, 3) break 1:45. With my spotty training this winter, I have no idea what to expect. I do know that my 1:32 time last year is far out of reach this year.

I ran the Lindon loop with Larry and Wayne, enjoyable even in the dark and the cold, even though it wasn't quite as cold this morning.

Larry and I cut the Lindon loop short this morning for biological reasons. I could say we're tapering for Painter's on Saturday, but you have to be training hard in order to taper. :-)

Last year I was running 40-50+ miles per week. For the past few months I've not been doing much more than that per month, mostly due to a sore left Achilles, a career change, and bad weather. Considering my lack of conditioning, I'm quite pleased with the results of this race, even though it's 9 minutes slower than last year.

I started out the race running with Wayne, even though I knew he was in better shape than me. He said he was going to start out easy. I hung with him okay for the first 5 miles or so, and managed to average sub-7:30 for the first half of the race:

7:31, 7:31, 7:13, 7:18, 7:36, 7:13, 7:27

My lack of training caught up with me on the uphills and in the latter miles:

7:50, 8:07, 7:47, 8:02, 8:26, 8:16

My time was 1:41:34 (7:47/mi). I finished 10th of 49 in the M 45-49 age division, and 171st of 1033 overall. Wayne finished in 1:38, Bill R. in 1:47, Larry in 1:57, Lyle in 2:17.

I'm encouraged that even with my pathetic training I still managed to finish in the top 20%.

My left Achilles didn't bother me at all, but my right calf started feeling tight about mile 6 and two days later is still pretty sore, but it feels like it will heal up pretty quick (knock on wood).

I enjoyed seeing my old Novell running buddies Tom (and Kim), Nathan, and Bill. Kim is injured and was walking the 5K just to fulfill the Runner Series requirement, so Tom walked with her (what a guy!). Nathan's daughter was running the 5K so he did, too. He finished in 19:35 (6:18/mi), 2nd in his division. Not too shabby! It sounded like Bill's training has been a little like mine this winter, and he seemed satisfied with his slower than normal 1:47 (8:15/mi) half marathon. I can relate.

Even though it was a little chillier than I hoped in St. George, it was still very nice running in shorts and not having to worry about icy roads, no shoulders, or poor footing. I felt my running fire rekindle a bit. I think once things thaw out here in Orem it will throw even more fuel on the fire.

Karen and I enjoyed our quick getaway and I'm pleased with the results of the run. Life is good. No regrets.

Six miles with Larry and Kevin. We missed Wayne but it was great having Kevin along again (even with his young dog Dash, Ozzie's boy).

A brief frigid run with Larry. Mid-teens and a breeze. It was cold! With Larry's busy morning schedule today, we decided a couple of miles was enough.

Last night I registered for the Ogden Marathon in May, so I guess I need to start getting more consistent with my training. I hope the weather thaws out soon.

Larry later confessed to peeking at us through the window. He almost turned on the light and asked us to wait for him, but he was running late, and it was very cold, so he opted to feign still being asleep. Wayne and I saw the dark house, failed to see sneaky Larry peering at us in the darkness, and left without him. We enjoyed the cold run anyway, but would have enjoyed it more with Larry, and would have been willing to wait for him.

We're all planning to run the inaugural Hale Center Theater "When Hale Freezes Over" 10K on Saturday. We figured it was for a good cause. They are rookie race organizers so it could be an adventure.

I'm glad I decided to run in the inaugural Hale Freezes Over 10K put on by the Hale Center Theater in Orem. There were 200+ participants in the 5K, 10K, and 1 mile walk. There were some issues, but for a first time event I thought it was run pretty well. RunnerCard handled the timing, the post-race food (including hot pizza) was pretty good, and they had the awards and prize drawings inside the theater out of the cold, which was nice.

One hiccup was that the course markings in some spots were hard to see. There were a bunch of the lead runners that missed a major turn near the beginning. There were a lot of turns in the course as it winded through neighborhoods. Wayne missed a turn later in the race, and I had a little glitch myself on a corner where someone had apparently taken the cones.

Another fairly major hiccup was that they had no age division awards, only 1st-3rd male and female in each race. No masters division, either, which I just realized I would have won (I'm 48 and the two ahead of me were 24 and 33). After the race, one of the organizers told us it was their first time and they will fix things next time.

There were only 17 men in the 10K. To my surprise, I finished 3rd overall. I've never finished higher than 10th overall before. Sure, it was a small field, but it was fun to stand on the podium and get my picture taken. I got a nice medal, a pair of Asics running socks, and a season ticket to the Hale Center Theater. I also won another pair of Asics running socks in the drawing. Every participant got a couple of vouchers to upcoming shows (and a pen, and a deck of cards, and some discount coupons to various businesses).

The 5K and 10K runners started together and ran the first couple of miles together. I knew where the 10K runners were supposed to split from the 5K runners, but as we approached the turn nobody was taking the 10K turn. I confirmed with a guy at the aid station where the 10K was. I was hoping many of the numerous runners in front of me were running the 5K, but I was shocked when the only person to turn to the 10K course ahead of me was the woman in the tie-dye shirt about 20 yards in front of me.

The course works its way down to Geneva road during the first half then climbs back up the second half. I didn't want to die on the uphill, so I tried to balance taking advantage of the downhill with not overdoing it. I averaged about 7:06/mi before the uphill and averaged 7:25/mi overall. I slowed on the uphill as expected, but I was pleased that I never felt like the wheels came off. I actually feel like I could have pushed quite a bit harder near the end, but there was a huge gap both ahead of me and behind, and I wasn't anywhere near a PR. I didn't feel the risk of injury was worth any potential reward for pushing really hard. I recovered very quickly from the race and feel better than I have in a long time.

Mile splits: 7:14, 6:53, 7:14, 7:40, 8:06, 7:30, 6:54/mi for 0.2  - Overall: 45:59.6 (7:24/mi)