Every Race is an Adventure!

Cascade route. Kevin and I pulled ahead so I could get back on time. I didn't have my Garmin, but based on my Ironman I think the pace for the 3 miles on the way back was just under 8:00/mi.

Lindon loop. Average pace 8:51/mi.

Thanks, Larry! It was a great run!

I didn't start out grateful. We didn't have a plan for today's run, but my goals were:

1. Get to 40 miles for the week...finally back to where I was before the PF pain started.

2. Get in 12-14 miles as a stepping stone toward 20+ milers I need to start getting in soon.

3. Get home before 10:00am to watch LDS General Conference.

Larry wasn't aware of my goals and suggested a selection of tough uphills starting by going up 2000 North. Wayne suggested we also run some of the trail we ran last week. So off we went.

I started thinking...It took us 2:15 to run a 10 mile similar route last week because of all the steep uphill. I started thinking that all three of my goals were suddenly at risk. With all the slower uphills, I didn't think I'd be able to get in the 10 miles I needed in the less than 2 hours I had to run.

I asked Larry what prompted him to suggest all the uphills. I guess I sounded like a whiner, because I was told (not by Larry) that I could run whatever/wherever I want, and that I should be more positive. I felt pretty bad so I dropped it and decided to just go with the flow.

At the top of the first big hill we stopped to wait for everyone to get to the top. I decided it was silly for me to stop when I wanted more miles. I decided to just keep running and double back at appropriate points to rejoin everyone else while still getting in a little extra distance. That plan worked out well through the rest of the run.

I ended up having a very enjoyable run. The training on the hills and trail were good prep for the Squaw Peak 50 in a couple of months, and I managed to meet all three of my goals. I didn't get in 12-14 miles, but I feel the effort I expended was equivalent to a level 12-14 mile run.

I'm still feeling some PF pain, but it didn't bother me during the run, and it doesn't seem to be getting worse running on it, and has even been feeling a little better. I messed up and missed my podiatrist appointment on Thursday (I thought it was on Friday) so now I have to wait two weeks for the next open appointment slot to pick up my orthotic, unless there is a cancellation.

I'm still hopeful spring weather will come to stay soon.

The kids are out of school this week. I had a little extra time this morning so I went a couple of extra miles. I guess everyone else was sleeping in so I ran alone.

I'm in a tricky place of trying to balance between injury recovery/avoidance and bumping up my training to be ready for the Squaw Peak 50 in June. As of last week I'm back up to 40 mile weeks. Now I need to push my way up to 50, including some longer long runs.

I was thinking as I was running this morning (a great benefit of being a runner by the way) that a key to injury recovery and wise training is to listen...to your body, to your running buddies, to other running experts, to your gut, to your spirit, to the Spirit of God.

I watched and listened to 10 hours of "church" on Saturday and Sunday. Many may think I'm nuts...or might feel the same...but I thoroughly enjoyed it. When running up Provo Canyon I love drinking from the fountain near Timpanogos Park that runs 24x7 year round. I call it the fountain of youth. It always seems to renew me. As I watched the LDS General Conference, and listened to modern prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ share their love, their knowledge, their witness, and their wisdom, the Spirit of God spoke to my heart. I felt like I was drinking from the cool, pure, and refreshing fountain of heavenly truth and love. I was renewed. As with running, now I just need to listen, move forward, be diligent and patient, find the right balance, avoid injury, endure well, and enjoy the adventure as I try to become the best I can be.

"All by myself. Don't wanna be, all by myself, anymore." These lyrics crossed my mind several times as I was running this morning.

I guess I did the unpopular thing this morning by getting up to run on this frosty April morning during spring break. For the first time in a long time not only was I running alone, but I didn't even see another runner or pedestrian along the way.

I ran the normal Tuesday hill route up 2000 North. My speed led me to think of my pace as "ultra pace"...not as in "ultra fast", but more as in "so slow that I might actually have a chance of finishing an ultra marathon at that pace." In other words, not a whole lot faster than walking. Like most things in life, if you just show up and get started and keep moving forward you'll eventually get done, even if it takes longer than you hoped. Sometimes that's enough. Two of my favorite talks this past weekend were on diligence and patience. I think those principles apply here.

It was cold again this morning, but at least I didn't have to run alone again. It was good to see Kent and Larry out. We ran the water tank hills. There was a dusting of snow. That, with my glasses fogging up a bit, made it difficult for me to see the rocks and ruts but I managed okay. On the way down Larry caught a toe on a rut and dropped. He hurt his hands and ribs, but after walking a bit went on and finished the run. He'll probably be sore. I hope it's nothing serious.

Kent and Larry yesterday. Wayne and Kevin today. That's two days in a row I haven't had to run alone. That's good. Some consistency would be nice, but right now it's kind of like opening a Christmas present every morning. When I go out to run I never know what, or better who, I'm going to find.

It was an easy run. We averaged just under 9:00/mi, with some 7:00-ish during the last mile. My plan is just to continue to consistently get miles in, gradually increasing mileage up until the Squaw Peak 50 in June. Speed is not a concern at this point. Trying to get my PF healed is. Today was encouraging. My heel felt pretty good. My regimen of Strassburg sock every night, morning stretches, aspirin, Futz ball massaging, and some occasional foot strengthening exercises seems to be helping.

I ran an extended Lindon loop solo this morning. Average pace 8:58/mi.

Larry, Wayne, Kevin, Kent and I did some trail running again today. First we ran to the mouth of Provo Canyon and up the paved trail to Timpanogos Park. From there we worked our way up the mountainside to the upper road that we followed back to the top of the water tank hills. With his injured rib Larry wanted to go shorter so he took a different route and we met up with him along the road.

There was a 5K trail race going on so Larry and I decided to go off road and follow the trail. The others wanted to get back so they went on down the hills. Along the trail we met up with two older ultra marathon runners we had met last week. They weren't doing the race either. I talked with Mel for a while. He told me he tried to get his buddies to run trails years ago but they wouldn't. Now at 76 (I think) he's the only one still running. I know we've sure been enjoying trail running of late. We're blessed to have so many great trails so close.

When we reached the finish line for the race we stopped and talked with Hawk Harper and others for a while. I wanted to go a little farther along the trail. Larry's ribs chose the less bumpy route down the road.

With all the uphill, and being on my feet for nearly 3 hours, by the end of this run I was pretty tired. And 45 miles for the week is the most I've done for a while. I think this kind of training is just what I need for Squaw Peak. I just hope my body can hold out.

What a great run this morning. I feel blessed. I wish everyone could have experiences like these on a regular basis. I think everyone would be a lot happier.

Solo run on Orem library route. Avg. pace 9:30.

It took some willpower to get out and run solo in the heavy, wet snowfall. I earned a solid left-side tally mark this morning just for that, even though my avg. pace was only around 10:00/mi.

I ran the water tank hills this morning...alone again, naturally. I remembered to take my headlamp and was glad. The upper two hills were even worse than they have been. In addition to the tire ruts that were already there, it looked like horses and a bevy of runners had all went up when the road was muddy. There wasn't a bit of smooth road to run on anywhere. I ended up walking most of the top portion, up and down, to avoid rolling an ankle. The net result was I only had time for 5.5 miles instead of 6.

Cascade route...solo...nicer weather. I enjoyed it. I would have enjoyed it more with company and no foot pain.

A perfect 5 for 5 this week...I've run everyday...and everyday I've run alone.

I left early this morning to try to get in an extra couple of miles. I looped around to see if anyone came out at 5:45am, but didn't see anyone. I was a few minutes late so I just continued on the Lindon loop that we have been doing on Fridays. I decided to run it in the opposite direction for a change. I don't think I've ever run that route in the reverse direction. It changed the dynamics quite a bit. I welcomed the variety.

I hit the 8 mile mark a little more than1/4 mile from home. Right about then I felt some tightness, kind of a knot, beginning in the top of my right calf. I decided to stop, stretched it lightly, and then walked for a couple of minutes. It soon felt fine. I jogged the rest of the way home without it bothering me. There was some tightness there in my post-run stretching, but thankfully no pain.

I've been re-reading "This Running Life" by George Sheehan. I bought it, hard cover, for $1.98 at the BYU Bookstore back in the late 70's or early 80's. It was my first book on running and had a significant impact on my running. I read yesterday about a bunch of running B's. Big toe - try to wear out your shoe under your big toe; Buttocks - upper body quiet like riding a horse, below the waist is the horse where all the work is done; Belly Breathing - use the diaphragm to breath; Back - keep the back straight to open airways; Balance - the functions of the upper body are breathing and balance. I added Beat - a turnover of about 180 steps per minute...3 per second...a 1-2-3 waltz beat per second.

I was thinking about all these B's during the run and trying to monitor how well I was doing. I think focusing on "Big Toe" got me to run on my forefoot more, which worked the calves harder.

It was a good run, and I really enjoyed the milder weather. I hope the better weather helps get my running buddies out more regularly.

It's been a busy but good day. It started with 2.5 hours of awesome trail running, followed by 3 hours of neighborhood clean up (mostly loading green waste into dump trailers), followed by hauling furniture (couch, love seat, headboard, large dresser with mirrors, side table, bed frame, wood kitchen table, and 4 oak chairs) out of storage in our basement and to Tiffany & Sean's new apartment (our oldest daughter and her husband). Frankly, I'm surprised at how well my aged body has held out.

Since this is a running blog I'll detail the run a little. This was my first run to the "rock pile". It was also Wayne's and Kent's first time. Larry had been there before, but it had been a long time. We started up the water tank hills then cut off on the bottom of hill 5 onto the trail to rock pile. We all commented on how beautiful and enjoyable it was running on the trail. We saw many deer and some grouse. The weather was cool but not cold. I was only wearing a short sleeve shirt and shorts with no ear band or gloves (for a change) and was comfortable the whole run.

The rock pile is...a pile of rocks. We met another runner there who was waiting for his buddy. He told me two important things about the rock pile, 1) on your first visit you should add a rock to the pile, 2) don't touch the other rocks because apparently it is quite common for people to urinate on the rocks. I added a cube shaped rock to the top of the file. I didn't feel the urge so I didn't urinate on the rocks, nor did I touch them.

We decided to take Trail 51 from rock pile down Dry Creek Canyon. There was some mud, and some frozen snow, to deal with in places...and I rolled my right ankle about 6 miles into it, but the ankle's okay and overall it was a terrific run! I very much enjoyed the flora, the fauna, the weather, the terrain, and the company. I think we all felt the same and questioned why it had taken us so long to discover the awesome trails right in our own backyard. I think it was Kent who said that these have to be some of the best running trails in the world. I would have to agree.

I talked with Joe Martel, a veteran trail runner, and he told me runners measure runs on asphalt by distance and trail runs by time, dividing by a reasonable guesstimate at pace to determine mileage. I divided 2.5 hours by 11:00/mi and got 13.6 miles. Based on how hard I worked and how tired I was that seems about right.

I'm beginning to gain an appreciation for what I have ahead of me in the Squaw Peak 50. The course is probably fairly similar to today, except the it climbs to over 9000' instead of 6000', and I'll be going for 12+ hours instead of today's 2.5. Am I nuts?!! Of course I am, I'm a runner. How will I ever know if I can do it if I don't try?

This morning's run didn't go as planned, but it's all good. Larry said he and Nick were going to meet Joe Judd, a former neighborhood runner who now lives a few blocks outside the neighborhood, at 5:30am instead of 5:45am. I decided to go out early and join them. What I didn't know was that 5:30am meant 5:20am and meeting at Joe's house at 5:30am. After determining I was alone, I decided to run 1/2 mile loops around the block to see if anyone came out at 5:45am. Nobody did but I kept running loops anyway.

After a bit I came around the corner to see Larry, Nick and Joe walking up my street. They were following the neighborhood 5K course and were taking a walking break. Joe hasn't run for a while. I finished my loop around the block and met them at the NE corner and ran then walked then ran with them back to Joe's house. It was enjoyable chatting there for a while, but I wasn't getting much running in.

We eventually left and I ran back home with Larry and Nick. I had 18 minutes before I had to be home so I left them and got another couple of miles in (loop to 1200 N and 400 E) for a total of 5.5 miles. That didn't seem like enough, so after family scriptures and prayer I ran another couple of miles worth of loops around the block until it was time to take my daughter to school. I ended up with a total of 7.5 miles.

The ankle I rolled on Saturday was pretty stiff and sore Sunday morning, but loosened up pretty quickly. It was still a little stiff and sore this morning, but much less so and loosened up and didn't bother me during my run.

I'm planning my first two-a-day in a long time tomorrow. I'm looking forward to my first noon trail run with Grant and Joe and company from work. I hope I can keep up.

In the morning I ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry, Wayne and Kevin. Larry cut it short because his ribs were still hurting him. He's been pretty tough running with sore ribs. I hope they start hurting him soon.

At noon, I went trail running with Grant, Joe and Dan. Grant had to turn back early because of time constraints. The rest of us ran to the rock pile and back. I enjoyed running the trails. Joe powered up the hills, and Grant and Dan can sure fly downhill with their long legs. My uphillers were really burning by the end, but I didn't fall too far behind.

It's been a long time since I've run a two-a-day, run in the sun, and run 12.5 miles on a weekday. Overall, I survived it pretty well. It's still a little intimidating to think that Squaw Peak is 4 times that long. I averaged about 11:00/mi. There's no way I'll run Squaw Peak that fast. I'm hoping to manage around 14:30/mi if everything goes well. My training is not where I hoped it would be at this point, but at least today was a step in the right direction.

Kevin and I started on the Wednesday route toward the water tank hills, but my legs were still heavy from running there the day before so I convinced Kevin to morph it into the flatter Thursday route to Cascade. I felt bad I couldn't push the pace a little more for Kevin, but my legs were dragging. We only got down to around 8:40/mi near the end, and averaged about 9:00/mi overall.

It was cold and stormy this morning...and so was the weather. Life has been a little hard lately (I'm very blessed, no real complaints). After going to the bathroom, checking the temperature, and watching the storm outside, my first inclination was to crawl back in bed and curl up with my pillow, so I did. I was thinking maybe I would spend the whole day that way, but by 5:40am something inside of me had got me out of bed and by 5:49am I was on the road. It wasn't long before heavy snowflakes were landing on my glasses making it difficult to see. I eventually took them off and stuck them in my pocket. I managed to run the Thursday route by rote, but the pace wasn't much to brag about.

What a great run...although it felt more like a series of runs. I started running from the mouth of Provo Canyon at 5:30am with Larry and Wayne. A little over 2.5 miles into it I turned back so I could meet the guys at the mouth of the canyon for our 2Slow2Win2Dumb2Quit team run. I stopped at the Timpanogos Park restrooms on the way back for a much needed bathroom stop.

When I got to the parking lot the last members of the group were just arriving. I hope I don't forget anyone, but the runners included Kerry, Greg, Dan, Deeks, Will, Scott, and Tim. We all ran together to begin with and I got a chance to talk with most everyone for at least a little bit. It was nice talking with everyone.

We all had different goal distances for the run. One turned back at 3 miles, four at Bridal Veil Falls, one at 4 miles, and Dan and I went on to Vivian Park. As Dan and I ran back to the mouth we ran into Larry, and then Kevin. After reaching the parking lot I turned back and ran back to find Larry and Kevin. I met them at the fountain at Timpanogos Park and ran back to the parking lot with them.

Winder Dairy had a truck there giving out free samples of their new milk chocolate recovery drink. It was cold and tasted very good and seemed to have a lot of good recovery stuff in it.

My goal today was about 18 miles and about 3 hours. I ran 18.75 miles in 3:02:01. The average pace was 9:42/mi. It wasn't fast, but fast was not my goal. This puts me over 50 miles for the week...another step up in my training. I'm still feeling some pain in my heel, and my hip got a little sore in the latter miles, but overall I'm feeling pretty good and am still optimistic about being ready (enough) for the Squaw Peak 50.

I went out a little early to get some extra miles in. I ran loops until the normal meeting time to see if anyone else showed up, but no such luck. Or maybe it was good. My legs felt very heavy and I ran very slowly.

It was good to see Wayne this morning. We ran the 2000 N hill route. It wasn't real speedy, but it was quite a bit faster than I could manage yesterday morning.

It was colder and very windy this morning. I wandered the streets alone for 5.1 miles. I stopped for a while and talked with Lyle as he stretched in front of his house after his run. I appreciated his mechanic's advice on my Suburban issues.

I ran the Cascade route solo, taking the old WP building corner instead of going past THS. Same old thing...not too speedy, but getting the miles in.