Every Race is an Adventure!

I got in this one run while on vacation in So. California this week. I ran to a nice trail that wasn't too far away and got to greet a number of other runners/walkers. The weather was great all week, but running just didn't make it into the schedule again. We rented a home in La Habra with a private heated pool so I did get in quite a bit of pool time along with a great day at Six Flags, an enjoyable visit to the Griffith Observatory, a trip to the beach, and other enjoyable and relaxing family fun. I've been blessed with a wonderful family. We had a great week, even with the clogged toilet and keys getting locked in the car.

My 15 year old nephew Dalton, who runs cross country in Delaware, was visiting us with his parents so he joined us for our Monday run at the track. He was considerably faster than us, even faster when the cheerleaders showed up to practice at the track.

We did 7 x 1/2 mile repeats with 1/4 mile rests. My splits were 3:20, 3:26, 3:35, 3:33, 3:27, 3:29, 3:20. As I've said before, my speed is down from previous years, but at least I'm moving in the right direction.

I should mention that Tim Hakala joined Kent and Dalton and me today and he is running really well. He beat me fairly easily on at least one of the intervals.

My nephew Dalton and his parents stayed an extra night so he was able to run with us again. This time Larry, Wayne, Kent, and Kevin all showed up. Larry's hamstring acted up early and he had to bail. The rest of us took turns trying to run at least fast enough to give Dalton a bit of a workout.

Kevin went with Dalton up the big 2000 N hill. Wayne chased him on the north section up to the intersection. I pushed him down the hill to the west, where we got down to 6:15/mi pace for a while. Wayne was the only one with enough zip left to push the pace with Dalton the last couple of miles back home. Overall Dalton was a positive influence on all of us, as we finished the course at least 3 minutes (30+ seconds/mile) faster than normal. Dalton is a good runner with a lot of potential. I expect him to have a good cross country season. I think we old guys did okay today, considering we are all at least 3 times Dalton's age, with Wayne being closer to 4 times his age.

Water tank hills with Wayne and Kent. Larry joined us on his bike to get in some cross training without straining his injured hamstring.

We all pushed the hills pretty hard. My time up was 16:40. Kent easily surged passed me up the last hill. Wayne finished just a little behind me. Kent and I took it easy all the way back home. Wayne pushed the last mile or so and finished well ahead of us.

Larry's injury is a bummer, but Wayne, Kent, and Kevin are all running really well this year. They've all outrun me in various training runs this year. I need to pick up my training so if they finally beat me in a race this year (yep, that's a friendly taunt) it will mean something.

I should note that some of the them have beaten me in races in past years, just not recently. Gratefully, I seem to have an extra gear in races that has allowed me to hold them off. I'm not so sure about this year.

Reverse 2000 N hill route with Wayne and (eventually) Kevin. It was another beautiful morning.

I was a couple of minutes late. I saw Wayne's Jeep parked at Larry's and no Kent at the corner. I figured they had left already so I took off to catch them. When I got up 200 W a bit and still couldn't see them up ahead I began to think maybe Kent and Larry didn't come out this morning and Wayne was still waiting in his Jeep. As I began back I saw Wayne round the corner.

We ran a bit of a quicker pace than normal, and after pushing up the first hill about halfway through the run we were both breathing pretty hard. We met Kevin coming the other way just after the hill. The long climb up the 2000 N hill was hard, but we managed to maintain a respectable pace.

We stood around and talked a while after the run. It was very pleasant. What a great way to start the day.

Kevin invited me out for 5 @ 6. I wish it were 5 miles @ 6:00/mi, but it meant 5 miles @ 6:00am. Kevin may have been there in spirit, but his body didn't make it so I ran alone. I feel like I held a steady pace the whole way, but the headwind led to an average of about 9:20/mi out and 8:20/mi back.

I think the biggest lack in my workouts currently is 3-5 mile tempo runs. It's too late to help me at the Hobble Creek half marathon next week, but there is still time for them to help me a little at St. George in October. These are the kind of runs I used to get in at noon in my previous job. I haven't been able to work regular noon runs into my new job yet. Oh well, we all have to balance priorities. Running has slipped a notch, but I'm still grateful to run as well as I am and overall life is treating me very well, far better than I deserve.

Kent and I had a great trail run this morning. The weather was perfect. Wayne and Larry (on his bike) started out with us, but Wayne could only run for an hour and they both turned back at the top of the water tank hills. From there Kent and I headed up to Rock Pile then continued on toward the saddle of Baldy. At a fork in the trail we saw two runners ahead of us who took the left fork. Neither of us had been up there before so we decided to follow them.

They turned out to be two strong female runners. We didn't get their names, but one of them mentioned that she had won the masters division in the St. George marathon. We ended up stopping and talking together for a few minutes at the top of Dry Canyon. They seemed to know the trails so we asked them about a few of them. It sounds like the run up over the Baldy saddle is a nasty run, so it's could we followed them on the left fork when we did. They headed down Dry Canyon and we headed north another 2.5 miles to Battle Creek then headed down and followed the pavement 2.75 miles back home. I stopped my Garmin at one point and forgot to turn it back on for a while, but I think we went about 14 miles in 2 hours and 45 minutes.

After the first 7 or 8 miles my uphillers were beat. Fortunately there weren't too many hills after that, but my legs ached on the few there were. I especially enjoyed the downhills, especially the gradual downhills. Unlike on the Squaw Peak 50, my hip didn't bother much on this run and I was able to open up on the downhills.

The scenery was beautiful the whole run, but some of the vistas, especially a few overlooking the valley, were breathtaking, with the morning sun stretching across the valley, lake, and distant mountains on a clear, cool, sunny morning. I can't imagine too many better ways to start a Saturday.

Kent, Larry, and I headed to THS. Monday is track day. Tim showed up a little later.

This morning I felt the best I've felt in a long time, with very little pain and a little bit of zip in my legs...just a little. My 7 x 0.5 mile splits were 3:32, 3:31, 3:34, 3:27, 3:25, 3:24, and 3:18. These splits are on the faster end of what I've been doing the past number of weeks.

Comparing my last 3 year's splits, many of them are very similar from year to year, with some lows and highs mixed in. A rough average breakdown is:

Miles 1-4	6:20/mi
Miles 5-8	6:40/mi
Mile 9	6:45/mi
Mile 10	7:00/mi
Miles 11-12	7:10/mi
Mile 13	7:00/mi
Last 0.1	40 secs
	1:27:45 (6:42/mi)

My last 3 year's times have been 1:27:02, 1:26:14, and 1:30:52. I'm not in 1:26 shape this year. My stretch goal is my average of 1:27:45, but I'll be satisfied with anything at or under 1:30:00.

To hit 1:27:45 would mean my average pace would have to be 3:21 per half mile, which is a fast half mile interval for me on track day, where I run 3.5 miles at roughly that pace, not 13.1 miles. Of course Hobble Creek has some great downhill where the track is flat, and then there's always race day magic. I'm excited to once again experience the adventure of a race to push my mental and physical limits and see what's in there.

Great run on the 2000 N hill route with Wayne, Kent, and Kevin...and the running was almost secondary. What a blessing to have such great men to run with. We missed Larry.

Avg Pace: 9:08/mi (10:46 and 9:54 on the hills, then 8:32, 8:39, 8:44, and 8:10)

Wayne, Kent and I ran the water tank hills. I didn't charge the hills this morning like I often do, partly because of starting to taper for the race Saturday, and partly because it was warm and I just felt sluggish, but I managed to hang in there and not fall behind. My time up the hills was 17:57 compared to 16:40 last week.

It was really warm this morning, low 70's I think, and I didn't enjoy that much. Like Tom mentioned on his blog recently, I run much better in cooler weather. It is forecast to be warm on Saturday for the race, but it starts up the canyon so at least the first part should be a little cooler.

I'm tapering for Hobble Creek Half on Saturday so I ran the Thursday route with Wayne and Kent but left out the big hill at the end. It was windy but was sure warm again this morning.

I shared some Paulosophy during this morning's run that I discussed with my family recently. It seems many people want to look thin and fit and have a healthy tan without actually exercising regularly, eating well, and working and playing in the out of doors. Similarly, many want the fruits of their labor...big house, new cars, a life of ease and abundance...without actually doing the labor. It's like wanting to run a PR or BQ without consistent training.

The point I think many miss is that the true value of the fruits of our labor...the inner peace, joy, satisfaction, and happiness...derive from the labor. After 50 years of life experience, I've come to firmly believe in the law of the harvest. A fruitful harvest requires sustained effort (sowing, watering, fertilizing, weeding), patience, and the blessings of heaven. In many ways, the value of what you get out of something is largely determined by what you put into it. Work is not a four letter word; it is a key ingredient for a productive and happy life.

The results aren't much to brag about, but I got what I deserved...dang it. My performance was way down from the past few years:

As you can see, at no point did I have any chance of equaling previous years, and it went downhill from there.

First, it really bothered me that the race started 38 minutes late on a day forecasted to be in the mid to high 90's. It was light enough to see well by 6:00am, light enough to read a book by 6:30am, the race wasn't scheduled to start until 7:15am, and it didn't start until 7:53am. I think they need to move the start time up to at least 6:30am. At least then when it almost inevitably starts late, it will be closer to 7:00am than 8:00am. But that said, everyone had the same conditions so I can't use that as an excuse.

The reason I didn't run any faster was because I haven't been training hard enough to run any faster. I've focused on long, slow distance this year to get ready for my ultra marathon in June and pamper my PF, knee, and hip pain. I've stepped things up a little the last month or so, but then then I missed a long run to help at YW camp and only ran once the next week while on a family vacation.

In the race, I felt okay about running a little slower the first few miles. I knew my training was down and I hoped by not going out to fast I might last a little longer. No such luck. I just kept getting slower and slower, getting passed gradually but steadily by a host of runners.

With two miles to go I had slowed to 9:12/mi pace. About that point I saw a man about my age try to pass me. I decided I could do anything for two miles and decided to test my mental fortitude and hold him off to the finish. He tried 3 or 4 times to pass me over the next mile, but I eventually pulled ahead enough that I couldn't feel him behind me anymore. I kept pushing and passing people clear to the finish. It was a good thing, because there were three runners in my age division who finished 6 seconds, 7 seconds, and 21 seconds behind me. I would have finished 8th instead of 5th. The 4th place runner, Hal Amos, was 10 minutes ahead of me.

I went to the track with Kent and Larry. We also saw Kris there.

I opted for 3 x 1 mile intervals plus one 1/2 mile and one 1/4 mile, with recovery time mixed in. As I recall (no watch with me), my mile splits were 7:13, 7:30, and 7:39. The 1/2 and 1/4 were at a little faster pace that that, but not much.

After my less than stellar performance at Hobble Creek on Saturday, it has convinced me even more that it's time to step up my training. I think perhaps the greatest need for me right now is 3-5 mile up-tempo runs, with some warm up and cool down. I would love to do them at around 7:00/mi pace, but to start with I need to start doing at least one a week at around 8:00/mi pace or faster. Our current Tue, Wed, and Thu runs have more uphill than I would like for a tempo run. Maybe I'll consider switching Thursday back to the flatter run to the golf course. I need to add some midday runs. Maybe that's when I could to the tempo run. I'll have to ponder some more.

I ran the 2000 N hill route with Wayne and Kent. We met Larry near the end.

I felt better this morning than I have for a long time. I surged ahead up the 2000 N hill, then again on the gradual hill to the intersection as we headed north, and then again on the downhill after that (about 6:20 pace). My right calf was feeling a little tight after that so I didn't push hard again the last couple of miles.

After going from 9:12 pace to 7:33 pace at the end of the race on Saturday, I've decided that maybe I've lost some of my mental toughness. Why was I running 9:12 pace when I was capable of running a much faster pace? Those thoughts were going through my mind when I decided to surge this morning, and I actually felt better when I was pushing the pace. I noticed that neither my hip, nor my knee, nor my heel bothered me this morning. Maybe I'm finally turning the corner. My weight was even down to the lowest it has been in a quite a while this morning. I'm choosing to see the glass as half full this morning.

Kent and I ran the water tank hills. I pushed up the hills in 16:25 then ran the last fast 1/2 mile at 6:36/mi. The whole run was a little more uptempo than usual. I felt good.

It's kind of funny. It's like something clicked or snapped in my mediocre half marathon performance last Saturday. When the old guy (my age) tried to pass me with two miles to go I realized I was being mentally weak and decided I wasn't going to let him pass me. When I was able to go from 9:12 pace at mile 11 down to 7:33 for the last mile I knew I needed to step up my mental toughness. I've stepped up my game these last three days and pushed harder. They've been the best training runs I've had for quite some time. I've felt stronger and faster, and more like the runner that I used to be. Even my lingering pains seemed to have backed off. I hope this is indicative of a turnaround and better things to come.

Thursday 2000 N route, faster than normal.

Easy run up Provo Canyon. I wish I could have gone longer. I had an appointment at 9:30am to put down our old family dog Skittles, followed by her burial in Nephi at my parents' property. It was very helpful to talk with my buddies, especially Larry.

The day was difficult, but it ended up being a good family day. We all felt it was her time to go and felt comfort knowing she was now free from pain. I'll miss her eagerness, joy, and unconditional love for me.

With school (and driving the kids to the Jr. High) back on, I knew I had to go early to get our normal track workout in so I left at 5:30am instead of 5:45am. After the 1 mile warm up over to the track I decided to do a 3 mile tempo run instead of 1/2 mile intervals. My mile splits were 7:29, 7:53, and and 7:35. Kent showed up during my 3rd mile to start his intervals. I ended up running 4 x 1/2 mile intervals at 3:34, 3:27, 3:24, and 3:25 before I had to head home. Relatively speaking, it was a good workout for me.

Tuesday 2000 N hill run. Avg pace: 9:15/mi