Every Race is an Adventure!

I ran 3.5 miles on my own this morning. Ran 9:09/mi for half mile warm up, 8:18/mi up a gradual hill for a little over a mile, 8:58/mi for half a mile up a steeper hill, then 7:29/mi for the 1.3 mi back home. I would classify this as a moderate effort run, as I ran steady but never really tried to press the pace. My legs are feeling pretty good.

I ran an easy 3.5 miles at an average pace of about 8:35/mi. I was hoping Kent and Larry would be out, but it turns out they got home from Europe pretty late last night, and Kent had to turn around and fly out again this morning.

Larry wanted to try some miles at marathon pace. He and I ran 5 miles at right around an 8:00/mi pace. It felt pretty good. Larry did well but expressed some doubt about being able to hold that pace for 26.2 miles. Now that he is back from vacation, he said he was going to work on his race plan for St. George and would email it to me.

Well, the results of my experiment of trying to run two marathons in two weeks are in. I finished St. George in 03:32:47. This was 4 minutes slower than TOU two weeks ago, and 5 minutes slower than SG last year. Nevertheless, I consider the whole experiment a success.

I know various people who ran TOU two weeks ago and still managed to run faster at St. George. One older guy I met while eating after the race ran SG 11 minutes faster than TOU this year. And I remember seeing Dean Karnazes, running his 21st marathon in 21 days, blow by me on his way to a 3:20 finish. It appears that there is a fitness level at which running multiple marathons with little time for recovery is not a problem.

I apparently have not yet reached that level of fitness. I felt great for at least the first 10 miles, but then my legs began to feel tired earlier than expected. By mile 16 I began to feel tightness in my right calf and upper right thigh, the exact areas that were hurting at the end of TOU. Those areas had apparently not fully recovered.

By mile 18 my right hip had started hurting me to the point that it was slowing me down. I had been runnning with Kerry the entire race up to that point. We were on pace for 3:30 and easily beating his qualifying time of 3:35. I didn't want to hold him back so I urged him to go ahead without me.

The next 4 miles my hip seemed to be getting worse. I dropped from running sub-8:00 miles to 9:32, 9:10, 8:34, and 8:47. My hip hurt badly with nearly every step, and every once in a while it felt as if it would give out completely. I was beginning to wonder if I would even be able to finish.

However, at mile 22 my hip began to feel a little better. I remember finally passing someone (instead of getting passed). I liked how that felt. I gradually pushed the pace back down to sub-8:00 and got so carried away I actually ran 7:13/mi for nearly a mile. Of course I couldn't hold that pace, but I did manage 7:43 for mile 25 and averaged 7:35/mi the last 1.2 miles. Luckily for me, my wife and three youngest daughters were watching along this last stretch. They said I looked good, and my 14 year old daughter actually told my wife she wished she were "as fit as Dad." For those of you with teenagers, you know that is a reward well worth the effort to train for and run a marathon.

The weather was perfect. I enjoyed seeing and running (at times) with so many of my friends along the way, and I really enjoyed spending the weekend with (part of) my family. I look forward to next year.

I ran a few easy miles at lunch today. I felt surprisingly good. I'm guessing the pace was around 8:00/mi.

I'm torn about whether to run Boston 2007. I qualified at SG last year, but decided to wait another year to see if some more of my running buddies could qualify. I qualified again at TOU this year, and some running buddies like Kerry, Tom, Nathan, and Kurt also qualified this year as I hoped. But other hopefuls, like Larry, Kevin, and Cory, did not.

And then there's the cost. Our finances have been a little tighter the past couple of years. I'm not quite sure where to place running Boston on my list of financial priorities. The hotels and airfare seem pretty expensive. Are there any experienced Boston runners out there that have some good money-saving tips?

My first preference would be to take my family, but that's not going to be feasible. My second preference would be to take just my wife Karen. While she would love the trip if we were going with family or friends she knew well, she doesn't want to go and be alone or with unfamiliar people in an unfamiliar (and crowded) place. She told me it would probably be better if I went alone. It would be cheaper, too. So I guess now I'm considering whether to go alone.

I know Tom and Kerry are looking into making Boston plans. I don't know yet whether Kent and Kurt might be going. It sounds like Nathan is considering waiting until Boston 2008 to wait for Cory to get qualified. Maybe I'll just wait and ponder a while longer and find out more about what plans others are making.

I was planning to run at lunch today but the overnight laundry service at the fitness center didn't have my clothes returned. Apparently their dryer is broken.

I ran the Lake View course at lunch today. The weather was great, cool and clear. I didn't push very hard and averaged 8:00/mi. I still feel a little lingering soreness and stiffness, but on the whole I feel pretty good.

I haven't played basketball all summer trying to avoid injuries that might have interfered with my marathon plans. Today I opted for morning basketball with my 19 year old son Andrew and the old gang. I'm a little rusty, but it was great. I was reminded again that running conditioning and basketball conditioning are not the same, and that being 5'7" is more of a disadvantage at basketball than it is at running. I had fun anyway.

Larry called me yesterday to plan a run for this morning. My body didn't feel up to it so I declined. It turns out I ended up staying up until about 2:00am trying to catch up on episodes of Lost from last season with my wife and teenage daughter so we can watch this season's episodes that we have recorded on our DVR. My two college-age children are all caught up, and my high school senior son is on a separate "catch up" schedule with a friend. It will be great when we're all finally caught up so we can talk openly about everything (and stop staying up late trying to get caught up).

I also helped a family move for a few hours. I helped load the moving truck three times, and unload it twice. With the old and new homes both being two stories with basements, I got a lot of stairs in along with my weight lifting. That will have to be my workout for today.

Larry and I got out for 4 easy miles. We we're planning to go longer, and push the pace a little today, but it was rainy and dark, and my legs didn't really feel up to it, so we backed off.

I ran on the treadmill in the fitness center at lunch today. I don't run on treadmills much, as evidenced by the fact that when I reached down to press Shift to check the distance I accidentally pushed Stop.

I warmed up for a 1/2 mile then ran a couple of miles at 8:00/mi. I then pushed to 7:30/mi for a mile. During this mile I noticed Jim Schnitter was walking on the treadmill next to me. I backed the pace down to around 7:45/mi for the next mile so I could talk with him a little easier. I ran a final 1/2 mile after that, most at 7:30/mi, but pushed it to 7:00/mi for a bit at the end.

I felt pretty comfortable and strong the whole time, but I was sweating quite a bit by the end (normal for me indoors). I could feel some residual pain in my right hip from St. George, but not too bad.

I ran solo this morning. It was cold, around 30 degrees, and dark. I opted for a course through Orem which has lighted streets.

It took a while to get moving because of the cold, but I dressed well for it and never got too cold or too hot.

The course I ran is mostly level (gradual downhill south/uphill north) and breaks easily into half mile segments (every four blocks). I may use it as a regular run during the winter. Here are my splits for today. I'm recording them to use as a reference point moving forward:

1.14 mi: 8:44/mi (down - warmup)

0.50 mi: 8:03/mi (down)

0.50 mi: 8:11/mi (level)

0.51 mi: 8:04/mi (down)

0.50 mi: 8:24/mi (level)

1.01 mi: 8:42/mi (up)

0.52 mi: 8:11/mi (up)

0.49 mi: 8:08/mi (level)

0.50 mi: 7:50/mi (level)

0.51 mi: 8:06/mi (up)

0.10 mi: 7:18/mi (level)

Total: 6:35 mi: 8:18/mi

I ran the Lake View run at lunch time. The weather was a little cold out but with just long sleeves and a cap it was a very comfortable and enjoyable run, much better than the treadmill.

I ran the 5.2 miles in 40:05 (7:43/mi). I ran a negative split, out in 20:13 (7:47/mi) and back in 19:52 (7:38/mi).

It was a very satisfying run for me. I ran steady, strong, and well within myself. In my mind I was targeting around an 8:00/mi pace. I was pleasantly surprised to find I averaged 7:43/mi. I've run faster, but it feels good to be getting my legs back under me after Top of Utah and St. George.

The only thing that would have made the run better would have been to have Kerry, Tom, and some of the other old regulars running with me.

I did some easy running while distributing flyers to remind people of our neighborhood cleanup project tomorrow, and then ran a little over a mile after just to stretch out my legs.

I decided at the last minute to run the BYU Homecoming Cougar Run 5K and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed it very much. It is very well managed, and running most of the course along the Homecoming Parade route was fun. I was thrilled with my results. With the St. George marathon just two weeks ago, I was happy running a 7:40/mi pace during a training run this week. Being able to average 6:39/mi today was a very satisfying surprise. The only minor disappointment was that last year the winning time in my division was 20:40, but this year my 20:42 only got me 4th place. Ah well, I still had a great time.

Larry and I had talked about running together this morning, but I was pleasantly surprised to see Kevin out as well. It was dark with the temperature in the low 30's. We ran south through the lighted streets of Orem rather than our traditional Monday run north through the less well lit streets of Lindon.

Most of the run was at a fairly easy pace (8:20/mi to 8:45/mi) as we socialized. Larry and Kevin hadn't run much since St. George and I was just enjoying running with them again.

Larry wanted to push the last mile a little harder. I ran the last 1.1 mi @ 7:15/mi, Larry @ 7:42/mi (I think). Kevin took quite a bit longer, as he had to stop at Gold's Gym for a somewhat urgent bio break.

I'm still feeling some occassional pain in my right hip (the one that hurt me so badly from mile 18 to 22 at St. George), but it isn't affecting my running too much. I think it just needs some stretching and a little more time to heal.

Larry and I repeated yesterday's course at a moderate pace. It wasn't quite as cold. It was an enjoyable run.

Larry, Kevin and I ran the same course as Monday and Tuesday, with a minor variation on the return trip.

Most of the run was at a moderate pace, but Kevin and I pushed from mile 2 to 2.5 at 6:58/mi and the final 1.1 miles at 6:32/mi. (Kevin was actually slightly quicker than this.) Overall average pace was 8:13/mi.

At lunch time I decide to run a few more miles on the treadmill in the fitness center. After a 1/2 mile warmup I pushed the pace to 6:58/mi (8.6 mph) for about 3 miles, pushing gradually to 6:27/mi (9.3 mph) during the last half mile.

I read an article recently (don't remember where) about running faster without expending more effort. That must be what's happening, because rather than feeling beat up by going faster (6:30-7:00/mi instead of 7:30-8:00/mi or 8:30-9:00/mi), I'm actually feeling energized. It seems almost easier to run faster. Maybe I run more efficiently at a faster pace. Maybe I'm beginning to reach the point where my muscle memory is time warping back to my high school/college days when I could run a sub-5 minute mile and a sub-3 hour marathon. I'd better be careful, however. I've felt like this way a few times during the past few years since I started running again, and I usually end up pushing too hard and getting injured. I need to remember, I'm 46...not 18...I'm 46...not 18...I'm 46...not 18...

Ran solo this morning, same course as the previous few days with a minor variation on the return trip.

It was in the 30's this morning, with some of last night's snow still on the lawns and windshields.

I was a little slow getting going in the cold this morning. I averaged about 8:00/mi overall for the 5.3 miles, running around a 7:30/mi pace for the last 1.5 miles.

This morning I chose to play basketball with my young adult son Andrew and the old bball gang instead of running. I think it was good to give the distance running muscles a break and use a different set. It was also very good for me mentally and socially. I had a great time.

I'm not sure how to log basketball in terms of miles. I decided to just put down a few easy miles so I get some credit for all that exercise.

I ran the canal road with Larry and Wayne at 8am. It was still dark and cold (low 30's) when we started, but the sun came up and it warmed up quite a bit. It was such an enjoyable run that we ended up going 13 miles, a few miles farther than planned.

Talking seemed to be our first priority, running our second. We averaged around 8:30/mi. I pushed the last 1/2 mile at about 6:45/mi. I really enjoyed the run.

Larry and I ran the Orem course at a moderate to easy pace. Average pace was about 8:38/mi.

Larry called last night to say he wasn't feeling well and would not be running this morning. Since it wasn't my turn to drive the junior high carpool, I decided to go to basketball again with my son Andrew this morning. It was a lot of fun.

At lunch time I decided to head to the fitness center and put in a few miles on the treadmill:

0.5 mi @ 7.0 mph (8:34/mi)

1.0 mi @ 7.5 mph (8:00/mi)

2.0 mi @ 8.0 mph (7:30/mi)

0.5 mi @ 8.6 mph (6:59/mi)

0.5 mi @ 9.3 mph (6:27/mi)

It's feeling good to get some runs in where I'm beginning to push the pace a little. I worked hard today but I ran within myself, felt good, and recovered pretty quickly.

I'm registered for the Painter's Half Marathon in January, and the Spectrum 10K in March, but I haven't really set any goals for these races yet. My main goal is to get the guaranteed entry into the St. George Marathon for next year by participating in the Runner Series. I've also thought about running the Death Valley marathon in December with some buddies who are seriously considering it, but I'm still undecided.

I think my plan for the next while is going to be similar to the past few weeks, namely, "If you feel like it, do it." This will likely continue to include basketball on occasion, morning runs with my neighborhood buddies, and lunch time runs, both indoors (on the fitness center treadmills) and outdoors (weather permitting). The speed and distance of the workouts will likely depend on whom I'm with and how I feel that day. In other words, I plan to go with the flow and just experience the pure joy of running for a while, without the pressure of trying to achieve some preset goal. There will be plenty of time for that next spring.

It may seem odd, but I'm feeling the need to express my gratitude to God for the ability, desire, and opportunity to run; to be able to do it amid the natural beauty, good friends, and awesome running community here in Utah; and to be part of the greater running community (including the fastrunning bloggers here). Running has greatly contributed to who I am and my quality of life. I'm truly blessed.