Every Race is an Adventure!

I only did core exercises today. I decided my legs needed a rest. They've felt tired and I would like to do a long run tomorrow.

18 miles @ 10:00/mi. Timpanogos Park up to the top of South Fork (Trefoil) and back.

I forgot my Garmin watch this morning, but I had my phone so I used the MapMyRun app. It was only my second time using it, and I messed up the starting and stopping a little, but overall it worked pretty well.

I was hoping to go at least 14 miles, maybe 16, and kept open the possibility of 18 if I felt up to it. I did, but I was sure ready to turn back downhill when I reached the Trefoil gate at the top of South Fork.

The weather was cool, perfect, all the way up. It warmed up some on the way back down when the sun hit me, but it wasn't too hot.

My legs felt good the entire run. I ran an easy pace. I didn't push, but I feel like I maintained good form and a strong, steady pace through to the finish. I didn't feel overly tired at the end, and recovered pretty quickly.

About mile 15 or 16 I saw runners who looked like they were racing but were not wearing bibs. One of them, a young boy, turned around at a duct tape line on the trail just after I crossed it. As he slowing passed me, I asked if he was in a race. He was. It was a famly reunion 5K. Pretty cool. He was running well, but didn't quite pull away away from me so we talked a little more. His name was Danny. (I learned this from family members who were cheering him as the passed in the other direction.) He was 8 years old and in 5th place...the others were all older than him. I asked if he liked running. He said he did. I complimented his form and how well he was running and encouraged him to continue throughout his life. I coached him a little as he ran the steep uphill out of Nunn's Park. I asked him if he knew how to sprint, and told him that when he saw the finish line he should run as fast as he can, that he could breath later. He didn't know the name of the park where he was to finish. As we came to Canyon Glen, he paused a little but then continued on. A young woman behind him, a fellow family member in the race whom he had been trying to stay ahead of, yelled and told him he should have turned. He hurried back but she was a little ahead of him by then. I felt bad for him, then wondered if he would remember what I said about sprinting to the finish. I hit a spot where I could see the finish through the trees so I stopped to watch. He caught her just before the line. It made me smile. I later realized that during that stretch I had sped up from about 10:00/mi to sub-8:30/mi. It didn't feel like. I guess I benefitted from a little race day magic, even though I wasn't racing.

It was a very enjoyable run. After a couple of almost 40 mile weeks, this was my first 40+ mile week. I've intentionally worked my legs hard these past few weeks, attempting to significantly step up my training (distance, hills, speed) while avoiding injury. I feel I've been pretty successful.

I plan to back off the intensity a little the next week couple of weeks and let my legs heal up for the Hobble Creek Half Marathon on August 16. I'll pick it up again after that in preparation for the St. George marathon in October.

6 miles @ easy pace (no watch)

After 18 miles on Saturday my legs didn't have a lot of zip this morning, but they didn't really feel heavy and I had no significant aches or pains. I'm satisfied with where I am in my training at this point this year.

Drive to Helena, MT.

Drive from Helena, MT to Mountain View, Alberta, Canada.

3.1 miles @ 9:34/mi with my niece Eroica. With not many choices of where to run, we ran on a rolling gravel road with no shade. I very much enjoyed the company, but the heat, the hills, and the gravel were less than ideal.

After we got back I ran another 1.4 miles doing loops around the property of the cabin where we were staying. The ground was a little uneven, but at least it was mostly grass with about half of it in shade.

Later in the day several dozen extended family members got together for a hike up Bear's Hump in Waterton Lakes National Park...one of the prettiest places on earth. Very steep ascent to a awe-inspiring overlook of the lake, park, and surrounding mountains. 1.8 miles round trip.

Family reunion breakfast. Very fun game of \Danish Ball with extended family. Family dinner followed by a very well attended Family History night. A total of about 105 people participated in the reunion at one point or another, from Canada, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington D.C. (I may have missed some). Most were there for at least several days. It was so enjoyable.

The reunion was planned for descendants of Ora and Vivian Nielson but also included descendants of Vivian's sister Althea and relatives of Philip Williams (my father-in-law, also from Cardston like my mother-in-law, Ora & Vivian's daugther).

7.25 miles @ 9:10/mi

This was a solo run from the cabin where we were staying in Mountain View, Alberta, Canada. It was earlier in the day than my last run, and much cooler...sunny with a nice cool breeze.

I ran north of Highway 5 this time. I learned that the roads are really just very long driveways. I followed one fork, and then another, that both ended at farm houses with barns and other outbuildings. The third road also led to a farm but also looped to the west and connected with a highway that I followed south back to Highway 5 and home.

I had about 1.5 miles to go when I left the gravel road and got on the highway going south. I climbed a steady hill for about 3/4 mile then was rewarded with about another 3/4 mile of steady downhill. I decided to push the pace downhill to the stop sign at the junction with Highway 5. I averaged 7:52/mi.

As I approached the junction I noticed a cow on the shoulder on my side of the highway, on the wrong side of the fence. I had seen another juvenile cow on the road near the beginning of my run. Since the shoulder was small, I decided to yell and make some noise as I approached, hoping it would walk off the road before I got there. As I approached I realized this wasn't a small cow. In fact, it was pretty big and musculuar. As I got nearer, and it heard me and turned to face me, I realized it also had horn. I suddenly stopped maybe 30-40 yards away. It stared unwaveringly at me, lowered its head a bit, and raised its right hoof slightly. I recognized the stance from movies I've seen and the bull fight I attended in Spain. I quickly decided my best option was to climb the barbed wire fence into the empty field next to me. I then walked slowly past the bull, who turned to follow me with his gaze. Once I passed he returned to his grazing. I climbed the fence onto Highway 5 then finished the last 3/4 miles back to the cabin at about 7:30/mi pace. I think the adrenalin helped.

Our family + Wendy hiked Red Rock and to Blackiston Falls then skipped rocks on the north shore of Waterton Lake and ate pizza. In the evening we invited others to the large fire pit at our cabin for s'mores. Some of us played a little soccer with my sons portable goal in the large grass field next to the cabin. We later played Catch Phrase around the fire in the darkness. Very enjoyable.

Attended sacrament meeting at Waterton branch. Returned for extended family luncheon. We then went to the townsite campground where a few dozen of the remaining family members (some headed home Sunday morning) gathered in the shade of some trees and played "Heads Up" followed by a large game of Psychiatrist. Very fun. More good-byes.

Packed up to leave the cabin. The cabin was a great choice. It was rustic (no air conditioning, a little rough around the edges, only 2 bathrooms), but the 10 from our family and 5 from my wife's brother's family fit comfortably and got along very well.

We befriended a scrawny but very cute kitten who apparently lived around the cabin. She was afraid of us at first but we gave her a little bacon and she soon lost all fear of us and befriended us right back. We named her Bacon, and we all bonded with her. She became part of our family for several days. It was so hard to leave her behind. I think most of us were sorely tempted to smuggle her home. One of the maids who came to clean as we were leaving was a cat person. They weren't aware of cats living there, but she seemed to instantly bond with Bacon so we think she will be well cared for.

We stopped by the home of my mother-in-law's brother who lives in Mountain View and met other family members who were heading out. More good-byes.

My wife's brother and his wife decided to drive along with us through Glacier National Park. The drive along the Going to the Sun Road and Logan's Pass was beautiful. We stopped to skip rocks at Lake McDonald, also very beautiful, then drove on to Missoula, MT. That drive was also beautiful. Arrived at the motel about 10pm.

Said final good-byes as my wife's brother and sister-in-law were heading west on I-90 to Washington while we were heading east to I-15 and home to Utah.

The 8 hour drive seemed long, as end-of-vacation drives often do, but it went pretty smoothly. We stumbled into a small pizza/subs place in Pocatello where we had delicious hot sandwiches. We managed to dodge the bad thunderstorms north of Salt Lake, as well as rush hour slowdowns. We arrived home to find all well, and everyone pitched in to get everything unloaded quickly.

This was another wonderful family vacation. I'm so grateful for Karen, our children, and our precious granddaughter. I so much enjoyed my time with them. I equally enjoyed the family reunion in Waterton. So many beautiful people and beautiful times in such a beautiful place. It was truly a tender mercy from a loving Heavenly Father.

6 miles @ 8:36/mi  Canal trail north.

My goal was to run at my previous ~9:00 pace effort and see what pace that effort now produces after 3 weeks of strenuous training (including increased miles, more hills, and faster pace) followed by 1+ weeks of recovery (while on vacation). The result: 8:36/mi. This is very satisfying, to see my hard work pay off. It gives me confidence going into the Hobble Creek half marathon on Saturday.

I was recently thinking of the quote attributed to Steve Prefontaine, "The only good pace is suicide pace, and today's a good day to die." That was sort of my approach to today's race. I knew the first 6 miles or so were mostly downhill, and then the race got harder after that. I decided to "cruise" those first 6 miles or so until the hill that climbs out of right hand fork up to the golf course. I would then just have to trust in my mental strength and physical training to hold on and run as strong as I could the rest of the race. My good 18 miler a couple of weeks ago gave me confidence that I could run the 13.1 mile distance with little risk of bonking.

I was sitting in the portapotty (for the 3rd time this morning) when Hawk announced 30 seconds before the start. With chip timing, I wasn't too worried, but I didn't want to get stuck behind a wall of slower runners. I hustled and climbed the fence 10-20 yards behind the start line just as the race began and started in about the perfect spot for me. Some runners were faster, some slower, and it never got too congested. Within the first mile or two most runners had settled into their race pace.

My first six mile splits were: 6:52, 7:21, 7:30, 7:32, 7:36, 7:43 (7:26/mi avg). I was still at about 7:30/mi avg pace at the midpoint of the race. I was very pleased, but I knew the struggle was just beginning as I headed up the hill to the golf course. I took a few shot blocks, a good drink of water at the aid station, and faced the coming challenge head on.

My pace varied quite a bit over the next 5 miles, taking it easy on the uphills, and taking off the brakes on the downhills. Splits: 8:08, 7:47, 8:27, 8:58, 8:52. I was working hard and was tiring, but still felt pain free and confident. The course had been shaded with perfect cool breezes the first 6 miles. It began to get warmer during these miles, especially in the unshaded sections.

Once I had climbed up the last big hill and was headed west on the long straightaway I focused on my form and maintaining a steady pace as I focused on a couple of older runners ahead of me (about my age) and aimed to maintain or close the gap. I managed to finally catch and pass one of them, but not the other.

I kept telling myself to maintain the steady effort, and that I was mentally tough enough that I would be able to muster a decent sprint at the end. As it turns out, my final sprint was only minimal. I later realized I had kind of been sprinting the entire last couple of miles: My paces for the last two miles were 8:17, 8:06. I've been training at around 9:00 pace, so low 8:00's was pretty much sprinting for me.

I finished 200 of 855 runners overall (men & women). It felt very good to be in the top 25% again instead of the bottom 25%. My finish time of 1:42 was 15 minutes (>1:00min/mi) faster than my time of 1:57 last year.

I'm very satisfied with my training at this point, and with my performance at this race.

5.5 miles @ 9:09/mi. 

3.1 miles @ 8:58/mi.  Laps around the block in steady rain. I could only stand it for about 3 miles.

6 miles @ 8:53/mi.  North on canal trail.

3.9 @ 9:27/mi  Up 2000 N to Dry Canyon trailhead. First run with Jeff McClellan.
2.6 @ 9:04/mi  Neighborhood streets

I stayed up too late. At 8am I helped my neighbors move followed by an Eagle Scout breakfast. I never found an opportunity later in the day to run. It's okay, some recovery is probably good after the hard run (1/2 marathon race) last weekend.

6.1 @ 8:28/mi  4x1 miles repeats at THS.

Mile splits: 7:32, 7:39, 7:44, 7:35

A good bump in speed that I attribute to the 3 weeks of stepped up training followed by recovery while on vacation in Canada. My previous splits had been around to 7:50-7:55.

6 @ 8:59/mi

6 @ 9:49/mi  2000 N hill then up to Dry Canyon trailhead with two level miles on trail

After running up to Dry Canyon with Jeff last week, I decided this might be a hill run I want to work into my training. It's dark going up the road, but it's a great hill. I saw (barely) 3 other runners coming down. I said "Good morning" early enough that they knew I was there and we could avoid colliding. I think I spooked the female runner who was directly ahead of me.

20 miles @ 10:11/mi.  Murdock Canal trail north.

I was only thinking maybe 14-18 miles when I started, but had 20 in the back of my mind if I felt up to it. The sun didn't rise over Mt. Timpanogos until about mile 8. Even then it was overcast so it never really got too warm.

I discovered the Murdock half marathon was on the trail this morning. I had a good head start on them. The first 8 runners eventually passed me, but the last few of them took a while to pull away. I don't think this was a very big field, at least not many elite runners.

The race turned south of the trail with a few miles to go. I stayed on the trail. I wanted to explore. I had never been this far north on the trail before. The part up to Highland Glen park was nice, but I didn't like the 1.5 or so miles after that until the 10 mile turn around. Maybe next time I'll run loops around the Highland Park trail to get to 10 miles before turning back.

The first 9 miles felt pretty good. As I mentioned, I didn't like the 10th mile much running along the shoulder of the road. The return trip went from hard, to harder, to hang on. I ran out of gas (felt pretty tired, breathing hard), then the wheels came off (my legs started feeling dead). My pace gradually dropped about 2 min/mile. I took 3 shot bloks twice on the way back, and drank plenty of water, but still the last 3-4 miles I was just willing myself forward. I kept thinking this was good mental training, as well as physical end-or-marathon training.

The bright spot is that I had no injury-related pain after the run. I was beat, and took a while to catch my breath and feel enough energy to do other things, but I don't feel like I did myself any damage.

My Hobble Creek half time last week was 1:42. I remember thinking if I were to hold that pace for a marathon it would be 3:24 (2 x 1:42). My time today was 3:24. It doesn't mean anything. Just interesting.