Every Race is an Adventure!

Just Kevin and I got out this morning. We intended to do the extended Thursday morning run, but part way into the run I was feeling really tired so we decided to cut out the big hill at the end and extended the distance a little. Kevin went a mile or two farther, but my legs told me to cut off early.

My total run:

6.8 mi @ 7:39/mi

Breakdown:

1.6 mi @ 7:26/mi

0.6 mi @ 6:44/mi

1.9 mi @ 7:06/mi

0.4 mi @ 9:57/mi (uphill)

1.0 mi @ 8:17/mi

0.2 mi @ 9:11/mi (uphill)

0.5 mi @ 8:24/mi

0.6 mi @ 7:06/mi (downhill)

I ran from home to Bridal Veil Falls and back with Kevin and Wayne. Larry and Kurt were also there for the first part of the run back Larry had time constraints so they turned back early.

Interestingly enough, like last Saturday we ran 15 miles, and exactly like last Saturday I averaged 8:20/mi. A key difference was that last week's run was mostly all downhill, while today's run, being up and back, had plenty of uphill to balance the downhill.

We ran the first 4.5 miles at an easy 8:50/mi pace, and then pushed the last 3 miles up at 8:10/mi.

On the way back, we ran the first 1.7 miles at an easy 8:19/mi, pushed the next 1.7 miles at 7:40/mi, and then pushed the last 0.9 miles to the mouth at 7:27/mi. I ran the hill up from the mouth to the Cascade golf course at 9:04/mi, and then managed to average 7:51/mi the last 2.75 miles home. I feel good about this, except that the last 3 miles Kevin and Wayne gradually pulled away. Kevin finished well over 2 minutes ahead of me. I feel like I had a good run, but they had a great run.

I'm glad we left at 5am today (due to Larry's schedule). The weather was perfect and the morning was beautiful. A later start and I think it would have been too warm.

Kent, Larry, and I went to the track for our first official speed work this year. I wasn't aware that's what we were going to do, so it caught me by surprise. We ran four 1/2 mile repeats, with 1 lap rest in between. I ran 3:09, 3:17, 3:20, and 3:07. These are pretty good times for me, and I still feel like I probably could have pushed a little harder.

After we got home I decided to take my dog Skittles and she and I ran another 3 miles at an easy pace. It's nice having a little more time in the mornings now that I don't have to schedule around helping get the kids off to school.

I started by running 2.25 miles alone at 7:36/mi.

I then joined Kent and Larry for the normal Tuesday morning run. It was a beautiful morning run filled with good conversation. I pushed briefly a few times, but not very much. We roughly averaged 10:00/mi on the uphill, 8:00/mi on the downhill, 8:40/mi on the level, and 9:00/mi overall.

I ran the normal Wednesday hill run with Kent and Larry with a little variation.

We ran the 1.2 mi gradual uphill to the base of the hills at 9:41/mi.

I ran the five hills (1.5 mi total) in 15:13 (10:09/mi). This compares to 16:18 (10:52/mi) on April 19.

I had enough energy left that after resting a few seconds at the top, I ran back down and ran hill 5 (0.12 mi, steep) a second time. My pace was on hill 5 was 9:55/mi the first time, and 7:43/mi after the brief rest and short downhill run.

I opted to take the longer way home via 1200 N instead of 1600 N. I ran the 0.4 miles down to 1200 N at 7:24/mi, the flat mile from 800 E to Main at 7:49/mi, and the last 0.6 mi home at 7:26/mi.

At noon I ran the Lake View run with Tom, Nathan, and Will. The mile splits were 8:11, 8:05, 7:51, 7:46, and 7:43.

I overslept and missed getting out early at 5:30am but was at the corner by the normal 5:45am. I was the only one there. I waited a couple of minutes and then started up 1600 N. towards 200 W. As I made the turn onto 200 W I look ahead to see if maybe the others had started ahead of me. I missed seeing a golf-ball sized rock and rolled my left ankle. I turned back for home and iced it. I think I'll have to take it easy for a couple of days, but I can put weight on it and I should be back to full strength soon. My training had been going so well I was afraid I was due for a setback. Oh well, at least it isn't too serious. I'm sure I'll be back to full strength for the WBR in 2 weeks.

Kent, Larry, and I went to the track for speed work again. We stuck to four 1/2 mile repeats again, with 1 lap rest in between. I ran 3:14, 3:07, 3:13, and 3:00. I felt pretty good. The first three I tried to run fast but not overdo it. The 2nd repeat was a little faster because we passed the entire THS football team on the first lap (adrenaline I guess). The final repeat I pushed hard.

The left ankle I injured last Thursday morning didn't bother me at all. It is still a little stiff, with a little soreness, but the tenderness seems to be gone. I'm hopeful it will hold up well through tomorrow's longer run.

I ran the normal Tuesday morning run with Kevin, Kent, and Larry. I was very tempted to go out early with Kevin and put in a couple of extra miles, but I decided I'd better not abuse my ankle. The pace was steady but not too hard (about 8:50). The ankle held up pretty well, but I could feel a little stiffness and soreness.

I noticed this morning that yesterday's speed work had tightened up my calves, expecially the left one. I massaged them well with "The Stick" before this morning's run and plan to do so a few more times today.

After the speed work on Monday and the longer run on Tuesday I found that my left ankle was still sore (from rolling it last Thursday) and my left calf was tight and a little sore where there seemed to be knot in it. I received some wise counsel (thanks Kerry) to maybe consider taking some time to let things heal. It was hard, but I decided to take Wednesday off. I ended up deciding to take Thursday off, too.

Today I went out at lunch time to put in a few miles and see how things felt. I ran 3 miles at about 7:40/mi. My calves feel great (knock on wood). The ankle is still just a little stiff and sore, but it feels strong and doesn't seem to affect my running. My plan is to run the Strawberry Days 5K tomorrow, rest Sunday, and only do some short easy runs next Mon-Wed as I taper for the Wasatch Back Relay on Friday.

Wow! What a great morning!

I got up at my normal 5am and prepared to go to the Strawberry Days 5K in Pleasant Grove, which was scheduled to start at 8am. By 6-ish I was ready to go so I decided to go early and see if the Harpers could use some help setting up for the race. They accepted my offer and let me do a few things, including measuring the half mile kids race backwards from the finish line with the distance wheel to determine where the starting line should be.

I was surprised to see Larry, Kent, Kevin, and Wayne running up the street. They apparently decided to run from home to the 5K (7 miles) as part of their long run for the day. Only Kevin stayed to run the race, but it was good to see them.

Kevin and I also met up with Verdon and Kerry. It was great hanging out with them before and after the race.

There is a long downhill at the beginning of the race and I decided to run fast but under control. I left the others behind shortly after the start, so I was afraid I had started out too fast. Kevin had joked before the race that you know you've started too fast if you look around and everyone else is speaking Swahili. I looked around and saw a little 10 year old girl, and a guy running backwards to look for someone behind us, and other old people like me, so I figured I must be okay. I was shocked to look down at my split after the first mile and see 5:49.

I decided there wasn't much I could do about that now, and I was feeling pretty good, so I just decided to try and hang on.

I ran the second mile in 7:08, which had a long gradual uphill section. I ran the third mile in 6:52, which had some flat then a shorter uphill followed by the gradual downhill to the finish.

I feel like I ran within myself the whole race but still pushed hard and managed to set a new "old man" PR of 20:29. To my surprise, this was good enough to finish 1st in the Male 45-49 division. I've never won my division before so this was a cool new experience.

The highlight of the morning, however, was winning the drawing for the free entry into the 2006 St. George Marathon. The chance of winning my way into St. George was the main reason I had decided to run this race.

I left before the prize drawings were over because I was afraid of winning something else. I felt like I had already received far more than my share of blessings for one morning.

What made all of this special was being able to share it with Verdon, Kerry, and Kevin, who all seemed to be as happy for me as I was for myself. It was also cool to come home and have my family share in my happiness, too. Karen was especially excited because she now gets to go to St. George again, and because I brought home some beautiful hanging flowers I bought at the fair near where the race was held.

And I still have the Wasatch Back Relay to look forward to next weekend. Life is good right now.

Larry and I ran 5.5 miles at an easy (9:00/mi) pace. I'm not planning to push anything hard this week as I taper for the WBR on Friday. My legs and ankle are feeling pretty good.

I'm still feeling pretty up from Saturday. It was a good day. I had a great Father's Day, too.

Started the normal Tuesday run with Larry, but we shortened it to only 4 miles. Larry's wife Jolene met us at the top of the 2000 N hill and ran the last two miles with us. I ran at an easy pace. My legs were quite tired from working hard in my yard all day Monday.

Ran the Wednesday hill run with Larry at an easy pace, walking back down the dirt portions of the hills. It was a beautiful morning and I really enjoyed our conversation. This was my last run before the WBR on Friday.

The Wasatch Back Relay was awesome! This was my third year doing the relay, and it just seems to get better every year. Our efforts at planning bore fruit and I think the team, with a number of new members, really came together well.

I was in Van 2 and I thoroughly enjoyed spending all that time with my old running buddies Verdon, Kerry, and Tom, and getting to know Kevin and Scott. They were terrific additions to our team, not only as good hardworking runner, but as friends. I have a feeling they may have contracted that incurable WBR-itis condition that some of us have had for a couple of years now.

It was great having so many more teams this year. I love the feeling of comraderie and family that exists not only in the van and the team, but among all the participants. I feel a special kinship to my fellow runners that I can't explain.

About the running...I've trained harder than normal this year, and I think it paid off. I feel good about my performance.

My first leg was leg 9 which is rated "Hard" and climbs to the summit of Avon Pass. The race book said it was 3.8 miles. It climbs about 750 feet with an average grade of 3.7%. I began at 5:40 p.m. I was estimated to run it in 34:45. My actual time was 35:35, but my Garmin showed the distance as 3.97 miles. My target pace was 9:06/mi and my actual pace was 8:58/mi. It was hot but there was quite a bit of shade along the way. The heat and uphill lived up to the "Hard" rating, but the beauty of the scenery, the joy of finally getting to run, and the breaks provided by the shade make it quite enjoyable. I ran hard but within myself and recovered pretty quickly.

The Wasatch Back Relay continued...

After getting a spaghetti dinner and a couple of hours of sleep at East Canyon, I began my second leg at 3:07 am. Leg 21 overall is a gradual uphill of 6.2 miles rated as "Moderate". My target time was 49:40, at a pace of about 8:00/mi. My actual time was 46:10, at a pace of 7:27/mi. I truly believe having Kevin Jessop as a bike pacer made the difference on this leg. I could never have held that pace on a dark night without his bright light and companionship. Thanks again, Kevin.

After a shower and another couple of hours of sleep at our team room at the Yarrow Hotel in Park City, my third and final leg began just after noon. Leg 33, also known as "You Gotta Be Kidding Me", is a 3.6 mile "severe uphill climb through Wasatch Mountain State Park" (average grade 7.6%) rated "Very Hard". My target time was 38:45, at a pace of 10:46/mi. My actual time was 40:41, and a pace of 11:18/mi. My pace was 7:42 for about the first 0.6 miles. Once the steep climb began my pace slowed to an average of around 14:15/mi (not exact, lost GPS signal a little over 3 miles into it). Even though I ran Ragnar in 2004, I was still unprepared for how difficult the climb would be. There was a runner ahead of me that walk a lot of the way, but I still had a hard time gaining much ground on him (he had long legs and walked quickly) so for a short distance on a couple of the very steepest sections I walked instead of running because it seemed I could walk as fast or faster than I could run. The heat was intense, and there was not much shade. Get water every mile from my van mates helped me make it up the hill.

I was very proud of all of my van mates. They all ran hard and did well. I was especially impressed with Kerry's long run in the scorching heat on leg 32, and Tom's powerful ascent up Ragnar (leg 34). I consider each of my van mates a true running buddy and brother.

The whole experience was awesome. A little less heat would have been nice, and maybe a little moonlight at night, but it was nice that the weather at East Canyon was relative mild at night, much more comfortable than previous years in the bone chilling cold wind. I have no complaints and consider myself blessed to have been able to participate.

Ran the normal Monday mornnig run with Larry at an easy pace, about 9:00/mi. A little to my surprise, I was feeling no pain from having run in the WBR on Friday and Saturday, but my legs were pretty tired.

Ran the normal Tuesday morning run with Kevin and Larry. My legs still felt a little tired so I didn't push too hard. We ran about 8:30/mi for most of the run; the uphill was about 10:30/mi.

Ran the normal Wednesday hill run with Kevin and Larry. My legs were still a little tired. I ran pretty strong but didn't push it. The first long uphill brought back some not too fond memories of the YGTBKM leg of the WBR last Saturday.

Later in the morning I cleaned out the cat's litter box upstairs. I was carrying the bag of old litter in one hand and a small vacuum in the other as I went downstairs. I avoided the bags from my daughter's recent trip that were at the bottom of the stairs, but didn't see her pair of shoes that were on the floor right in from of the bottom step. I stepped on one of them and rolled my right ankle. Fortunately, I managed to not spill any of the dirty litter as I fell to the floor. I would rate the sprain as mild (3 on a scale of 1 to 10). I can walk on it pretty well; I only feel minor pain if I step on it wrong. I still plan to run tomorrow, but will take it easy.