Every Race is an Adventure!

I'm trying to remember back, but I'm pretty sure this was the Wednesday hill run when Martin and Tim joined. It was Martin's first time with us up the water tank hills, and he had easily out run most of us the day before, so I decided he wasn't going to beat me up the hills on his first try. I pushed hard up the first hill and left Tim and Martin and the others behind and never looked back. I ended up running the hills in 15:36, more than a full minute faster than my previous PR this year. It felt good. On the traditional fast 1/2 mile down 1600 N at the end of the run I pushed again and ran 6:08 pace, another 2010 PR for me I think. I'm definitely feeling a little faster than earlier this year. I think I like it.

My Garmin battery was dead for this run and I'm logging it over a week late. I think this was just a normal Thursday run. I don't remember feeling very fast.

Kent, Wayne and I ran the 20 miles from Trefoil to the lake. We started early. The weather was perfect and we didn't really get any sun until late in the run, and then we were shaded most of the time. We met Larry & Jolene and Kevin near Macy's, about 5 miles from the end. They had started at the lake and were our ride home.

I'm counting all the miles as (slow) marathon pace because they weren't easy. Kent and Wayne kept up a pretty strong pace the whole way and kept me working.

Mile splits: 8:52, 8:38, 8:19, 8:04, 8:18, 8:10, 8:14, 8:12, 8:15, 8:18, 8:23, 8:22, 8:35, 8:38, 8:57, 8:03, 8:39, 8:42, 8:57, 8:53 = 2:49:36 (8:28/mi)

I usually feel good if I can average around 9:00/mi for a 20-miler. I feel pretty good overall about the run, but I didn't like the way the last 2 or 3 miles felt. Wayne dropped down to 7:30/mi or faster, and Kent also easily pulled ahead of me. I struggled. I decided I didn't want any 9:00+ miles so I worked hard just to get 8:57 and 8:53 for the last two. I missed two long runs (YW camp and family vacation) where Kent and Wayne did 18 or more miles. It was noticeable today I think, as I faded hard at around 18 miles.

Labor Day. Kent had said he was going to go out later, at 7:30am. I hadn't committed, but decided to go out then. I didn't see Kent so I headed over to the THS track for some speed work. I saw evidence of a race being set up, but the track was free so I started. By the time I had completed 5 x 1/2 intervals (3:21, 3:31, 3:25, 3:29, 3:30) quite a few people had arrived at the registration table over by the school and some were warming up on the track. My buddy Tim ran along side and I learned that it was the T-wolf Trot, a 3 mile fundraiser for the THS cross country teams. It was only $10, but I didn't have any money with me. I thought the race would be more fun than more intervals, and I wanted to support the teams. Luckily, I bumped into my neighbor Brad who was there to run it (his son is on the team). He loaned me $10 and I registered shortly before they moved us to the starting line.

The high schoolers took off like it was a 50 yard dash. I gradually reeled in some of them over the next couple of miles (not the fastest ones). I found myself slowly gaining on my daughter Emily's friend Brianna. I barely beat her in our neighborhood 5K earlier this year. I caught her with a little less than a mile to go. I briefly thought about hanging back, but then an old guy passed us both and I had to go after him. I never caught him, but I pulled ahead of Brianna. I didn't give her another thought...until she passed me around the final curve on the track and pulled easily away to finish ahead of me. I think I enjoyed her beating me almost as much as she did. It was a good finishing time for her. I love seeing young people work hard and succeed, especially at running. If I was her motivation (and victim) this time, that's okay.

Kent showed up late after helping out his dad with an urgent matter. I felt bad for him as he had to dodge people to get in his intervals but, to his credit, he finished them.

I didn't have money for the breakfast so after mingling for a while I headed home for a shower. I still made it back before the results were available. I finished 35th of 122, 31 of which were 18 or younger. I think two 41 year old men and a 37 year old woman beat me, but I won the 50+ age division. I finished in 21:01 (7:09/mi). They said it was 3 miles but my Garmin only measured 2.93. I was right; it was way more fun than running more 1/4 mile intervals.

Tuesday 2000 N hill run. I can't remember who was there. Avg pace: 9:12/mi.

Wednesday water tank hill run. It was nice to see Larry out. We've missed him. I was content to just run along with him, talk about the Red Rock Relay coming up on Friday, and let the others push up the hills this week. I had worked extra hard on Monday.

Thursday run with the guys minus Larry (he was heading out to St. George prior to the relay). I averaged 9:02/mi, which with the big hills is not bad for me.

We left Orem about 10:00am. It was already dark and cool when I finally got to run my first leg which started at 8:20pm. This was Leg 12 - "SUU Fun Run", a 5.4 mile "easy" downhill leg. I enjoyed everything about this leg except the narrow shoulder and having to worry about cars now and then. I passed 4 runners, but one of them was especially satisfying. I chased him forever. I guess he was trying to stay ahead of me for just as long because when I finally passed him he said that if I was going to pass him anyway he might as well finally stop and tie his shoe, which he did. He probably didn't know that I stepped on it hard as I started to pass him to try to keep him from hanging on. He may have eventually been able to wear me down, or catch me when I had to come to a dead stop for what seemed like forever to wait for a traffic light at a busy intersection. At the second busy intersection I pushed hard to get through just before the light changed.

I passed 4 other runners and was not passed.

Avg. pace: 7:03/mi

It was still dark and pretty cold (42?) when I started my second leg about 5:00am. I wore a long sleeve shirt over my short sleeve shirt and wore my knit gloves. This was Leg 24 - "Very Veyo", a 6.9 mile "medium" downhill leg. Actually, it's basically the first 7 miles of the St. George marathon from Central to Veyo, with a detour at the end to get to the van exchange.

Shortly after I started I noticed a relay bracelet (the one passed from runner to runner) that someone had dropped. I stopped and picked it up. I shortly caught the next runner in front of me, but it was not his. I proceeded to catch the girl in front of him. She was wearing headphones so I showed her the bracelet and loudly asked if she had hers. She nodded and held up her arm to show me, only to discover that it wasn't there. She was grateful and asked me to "slap it on". I did and moved on to catch the next runner. I chased one young guy for miles. I think we passed 7 other runners before I finally caught him. When I passed him he said something like, "Wow, you're really movin'." I soaked it in, and pulled away.

There were a lot of runners along this leg, but about half of them were not in the relay. With three weeks to go before the marathon, many local runners were starting early in the morning to get in a long run along the course before it got too hot.

I passed 24 people, but I think only 12 were part of the relay. Again, I was not passed by anyone (relay runner or otherwise).

Avg. pace: 7:20/mi

It looks like 7:20-7:30/mile might be good goal pace for this section in the marathon in 3 weeks.

My third leg was leg 36 "Zion Finale", a "hard" uphill leg of 7.5 miles. The uphill was tough enough, but between my 2nd leg at 5:00am to my 3rd leg at 2:40pm the temperature went from cold to hot. It climbed 50+ degrees from 42 to 94.

I was feeling a little pain in my hip and knee, and felt more like taking a nap than running, but I figured that would pass once I started running. What concerned me was the heat and the uphill for 7.5 miles. Fortunately (for me not them) it was also very hot for Kevin and Curt's legs and we were prepared for my leg. I say we, because my pit crew took perfect care of me. As I requested, they stopped 4 times for me. At each stop they had two cool cups of water for me, one to drink and one to dump over my head. At 3 of the 4 they also had a paper towel soaked in ice water that they stuck into my shirt on the back of my neck. Each stop was perfectly timed to prevent a melt down and re-energize me.

With two miles to go I sent them on to the finish and pushed on up to and through Springdale and on to the finish. I was thrilled to average 8:20/mi for the first 4 miles in the heat with the uphill. My right foot started to feel uncomfortable, like there was a bunch in my sock on the ball of my foot. I've got blisters there before when running on hot roads. I stopped twice to quickly pull off my shoe and take a look, but I found nothing wrong with either my sock or my shoe so I continued on. Then either the hills got steeper (I know they did at the end), the heat got hotter, or I just plain ran out of gas, or a combination of the above. My mile splits slowed to 9:02, then 9:17, then 9:45, then 9:40/mi for the last (steeper) half mile. I was very glad to see my teammates and the finish line.

There weren't many runners to pass, but I did chase down four. I managed to finish the relay without getting passed (mostly because the fast teams happened to pass us during other teammate's legs).

Avg. pace: 8:49/mi

One of the best parts was Wayne and Deeks being willing to drive from Springdale to Payson. I was in no condition to drive for a while. That cheeseburger at Carl's Jr. when we stopped for gas at Cedar City was pretty enjoyable, too.

I went to the track with Kent and Jeff Tulley. Tim and Martin were there waiting. They ran intervals. My legs hadn't recovered from the relay so I just ran easy laps around the track. There is no sense in risking injury this close to the marathon.

Tuesday 2000 N route with Kent, Wayne, and Lyle. The other three of us we're still a little beat up from the relay and Kent started pulling away up the hill. I didn't want him to think relay runners were wimpy so surged to catch him then worked to stay with him to the top. After going down the hill in Lindon, I spent the rest of the run chasing Wayne, with the others behind us a bit. It was a good training run.

Water tank hills with Kent and Jeff. I pushed the hills pretty hard but and was just a little slower than last week, 15:52. I'll blame it on the headwind and running with a headlamp in the dark. The last fast half mile was at 6:12/mi pace. My fitness is down from 3 years ago, but it's at a high point this year. I feel pretty strong and confident as I approach the St. George marathon in 2.5 weeks.

Thursday Lindon-2000 N hill route.

Mouth of Provo Canyon to Trefoil and back 20-miler with Kent and Larry (who went a little shorter). I felt pretty good through 16. The last 4 were hard. I skipped lunch on Friday because of a work meeting then worked late. I ended up not eating dinner (a few pieces of pizza and some bread sticks) until after 8:00pm. I took a couple of gels during the run, but I still think I ran out of gas at the end. At least I hope so. If not, I'm just not in marathon shape and the latter miles of the St. George marathon next week aren't going to be too pleasant. I prefer to think (hope) that if I properly taper, carbo load, hydrate and not go out too fast that I'll be able to do significantly better on race day. And I can always count on race day magic for at least a little...magic.

Today turned out to be Yasso 800 day for me. (See http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-255-624-0,00.html for details on Yasso 800s.) Basically, the theory is that if you can run 10 x 800s at some average time, say 3:30 (3 minutes 30 seconds), then you should be able to run a marathon in 3:30 (3 hours 30 minutes).

I was only going to do 8 x 800s today, but Kent was doing 10, and Larry said you needed to do 10 for Yasso 800s. I didn't have time for 10 if I recovered a full lap like we normally do, so for the first 4 or 5 and the last one I only rested 1/2 a lap in between.

My times were 3:30, 3:29, 3:27, 3:29, 3:28, 3:26, 3:31, 3:24, 3:31, 3:28 = avg: 3:28

I read today, after my run, that the recovery time should be about the same as the 800 time. My recovery times were 1:16, 1:20, 1:17, 1:15, 3:01, 3:41, 3:40, 3:31, and 2:12. So it looks like my 1/2 lap recoveries were too short, and the full lap recovery (walk some then jog) is about right.

Analysis: Based on Yasso 800s, I should be able to run at least a 3:28 marathon at St. George. I think Yasso 800s assumes a flat marathon, so with the downhill and lower elevation at St. George, maybe I can hope for a little faster than that. I would love to run closer to last year's 3:18, but I'll be satisfied with a BQ of 3:35 or better.

Tuesday 2000 N hill route with the guys. Kevin stopped at the park near the end to go to the bathroom, but other than him I was dead last. Kent, Wayne, and Martin all finished well ahead of me. I kept thinking that we were supposed to be tapering at least a little and I didn't want to push any harder. As it turns out, I think that was the fastest I've run that hilly route this year @ 8:46/mi.

Kent did some reading on tapering yesterday after our hard run and realized (as I had suggested) that we needed to back off our effort some. The pendulum swung far the other direction today and we only ran up the first of the 5 hills at an easy pace for a total of 3.5 miles instead of the normal 6.

An easy 3.6 miles. I ran in my new Mizuno Wave Rider 13 shoes. They felt good.

Kent, Wayne, Kevin and I started at 6:00am at the top of South Fork and ran the "10 fast miles" down to the mouth of the canyon. It was still pre-dawn, but we enjoyed the light from the big full moon overhead. In past years we've pushed hard on this run, as fast as averaging 7:00/mi, even though it is only a week out from the marathon. This year we decided to back off. At least that was the plan. We started off at an 8:00/mi pace, but by mile three the downhill had enticed us down to 7:32/mi, and then down to 7:02/mi for mile 4. I finally just decided to try to hold that effort to the end. I ran a little ahead of the others for most of the rest of the way. Wayne and Kevin made pit stops and fell back, but every once in a while I could hear Kent not far behind. The last mile he pushed past me.

My mile splits were: 8:07, 7:49, 7:32, 7:02, 7:17, 7:25, 7:04, 7:28, 7:45, and 7:21. Avg pace: 7:29/mi.

There is no way I could have continued for another 16.2 miles at that effort. It was definitely faster than marathon pace effort. I know tapering, altitude, and race day magic will help on race day, but it also looks to be hot this year. I think I'll back off to 7:45 pace at the start and see how I feel after Veyo hill and Dammeron Valley. I hope to be able to keep up with Wayne and Kent to at least this point.

I still think last year's 3:18 would be a real stretch for me this year. I suspect I'll be closer to 3:30. I just hope I can keep the wheels on to at least pull out a BQ of 3:35. It will also be interesting to see how I come out relative to Wayne and Kent. They have both been out training me this year. It will be an achievement if I manage to finish ahead of either of them.

One thing is sure...every race...especially marathons...is an adventure!

Easy taper run: 4.1 miles @ 9:03/mi.

Easy taper run to loosen up the legs. I left a couple of things at the office yesterday and I'm not planning on going in today so I decided to run over and pick them up. (I sure enjoy working only 1.5 miles from home.)

I've been debating whether to 1) run in my tried and true Saucony Tangents that are a little lighter but less supportive and wearing out, or 2) run in my new Mizuno Wave Rider 13s that are slightly heavier but that are new and have felt great in the few runs I've done in them. I wore the Tangents this morning, along with some new socks I just bought, to see how they felt. The shoes felt good, but I seemed to feel the pounding of the road more than I wanted to. I got injured back in January by pushing too hard and too long in shoes that had too many miles on them, and I've been trying to heal ever since. Since I'm not going for any sort of PR this year, I've decided (for now) to take what I consider the safer (less injury risk) path and wear the new shoes. The new Asics socks also felt good today so I'll probably wear them, too.