Every Race is an Adventure!

Ran to Orem city center and back with Larry. It was good to see him out on a Monday morning.

I ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry and Wayne. Some bikers were slowly gaining on us as we headed up the steep hill. I jokingly asked if they had room for one more. One of them said they were our pacers, and that we needed to speed up...so I did and pushed quickly to the top. The lead biker stayed with me, but I pulled away from the others. I'm beginning to feel the positive affects of a few consistent weeks of increased mileage. I was a little scared after this run...because I felt so good during it!  I always get scared when things seem to be going well...wondering what new adversity is wait just around the corner. I'm trying to do better at enjoying the good times while they are still good, and not worry so much, so I'm just going to enjoy the nicer weather and healthy body while they last.

Larry and I wandered the hills of north Orem and Lindon, focusing more on the conversation than the running. It was good to see Larry meet his goal of getting out both Monday and Wednesday this week (in addition to his normal T, Th, Sat).

Larry and I looped through Lindon and cut it a little short this morning. The lawns were covered with a thin layer of new snow but the roads were clear and it wasn't too cold.

I ran the Orem library route solo this morning. It was a little cold, with a cold breeze. I was glad to have long pants, layers, ear muffs, and gloves.

Despite the chill, I decided to push the pace a bit right from the start. My effort was pretty consistent for the entire 10K distance, somewhere between 10K pace effort and marathon pace effort, with the first warm up mile a little slower than the rest. I ended up averaging 8:01/mi. The average was 8:06 with less than a mile to go, and I tried to push and get it under 8:00, but didn't quite make it, even with a 6:30-ish pace the last 0.2 miles.

I'm feeling positive about my running. I'd like to be running faster, but I'm grateful to be feeling healthy and running as well as I am.

Larry, Wayne and I started out toward the canyon, but inspired by the cold wind we changed course and decided to run north on the canal road instead. It was firm on the way out, but was getting pretty muddy on the way back, and we could feel the weight of the mud sticking to our shoes.

Wayne and I wanted to go about 12 miles, Larry a bit less because he had already put in more miles than normal this week. Wayne and I plotted to keep Larry talking until we had gone far enough that he would have to run at least a total of 10 miles just to get back home.It turns out he had noted the distance but kept going anyway. He ended up running 11 miles to finish off a good week of running. Wayne and I took the longer way home and went 12 miles. We were both tired but managed to push the last mile considerably faster than the previous eleven (which wasn't very fast). The last mile was 7:51, with the overall average 9:17/mi.

I ran the Orem library route solo this morning. Larry had talked of joining me, but I think daylight savings time got the better of him. I know my body was sure reluctant to start running at what felt like 4:45am. Maybe that's why I ran so much slower this morning than Friday. Friday I averaged 8:01/mi on this route. Today I averaged 9:00/mi. I count it a victory that I managed to drag myself out of bed at all.

I ran the Orem library route solo this morning inside my freezer...well, it felt like I was running inside my freezer. It felt cold! My pace isn't worth mentioning, but I had three victories this morning: 1) I got out of bed, 2) I took the first step into the cold all alone when nobody else showed up, and 3) I kept my legs moving until the planned run was done.

Solo Orem library run. Cold again. Barely broke 9:00 pace (8:59/mi).

Four miles through Lindon with Larry.

This makes two years in a row we found out after I committed to run the Spectrum 10K as part of the St. George Runner Series that it conflicted with one of our daughters dancing at the BYU Marriott Center. With Karen's encouragement and my daughter's approval, I decided to go ahead and run the race this year, but I've decided I will skip this race next year if it conflicts again.

My plans for getting to and from St. George, and my sleeping arrangements while there, were more fluid than I normally like, but it all turned out well. I ended up riding down with Larry, Jolene, and their grandson Becket. I was planning to sleep at Jolene's parents' home, but we found out Wayne's wife was ill and Wayne was coming down alone. He was staying at a friend's condo and there was an extra room so I stayed with him. It was a really nice condo. I felt like I was staying at a 5 star hotel. Since both Larry and Wayne were originally planning to stay past Saturday, Kerry and his family had agreed to give me a ride back home. With Wayne's wife being ill and not coming down, he decided to head back Saturday so I rode with him so he wouldn't be alone and to allow Kerry's family to have a little more space. It's great having such generous and kind running buddies (and their families). Like most things in life, who you're with has a large impact on how much you enjoy what you are doing.

We had picked up our numbers the night before, but Wayne and I still got up and got to the start early enough to have plenty of time to warm up and hit the portapotties. The last bus in the first wave left just as Larry and company arrived. The second wave seemed slow getting back. We ended up being nearly the last people getting on the last bus.

It's good I had warmed up well and got my bathroom stops in. Just after we got off the bus they announced two minutes to the start of the race, and two minutes later we were racing down Snow Canyon.

I had been looking forward to this race for weeks. I've been increasing my mileage the past month or so, but I've been reluctant to push the pace because of the Achilles tendonitis I've been trying to get healed up all winter. It's been feeling pretty good and I hadn't wanted to push too soon and have it flare up again. But today I had decided to put it to the test. I was actually looking forward to the discomfort and challenge of race pacerunning and seeing just where my fitness is.

Given my lackluster training this winter until the last month or so, I knew the sub-40 time of last year was beyond my reach. My goals for today were 1) sub-42, 2) sub-7:00 pace, or 3) sub-45. I managed to average a 6:49/mi pace, but missed the sub-42, finishing in 42:22. Despite the fact that I finished 5th in my AD this year vs. 2nd last year, I feel really good about the results. My splits were: 6:06, 7:00, 6;30, 7:04, 7:22, 7:20, 6:24/mi for the last 0.2.

The weather was perfect, the scenery beautiful, and I really enjoyed the run. The first half of the run down the canyon I decided to let the brakes off but not push too hard. I averaged about 6:32/mi for the first 5K (20:15-ish) which I think was about right. I felt like I took advantage of the downhill while still retaining enough energy to not die on the uphill sections during the second half of the race. Once I set my effort level fairly early in the race I think I held it pretty steady the whole race, evidenced by only passing a few runners and having only a few pass me. There were a few that passed me multiple times, but I think my steady pace outlasted most if not all of them.

One of the runners that passed me once and who I never passed back was Hal Amos. He passed about 3.5 miles into the race. I could see him the rest of the race, and closed the gap a couple of times, but he finished about 30 seconds ahead of me. Larry's niece Jesse finished only 15 seconds behind me. Immediately after finishing I headed back on the route. Wayne was a few minutes behind, with Larry a little farther back, with Jolene right on his heels.

I kept going until I met up with Kerry and Laureen and their daughter Amelia (12). I finished well ahead of Kerry, but I would have traded him in a heart beat to be able to be running with my wife and one of my children. What a great family activity. Amelia has nice running form and showed some real toughness in this race. During the awards I asked if she might do it again and she smiled and nodded her head. It seemed to me that she was experiencing that satisfaction that comes from pushing your limits and enduring well.

I enjoyed everything about going to St. George for this race...the weather, my running buddies, the results...except that Karen wasn't there and I missed my daughter's performance. She earned a gold medal in the elementary school ballroom dance team match and survived 3 or 4 elimination rounds to make it to the quarter finals in the Newcomer Swing competition. As I said, next year I will be more careful in my calendaring. Maybe I'll drop the Spectrum 10K (even though I like it a lot) and try the Snow Canyon or Hurricane half marathon instead.

My legs were pretty stiff and sore in the morning so I waited until noon to run to let them loosen up a bit. I ran the water tank hills for the first time this year. My legs were tired, and my quads were a little stiff and sore, from the race Saturday but I enjoyed the run.

I ran the Lindon loop with Larry this morning at a very easy pace. The legs were still not 100% recovered from Saturday's race.

I ran the Orem library route solo this morning. The legs were feeling better so I pushed the pace just a notch above easy pace and averaged 8:29/mi.

My left Achilles tendon was a little sore again after Saturday's race, but not too bad. I wore the Strausburg sock to bed on Saturday and Sunday night, and I've stretched well everyday, and now it feels pretty good. I didn't notice it at all this during this morning's run.

Ran up 2000 N with Larry then looped down to 1200 N and back home.

I ran the Orem library route solo again. Average pace was 8:26/mi vs. 8:29/mi last time. Roughly the same but headed in the right direction.

With Wayne being ill this week and Larry not training for a marathon I suspected they might only want to do 10 or 12 miles today. I've been feeling good and wanted to go a bit longer so I went out and ran 4 easy miles before meeting up with them. I stopped off at home in between where I hit the bathroom, took a gel, ate half a banana, and drank some water. I also dropped off my jacket and changed into a dry shirt. I wasn't going to tell them I had run early, but it's hard to keep secrets from running buddies.

We ran the canal road this morning. It was a beautiful morning. It felt great to be out running.

As Larry isn't training for a spring marathon, he turned back a little earlier than Wayne and me. We hoped to catch him on our way back, but didn't see him again until we got back to the neighborhood.

Wayne really pushed me hard the last six miles or so. I was just trying to hang on. We went from 9:30 to 8:30 to sub-8:00 pace...much of which was on the gradual uphill while running in the upstream direction on the canal road. The pace was slower than what we hope our Ogden marathon pace to be, but it was definitely a hard marathon pace effort. It felt good to feel healthy enough to push the effort.

It's days like this...good buddies, long miles, hard effort, beautiful weather...that make running such a wonderful pursuit.

I went out for a noon run today instead of running in the morning. It was still plenty cold, and pretty windy. I figured I only had time for 5 miles, and that would have to be at closer to an 8:00 minute pace than 9:00. I averaged around 8:15 the first two miles, into the wind and with a little uphill. The third mile was 8:49, with some pretty good uphill. Mile 4 was along the canal road (mostly level) at 8:02. The last mile included the 1600 N downhill. Even though it was into the wind I still managed to drop down to 7:03 for the last mile, for an overall average of 8:04/mi.

This was not race pace, or even a fast tempo run, but it felt good to push the pace a bit. I'm feeling strong, and my Achilles is behaving, but it keeps reminding me to be prudent and not push too much too soon.

Larry joined me for an easy 6 mile birthday run this morning. What a great way to start the day.

This year is only 49, next year will be the big 5-0 and a new age division.

Larry and I braved the frigid blowing snow and ran up the big 2000 N hill, but Larry wasn't feeling well so we only got in 3.2 miles. I really didn't mind getting back indoors sooner to thaw out.

I ran 13 miles this morning...and walked 1 mile. I got in 4 easy miles early then met up with Larry, Wayne and Kevin. We headed north on the canal road. A few miles into the run Kevin stopped to talk with his father-in-law who was running the other direction. Larry stopped with him and Wayne and I continued on. We thought they would be right behind us, but we never saw them again until the end of the run.

Wayne said he hadn't been feeling well all week and didn't know how far he would go, but he ended up outrunning me again. About mile 4 into my run with Wayne my right hip starting hurting pretty badly. I have some arthritis in that hip. I tried running through it but by mile 5, still heading away from home, I knew I wouldn't be able to run another 7 miles. Wayne wanted to get in 12 miles so I told him to continue on. I would stretch and walk a bit and join him on the return trip. I ended up walking about a mile back the way we had come, stopping and stretching along the way, before Wayne returned. I ran with him the last 4 miles and the hip wasn't too bad.

My hip hasn't bothered me at all for a long time. I think the problem with my hip this morning may have been that I wore shorts even though it was pretty cold, especially during those 4 early miles I ran. I 'll have to keep an eye on it.

I was up late Sunday night, and it was cold and windy with 4 or 5 inches of new snow this morning, so I waited to run until noon. It was still cold and windy, but the roads were clear. I ran down 1600 N to 400 W, north on 400 W to the canal road, east and south on the muddy/snowy canal road, got off at the first opportunity and climbed east up a steep hill then wandered south to 400 E and 1600 N then west to home. I averaged 8:35/mi overall, running the last half mile or so at 7:52/mi, downhill, but into a pretty strong and cold headwind. It wasn't especially fast, but with the cold wind, mud, and hills mixed in, I felt good about pushing the entire 5.5 miles, and was not bothered at all by the right hip pain that hampered me on Saturday's run.

Larry and I ran 6 easy cold miles on the Lindon loop.