Every Race is an Adventure!

Happy New Year 2008!

I haven't missed a single day of running this year. Larry and I went out with Nick this morning. He and Daniel are usually finishing their runs at 5:45am on weekdays when we are just heading out so I haven't run with Nick much. The pace wasn't very fast this morning, but with Nick (and with Larry) the conversation is always good.

I went out for a couple of miles before I met up with them. The splits for those two miles were 8:40 and 8:02. The miles I ran with Larry and Nick were at just over 10:00/mi. With the temperature in the single digits, and as little running as I've done lately, it felt good just to get out and get some running in.

Ran Lake View with Tom and Nathan at just under 8:30/mi. I think the PF in my left foot is nearly gone. I think the firmer arch supports helped. I'm still feeling some left achilles pain, but only when I stretch it. My plan is to simply not stretch it. With the holidays, my holiday illness, and these injuries mostly behind me, I plan to try to gradually get my mileage back up to 40 miles per week. My original post-St. George plans were to be at 50 miles per week by now, but my body apparently had other plans. I'll take what I can get.

With the Painter's half marathon only two weeks away, my original goal of sub 1:30 is no longer reasonable for this year. I ran it in 1:36 last year. Right now I'd be happy with a sub 1:40. Now that I'm back to normal training runs, and hopefully with some non-frigid temperatures, I may try a tempo run late next week to see where I am.

An easy run to the golf course and back again with Larry this morning. It was nice having the weather up out of the single digits and teens.

I ran solo down into Orem and back. The temperature was quite a bit warmer, near 40 I think. The breeze was still a little chilly, but it was nice to run without gloves or ear protection for the first time in a long time.

I wasn't trying to run fast, but I was still a little disappointed at only averaging an 8:40 pace for the 6.4. miles. The "get up and go" in my legs seems to have "got up and went". I may have lost more fitness during my injury/illness setback than I thought. I'm not overly concerned. I'm sure it will come back as I get back into my training rhythm.

I had to take my 16 year old daughter to the high school for "roading" this morning at 6:00am. I ran around the block a couple of times (one mile) while waiting for the car to warm up. I ran another mile at the high school track while I waited for her driving instructor to show up. I then returned to the neighborhood and ran another 5.6 miles on the my serpentine route. I averaged 7:58/mi for the "warmup up the car" mile and the same for the "wait for the instructor" mile so I decided to try to average under 8:00/mi for the rest of the run as well. I had the overall average displayed on my Garmin. My glove covered the last digit so for most of the run all I could see was 7:5x (couldn't see the x digit). I didn't know if was 7:50 or 7:59 or somewhere in between. With about a half mile to go, after running on some icy side streets, I looked down and saw 8:0x. I pushed the pace a little that last half mile and ended up averaging 7:59/mi.

I know I could have run a faster pace. This wasn't a speedy tempo run. My goal was to average sub 8:00 running at a relatively easy effort. My effort was probably better classified as easy marathon pace rather than simply easy, as I was pushing a little to keep my legs moving through the cold. Regardless, it felt good to run a little faster today than I have been recently.

I finally got a Strassburg sock yesterday to see if it will help with the PF and Achilles tendonitis in my left foot. I used it last night while sleeping. I slept fine and, it may be wishful thinking or my imagination, but my foot seemed to feel a little better already this morning. Actually, the new arch supports I got a couple of weeks ago seem to have help the PF. It has been much better, but the Achilles tendonitis hasn't seemed to be improving over the past many weeks of rest and reduced training. The sock claims to help with PF, Achilles tendonitis, and tight calves. These are all related issues I've dealt with off and on for years. I'm optimistic it will help. Time will tell.

The snow really dumped on us this morning. My daughter's "roading" got canceled this morning, but not until we had waited from about 5:50 to 6:15am. I shoveled snow before and after, as it just kept falling. I had an 8:00am meeting, to which I was a little late because of the slow traffic, followed by another meeting that lasted until about 10:30am. Since it was in a room near the fitness center, I decided to just go ahead and run then instead of trying to fight for a treadmill later. It turns out both Tom and Nathan had similar ideas and they were both already running on treadmills when I got there. I managed to endure 5 miles on the treadmill, most of it at 7.2 mph (8:20/mi). Overall average pace was 8:24/mi.

I got in 3 laps around the block (1.5 miles) before taking my daughter to "roading" at 6:00am, then ran another 4.5 miles around the streets near my home. The temperature was in the upper teens and the roads were snow packed and frozen. At one point I was running carefully down an icy hill and heard footsteps behind me. As I looked back the runner said, "If you go down, I go down." I spent most of the run thinking about footing, with an occasional opportunity to also consider how best to avoid a car that was coming too quickly on the dark, slippery road. Needless to say, the pace wasn't too fast this morning.

On Tuesday, I remember running along 1600 N when I heard a car coming behind me. With the shoulder being unrunnable because of ice and snow I moved from the road onto the sidewalk before it got to me. I found out later it was the driver's ed car that my daughter was in, though I don't think she was driving at the time. She said that as they approached me her instructor was telling them that they should move over to avoid a runner on the road. Right then is when I moved from the road and to the sidewalk. I'm glad to have provided an opportunity for them to discuss avoiding runners on the road, but I'm also glad I didn't stay to serve as a practice pylon on the slippery road. I like to think she felt a little pride as she said, "That's my dad.", but it's more likely that I just embarrassed her.

I started the day by playing church basketball with my 18 and 20 year old sons. I haven't played (except for some Thanksgiving day family ball where I didn't really do much) since my shoulder surgery back in October. I didn't stink (much to my surprise) and actually had a pretty good time. Of course, being short and nearly 50 playing against younger, taller, and more talented players my expectations are never very high.

After the game I still felt like I had enough energy to go for a run. Since I'm going to try run the Painter's half marathon, I thought it might be a good idea to see if I could even run double digit mileage. I ended up running to Provo Canyon and up to the first fountain, the one they keep running all the time.

I ended up running 10 miles, but not very fast. I actually tried to push the pace just a little at times but my thighs didn't like the idea very much. I don't know if it was because of having just played basketball, the cold temperature, or lost fitness...most likely a combination of the three. I have no idea what to expect from myself at Painter's. I think I'll just go out at what feels like half marathon pace effort and see how long I can last. I'm confident Tom will be well rested by the time I reach the finish line. The way his wife Kim has been improving, she may also be there with him cheering me in.

It's all good. My plan is to enjoy the trip with Karen and have fun with some of my good running buddies. There's more to life than PRs and placing...he says sincerely, but with a hint of disappointment.

Today was an easy run for Tom, Will, and Nathan but it was more of a tempo run for me. We ran an extended Lake View course of 6.2 miles instead of 5.2. I had our time at 48:48, which is about 7:52/mi. It was encouraging to be able to average a sub-8:00 minute pace again, especially with how slowly I ran Saturday, and considering that the trail portion of this run was through several inches of fresh powder.

If I ran this pace at the Painter's half marathon Saturday I'd finish around 1:43. I think that may be possible. If I factor in warmer weather in St. George and the typical race day performance boost, perhaps I could even go sub 1:40. I ran 1:36 last year, but given the recent setbacks in my training I don't really dare hope to match that this year. It will be fun, or at least interesting, to find out how much is in there that I can pull out.

Larry's back after a week in Mexico running on the beaches. We only went 4.4 easy miles but it was nice running with him again. I'm not looking forward to the cold temperatures that are forecast for the next few days. I know it's not time yet, but I'm ready for winter to be over already. I sure hope the temperatures are at least above freezing in St. George this weekend.

Due to some aches and pains, and the Painter's half this weekend, and probably subconsciously the frigid temperatures, I chose to limit myself to some cross training in the form of a church basketball game at 10:00pm. My two sons played well. Andrew hit three 3's (and some 2's too I think) and had a number of assists, some of which were to his little (but taller) brother Adam who scored 9 points I think. I only remember making one shot (it may have been the only one I took) but I had a few assists. We only scored in the low 40's and lost, but I overhead Andrew and Adam observing that we had accounted for half or more of the team's points (out of 9 players). It was fun...but it was church ball. I avoided most of the danger by avoiding the big boys in the key.

It was pleasant to run in slightly warmer weather today, and even more pleasant to far exceed my own expectations. I was exultant to finish the St. George marathon last October in 3:07. I had great plans to continue improving from there and run the Painter's half marathon in sub-1:30. Then came the PF and Achilles problems, shoulder surgery, a couple of weeks of illness during the holidays, and frigid temperatures with often treacherous road conditions. My mileage has been way down, and I don't think I've run near a 7:00 pace for months.

My plan was to have today's race be a tempo training run, to see where my fitness was. My goal was to average a sub-8:00 pace without aggravating any injuries. Nathan encouraged me to run with him starting at around a 7:30 pace. I decided I'd give it a go for a while and see how if felt.

Very similar to last year, I managed to hang with Nathan until about mile 9 or 10 and then he pulled away. At that point last year I saw my buddy Wayne up ahead and chased him the rest of the way, finishing just behind him. This year I saw a runner I thought was Hal Amos, who used to always beat Tom (until today). Turns out it wasn't him, but at the time thinking it was motivated me to try to catch him.

Not far from the end I saw Sasha running back up the course. I greeted him as he passed then heard him and some other bloggers encouraging Marcie along, who I had passed around mile 10 or 11 I think, but who was now gaining on me with their encouragement. I don't feel very gentlemanly now, but at the time I kidded Sasha about encouraging one blogger to pass another, told him that she was going to have to earn it, picked up the pace to kick to the finish. Just as I started pushing harder I realized I was passing the guy I had been gradually gaining on for the past two miles (who I thought was Hal Amos...the real Hal Amos beat me by 5 minutes). So in reality Sasha and the other bloggers who were encouraging Marcie helped me as well...although I should have been more chivalrous and let her chick me. I think at least eight other women chicked me, so what's one more.

Anyway, between running with Nathan, chasing "Hal Amos", and trying to avoid getting chicked by Marcie, I ended up finishing in 1:32, a course PR four minutes faster than last year. As has been mentioned on other blogs, the race distance was actually closer to 12.95 miles, not 13.1, but I was still faster than last year. I was very pleased, almost shocked, and very relieved that I had managed to retain that much fitness through the valley I've been in since the marathon last October.

My splits (from my Garmin) were:

1 - 7:17

2 - 7:13

3 - 6:54

4 - 7:01

5 - 6:59

6 - 7:12

7 - 7:07

8 - 7:25

9 - 7:11

10 - 6:46

11 - 7:20

12 - 7:11

13 - 6:38 for 0.93 mi (7:07/mi)

Overall time: 1:32:12 (7:07/mi)

I just took it easy on the frozen roads this morning and wandered around for about 4.5 miles. I had a blister on the bottom of my left foot and a tight right calf after the race Saturday, but neither of them bothered me at all this morning. After running in St. George, it was tough being back in the ice box. I'm more ready than ever for some moderate temperatures.

I averaged about an 8:30/mi pace for four miles on the treadmill. I thought it would be better than the icy roads and cold temperatures, but it wasn't really. I didn't enjoy it at all. You would think I would be enthusiastic about running after having a great race in St. George Saturday, but my heart just isn't in it right now. I was pumped on Saturday...but then I returned to the frozen wastelands of the north. It's not even the temperature, really. It wasn't all that warm in St. George. I think it's more the frozen snow and ice everywhere. I'm tired of worrying nearly every step about slipping and falling. Oh well, this too shall pass.

I ran 5.6 easy miles solo on the serpentine route this morning. I wasn't sure if Larry was planning to get out this morning or not, but I didn't see him. Even the temps were in the teens, and the footing was a little iffy in places, it was still more enjoyable than running on the treadmill yesterday. I took it real easy and averaged around a 10:00 pace.

Larry and I are planning to join the other runners that will be attending the "Spirit of the Marathon" movie tonight.

I got out with Larry and Kevin this morning. It was good running with Kevin again. I think his recovery from his broken leg is going well. He was "half wheeling" us again like the old days. It's a bike term that means "to ride hard enough to keep the front wheel just ahead of the wheel of the rider next to you". Some other definitions I found online were:

--The bad habit of slightly pulling ahead of your partner when riding side by side. This continues to escalate the pace until your companion whacks you with a bike pump.

--To continually pull-ahead of the rider next to you in a double pace line, causing the other line to accelerate, then you to accelerate again, etc.

--To ride next to, but just ahead of someone. This is particularly irritating when riding in a double pace-line. If a girl does it to you it's called being "half-chicked".

I think you get the idea. Our pace wasn't very fast, and our distance was kind of short for a long run, but it was good to see Kevin "half wheeling" again. He claimed he was just trying to go fast enough to avoid limping...maybe that's true.

Now all we need is to get Wayne back running again. He's been battling double pneumonia for months. He even had to have a tube inserted through his back to help drain one of his lungs. I think he was getting that removed Friday. It makes the PF and Achilles tendonitis I've battled this winter seem pretty minor. He's been inactive a long time and is looking forward to getting back to running. We're looking forward to him getting back to running, too.

It was nice to have some sunshine and a little bit warmer weather today. I hope the deep freeze days are nearing an end.

With the forecast of a storm later this morning, and the temperature around 40 this morning, I made the difficult decision to run alone in the "warm before the storm" instead of at noon with "the guys". Even as I was running I kept second guessing my decision, and even entertained the thought of maybe running at noon, too, which I knew wouldn't be wise. I was planning on 6 miles this morning, but near the end of the run I decided to detour and add another mile onto the run, reducing the temptation to run again at noon.

I pushed the pace just a little this morning. I've only been averaging 9:15 to 10:00 for most of my easy runs this winter, but this morning I averaged around 8:50. I even threw in some striders to focus on my form a little. I think it's about time to gradually get my legs back accustomed to turning over a little more quickly. My next race is the Spectrum 10K in March and my leg speed is no where near where it needs to be. I don't plan on any sub-7:00 miles for at least a few more weeks, but I'd at least like to string some sub-8:00 miles together a little more often.

My plan this week is to run at least 5 or 6 miles everyday and get back to a 40 mile week. I've only been averaging 25 to 30 for most of the winter and would gradually like to build up to 50 by April.

A couple of recent events have caused me to ponder on what is truly important in life and count my blessings. A good man I serve with in my church calling was just diagnosed with a brain tumor and is going in for emergency surgery today. Like many of you I also heard last night that President Hinckley passed away. I've thought that maybe a key to happiness is to be positive and to enjoy the blessings of each day, and that a successful (happy) life does not come from a few great deeds, but from a lifetime of simply trying to be a good person, do our best, and be nice to people.

Larry had a seminar and couldn't run this morning, so I opted to run at lunch instead when I thought the weather might be a little warmer and the roads a little less slippery. I think it was a good decision. It wasn't too cold and the roads were in pretty good condition.

I ended up running a loop starting east over to State St., north on Slate Canyon Drive to 300 South, west to University Ave. (dropping to 400 South along the way), then south over the bridge and back to Novell. I didn't have my Garmin but I measured it at about 6.3 miles on Google Earth.

I was planning to average a pace between 8:15 and 8:30. I finished in 53:00 even which is about 8:25/mi. Good enough. No aches or pains to speak of. I can tell the Achilles is still not 100%, but it finally seems to be improving.

I opted for the treadmill today at noon. I went 6.2 miles at around 8:35/mi. Just as I was finishing up I heard Kent Gassman's voice behind say, "Some some for tonight." I had forgotten that we had a church basketball game scheduled for 10:00pm.

Surprisingly, I had some zip left in my legs for the game. We actually won our first game. I had a lot of fun playing with my two sons and all the other guys. Both teams showed pretty good sportsmanship and it was great...but late. I stayed after to do a little stake clerking I needed to get done and didn't get home until around 11:30pm.

I ran 6 easy miles solo on my serpentine course this morning. I don't know where Larry was this morning.

There was a light covering of powdery snow. It squeaked with each step in the quiet morning, and also seemed to cushion each step. It actually seemed to provide pretty good traction, too.

I was thinking this morning about how slow my training pace has been this winter, and how I have still managed to maintain fitness well enough to run Painter's pretty well a couple of weeks ago. One thought that crossed my mind was that at a slower pace I'm actually spending more time training per mile. For example, at a 7:00 minute pace I run six miles in 42:00 minutes, while at a 10:00 pace I run six miles in 60:00 minutes. That's 18:00 additional minutes of training. So while my mileage and pace have been down, my overall training time has held pretty steady. (I think this is what is known as rationalizing.)

The kids were out of school today so I didn't have to be home at 7:00am for the normal school morning routine. I decided to go play basketball in the morning with my old buddies. I've been playing with some of those guys for over 15 years, but since I got serious about running again I only make it there occasionally now. My 21 year old son has been playing with them for a number of years, too. He's the regular and I'm the visitor now.

There were only 7 this morning, but three of them (plus me) were old timers and it was really good to see them again. One was Greg. He and I have been playing basketball together since high school. All this basketball probably isn't good for my Achilles tendon, but I sure had a lot of fun this morning.

I had a church basketball game this morning at 7:00am. We didn't win, but played respectably against a good team. Both teams showed great sportsmanship and we all had a good time. Late in the game some of the players on the other team (one of which was Rich, who I shared a house with before we both ran Boston last year) more or less left me open and dared me to shoot a 3-pointer. I took my time and swished it from the corner. It felt good.

After the game, I drove my sons home, changed into some fresh running clothes, and Larry and I went for a run. We didn't go far or fast, but it's always good getting out with Larry.

I only went 3 easy miles on the treadmill today. I was planning on more but felt a minor twinge in my Achilles and decided to not risk it. It was probably nothing, but I'm concerned that I've kind of pushed the limits on my Achilles the last week with increasing my mileage a little and playing basketball three times. Still, it didn't bother me after any of those activities. I helped push a couple of cars out of deep snow on Sunday, and I actually think that may have had more of a negative impact on the Achilles than the running and jumping.

After finally boosting my mileage last week back to nearly 40 miles, I only ran about 10 miles this week. I know it doesn't make any sense to anyone but me, but I decided to use my Achilles tendonitis (not too serious) as an excuse to not run this week as a sort of protest against frigid temperatures and frozen sidewalks and roads. The weather finally warmed up a little yesterday and today, so maybe my protest worked.

Of course, then today I allowed Larry to talk me into running up the water tank road and a few miles beyond. Actually, the dirt road was plowed and most of it wasn't too bad. The air was very clear and the views were awesome. We even saw a herd of about 50 or so elk hanging out on a hilltop down below us. Wayne is just getting back to running after his pneumonia so we took it pretty easy. Even so I slipped a few times on the way back down the water tank hills, including a sort of half fall backwards where I caught myself on one arm and did a sort of three-point slide for about 10 feet. All in all it was quite an enjoyable run.

I ran a modified Eagles View with Will at noon today. Instead of going up the steep hill we continued north for a while before turning back. I didn't have my Garmin, but Will's showed a distance of around 5.75 miles and an average pace of 8:06. This included two long waits at traffic lights. Subtracting that time the pace was around 7:52.

The temperature was finally above 40. I wore shorts and no ear covering and it felt great. There were still a few icy spots in the shadows on the overpasses, but overall the roads were mostly dry. If we can string a number of these above freezing days together running conditions should improve considerably.

I ran solo this morning, easy 6.1 miles, average pace 8:42. It seems that building up my mileage while not aggravating the Achilles and PF is going to be a little tricky. The Achilles felt fine this morning, but the PF that hasn't bothered me for a while was back a little this morning. I'm icing it now  I really think new shoes will help, too. I went to buy some last week at MVP Sports in SF but my size was out of stock on the two styles I was interested in. If I have time at lunch today I may go to Runner's Corner and try out a few different styles.

Warning...potty talk ahead.

I took my 18 year old son in early this morning for a colonoscopy. He's complained of stomach pains for years and was recently diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). This morning's procedure was basically just to rule out what isn't the cause, and his colon was normal and healthy.

Those of you familiar with the process know he had to fast yesterday, take some pills, and drink some awful tasting stuff to clean out his colon. Not too surprisingly, he was hungry on the way home. Although I don't think he had fully recovered from the anesthesia yet, he was conscious enough to say he wanted to stop at the Daylight Donuts shop we passed. I was a cook at a Daylight Donuts shop nearly 30 years ago, so we made a nostalgic stop.

I know none of you other runners eat donuts, but if you know a friend of a friend that eats donuts, I highly recommend Daylight Donuts. I was leaving for work a little late and hadn't had breakfast so I had donuts for breakfast. I was weak. They were really good. I can't remember if I had 3 or 4 as we talked before I left.

I paid for my indulgence, however, with a little IBS of my own during my noon run (pun intended). I could sense something was a bit off before the run so I ran around the back streets of East Bay so I wouldn't be too far from a restroom. I've already shared too much information, but I'll just say that this strategy paid off.

On a different note, today's run was also the maiden voyage of my new Saucony Trigons. It was only an easy run, 5.6 miles @ avg. 8:16/mi, but they felt really good. I wanted to keep running, but we have a church basketball game tonight so I chose not to overdo it.

This is an update after the basketball game...We only had 5 players show up, Austin, Jeff, my sons Andrew and Adam, and me, so we got plenty of playing time. The other team started with 10 players, then had an 11th show up at half time. We won the first half 35-34, but ran out of gas in the second half. I had a good night shooting, maybe a career high. I think I hit 3 for 3 from the 3-point line, and added a few other baskets. I actually don't remember missing a shot, but I might have. I had some pretty decent assists, too, but they were balanced out with a number of turnovers. I even remember getting a rebound...not too common for an old 5'7" guy that avoids the dangers of entering the key as much as possible. All in all, it was a whole lot of fun.

Fortunately, Karen said not to worry about Valentine's Day this year, because as of late last night I had no plans. Still, I like to surprise her with a little something so I was racking my brain to figure out what might really show my affection...that could be done at the last minute. I prayed for a little help, and got it I think.

My nephew has a type of skin cancer where he periodically has to have spots removed, mostly from his head. He and his wife have four small children, so sometimes Karen and the girls will babysit on the days he goes in. They live in Kearns but he comes to Utah Valley for the procedure. Today is one of those days. Karen's sister Leanne (from Arizona), the grandmother of these kids, also happens to be staying with us this week.

Anyway, as we were going to bed last night Karen commented that she felt uncomfortable with the small kids coming because the house was a little out of control. So I got up at 5:00am, but instead of running I spent 1.5 hours cleaning up the kitchen and main floor. She would have been content with that, but I had time before 7:00am so I ran to Macey's. They always have a good selection of Valentine's stuff for the last minute man. I kept my tradition of buying Karen a small plant. We both like to see how long we can keep it alive before it dies. The one last year lasted quite a while. I also spied some strawberries dipped in white chocolate. I got home just in time to put the plant and strawberries on the clean kitchen counter before I had to go wake up the kids. Karen was very appreciative. Every once in a while I get it right.

As for running, I only went 4 miles on the treadmill at work at noon. I started feeling a hot spot on my left foot, likely a remnant from last night's basketball game, so I decided to stop early rather than have to fight a blister.

It was interesting to read Terry's blog for yesterday.

http://oldbean.fastrunningblog.com/blog--Noon-run-Sunny-Temp-35-I-gave-/02-14-2008.html

He mentions foot pain from his new shoes, and his hopes that he won't have to take a sick day from running. I started wearing a new pair of Saucony Trigons this week. Yesterday afternoon I got up from my desk to go to a 3:30pm meeting and I felt a sharp pain in my left foot. I was limping so badly that a coworker asked if I had sprained my ankle. The pain comes and goes. This morning it felt much better, but I've decided to take "a sick day from running" and see how tomorrow's run goes.

On the first two outside runs the shoes felt great, with no side effects. As I think back to the treadmill run yesterday, I remember thinking that the left shoe felt like maybe I'd tied it a little too tight. I'll blame that for now and see how things go tomorrow.

I used to think that the "endurance" in being an endurance runner referred to hanging in there during a long hard run. I'm becoming convinced that maybe it refers more to hanging in there through all the training setbacks. There seems to be no limit to the things that can go wrong. I guess, as with the rest of life, the secret is to hang in there, focus on the positive, try not to make the same mistake too many times, and appreciate the good things and the good times. I think both Tom and Kim have made similar comments about focusing on the positive in recent blogs.

It also helps to put concerns in perspective. My sister-in-law is out of work. My nephew has to have skin cancer spots removed on a regular basis, and one of his young sons has already had to have some removed as well. Someone just confided in me this morning that his wife is divorcing him and trying to have him forcibly removed from his home. Suddenly a little foot pain seems pretty minor.

Enjoy the sun. Spring is just around the corner.

I woke up this morning undecided on whether I was going to run or not. I wasn't sure if Larry and Wayne would be running. Sometimes they head to St. George on long weekends, and we hadn't discussed our Saturday running plans like we normally do. When I checked the temperature and it was 10 degrees, and I waffled even more. I even discussed it with Karen, and we both agreed that it would be better to wait and run later when it was supposed to be warmer.

About 9:30am I happened to look out the window and saw Larry and Wayne walking by...cooling down after their run! I missed the camaraderie of running with them, but they looked pretty cold.

I ran some errands, including a trip to Home Depot and also to Sports Authority to buy some new compression shorts and a new running hat (identical to the Nike one I have and really like, but I needed another one to keep at work). I then returned home and (finally) strapped down our water heater, replaced a broken light fixture, and fixed a broken sink stopper in the bathroom.

When I finally got my errands and projects done it was about 3:30pm, sunny, and above freezing. Karen and her sister were at Costco so I decided it was a good time to run. I decided to run the 8 mile loop down to Costco and back, thinking I might see Karen on her way home along the way. A little over 3 miles into the run she passed me as I was heading south and she was heading north on 400 East.

I asked Karen later if it looked like I was running well. Like the good wife she is she said 'yes'. Actually, I felt pretty good the whole run. I ran it at around marathon pace effort, a good steady forward-moving pace but not pushing too hard. I ended up averaging 8:02/mi for 8.75 miles. Mile splits were: 8:10, 8:09, 7:57, 7:54, 8:11*, 8:01, 8:12*, 7:53, 0.75 miles in 5:48 (7:45/mi). The 8:11 was mostly all slight upgrade, the 8:12 mile included a long wait at a traffic light. I felt like I held a good pace the entire run, and could have kept going for a while. It was pretty encouraging. I could still feel the PF and Achilles lurking in the wings, but they stayed away, as did the sharp foot pain from Thursday. I iced my foot immediately after the run.

One day at a time.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself tomorrow. The stake president is out of town so we are not having our normal meetings. I'll be able to attend my home ward, and nothing else. That will be nice. Of course, the next Sunday we have PEC, presidency meeting, and two ward conferences so I'll be going all day starting at 6:30am. At least it pays well (spiritually).

Tomorrow, apparently to cosmically balance my reduction in Sunday meetings, some of Karen's family are coming over in the evening for dinner and, since it's a holiday on Monday, will probably stay late into the night talking and playing games. Actually, it should fun...for as long as I am able stay awake.

I chose to go with the afternoon run again today, and once again I actually got it in. I decided to run up to what I've decided to call "The Fountain of Youth". It's the fountain (near Timpanogos Park on the Provo River Parkway) that runs continuously. The cool water is especially refreshing on hot summer days, but I found it refreshing today as well, as it served as my turn around point on my 9.2 mile run.

Similar to Saturday, I tried to run a steady press-forward kind of pace without pushing it too hard. This course was slightly longer and had more ups and downs, but I still managed to average about 8:07/mi and felt pretty good at the end, running the last 0.6 miles (gradual downhill) at a 7:21 pace. I'm cautiously optimistic about putting my injuries behind me (knock on wood).

I ditched Larry and Wayne on Saturday, so I guess they ditched me this morning. Actually, I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. I wasn't sure they were running Saturday morning, and because of Saturday Larry probably wasn't sure if I was going to be running this morning. Fortunately, this sort of problem is easily fixed with a phone call, email, or text.

After pushing the pace and distance a little on Saturday and yesterday, I decided to just take it at an easy pace this morning. I ended up running 6.9 miles at an average 9:37/mi pace. No foot pain again today (knock on wood again), but I'm icing the Achilles and PF areas anyway.

I've also been wearing a small neoprene ankle support since Saturday that I feel has been helping.  I was at Sports Authority on Saturday and noticed they had a wide selection of ankle supports. I've sprained my ankles many times so they caught my eye. They had Level I, I+, II, and III supports. The I+ support is a simple neoprene cup with a Velcro closure across the top. Because of the foot pain I felt on Thursday, and because it was less than $10, I decided to give it a try.

It feels so good that the only time I've taken it off is to run (my shoes provide support and cushioning) and to shower. It even fit well in my Sunday shoe. Besides the mild support it gives, it also retains heat. It almost feels like I'm wearing a little heat pad exactly where I need it, on my Achilles tendon, the plantar fascia near my heel, and across my ankle. The neoprene even provides a little cushioning in those same areas. It might all be in my head, but I've learned that can help as much as anything else. Time will tell.

I ran about 0.35 miles around the parking lot trying to keep warm while waiting for Will (there was a bit of a breeze), then we ran the 6.2 mile extended Lake View course. We averaged about 8:05/mi. The snow on the freeway bridge and on the dirt road was a bit of a nuisance, but overall it was a nice run.

Well, I talked to Larry and it seems he and Wayne have been going out at 8:00am instead of 5:45am. I can't say as I blame them. We plan to hook up again Saturday morning, but today was a solo run. I went 6.2 miles around local streets at an average pace of 8:38/mi.

I enjoyed a nice run with Tom at lunch time. He considered it an easy run. It was a lot easier for him than for me, but it wasn't too bad. I really enjoyed running and talking with him again. We looped over Eagle View way, up toward Seven Peaks until we got to 900 E and Center, worked our way south a little as we headed west to University Avenue, then looped around the back side of East Bay back to Novell. We averaged 8:49/mi for the 7.75 miles.

If feels good to be getting my mileage back up again. I plan to continue to gradually increase the mileage over the next few weeks, as long as the pain stays away. So far so good. I don't plan on any fast tempo runs until I get my base mileage up to at least 40+ for a few weeks.

We had our last church basketball game of the season this morning. We only had 5 players again, same 5 as last week. The other team had 7, one of whom was about 6'8". They are a good team and I thought we were going to lose by 20 or 30. We were down by 8 or 9 at half time, and by 10-15 points most of the second half. Then suddenly with 1 or 2 minutes to go we tied it up. We ended up losing by 4, 89 to 93 I think. This was a pretty high scoring game for church ball. We did win the second half, and felt pretty good about our performance. I knew my good shooting last week was an aberration. I kind of stunk it up this week. The other four, including my two sons, did rather well. Adam had an especially good game. I think he hit three 3 pointers along with several other baskets. Andrew always plays well and had something like 25 points and at least 6 steals. It was a lot of fun, but I was pretty tired afterward.

I got home from the game about 8:10am, drank a bunch of water and ate a couple of slices of bread, changed my clothes, then met Larry and Kevin to run at 8:30am (Wayne's in St. George). We ran an old 6 mile route through Lindon that we haven't run for a long time. We only averaged about 9:12/mi, but for me it felt a little like the last 6 miles of a marathon. My legs were dead. I think it was a combination of boosting my mileage this week and having just played a fast paced basketball game with no subs.

It's been a good training week, and I'm optimistic there are better weeks ahead.

I ran what we call the Tri-City route solo this morning. It loops through Lindon, into Pleasant Grove, and back through Lindon to Orem. It's a 6 mile loop but I added an extra mile on the end. I ran an easy pace and averaged 8:49/mi., a little slower on the hilly miles, faster on the flatter miles. I felt like I held a pretty steady effort throughout and ran the last (flat) mile in 8:17. It's encouraging to see my pace for easy runs gradually getting faster. I think the improving weather has a lot to do with that.

I have a couple of difficult decisions to make on my running calendar this year.

I'm registered for the Spectrum 10K in St. George on March 15, but now I've found out that Karen can't make it and I'd have to make the trip alone. I started doing the St. George Runners Series when it started a couple of years ago to 1) get the guaranteed entry into the St. George marathon, and 2) so Karen and I could have some weekend getaways.

If I don't do the Spectrum 10K I could still try to do the Run 4 Kids 10K on April 12, or the Hurricane 1/2 Marathon on May 3. They are both Runners Series qualifiers.

Our wedding anniversary is on May 4, so that might be a good weekend for a getaway to St. George and get in the Hurricane Half while we're there. Karen's making this difficult by saying that she is okay with whatever I decide, and this time I really think she means it. I don't think it's one of those husband tests (you husbands out there know what I mean...and I think so do you wives). Since I'm already registered for the Spectrum 10K, I may not decide until the day before the race whether I'm going. If I don't go, I'll plan on the Hurricane 1/2 on May 3.

I'm not really considering the Run 4 Kids 10K on April12 because I've kind of decided in the last day or two that I want to support the 1st Annual Utah Valley Marathon that is on that same day. I've been considering doing the Striders 1/2 on May 3, and maybe even the Ogden Marathon on May 17, but I think I'm going to pass on those and insert the Utah Valley Marathon into my running calendar instead. You don't get too many opportunities for a "1st Annual" marathon right in your own backyard. I won't be in any sort of fast marathon condition by then, but I think I'll be able to finish okay.

I ran the Tri-City route again this morning, but added a mile or so at the beginning instead of at the end like yesterday. This was another base-building easy run at around a 9:00/mi pace average.

I enjoyed a nice run in the sun with Tom and Nathan at noon. We started out towards Eagles View but  we kept going north instead of turning and going up the steep hill. Tom's current fitness level is well documented. Nathan is also in great shape as he prepares for Boston in April. I think he said he ran 18 miles at an average 7:50 pace Saturday, or something like that. I could tell the 8:20 pace we averaged today was much easier for them than it was for me. I'm just grateful to be feeling good as I start building my mileage base again.

I ran a modified Tri-City route this morning. I added some distance at the beginning and inserted the long climb up State Street from the Lindon City Park. I averaged around 8:55/mi for the 7.4 miles.

I left early and took my church keys with me so I could stop on the way home and do some work I needed to do at the church this morning. The plan worked well, except that it was sure hard getting my legs moving to run that last 1/4 mile home after sitting at the church computer for 20 minutes. I still made it home with 2 minutes to spare.

I saw a dog that looked like Larry's dog Ozzie so I called him when I got to the church, but Ozzie was at home. Larry and Wayne were planning to head out at 7:00am. It felt good to already be done.

The weather is probably going to be awesome again for a run at noon, but I've got a lot of work to do so I decided to get the run in this morning so I can work through lunch. Life is sure full of a lot of choices. It seems life is all about learning to make good choices and find a balance among the seemingly endless ways we can choose to spend our time and energy. I feel blessed to have such good things to choose between, and the freedom to choose.

I plan to go a little longer and easier tomorrow so I decided to go a little shorter and quicker today. I ran down to Orem Center street and back trying to maintain a steady marathon pace effort. I averaged 7:52/mi for 5.45 miles. Mile splits were 8:16, 7:54, 7:53, 7:55, 7:35, 0.45 mi in 3:22 (7:28/mi). The first mile included warm up. The last mile finally had some slight downhill and tailwind at the same time. I feel pretty good about the run, like I'm finally beginning to get back on track.

Also, I went ahead and registered for the Utah Valley Marathon on April 12. I don't have much time to get ready for it. I'll be lucky to work up to one 20 miler before then. I'm looking forward to it anyway.

Larry and Wayne were kind enough to accompany me on most of a 12 mile run this morning. Our plan was to run from the mouth of Provo Canyon up to Vivian Park...but we failed to realize the Provo River trail is only cleared up to Nunn's Park. We took the old Bridal Veil road at that point and followed it up to Upper Falls Park, which required crossing through one nasty section of frozen snow about 4-6" deep. It was smooth and frozen enough in some spots to run on top of the snow, but mostly it was a minefield of potential ankle turns.

I've decided to run the Utah Valley Marathon in about 6 weeks so I wanted to start getting in some longer runs on Saturday. My goal for today was 12 miles. We hit 9 miles shortly before we got back to the mouth of the canyon. We decided to run on south along the trail. Larry and Wayne said they were going to do about 10 miles, but said they would wait for me to do my 12.

Around this point two young women passed us. They were pretty good runners, but not elite runners, and I have to admit that it was bothering me that they were passing me. Since we had decided I was going to go a little farther than my buddies, I left them and soon passed the two ladies. I ran down to Riverwoods and then headed back. As I started back I saw that they were only about 50 yards behind me.

My goal was to just get in 12 miles today, the pace wasn't important. That's good because we ran pretty slowly. I ended up averaging about 9:25/mi for the 12 miles, with an 8:01 and an 8:15 mile near the end.

It was great running with my buddies up Provo Canyon again. The weather was in the 40's and sunny. It was a great run. (But then, as Tom says, every run is a great run.)

I did another route remix this morning, combining portions of the Tri-City and Serpentine routes for an 8.1 mile solo run. My average pace was 8:55/mi. It was nice having it get lighter during the run, but of course that will end with daylight savings time starting this weekend.

My base building plan seems to be going well so far. I bumped my mileage up to 45 miles for each of the last two weeks with no ill effects. I'm still feeling minor pain occasionally from my Achilles and PF in my left foot, but they are much better. The combination of icing, wearing neoprene ankle supports for therapeutic heat, and sleeping in my Strassburg sock occasionally seems to be helping. Most of this has been preventative, done at the slightest hint of a flare up.

The plan this week is to run around 45 miles again, including a long run of around 14 miles on Saturday as I prepare for the UV Marathon on April 12. With the Spectrum 10K being a week from Saturday, I'd also like to try at least a moderate tempo run sometime this week, but I'm going to play it by ear. If it feels right one day, maybe I'll push the pace for a few miles. I threw in a couple of striders this morning and it felt good.

I ran the Orem route down to 400 South and back this morning. It was nice having it be nearly 20 degrees warmer this morning than yesterday morning.

Shortly into the run I was feeling pretty good and decided to insert a couple of fast miles. I decided I would push the pace on the mile from 800 North down to Center St. on 400 East, rest the mile down to 400 South and back, and then push again from Center St. back up to 800 North.

I ran the first (downgrade, wind-aided) fast mile in 6:54, the second (upgrade, headwind) fast mile in 7:24, and averaged 8:11/mi overall for the 6.5 mile run.

It felt good to run a sub-7:00 mile again, even if it was wind-aided on a downgrade. I mostly just wanted to try moving my legs that fast again. I was actually running around 6:40/mi the first part of that mile but backed off a little. I ran the Spectrum 10K in 41:42.5 last year (6:44/mi) and won my age division. I would love to match or beat that next week, but with my foot injuries over the winter I have not been putting in any speed work or tempo runs so I'm a little concerned about leg turnover. I averaged 7:07/mi in the Painter's half in January, and there's some great downhill in the first three miles of Spectrum 10K, so maybe I have a chance.

Even though 7:24 isn't very fast for the second "fast" mile, it was on a steady slight upgrade into a pretty stiff headwind. It was great practice focusing on keeping my legs moving and pushing when it wasn't very easy. It seems odd even to me, but I kind of enjoy that struggle.

Even though I was pushing the pace more than I have for quite a while, I was still reluctant to give it full throttle. The last time I did that, two weeks after the St. George marathon last October, it triggered the injuries I've been fighting all winter. I feel good about how my training is going and don't want to jeopardize it by beeing foolish going for too much too soon.

I had a great run with Tom and Will at lunch time today. We ran towards Seven Peaks then looped back down University Ave and around the East Bay area, the same run Tom and I did a couple of weeks ago. It was sunny and in the mid 30's. I really enjoyed it.

We averaged around 8:16/mi for the 8 miles.

I ran an extended Tri-City loop again this morning, 8.1 miles @ 9:25/mi. The pace was easy, but my effort to hold the easy pace was not all that easy. I think yesterday's run with Tom and Will took a little more out of my legs than I thought. I think the temperature being in the low 20's made me a little slower as well. Nevertheless, every run is a great run. (Do I have to pay Tom a royalty every time I say that?)

My goal this week was to run about 45 miles, including a 14 mile long run. I already had 30 miles, and my planned 14 miler tomorrow will put me at 44, so my thought for today was to take it easy and maybe get in a few easy miles.

There's a group of guys (and one girl) that play basketball at lunch time at work. I know some of them and they have invited me to play various times over the last couple of years. I bumped into two of them in a meeting yesterday. It got me thinking, so I brought in my shoes and ankle supports today and played with them at lunch time. It was pretty fun, and I managed to avoid injury.

After basketball, I changed my shoes and ran a loop around the Novell campus area for about 1.6 miles at around an 8:30 pace.

Larry's still in Hawaii, and he usually coordinates our Saturday runs, so I just headed out solo this morning. My new Saucony Pro Grid Trigon 5 Guides arrived yesterday so I started by taking them out for a 1 mile test run. They felt good, but I didn't trust them enough for my first run in them to be a long run, so after a couple of laps around the neighborhood I swapped them for my tried and true Brooks Axiom 2's and headed toward Provo Canyon.

I ended up running from my house up to Bridal Veil Falls and back. Once I got to the canyon trail I saw quite a few runners out. I had a bit of adversity on the way up the canyon. Let's just say I shouldn't have eaten a piece of my daughter's ice cream birthday cake last night (I don't tolerate ice cream well), I wish they could find a way to provide restrooms up there during the winter, and I'm glad I carried some paper with me this morning. The restrooms I tried were all locked, including the port-a-potty at Nunn's Park that I used just last Saturday.

After interfacing with nature about 7 or 8 miles into the run I felt much better as I continued up the canyon. On the way back down the canyon I took an eGel, stopped at the fountain near Timpanogos Park for a good drink, then pushed on up into Orem and back home.

I was planning on 14 miles, but with the shoe test drive mile, and running a little farther than planned, I ended up with 16 miles. My average pace was 9:08/mi for the 16 miles, with the last two miles being 8:21 and 8:10. It felt good to finish strong. The eGel must have kicked in.

The extra miles put me at just over 50 miles for the week. That makes 45, 45, and 50 for the last three weeks. I'm encouraged. I'm feeling pretty good and the injuries seem to be staying away (knock on wood).

I got stuck in a noon meeting today so I didn't get to run with Tom and Nathan. However, after reading Tom's blog maybe it's a good thing. They ran Eagle's View, and that's not what I wanted to do today.

With the Spectrum 10K this weekend I plan to mini-taper near the end of the week, but I still want this to be a pretty good training week so I plan to get in some good miles early in the week.

I started off with the thought of running the 8 mile loop we've done a couple of times recently, only in the reverse direction. It ended up being quite different. Rather than loop through East Bay I started directly up University Avenue, worked my way east to 500 East, then kept going north to 700 North (just south of BYU campus). I then headed east and went up to Seven Peaks Blvd, down to Seven Peaks, and back to 900 East.

There was a bit of a climb up to Seven Peaks Blvd, but it was nothing compared to the climb that started at 300 South and 900 East and gradually got steeper over the next mile or so as I headed east and then south into the neighborhoods east of State Street. Tom had mentioned his distaste for this particular climb, and I now understand why. It just seemed to keep going and going, getting steeper and steeper, and then I met Mr. Headwind as I turned south and went up the steepest part of the hill just before the top. The headwind continued as I headed south and west back to work, but at least there was a lot of downhill, with only a little uphill on the two overpasses.

My average pace was 8:48/mi for the 9 miles, the fastest being 8:13/mi on the first mile, and the slowest being 9:40/mi on that lovely long uphill. All in all it was a very good run, especially the sunshine and mild temperatures.

It was great to finally run with Larry and Wayne again this morning. I put in a couple of miles (about 8:40 pace) before I met up with them and then we ran the six mile Lindon loop. There aren't many street lights in Lindon and it was pretty dark. I tried to stay away from edges of the road as a safety precaution.

We only averaged around 9:40/mi but it sure felt harder than that. I think my legs are feeling the effects of the increased mileage of the past few weeks, and the long hilly run yesterday. I don't mind the tired legs...no pain no gain...I'm just grateful the pain is not of the injury variety. I still feel a little PF pain at times, and minor soreness in my Achilles now and then, but I've run 45, 45, and 50 miles in the past three weeks and the injuries are still feeling better, not getting worse, so I'm
optimistic.

I plan to put in some longer miles again tomorrow but then run some short easy runs on Thursday and Friday to rest my legs for Spectrum on Saturday.

Larry and I (Wayne never showed) worked our way over to THS for a couple of miles as warm up then did a couple of tempo miles on the track. My half mile splits were 3:31, 3:33, 3:33, and 3:27, so 7:04 and 7:00 for the two miles. We then ran back home at an easy pace.

I actually feel pretty good about the run. I was pushing pretty hard for the two miles, but it was more of a fast marathon effort than an all out speed run. I didn't want to go all out and risk an injury. I just wanted to try a bit of a faster pace.

At noon I ran Lake View with Tom, Nathan, and Steve (King). Tom, Nathan, and I had agreed it would be at an "easy" pace. I didn't struggle too badly, but averaging 7:51/mi for the 5.2 miles is a little faster than "easy" for me. I was okay with it, though. I wanted to train hard Mon-Wed this week before backing off a little before the Spectrum 10K on Saturday.

This is my first double (two runs in one day) in quite a while. I actually feel pretty good. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do on Saturday after resting my legs a little after three weeks of increased mileage.

I may have chosen poorly today. I was only going to go 3-4 miles and I couldn't figure where I wanted to run, and it was a little overcast and chilly as I walked to the fitness center, and an okay movie was on, so I ended up just staying in the fitness center and running on the treadmill. Of course, as soon as I started the sun broke through the clouds. I almost stopped and went outside, but I didn't.

Darin was on a treadmill farther down, so at least I was in good company. A little less than a mile in Nathan started up on the treadmill next to me, which wasn't working well, then moved down to a better one when it opened up.

Nathan said he was going an easy 5 miles. I ended up doing the same, averaging 8:53/mi.

I only put a few miles in this morning in preparation for the 10K race tomorrow. It's a half mile around the block in front of my house so I did 6 laps. I wanted to warm up and then do one short stretch to "feel the speed". I warmed up for a little over 2 miles then halfway into lap 5 I let go for the last 1/4 mile of the lap. I then ran the last 1/2 mile lap very easy.

Shortly into the run I stepped on a rock and rolled my right ankle. It gave me a scare, but fortunately wasn't serious and I was able to "run it off". I'm icing it now as a precaution, but it feels pretty good.

The big surprise for me this morning was after the run when I checked the pace for the fast 1/4 mile stretch. At first I was disappointed. It appeared that my Garmin had glitched. However, I verified that it measured 0.26 miles, and the time was 1:23, so the 5:24/mi pace it showed was accurate. It was only 1/4 mile, but I didn't think I had that kind of speed in me right now. I was just "letting go", not really straining for all out kick or anything. I couldn't have held that speed for too much longer, but it felt pretty good.

I don't hold any illusions about running sub-6:00 miles for the 10K tomorrow, but it boosts my confidence that I may be able to match or better my PR of 6:44/mi from last year. Once again, I look forward to the journey of discovery that each race offers.

I'm taking the day off work to go watch my daughter dance at BYU. Her BYU Pre-Teen ballroom dance team is in the Pre-Teen Latin Formation competition today. They are also in the Standard Formation competition tomorrow. Also tomorrow, her elementary school's ballroom dance team has a competition. This is all part of the US National Amateur Dancesport Championships that are being held at BYU this weekend..

Kerry is coming to pick me up at 5:30pm to head to St. George. I can hardly wait.

What a great road trip to the Spectrum 10K! When we found out Karen couldn't go I almost decided to not go, but she encouraged me to. I was still worried about going alone. I was thrilled when Kerry decided to go down with me. He even said he'd like to drive. I just went along for the ride, and probably talked too much. At least it made the drives down and back seem shorter...at least to me. :)

The race was great, too. The weather was ideal. The course is awesome. The race was well organized. A lot of my good running buddies were there. I really enjoyed everything about it.

Nathan and I started the race together. We finished the first mile in about 5:30. (I'll have to go by memory on my splits as my Garmin, I discovered after the race, now displays garbage when I go into history mode. Bummer. They gave away a Garmin in the raffle, but I didn't win it. Maybe I'll have more luck with my birthday in 9 days.) Anyway, 5:30 was just a little bit faster than the 6:20-6:30 we had planned. At the first mile marker another runner near us said something like, "5:30?! What am I doing running 5:30?!" I think Nathan and I were both thinking the same thing, but we were feeling pretty good so we just kept speeding along.

Mile 2 was more rolling hills than downhill, and I think we ran it in just over 6:00 minutes. Nathan pulled about 30 yards ahead of me during this mile. I've noticed he always seems to run uphills better than I do. He was reluctant to run ahead of me and kept looking back. I kept telling him to stop looking back and just run. As mile 3 was back to mostly downhill, I managed to stay behind him. Around the mile 3 marker I had gained slightly on him. He noticed and slowed to let me catch up. I think we averaged about 6:16/mi for the first three miles, well ahead of our 6:20-6:30 goal.

Now the downhill was over, and it wasn't long before Nathan pulled ahead again, this time for good. He went on to beat me by over a minute and finish in 38:49, 19th overall. He is running so well! He's going to have a great first Boston marathon.

As Nathan pulled away I just tried to keep moving forward. At the mile 4 marker I was still averaging around 6:16/mi. By the mile 5 marker the average was down to 6:27. I knew I needed to average around 6:30 (actually 6:27) to break 40 minutes. Fortunately, the gradual uphill we had been running turned to gradual downhill for a while and the overall average pace displayed on my watch started dropping again. I just locked in and tried to push as hard as I could the rest of the way. When I could see the clock at the finish line it was just under 39:00. I didn't seem to be able to get to the finish line fast enough. As I got closer to the finish line the clock got closer to 40:00. I pumped my fist exultantly as I crossed the finish line in 39:55! It is still hard to believe that I averaged 6:25/mi. I'm shocked, and extremely happy.

I haven't run a sub-40:00 10K since the early 80's, more than 25 years ago. Sure, this was a net downhill course, but I'll take it anyway. I finished in 41:42 last year.

Nathan and I both finished 2nd in our age divisions. However, the guy that beat me in my division was the overall masters winner, so I was awarded 1st place in my division.

I thought everyone I knew ran well. At the awards ceremony the FRB members were very well represented. I'll let someone else report on that as there were so many of them and I don't know everyone.

What a great time!

I ran Lake View with Nathan at noon. My legs are still a little sore from the race on Saturday so I was planning to take it easy, around an 8:30-9:00 pace. Nathan was obviously feeling a little better than me. I managed to have some conversation with him during the run, but it was affected somewhat by my heavy breathing. We ended up averaging 7:48/mi for the 5.2 miles, and then Nathan headed to the treadmill for more. He's so ready for Boston, and he's still got another month to go.

I survived the run pretty well. I went faster than I planned, but that's probably okay since I also reduced my mileage for today.

Based on my performance Saturday I guess I'm in better shape than I thought I was, but that was only a 10K. I know my base mileage still needs some work for a marathon. My plan is to try to get in 50+ miles per week for the next two weeks, including long runs of 18 and 20+ miles, then begin a gradual two week taper to the Utah Valley Marathon on April 12. I won't be in "peak" marathon shape, more like "weak" marathon shape, but I think I'll be able to finish and not be too embarrassed by my time. I've exceeded my own expectations in both races I've run so far this year. I hope the trend continues.

I was planning to get in a couple of miles before meeting up with Larry and Wayne but I got out a little later than planned. I still thought  I might be able to get 1.5 miles in, but I ran so slowly that I only got in 1 mile.

We met up and wandered the local streets on a variation of my Serpentine route another 5.75 miles. During these meanderings there was a lot of great conversation. I was so engrossed at one point that I didn't notice the bad patchwork on the road and stepped on the edge of some asphalt that was sticking up. Last Friday I realized I'd turned my ankle on a rock in the road when I suddenly started feeling pain in my ankle. This time I realized something had occurred when my body slammed onto the road.

I followed my normal strategy of immediately getting up and trying to run it off. Once again it worked out, although I wasn't sure at first. I've rolled my ankle so many times that now one of the first things I do is rate it on a 1-10 scale. Last Friday's was a high 3. At first I rated today's a high 4 (same ankle by the way), but after a block or so it felt much better so I downgraded it to a 3. Based on the small amount of pain I felt at the end of the run and now, I might even rate it a high 2. I'll feel a little pain for a few days but I don't think it will affect my running. I guess one of the advantages of so many sprains is that they don't do quite so much damage anymore. I guess the tendons are already stretched out.

I don't normally fall when I roll an ankle. The neat thing about falling is being able to show your bloody wounds to your wife and kids when you get home. It's kind of macho I think, even though this morning it wasn't all that glorious (or gore-ious). I tore some skin off my left palm and scraped my left knee. I think it would have been worse but I was wearing knit gloves and my long running pants. The pants are damaged a little, but it did not tear a hole in them. The gloves didn't seem damaged at all.

All in all I think I was pretty lucky. In recent years I've been reluctant to play basketball because I've been afraid of turning an ankle. After Friday and today, I'm thinking maybe basketball is the safer sport. I'll sure be glad when it gets a little lighter for my morning runs. It obviously wasn't runners that decided to expand daylight savings time.

I went 6.2 miles at an easy pace (avg. 9:04) this morning. I plan to run at noon again so I wanted to save a little energy. I've learned that there is no such thing as an easy run with the Novell boys anymore. Tom, Nathan, and Will are all running so well that their easy pace often isn't all that easy for me.

NOTE TO SELF: Don't run near the high school around 6:00am. With kids headed to driver's ed and early morning practices or clubs, and everybody apparently running late, it feels a little like trying to run through the middle of a demolition derby.

At noon I ran Lake View with Tom and Will. Actually, we did Will's "Power Park" loop variation which runs under some high voltage power lines and then on the trail through a small park. I kind of enjoyed it. It's a little less boring than just out and back. We went 6.1 miles. According to my watch in took us 50:33, making the average pace 8:17/mi.

I haven't done a two-a-day for a long time. I was a little tired near the end of the noon run, as the pace picked up a little, but all in all I feel pretty good.

Man, do I feel foolish. I headed out a little earlier than normal so I could get in 8 easy miles. I decided to run towards the canyon and then maybe down Palisades. About 2.5 miles into my run it suddenly dawns on me (even though it is still very dark) that it's Thursday! I was supposed to meet Larry and Wayne at 5:45am! And I'm 2.5 miles away!

Even though there was little hope of finding them, I immediately turned around and headed towards home. I figured if they perchance chose to run the same route, I might meet up with them. As I headed home a phrase from Rex in Toy Story (I think) popped into my mind, "Great! Now I have guilt!"

I didn't see them so when I reached the neighborhood, now 5 miles into my run, I decided to run part of the Lindon Loop backwards. If they went that way I'd probably find them. I thought maybe they had taken the Never Ending Hills route, too, but if they did I didn't want to find them. My legs were not wanting hills today.

I went 1.5 miles then gave up and returned home for a total of 8 miles (at about 9:14/mi). I thought I would at least see them walking around the block to cool down, so I could apologize, but no luck.

Oh well, I thought I might finally attain perfection today and make no mistakes, but it looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow. Dang! I can't believe I did that!

I decided to get in 20 miles this morning in preparation for the Utah Valley Marathon in three weeks. I decided to start at the lake and run the Provo River Trail up to the mouth of Provo Canyon and back. Larry and Wayne met me at the mouth of the canyon and ran the last 10 miles with me. Kevin was with us for a while but had to run shorter so he could get back for soccer games.

It was still quite dark when I started a little after 6:30am. I almost bumped into another runner just as I started. I was surprised to pass a number of runners in the dark near the beginning of my run. There was even one large group of young men runners, probably some school team. It was too dark to see if they were high school or college age.

It was fun listening to the frogs, ducks, and birds in the pre-dawn light as I ran along the river and a swamp. The weather wasn't too cold, at least until about mile 6 when I came up on University Avenue. I could suddenly see my breath, and my ears got cold. When I met up with Larry he said it was 24' when they left. It was 30' when I started 1.5 hours earlier. The sun didn't come up until two hours into the run, and it never did get warm enough for me to unzip my vest or take off my gloves. I had expected it to be a little warmer.

I felt good most of the run, but the end of the run felt like...well...like the end of a 20 mile run. It was really good to have Larry and Wayne along.

20.2 miles in 2:57:32 (8:47/mi)
Up: 9:11, 8:50, 9:04, 8:54, 9:46, 9:08, 8:46, 8:45, 9:05, 9:48
Back: 7:56, 8:11, 8:46, 8:08, 8:26, 8:53, 9:04, 9:09, 8:49, 7:02
0.2 @ 7:44/mi

Well, I've got people wishing me a happy birthday on my March 22 entry, so I guess I'd better get my official March 24 birthday entry done. Kim suggested maybe I was sleeping in and being pampered. Are you kidding? My birthday wish would never be to not have to run, quite the opposite.

I got up this morning and did a 6 mile solo run at a very easy pace (avg 9:52/mi). The main purpose of this run was to stretch out my legs. Actually, I feel much better than I expected to after Saturday's 20 miler, but I do still have a little stiffness/soreness in the tops of both calves, just below the knee. Fortunately, this is the "muscles are getting stronger" kind of pain as in "no pain, no gain", not the "dang! I over did it" injury kind of pain.

That 20 mile run was the beginning of a great weekend. We went to the Easter Event at Lavendar Farms in Mona later in the morning. My daughter Tiffany helped plan it as part of one of her classes at BYU and was the handler for Easter Bunny. My favorite part was the baby animals at the petting zoo. I got to hold a cute little baby goat that looked right up at me and said, "I think I've had enough of this now. I know you are much bigger than me, but may I please return to mother now? I'm a little overwhelmed by all of this, and a little bit hungry."

We then went on to a Thomas family gathering at my parents' home in Nephi. We had a great meal, played some games, and had a good time hanging out together. All of my siblings were there (1 brother, 3 sisters) and many of the grandchildren. Playing Easter Bingo for candy bars was fun, and racing boiled eggs down the driveway, but playing The Great Dalmuti (two tables of 7 each) was probably the most fun. I've sure been blessed to have good people in my life.

That was followed by finished up Easter dress shopping at the mall on the way home. Even that wasn't so bad. It's much less frustrating now that I've learned that my role is to "pack and pay", and that trying to hurry things up is not usually helpful. It's a great opportunity to practice the virtue of patience.

Sunday my two young single adult children who are not living at home came by and we had a great Sunday together with Easter candy, a great Easter meal, watching some old family videos, and playing a few games together (Such & Such, Curses, and Bang! with the Dodge City expansion deck). We had a great time!

I'm hoping to run again at noon today if any of the guys are going out, but I'll have to see how work is going. I normally take my birthday off, but I've got a lot of work to get done so I thought I'd better come in. I'll take a day some other time when I can enjoy it more.

I did make it out at noon and enjoyed a nice run with Tom and Bill in near perfect weather on the Lake View route. We averaged 8:19/mi for the 5.2 miles. I wish Bill could make it out with us more often, but he's normally doing a fitness class at that time. I don't know where Nathan and Will were today. Maybe Wednesday.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I rode my motorcycle to work today for the first time this year. I really quite enjoyed it. I certainly prefer the 70-75 mpg the motorcycle gets to the 10-12 mpg my Suburban gets. I'm not really a "biker dude". It's not a Harley or a bullet bike, it's just a little Yamaha XT 225 dual purpose (dirt/road) bike that's seen far more asphalt than dirt, mostly commuting the 10 miles to work and back.

I remembered I was supposed to run with Larry and Wayne this morning, but I guess I missed them again. I went out early to get in a couple of miles before meeting them. I just ran 1/2 mile loops around the block, one corner of which is where we meet. I wasn't sure if I had time to get in the 4th half mile loop, but I looked towards Larry's cul-de-sac and didn't see them coming so I went for it. There's only a 1/4 mile where I couldn't see the meeting corner, but I guess they must have met and left during those couple of minutes because I never saw them.

I ran up to 1600 North to see if I could see them, but no luck. As I looped past the elementary school I ran into Tim Hakala who was just starting a run. He's a beginner runner who used to live in our neighborhood, moved away for a while, then moved back but a couple of streets over in a different neighborhood. We've talked a couple of times recently about him joining us for runs. He only wanted to go a couple of miles so I backed off a little and ran a couple of miles with him. It was good catching up on what he's been up to.

After I left him I was going to get another couple of miles in, but for some reason I was feeling some chafing this morning so I decided to just head for home. It's supposed to be another nice day. Maybe I'll get in a few miles at noon if work permits.

I averaged 9:42/mi for 4.5 miles. I wore my new Garmin 205 for the first time this morning. I know there's a 305, and the 405 is coming out soon, but the 205 meets my needs just fine, and is a step up from my old trusty 201, which is so trusty anymore.

At noon, I got another 6.5 miles in (avg. 8:52/mi). My hip was hurting a little this morning so I wasn't sure how far I wanted to go. When I saw Darin and Will on the treadmills in the fitness center, I decided that if I ran on the treadmill I could stop immediately if anything didn't feel right. I was only thinking of going 3 or 4 miles anyway. Will was a little disappointed. He was going to go outside with me if I went. I knew I didn't want to run sub-8:00 today, so I stuck to the treadmill decision.

I talked to Will a bit until he finished. I also got to talk to Nathan and Tom for a bit as each of them came in from their runs at different times. The rest of the time was filled with watching "Flightplan", which I'd already seen. Still, I ended up running until it was over and went 6.5 miles instead of the planned 3 or 4. Of course, thankfully, my hip didn't bother me at all and I would have enjoyed running outside in the mild weather. Ah well.

I ran Lake View with Tom and Will at noon. We actually managed to keep the pace from getting too fast. I think we averaged around 8:18/mi.

I was trying to save some energy for the annual men vs. young men basketball game. A lot of good that did. They toasted us. We played them close the second half, but the damage was already done. Speaking of damage, I've decided to turn an ankle at least once a week. I took care of this week's ankle roll during the game. I think that's three weeks in a row now, once on a rock, once on the edge of some bad asphalt, and once getting bumped around playing basketball. I was wearing high tops and an ankle support so it wasn't too serious. I sat out the rest of the game, but I think I'll be able to run on it okay.

At first I questioned whether I should have played, but then a quote from the movie "Strictly Ballroom" came to my mind: "Vivir con miedo es como vivir a medias" or "To live with fear is to live a life half-lived". (If you haven't seen the move, I recommend you see it.)

I ran a half mile to test out my ankle then joined Larry and Wayne for a run around the Lindon Loop. The ankle held up fine, but I think I'll talk it easy tomorrow and then only run 10 or 12 on Saturday instead of the longer run I originally had planned.

I ran the 10K Lake View route with Darin today. We ran about as fast as I can and still stay conversational. We averaged 7:47/mi for the 6.2 miles. We ran into Tom in the fitness center afterwards. He had averaged about a minute per mile faster than that for his 8 mile tempo run, but I bet our conversation was better. Actually, it might be interesting to hear the conversations Tom has with himself during his long tempo runs.

Wow! My tag line is "Every race is an adventure!" I truly believe that. I thought about "Every RUN is an adventure!"...but if I'm honest, many runs are not all that adventurous. Today, however, was an exception.

Larry, Wayne, and I met at 8:00 for leisurely 12 mile run. I put in a warm up mile before that. They suggested the canal road towards Pleasant Grove and that sounded good to me. As we approached Pleasant Grove, Wayne suggested we head up Battle Creek canyon and take the Bonneville Shoreline Trail back. I had never run that way before, but they had and I trusted them, so I agreed.

I soon began to wonder what I'd gotten myself into. We proceeded to run up and up and up for the next 2.5 miles, from about 4900 feet to 5700 feet. The splits for two of those miles were 13:08 and 14:37. There was a lot of downhill after that, but with enough uphill mixed in to keep my legs pretty tired.

Despite the hard work, it was worth it. The views of the valley were beautiful. I told Karen afterwards that I wish there was some way I could share those experiences with her and the children. The combination of a beautiful morning, good people, exercise, the wonders of nature...well most of you reading this will know what I'm talking about. I feel so blessed. I wish everyone could experience it.

We were all pretty much beat when we came out of the foothills, but we were only at about 10 miles and had planned on 12. Larry took a more direct route home and Wayne and I decided to loop down 2000 N to 400 W and back home. Larry actually ended up doing an extra half mile loop around the block and probably ran farther than we did. Wayne and I pushed pretty hard the last 1.5 miles and averaged 7:47/mi. Wayne's running pretty well after his battle with pneumonia over the winter.

Today's run felt more like an 18 mile run than 12.5, but I'll only count the 12.5.

I got up early to run this morning but I had the impression that I should just run at noon. The impression was inspired by the new snowfall, icy roads, and gusty wind.

It turned out to be a good impression. Tom was on the treadmill as I entered the fitness center and asked if I was headed out. He seem relieved when I said I was. He finished four miles on the treadmill then did another four with me. Because of the wind I decided to wear my jacket, but I ended up taking it off after I got warmed up. There was a cold wind from the southwest, but it was tolerable running into it even without the jacket.

I wanted to get a few more miles in so after dropping Tom off I looped around the streets in East Bay. I ended up running another 4.25 miles. I guess the 0.25 miles is significant because I just checked Tom's blog and he only ran 8.0 miles today. Since today is Monday, my 8.25 miles will put me ahead of him for this week on the mileage board. Never mind that he is tapering, and that he is still 50 miles ahead of me for March.

Seriously, I feel pretty good about my mileage. I've averaged about 48.5 miles per week for the past six weeks, with three of the last four weeks being 50+, while managing to not aggravate any of the injuries I nursed during the winter.

Splits for today:
With Tom: 7:59, 8:15, 7:30, 7:44
Alone: 7:50, 8:09, 8:25, 8:23, 8:12/mi for 0.25

Overall: 8.25 miles in 1:06:20 (8:03/mi)

I think someone must be playing an April Fool's joke. It felt more like January 1st than April 1st this morning. When it gets this cold Larry refers to it as being "stupid cold", which I think refers to the intelligence level of people who go out and run when it's this cold. Both of his thermometers said it was 18 degrees. Seasoned runner that he is, he came out anyway, although if I hadn't of showed up I think he may have went back in.

We had a nice easy, if frigid, run wandering through the neighborhood streets and talking. We only went 5.2 miles at around a 10:00 pace, but I still think we earned at least a couple of commando points.

Speaking of April Fool's jokes, as we came home we saw our neighbor moving his son's car around the corner of the block. He said it was an April Fool's prank on his son to make him think his car was stolen. I believe that what goes around comes around, so I'm kind of boring in the prank department. I hope my wife and children don't mind.

Larry thought he might make it out this morning, but no luck. I decided to try out my new Saucony Tangents this morning in preparation for using them in the Provo City 5K on Saturday. I couldn't decide where I wanted to run, so I just ran 1/2 mile laps around my neighborhood. I ended up running 6 miles, avg. pace 9:00/mi. I threw in non-easy mile and ran mile 4 in 7:05. These Tangents aren't quite as comfortable as the Tangents they are replacing...my lucky shoes that I've worn in nearly every race I've run in the past 3 years...but I think they'll do.

I ended up running alone at noon as well. I started the Lake View route then remembered that I wanted to explore the 5K race route a little bit so I headed under the freeway at 920 South and over and up to the Provo Tabernacle. I ended up averaging 8:37/mi for 6.5 miles.

The 5K starts at the Provo Tabernacle, heads south to the Provo Towne Centre mall, then returns to the tabernacle. The slight downgrade heading south will be great, but the upgrade the second half of the race will be a little challenging. I'm not sure what to expect from myself. I'd like to break 20 minutes (6:27/mi). I managed that pace at the Spectrum 10K a couple of weeks ago, but it had a lot of downhill and was at a lower elevation. I ran a 1/4 mile fartlek down part of 200 West today to test my speed and ran it in 1:31 (6:03/mi). That was after running 10+ miles today. This isn't a key race for me. I'll take it easy on Friday and then just go for it on Saturday and see what happens. Every race is an adventure!

I almost forgot to blog that I ran 3.5 easy miles this morning, with a few striders tossed in.

I didn't forget to blog yesterday. I didn't get a run in. It was a busy work day. In addition, I had to do something that was about as much fun as getting a root canal...I got a root canal.

At least my legs should be rested for the race tomorrow. 

I met Larry and Jolene at their house then we picked up Wayne and headed to the Provo City Half Marathon and 5K. Larry and Wayne ran the half. Jolene and I ran the 5K. I kept wishing I could run the half, but with a marathon planned for next week I think I chose wisely to just race the 5K. After the 5K I recovered a bit then ran the 1/2 marathon course backwards until I found Larry and Wayne and got in another 7.8 miles.

There was a delay in getting the timing chips out to everyone so the races started about 15 minutes or so late. There was a cold wind so I was reluctant to take my jacket off. I finally did shortly before the half marathon started. I then warmed up for a mile or so trying to get the blood flowing.

I lined up right at the starting line near the left side. Since there was a left hand turn one block into the race I had good inside position. As I started and ran the first block I couldn't see anyone in front of me or in my peripheral vision until the turn. This was a little unnerving. Shortly after the turn a half a dozen younger runners pulled a head of me. One young woman pulled ahead early and went on to win the race and beat me by about two minutes I think. I hung within striking distance of the rest of the pack through the remainder of the race.

The first mile was a downgrade with the wind to our backs. I chose not to look at my watch and just run. I ran the first mile in 6:05. I knew the next two miles would be slower. The second mile looped around the parking lot at the mall then headed back north, with the headwind and the upgrade. It also included climbing the overpass on University Ave over the railroad tracks. I ran the second mile in 6:50. We then continued north, up and into the wind. I thought I was maintaining my pace but ran mile 3 in 7:05. During this mile an old man passed me (old like me). I passed him back, but then he passed me again. I decided to save my next attempt for near the finish, but as we approached 100 East and the final loop around the block he deliberately left the course and stopped running. He didn't seem to be in distress. I can only guess he was a bandit. On the last block north, just before the left hand turn and sprint to the finish, I passed the three young men that had been in front of me for a while. After the turn, one of them (a tall one with long legs) sprinted past me again.

I finished in 20:15. I was hoping for sub-20:00, but the upgrade and the headwind the second half of the course got the best of me. I was still very pleased. I won my age division, and the official results had me 4th overall. The age categories of those ahead of me were F 25-29, M Under 19, and M 20-24, and then there was me M 45-49. There was a M 50-54 not far behind me. They didn't have an official masters category, but it felt good to be the fastest old guy. I don't think I've ever done that before.

As much as I enjoyed the 5K, I think I enjoyed running back to find Larry and Wayne more. I ran a couple of miles before I saw the leader, a Japanese (I think) runner. He was running well. Sasha turned the corner behind him just after he was out of sight. I told Sasha the leader was only about a block ahead of him. He never caught him, but I could tell Sasha was giving it all he had. It seemed like the gap between Sasha and the 3rd place runner was about a mile. I then started seeing more and more runners. It was kind of fun to greet and cheer them on. It was great to see how friendly everyone was. I saw MichelleL from the blog among the front runners. I was looking for Lybi, who I'd seen at Fazzoli's the night before, but I must have missed her.

I came across Wayne first. He was running well. I ran with him for a while then headed back to look for Larry. I found him a little farther back and ran the rest of the way back in with him. I really enjoyed it. I thought he was running well (he was as talkative as ever), but he didn't like how slow he was running (8:57 avg overall) and voiced a commitment to start running more and running faster.

Much to his surprise, Wayne won the silver medal for his age division in the half. Larry's wife Jolene and I each won our age divisions in the 5K and received gold medals. Larry joked about being the only one in the car who didn't win a medal, but after nearly 20 marathons and numerous other races, he well understands that it's not all about the medals.

It was a great morning! As I told Larry and Jolene as they dropped me off, the best part about running is sharing the experience with great running buddies. This race day was yet another awesome adventure!

I ran 5.5 very easy miles this morning to shake my legs out after Saturday's race and run. With the marathon this weekend, I plan to take it very easy this week. I figure the time for plowing and planting is past. The only hay I'm going to have for this race is what's already in the barn.

I only have one regret from Saturday morning's race and subsequent run with Larry for part of the half marathon, that I missed most of the first session of the LDS General Conference, including the sustaining of President Monson as the new prophet and president of the Church. I thoroughly enjoyed the remaining sessions of conference. It's such a blessing to have living prophets and apostles from whom we can receive light and truth and guidance through the adventurous and sometime treacherous journey of mortality. They are such a help to me in my efforts to run the race of life well that I may win the prize of peace and happiness, now and forever.

I ran 4.7 easy miles with Larry and Wayne this morning. It was odd seeing seeing a 6 foot tall snowman a week into April. At least the weather forecast looks pretty good for the UVM this Saturday. I got an email yesterday with instructions about packet pickup and bus schedules. I hope I'm ready for this.

Just some easy miles this morning as I taper for Saturday. No aches or pains to speak of. Some time between now and Saturday morning I should probably set some goals for this marathon. So far my goals are 1) support the race, 2) finish, and 3) don't overdo it to the point of risking injury or a delayed recovery, but I'd also like to do well if it's in me.

I'll definitely run by feel. As I'm not in peak marathon shape yet, I don't want to start out too fast. I'd like to run a negative split and not be completely spent the last few miles. I've heard that generally leads to a faster recovery. My goals do not include a new PR or winning or any such thing.

I'm thinking of starting out at maybe a 7:30 pace on the initial downhill. That should be doable. As I did in St. George last year, I plan to take it very easy on the uphills. If there is something left in the tank at 20+, maybe I'll push a little. Most of the race I just plan to keep moving forward at a comfortable marathon pace effort.

All plans are subject to change at any time.

An easy 3.25 miles this morning just running around the block. I wore my race shoes just to reassure myself that they feel comfortable. They are new and the only race I've worn them for was the 5K last week. They felt good. They are the same model (Saucony Tangent) that I've worn in marathons for the last four years so I think they'll be fine.

Well, I think I may be done running until the marathon on Saturday morning. I've only run 17.5 easy miles over the past four days (5.5, 4.7, 4.1, 3.25). My legs are feeling pretty good. With the 26.2 on Saturday I should be at 43+ for the week. That seems about right for me. I guess now I need to shift my focus to loading a few carbs over the next couple of days.

I just wish I could get a few pressing tasks at work done so I could relax a little more. I've been working extra hours whenever it doesn't conflict with family and other responsibilities. I should be able to get in quite a few extra hours next week, so I guess I can relax a bit the next couple of days before the marathon.

Next week my wife is taking the younger kids (and a friend) on a road trip to visit her sister in Arizona during spring break, and then bring her sister back up to attend her son's graduation from BYU. I think Karen would like me to be there to do the driving, but otherwise I'd kind of be in the way and a bit of a wet blanket on this "all girl" road trip party. Our old 1992 Suburban isn't up for these road trips anymore so we're renting a mini-van for them. That should make it nicer. I also got Karen a GPS navigation system (she's been wanting one for a while) as an early birthday present. That should give her some extra confidence while driving.

What I'd really like is for things to fall together at work so that I can take some time off next week and clean out the basement. Every time I try to do it my family won't let me get rid of old stuff, stuff they haven't seen or used or even thought about for many years. I keep telling Karen that I'm going to send them all on a trip so I can take care of it. If it weren't for pressing issues at work, this could be my chance.

Today's Utah Valley Marathon was a very enjoyable run. I just took it easy and averaged about an 8:00 minute pace the whole way and finished in 3:30 feeling great. I finished 13th overall and 2nd in the Male 45-49 division.

That's how I should have run the race to get the time I did, and the experience I could have had. Now here's what I really did.

I caught the early bus at 4:10am with about a dozen other brave (foolish) runners. Actually, the bus driver had been instructed to not leave until he had at least 30 runners so he delayed until he couldn't wait any longer (he had to make two trips). I didn't have any buddies running this race, so I didn't really know anyone else on the bus, except Andy who I only knew from the blog. Miss Utah (Jill Stevens) was on the bus and it was fun hearing about some of her experiences in the Army National Guard and as Miss Utah. This was her 13th marathon, her 4th since becoming Miss Utah. She was hoping to finish by 9:30am (a 3:30 marathon) so she could be showered and on the road by 11:00 because she had a speaking engagement this morning. In her motivational talks she includes talking about running marathons, including being prepared and carrying what she needs in her RaceReady running shorts with lots of pockets (I found that interesting because I also love my RaceReady running shorts). She said they originally wanted her at 9:00am but she told them she had a marathon to run and couldn't come until later. She was planning a 20 miler for today in preparation for the Lincoln, Nebraska marathon in two weeks, but decided to run UVM instead. I'm only saying all this about Miss Utah because you need to understand that she's one tough chick (meant respectfully) and a true marathoner. I really didn't want her to beat me, and held her off for about 22 miles, but she beat me anyway (she finished in 3:24, 3rd behind Josse and McKenzie). [Tom: my chicked count was 3]

I also talked on the bus with a guy who has run 33 marathons, and one who was running UVM as his first marathon because after he ran a half marathon his wife said he was too chicken to run a full marathon. He was just hoping to finish. And there were others. The bus ride was very enjoyable.

It was cold and windy at the start area, but it was well lit, there were bonfires, and four portaportties (three of which were latched with nobody in them - we finally got them open). We huddled around the fires and talked some more. I met a group of ultra marathoner runners (mostly husbands and wives) who had run a number of 50 and 100 mile runs. It was interesting getting a glimpse into the minds of ultra marathoners. They are not your standard marathoner.

The other bus eventually arrived and they started the race pretty much on time. I was planning to just run in short sleeves but the chilly wind, and Andy putting on long sleeves, convinced me to keep my long sleeve shirt on over my short sleeve. Andy was putting Vaseline on his legs to help protect against the cold and offered me some, so I tried that for the first time. It seemed to work well.

When the starting gun (horn) fired I started my watch and started running into the darkness. One guy carried a small flashlight that helped the rest of us, but it was light enough anyway to see the white lines on the trail pretty well.

When I looked down to confirm that my watch had started I tried to push the on/off button to get the light to come on. I had on knit gloves, but my hands were still pretty cold, and I think I held the button down too long, turning off my watch. I tried a second time to turn on the light, and must have turned it back on. When I finally got the light on my watch was stopped and had only recorded about 60 feet. I decided to reset the time and start over. This was a about 3/4 mile into the race. I just manually pushed the reset button at the first mile marker and I think the splits were pretty accurate after that, but I didn't get an overall time on my watch. My official finish time was 3:30:?? (can't remember the seconds).

Like I said earlier, I wish all my splits were right around the 8:02/mi I averaged for the race, but you'll see they were not:

Mile 1 - 6:40? (based on average pace for the 1/4 mile my watch recorded) - Because of the frustration of trying to figure out my watch, I wasn't really aware of how fast I was running.

Mile 2-4 - 6:52, 6:51, 6:56 - I was now aware that I was running faster than the 7:30/mi I had planned, but my ego convinced me that it was downhill with a tailwind and I was feeling comfortable and that it was okay. (What was I thinking?!!)

Mile 5-7 - 7:09, 7:36, 7:27 - These miles included the climb up Orem Center street and the run to University Mall (I think).

Mile 8 - 6:59 - I think this included the downhill from the University Mall to the tunnel under University Ave.

Mile 9-10 - 7:57, 8:11 - This included the climb up Canyon Road until the turn around.

Mile 11-12 - 7:29, 7:04 - This included the downhill back down.

Mile 13 - 7:43 - I believe this is where McKenzie passed me (just after the tunnel), and when I got the first signals from my body that I had probably gone out too fast (7:20/mi avg at 13.1, which included the two big climbs). McKenzie kept asking people if she was the first girl, and finally one of the volunteers confirmed that she was. She was moving along quickly and with apparent ease.

Mile 14-17 - 8:01, 8:03, 8:04, 7:55 - Long lonely miles on the trail along the river heading towards the lake. I was beginning to struggle, especially on the short uphills out of the tunnels. I ran briefly with Josse as she passed me during the last of these miles not long before we reached the end of the trail, which is probably why this mile was a little faster. When I told her she had her work cut out to catch McKenzie she calmly said that there was a lot of time left and seemed confident that she would catch her. She was apparently right. When I talked to Josse after the race, she said she passed McKenzie shortly before the finish line. She only beat her by 11 seconds for 1st place and the $1,000, so it must have been close. I haven't read their race reports yet, but I look forward to it.

Mile 18 - 8:31 - The wheels are definitely coming off, which wasn't good timing because the dirt road around the airport was tough going. I did my best to avoid dips and rocks, but I wasn't very light on my feet at this point and when I stepped on the rocks I could feel them through my shoes. With 8 miles still to go, I knew this was going to be a humbling and character building race.

Mile 19 - 8:13 - Daren Deadmond (sp?) caught me at this point and we ran together for a while. It turns out we both started at WordPerfect in 1992. He also said he had found my blog while searching for the Utah Valley Marathon, and mentioned that based on my blog I should be faster than him. Not today. He left me after a while and went on to beat me by 7 minutes and win our age division.

Mile 20-21 - 8:46, 8:59 - The rough dirt road around the airport seemed to go on forever. I actually managed to pass one runner somewhere along here, and got passed by another, but running definitely wasn't very much fun anymore.

Mile 22-26 - 9:21, 9:23, 9:13, 9:23, 9:34 - Those of you who have crashed and burned in a marathon know how I felt during these miles. I was trying every trick I know and dredging up every bit of mental fortitude I had just to keep my legs moving. It didn't help that early in these miles Miss Utah passed me with a polite "Good job" and just kept on going effortlessly. With a couple of miles to go Karen called me (I carried my phone) from the finish line saying the girls were cold and asked how long I was going to be so she could take them to the car to get warm. The last mile I was exhaling loudly every third step and the rhythm (and my marching band experience?) somehow got me through it.

Last 0.2 - 1:29 (7:36/mi) - As I approached the finish line alone I heard the cheers from the crowd. I knew all eyes were on me, including Karen and the girls. Also, Sasha was running the other way and I apologized as I passed for embarrassing the blog. I was wearing a blog shirt so that was also a little incentive to not finish like a staggering drunk. Knowing that I could stop soon, I dug up enough energy to finish pretty strongly.

I'm actually okay with a 3:30 time and finishing 2nd in my division, 13th overall. What I'm not pleased with was my foolishness in going out like I was running a half marathon. I did that at St. George last fall with success because I had the mileage in to back it up. That was not the case today. I did not have the training in to support what I attempted, and I paid the price. I enjoyed the first half, in around 1:36, but running the second half was no fun at all, with only 1:54 to show for all my suffering.

I feel like I've run a marathon, but the good news is I don't think I injured anything. My left ankle started aching a little in the later miles, but I rolled it not too long ago. I'll keep an eye on it, but I think it will be fine.

While my race strategy stunk, I have no regrets for having run this marathon. Hyrum did a great job organizing it, and the course is awesome! Everyone I talked to loved the course. Some didn't enjoy the rough dirt road around the airport, including me, but one ultra marathoner trail runner I talked to loved it and passed 7 or 8 people on that stretch. I'd leave it in, people don't like uphills but every good course needs some uphills. I think the dirt road along the lake and around the airport adds to the unique character of the course.

Rest day to recover from the marathon. Actually, I felt good enough that I may have tried running a few miles today but I didn't have time. I spent the morning getting Karen and the girls off on their road trip to visit her sister in Arizona, and then I went into work and didn't get home until after 11:00pm.

I stayed home from the trip because I've got a lot of work that needs to get done ASAP. Lest some think I'm a workaholic, I think this is the first time something like this has happened in nearly 25 years of marriage, and if Karen had said so I would have gone. To be honest, I think Karen and the girls were kind of excited about me not being there. I'm choosing not to be offended.

Since I'm planning to work late again, I didn't feel too bad about sneaking out a little before noon for a short easy run. Other than a little soreness/tightness in my right thigh, and some minor soreness in my left Achilles, I really feel pretty good.

I ran the extended Lake View route that I think Will calls the Power Park route. There was a strong headwind going out. I averaged 8:32/mi for the 6.2 miles. My legs were still tired from the marathon, but they felt pretty good.

It was nice to run with Larry and Wayne again this morning. We ran the six mile Lindon Loop. We averaged around 8:50/mi, which is faster than we have been going during the winter, but still in my easy pace range, only it didn't feel so easy this morning with my legs still recovering from Saturday's marathon.

I couldn't believe the temperature was in the mid-20's again. I thought we were past that. I hope spring comes for good soon and that this weather whiplash pattern doesn't continue all the way into summer.

My legs have been feeling pretty tired this weak so I opted to take advantage of spring break week and play basketball this morning instead of running. My adult son Andrew was there, and some of my old basketball buddies. It was fun, except when I accidentally smacked a 14 year old in the face and poked him in the eye. I was a little nervous when he said he couldn't see, but he meant he couldn't see clearly. I felt terrible, but he fully recovered and played well. We played a lot though, with no subs, so I'm not sure how much it helped my tired legs.

It was almost like old times this morning, with Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I running up Provo Canyon. Larry was the pace setter this morning, which isn't normally the case. Wayne, Kevin, and I were all breathing pretty heavily right from the start. Larry had a tight hamstring a couple of miles into the run. He stopped a few times to stretch and it eventually started feeling better. On the way back Wayne ran with him and Kevin and I drug up the rear. We were dragging and both commented on the spring in Larry's step.

I sure hope my legs have a little more zip next week. They have been tired ever since the marathon last Saturday. I took Thursday and Friday off work and spent many hours cleaning out my much neglected garage. Friday evening after I cleaned everything up I decided to take the dog for a walk around the block. I couldn't believe how tired I felt, especially my legs.

It will nice having Karen and the girls back. They should be home from Arizona any minute now. 

I ran 5 easy miles with Larry and Wayne this morning. We included the neighborhood 5K course as the annual neighborhood 5K is coming up on May 10. I hope I'm healthy by then. I've been wrestling with some pain/tightness behind my left knee, from my upper calf to lower thigh. It started last Wednesday. I think it's related to the punishment I inflicted on myself during the marathon. I've still been able to run, but I've backed off on mileage and pace a little. It was feeling a little better this morning. I think if I keep taking it easy the rest of this week I'll be fine.
 

Ran 6.2 miles on Lake View route with Tom. It was great running and talking with Tom again. There was a nasty headwind going out, but it was sunny and mild and I enjoyed the run and the company. My Garmin showed an average pace of 7:52/mi, starting out at 8:17/mi and finishing up at 7:38/mi.

Still feeling some pain behind the left knee, but it seems to be getting a little better. 

Well, I guess I spoke too soon about the backside of my knee feeling better. After the run with Tom yesterday I iced the sore area for a while and it felt okay, but then sitting at my desk all afternoon my leg really stiffened up. I applied heat a couple of times in the evening which seemed to help some, but it was still pretty sore this morning so I skipped the planned run. I've been wearing my neoprene knee support today to see if that will help. Even with it, I've been limping around. I guess God decided I needed yet another opportunity to learn about patience and moderation. I'll eventually learn patience...someday...if I can wait that long.

I went 3.5 easy miles today. I warmed up on the treadmill, ran a ways with Tom and Nathan, then ran back in with Bill.

My leg felt okay this morning so I went out at 5:45am to see if maybe Larry was running. He wasn't. That was good. I was able to go as slow and as short as my leg wanted to. It didn't hurt too bad, but just enough that I decided to turn back after about a half mile. It's feeling good enough that I didn't want to take any risk of a setback yet.

My tentative plan is to take it easy the rest of this week. If it still hurts a little come Monday I've pretty much resolved myself to switch to the "run through it" or "ignore the pain and hope it goes away" approach. Of course I won't be stupid about it, but maybe my body just needs to be reminded of who's the boss.

With the annual neighborhood 5K being this Saturday, Larry and I just ran the course a couple of times this morning. It felt good to be out running again. The soreness behind my left knee feels quite a bit better. We'll see how it responds to running on it again.

I ended up running solo this morning. It was a beautiful morning for a run.

After a 2.5 mile warm up I found myself at the start of the neighborhood 5K course I'll be running Saturday. I decided to run the course, not all out, but pushing pretty hard. I wanted to see where my fitness was after the short layoff, see how my leg held up to the quicker pace, remember what it feels like to run tired, and otherwise mentally prepare for the race.

The course is a winding loop that can be summarized (not exactly accurate but close enough) as one mile downhill, one mile flat, one mile uphill, with a final lap around the track at Northridge Park.

Since all of the significant downhill is in the first mile, much of it right at the start, you pretty much have to start out fast so as to not waste the good downhill. This morning I was breathing pretty hard this first mile, though I felt like I was barely under an 8:00 pace. I didn't look at my watch until the end of the first mile and was shocked (and relieved) when I saw the first mile split was 6:30. I knew I couldn't hold that pace for the level and uphill miles. I ended up finishing in 21:16. My Garmin only measured the course at around 3.0, averaging around a 7:00/mi pace.

While there might be a few young runners that will challenge me Saturday (in 16 years I've never won this race), the only one with a recent 5K time is Taylor who ran this same course last Saturday in 20:13 in the stake YM/YW 5K race, a little over a minute faster than what I ran today. I need to drop 20 seconds per mile, but I think that is within the realm of possibility. In recent years I've normally run that first mile in around 6:00 instead of 6:30, and holding a quicker pace is always easier with a little competition. I'll also be in my lighter racing shoes instead of the heavier trainers I was wearing this morning. (I think I've almost convinced myself.)

Overall I'm very encouraged by this morning's run. My leg didn't bother me, even at the quicker pace, and it looks like maybe I'll at least be able to challenge some of the young bucks a little come Saturday. More importantly, I feel like I'm finally ready to get back into my normal training to get ready for the Wasatch Back Relay and beyond.

I ran with Larry and Wayne this morning. It was great to have Wayne after him missing a few runs. We wandered around for four miles, then followed the 5K course at about an 8:30/mi pace, then ran home for a total of about 7.4 miles.

I guess my hat has become part of my running persona. When I went out to meet Larry and Wayne they asked if it was really me because I didn't have my hat on and I always wear my hat. When I realized I didn't have it on (it's a very comfortable hat so I often forget I'm wearing it) I asked them to wait while I went back in for it.

I love my hat. It keeps the heat in when it's cold; keeps me cool, shades my eyes, and protects my bald head when it's hot; helps keep my glasses clear when it's raining; makes me more visible (it's white); I use the bill to shield headlights from my eyes in the dark; and most important of all, I think I look pretty good in it (and maybe it makes me look a little taller).

Sorry Novell guys, but I won't be running at noon again today. I plan to return to running most Mondays and Wednesdays at noon. I just wanted to focus on the neighborhood run this week, and to support Larry as he also prepares for it.

My primary goal this morning was to see if I could help pace Larry to a sub-24:00 time on the neighborhood 5K course. Larry has been the caretaker of the neighbor 5K run for most if not all its 20 year history, and it continues to be a great event every year. Larry has run every year except maybe one or two I think, and he has never run it slower than 24:00, but he was concerned about this year.

He asked me to pace him to a 7:00 first mile (downhill) and then he wanted to average 8:30/mi for the last two. He hit the first mile marker at 7:00 and held sub-8:30 for next two and finished in 23:43. I knew he could do it, and it was only a training run. He said it was really hard and he doesn't look forward to going through it again on Saturday, but I think he'll run even faster.

Wayne also ran with us today. After the first mile he was still running with us but we encouraged him to go on ahead and he finished over a minute ahead of us. 

Well, I was right about believing I had a chance of going faster than Taylor's last week time of 20:13, but I was wrong about Taylor not having a 19:30 (his goal for today) in him. I finished 2nd in 19:54, a course PR for me, but Taylor finished in 19:33.

I couldn't have wished for the race to turn out any better. I wanted to give Taylor a run for his money, and would have beaten him if I could, but I wanted him to have a good race, too. A boost in self-confidence and self-esteem can help many a young man like Taylor.

At the start there was the normal assortment of participants: kids of all ages, teenagers, young parents with strollers, middle agers, empty nesters, and grandparents...bikers, scooter-ers, walkers, joggers, novice runners and the more serious runners.

They started the bikers and scooter-ers first then started the walkers/runners. There is a long downhill at the start. Taylor and I dodged the little kids sprinting ahead of us, then slowly moved to the front of the other teenage runners whose initial sprints lasted a little longer than the smaller kids. By a mile in it was pretty clear it was going to be between Taylor and me.

At the end of the first long hill I glanced at my watch and our pace was 5:33. When I looked again at my watch as we approached the mile 1 marked it was blank. I have no idea what happened, but it was off. I turned it back on and ignored it for the rest of the race.

Taylor and I ran more or less together until about 2.3 miles in. For some reason he likes to run on the sidewalks, while I stayed on the street (which is the official course). The sidewalks gave him a shorter distance on the turns, but he ran the tangents so poorly as he switched from sidewalk to sidewalk that it all balanced out. I explained running tangents to him...after the race of course. :)

We caught the young bikers by mile 1, and a young girl in a pink jacket on a pink bike (Jaycee) decided to ride near us because we knew where to go. This was working out fine until about 2.3 miles into the race. There is a left turn onto 1600 North. She was a little ahead of us as we made the turn and started up the hill. Taylor passed her on the left and I passed her on the right. As we started to pass her Taylor put in a burst of speed. I don't know if he was trying to leave me behind or just trying to get around Jaycee. Anyway, as he passed her he apparently bumped her handle bars because she crashed to the road. We both stopped to back to her aid. As we did we noticed that Taylor's dad, who had been stopping at various points in his car to watch the race, was also on his way to help her. Since it looked like she was okay, I told Taylor we should continue the race, which we did. I don't think we lost more than 5 seconds or so. I was impressed with how naturally and quickly Taylor was willing to give up his quest for glory to stop and help Jaycee.

This happened at the beginning of the two long uphill sections that don't end until the last loop around the park to the finish line. Taylor slowly pulled ahead of me on the uphills and held on to beat me by 21 seconds, a well earned victory. I was pleased to overhear Taylor tell people after the race that I pushed him the whole way, and that he was hurting. Mission accomplished. I just wanted to make him work for it and earn it. I didn't mind him winning. I got my sub-20:00 course PR, and Taylor had to (I mean got to) take the traveling trophy home...an old running shoe mounted on a stand and painted gold.

Since Larry doesn't blog, I'll mention that he met his goal to break 24:00, and finished around 23:30, 10 seconds faster than last year. He was really nervous this year. Before the race he showed me that his resting heart rate, normally around 49 I think, was in the 90's. He was worried, but I wasn't. I knew he could do it.

Karen, and my two daughters Emily and Amy, walked the course together with some others. As I was watching runners come in imagine my delight when I saw my 12 year old daughter Emily running strongly for the finish. She actually had pretty good form, considering she never runs. She had left Karen and Amy a while back and decided to run the rest of the way. I've had no success trying to get any of my family members to run in the past, so this was a very pleasant surprise.

What an awesome event! The combination of exercise, beautiful weather, camaraderie, and food is hard to beat. I thoroughly enjoyed cheering in the other finishers, the very young to the not quite so young, the very small to the very large, the faster to the slower. I especially enjoyed seeing the very small kids sprinting for the finish. Everyone was a winner.

I dressed based on the thermometer this morning. When I went out I was surprised to realize it was raining pretty hard. I went back in and swapped my outer long sleeve shirt for a jacket. I jogged up to the corner to see if perchance Larry or Wayne was running today. I didn't see them. During this time I realized that there was a pretty strong wind to go along with the rain so I went back home. I was tempted to just stay there, but instead I put on my long pants, put the long sleeve shirt back on, with the jacket, and headed out for a solo run.I only went 5.1 miles at a very easy pace, and my knee was a little stiff, but I enjoyed the loop up through Lindon.

If the weather isn't too bad, and my knee agrees, I plan to run again at noon. I'd really like to get my weekly mileage back up to 50 and headed towards 60, but I'll have to play it by ear and take what my body gives me.

Karen and I visited our Chinese friends Kenny and Mindy on Saturday night. While Karen and Mindy worked on their food plans for girls camp this summer, Kenny and I, and their pre-teen son Nathan, just hung out and talked. I asked Kenny what they knew about "gua sha" (the scraping techinique Josse and others on the blog use). He said, "gua sha?" and looked confused, but then he said, "Oh, gua sha!" I guess I don't pronounce Chinese very well.

It turns out they use it regularly. I was a little embarrassed when I mentioned I had bought gua sha tools. Their tool literally cost them 1 penny. It actually is a penny, stored in a bottle of Vic's Vapor Rub.Kenny also pulled out his cupping set and taught me a little about cupping. I found it very interesting and am considering purchasing a cupping set.

Their son Nathan knew all about gua sha and cupping and demonstrated both for me on himself, going so far as to raise a sha rash on his leg with the penny. Kenny said that whenever he feels a cold or other illness coming on he has Mindy do his whole back. He said she did it once while they were at a hotel. Since it was his back, and it didn't hurt at all, Kenny forgot about it and went to the pool. When other people saw his back they thought he had been whipped or beaten.

I find this all very interesting. I've been experimenting with doing a little gua sha scraping on myself. I'm not sure I've been aggressive enough yet to do much good, but I'm pretty sure I haven't done any harm. Kenny assured me that it is very safe, that I shouldn't worry about doing any damage, and I should be quite aggressive. He says Mindy is very aggressive on him and it has never hurt him. I plan to be more aggressive, but by degrees.

Kenny explained that the western approach is to cover up, wrap, and bandage injuries and treat illness by putting foreign chemicals (drugs) into the body. The eastern approach is more focused on getting the bad stuff out of the body and letting the body heal itself. The latter seems to make more sense to me. The wisdom of man creates drugs and medical treatments, many of which are nearly miraculous in my eyes, but they are imperfect, and none approaches the incredible wonder of our bodies themselves, created by the infinitely greater wisdom of God.

I plan to consider the advantages of both east and west by exploring the eastern a little deeper. It's already very interesting.

At noon I went 6.25 miles on the extended Lake View route with Nathan. There was a little pain in the back of the knee, but it didn't affect my running much and we averaged 7:35/mi.
 

Larry and I were talking last week that we needed to get back on a regular route schedule. We've just been picking our routes on the fly through the winter. So this morning Larry, Wayne, and I ran our traditional Tuesday morning route which includes with the big climb up 2000 N then loops through Lindon. The back of the knee was a little stiff again this morning after the two-a-day yesterday. I wasn't sure how it would handle the big uphill, but it wasn't too bad. I like the fact that when it hurts it usually hurts before the run and feels better by the end.

As I think I mentioned yesterday, Larry, Wayne, and I are trying to get back on a more regular route schedule so today, being Wednesday, was the "big hill", a.k.a. the water tank hills. This is the series of five hills that starts at 800 E just north of the cemetery and climbs about 700 feet in 1.5 miles past the water tanks above Orem. We run a little over a mile to get there so the entire run is about 5.2 miles. No speed records today, but it was good visiting our old friend (this route). The weather was good and as usual the view of the valley was beautiful.

At noon I ran the Lake View 10K route with Tom. We were about 4 miles into it and running at about a 7:45/mi pace when Darin caught up to us. He said he had been chasing us for a while. He slowed down to run with us, but our pace for the last two miles still sped up to 7:26 and 7:27, with the last 0.2 at around 7:00/mi. Tom kept going for another mile at the end. My average pace for the 6.2 miles was 7:46.

I went one mile early then met Larry and Wayne and we went another 6.5 looping through Lindon. It was another beautiful morning for a run. My legs were a little tired from the increased (back to normal) mileage this weak, but still felt pretty good.

I ran from the mouth of Provo Canyon up to Vivian Park and back with Larry, Wayne, Kerry, and Nathan. It was pretty windy and a little chilly for my short sleeves when we started at 6:45am, but I never really got too cold and felt very comfortable most of the run.

Kerry, Nathan, and I pulled a little ahead of Larry and Wayne on the way up. But Larry and Wayne were not far behind and when we made a bathroom stop at Vivian they got a head start on the return trip. We didn't catch them until Bridal Veil. We pulled a little ahead again and then Nathan left Kerry and me and pulled ahead quite a bit farther.

I averaged 8:20/mi for the 12.25 miles, about 8:45/mi going up and 7:55/mi going down. A couple of the downhill miles were in 7:34 and 7:35. I feel good about the run, especially considering that I never really made any conscious decision to push hard at any point during the run. Mentally I was treating it as an easy run, although the pace was a little quicker than I anticipated and to call the effort easy would be stretching the truth.

All in all I would consider my "ignore the back of the knee pain" week pretty successful. I managed to put in a 48 mile week without aggravating the injury. It still gets a little stiff and sore, especially when I'm stuck sitting at my desk for a long time, but it hasn't gotten worse and actually feels quite a bit better.

I ran 6.1 easy solo miles in the early morning, and ran 5.4 miles (Eagle View) with Tom and Nathan in the late morning at work. We went early (10:30am) to beat the heat.

I had a more complete blog entry mostly done but lost it when I accidentally clicked the back button on my mouse. Oh well. I don't feel inclined to type it in again right now. 

Ran the 2000 N hill route with Larry, Wayne, and Kevin (yes, Kevin) this morning. Going back to regular routes proved useful this morning as Kevin missed us at the start but caught us at the top of the hill. It was a beautiful morning and it was great having four good buddies out for a run. We talked about river trips and American Idol among other topics.

I got in 1.5 miles before meeting them for a total of 7.1 miles. 

Ran the water tank hills with Larry and Wayne in the morning. Three mountain bikers started up the first steep hill just after we did. We see them quite often and always share friendly greetings. Today Larry challenged me to beat them up the hill, so I went for it. I'm not sure they were really racing, but I did beat them up that first hill pretty handily. The first bike to reach me after I stopped and started back down to rejoin Wayne and Larry jokingly challenged me to a race back down.

In the afternoon the rain had let up and Nathan and I ran 6 miles over Eagles View way, but heading north instead of up the Eagles View hill. I don't have my watch with me now, and don't remember the average pace, but we moved along pretty well.

I got in a mile this morning before meeting up with Larry and Wayne. Kevin joined us just after we started. We ran a 6 mile loop up through Lindon. It was a little chilly this morning and I regretted not wearing my gloves, but it was still a really enjoyable run. I'm finally beginning to feel strong again. The back of the knee pain isn't completely gone, but it's still fading even though I've stepped up my mileage again.

Running 14 miles up beautiful Provo Canyon and South Fork with good friends on a beautiful spring morning...mornings like this are one of the main reasons I love running.

One of my adult sons bought Wii Fitness and we were "playing" it last night. It measures fitness, teaches yoga, has strength and balance exercises and games. It's really pretty cool. One of the activities is a simulated run through a park. You stick the Wii remote in your pocket and run in place. My wife asked if it wouldn't be nice to have a beautiful place to run like the simulated trail through a beautiful park with a waterfall. I said, "We do. We have Provo Canyon. It even has the waterfall."

Wayne, Kevin, and I met at the mouth of Provo Canyon, left my car there and drove in Wayne's Jeep up to Vivian Park. We ran up 4.25 miles to Trefoil then back to Vivian for 8.5 miles, then continued on down the 5.8 miles to the mouth of the canyon for a total of 14.3 miles. Kevin didn't want to go that far so he turned back 1/2 mile from the top. We met up again at Vivian and he went down to about Bridal Veil Falls, then went back up and drove Wayne's Jeep down so we wouldn't have to go back up for it.

The mile splits up to Trefoil were 10:29, 9:20, 9:38, 9:53. The mile splits back down were a little faster: 8:14, 7:55, 7:49, 7:29. After a potty break and drink of water, the splits from Vivian to the mouth were 8:23, 8:04, 7:46, 7:51, 7:43, 7:33. The overall average for 14.3 miles was 8:28/mi.

I saw Bill McKnight, Doug Eddy, Bryan Johnson and a few other familiar faces along the trail this morning. Wayne commented that there seemed to be quite a few more women than men out this morning, and there seemed to be a lot of bikers, too. There were some ultra-marathoners training up South Fork for the Squaw Peak 50. I saw a deer and a squirrel and smelt a skunk. What a great morning!

Often during my runs, especially solo runs, I find myself thinking about how I'm going to describe the run in my blog when I'm done. Sometimes it motivates me to push a little harder or go a little farther. Other times, like today, it helps me to live in the moment and appreciate the experience while I'm still having it.

I came up with a single word to describe this evening's run, "spiritualicious", a combination of "spiritual" and "delicious".

Short version: I ran 10.1 easy miles starting at 6:40pm at an average 8:48/mi pace. The weather was cool and sunny, a little rain in the middle, fresh air, saw a rainbow. I really enjoyed the run.

If you have time, read on for the unabridged version.

The day started with me opting out of the planned 7:00am run with Kevin. It was raining pretty hard and we both chose to enjoy sleeping in with our families on this holiday morning instead. I knew Sasha wouldn't approve, but after worrying about that for about 2-3 seconds I crawled back into bed, cuddled up next to Karen under the warm blankets, and went back to sleep.

Karen's family has never been much into visiting cemeteries on Memorial Day, so it hasn't been much of a tradition for us. Today, however, we took our four daughters (9 to 23), two sons (19, 21) couldn't make it, and joined my brother and his two young sons, and my sister and her husband, and my parents for a visit to the Spanish Fork and Springville Evergreen cemeteries. In Spanish Fork we visited the resting places of my children's great great great grandparents, born in South Wales and Scotland, and many descendants down to my dad's parents and some of his siblings. In Springville we visited great great grandparents on my mom's side down to her parents and siblings. We also visited Karen's parents who are buried there. We also saw for the first time the plots my parents recently purchased for themselves. Even though the day was overcast with a little rain at times, our spirits were cheerful as we remembered and celebrated our wonderful family heritages, knowing that this life is just temporary, and that death is just another beginning.

After that, we took a brief tour of Springville, showing our children the homes we were raised in, some of the schools we attended, some of our friends homes, etc. I showed my daughters the romantic spot where I was watching the bridge wash out during the floods of 1983. I was talking with Karen's father when Karen came up and joined us. She had spoken at seminary graduation that night and was dressed in an attractive light blue dress with white polka dots. We had worked together the summer before but never dated. That night I decided that would change. I asked her out a couple of weeks later and we were married the next spring.

I had promised my family that we would go out to eat after the cemetery visits. It was lunch time, and after much discussion we finally ended up at The Old Spaghetti Factory. It cost me the equivalent of a pair of running shoes, but it was worth it. It was good food and we had a good time. The "delicious" part of my run comes from the fact that at various times throughout the run I would burp up the delicious tastes of chicken parmigiana, marinara sauce, and ranch dressing. I was worried a little about gastric distress, but that ended up not being a problem, probably partly because I kept the pace pretty easy.

It was sunny and cool (not cold) when I started the run around 6:40pm, with a bit of a headwind to start with. It was beautiful. I headed east towards Provo Canyon but when I got to Cascade golf course I decided to head south on Palisade Drive. I eventually went down to 400 South, west to 400 West, north to 1600 North then east back to home.

As I was headed west about halfway into the run it was sunny but it started raining pretty steadily. I knew what that meant. There had to be a rainbow. I had to give the rain time to get east of me, but sure enough in a few minutes I looked behind me to the east and there was a beautiful rainbow. That's when the "spiritual" part of my run began.

One of my favorite songs, which I've loved since I was a child, is "My Heavenly Father Loves Me". As I looked at the sunny, blue sky in front of me, and the brilliant rainbow behind me, and listened to the birds sing, and looked at the beauty of the world around me I began to sing.

Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue, blue sky.
Whenever I feel the rain on my face, or the wind as it rushes by.
Whenever I touch a velvet rose, or walk by our lilac tree.
I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see the color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear the magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart. I 'll thank him reverently,
For all his creations of which I'm a part. Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

I then began to sing:

I like to look at rainbows whenever there is rain.
And think about the beauty of an earth made clean again.
I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to live the best I can and live with God again.

I'm not sure if the lyrics are right (getting lyrics wrong is one of my specialties) but those are the ones I sang.

Some other thoughts crossed my mind (a little Paulosophizing). I realized the brilliant rainbow required two things: sun and rain. We tend to prefer the sunny days over the rainy days, and easy times over the hard times in our lives. Rain (pain, sorrow, illness, injury, challenge, adversity), however, is required for us to experience the brilliant, inspiring beauty of a rainbow. And the rainbow doesn't usually appear until the storm is nearly over, when the sun and clear skies are returning.

I also thought briefly of one of my other favorite children's songs, "Give Said the Little Stream", that sings about how streams and rain bring life to plants and flowers, and how we should be like them and bring life and joy to others.

I also thought how you can never get to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (and there really isn't a pot of gold there anyway) but you can always enjoy the rainbow.

I also thought that if someone were standing where I see the end of the rainbow to be, they wouldn't be looking at a pot of gold, or even seeing the brilliantly beautiful rainbow. They would just be standing in the rain getting wet. Sometimes maybe it would help us to change our perspective and look for rainbows instead of complaining about the rain.

I also thought of how the end of the rainbow was near my house, and thought of how the real treasure in my life is my family.

I've been trying to "live in the moment" a little better recently, and enjoy life as I'm living it. Today's run was truly a blessing, a tender mercy from the Lord. It was "spiritualicious".

I ran the Tuesday loop up 2000N with Larry, Wayne, and Kevin this morning. The weather was beautiful. Kevin pushed up the hill and was pulling ahead. I was enjoying the conversation with Larry and Wayne but about halfway up I decided to close the gap then ran with Kevin to near the top. He put on another boost the last block or so and finished ahead of me. It's great to see Kevin running well again. Wayne's boosting his mileage in preparation for the Teton Dam marathon next month and is also running very well. Larry's picking up the pace and mileage as well. It must be that time of year. The sun was bright as we ended the run today. What a great start to the day!

I wasn't planning to run at noon today, but Tom invited me to run 4 easy miles and the day was so nice I couldn't say no. We ended up also getting Nathan, Bill, and Will to run with us. They were going a little farther than four miles and when Tom hit the two mile mark and turned back I was torn about who to go with. I continued with the group, but less than 1/10th of a mile later the combination of a gurgle in my stomach and the talk of maybe going six miles finally convinced me I should have turned back with Tom...so I did. Of course now I was about 0.15 miles behind Tom. We had run the first two miles at an easy pace of 8:44 and 8:33, but I ran the third mile in 7:13 and finally caught Tom. We ran the fourth mile in 7:55 and I averaged 8:05/mi for the 4.25 miles.

The run at noon felt a lot like the 3rd leg of the Wasatch Back Relay. The legs were a little tired and sluggish. Maybe three runs in 18 hours for a total of 20+ miles had something to do with that. I didn't really plan to do that, but hopefully the training will make the real thing just a little easier.

Larry, Wayne, and I ran the water tank hills this morning. It was another beautiful morning. My legs are feeling the effects of the increased mileage, but feeling stronger at the same time. The knee pain has continued to fade. I plan to run at noon as usual for a Wednesday, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep up. My legs aren't used to these 10 mile days.

I survived the noon run, barely. After all these months of waiting for warmer weather, today was the first day it felt too warm during a run and I found myself wishing for slightly cooler weather. The warmer weather was only one of the challenges today, the pace was the other. Once again, Tom only wanted to go four easy miles, so the first two miles were okay at 8:44 and 8:15. Nathan wanted to go longer and a little faster, and I agreed to try to hang with him. Tom turned back part way into mile three, which Nathan and I finished in 7:54, still pretty reasonable. We then went to 7:40 for mile four, then 7:23 for mile five. I had had enough by mile six and finally convinced Nathan to cut me loose. He quickly pulled away then came back near the end to run in with me. I finished mile six in 7:47, and then we finished the last 0.2 together. Nathan then hit the treadmill for a couple of more miles.

I was pleased to be able to run a 7:23 mile in the heat with my legs feeling as tired as they do. Also, this was not an all out run, more of a marathon pace effort. I got plenty hot and tired, but it feels good to feel like a runner again.

I ran with Wayne and Larry this morning. Lyle ran with us for a while then cut off early. I'm logging this morning's miles as easy because we only averaged about a 9:30/mi pace, but it felt more like marathon pace effort. My legs are good and tired from the extra miles this week, but generally feeling pretty good.

We're planning on 15-16 miles on Saturday, running the new trail from Deer Creek dam up to Midway and back. With 38 miles now, that would put me at around 54 miles for the week, a big week for me. I may go a few easy miles tomorrow morning, or maybe some basketball.

Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good. Today's run was another blessing.

Wayne picked up Kevin and me and we drove up to meet Larry at the parking lot at Deer Creek Dam. We ran along the gravel trail on the north side of the reservoir from the dam up to the train station in Midway. Wayne and I actually went an extra 1/4 mile to the barn to get the full 8 miles up so we could get 16 miles overall.

The weather was perfect, with partly sunny skies, moderate temperatures, and just enough of a breeze to keep us cool. I carried a bottle of water and dropped it about 4.25 miles out. It was nice to share it on the return trip. The bathrooms at the train platform where we turned around were also welcome. It would be nice if there was water there, too.

There is a nice variety of uphill and downhill along the route, climbing ridges and dropping into small valleys in between. The combination of running on gravel and all the uphill and downhill made the run feel more like an 18 or 20 mile run than 16. The pace wasn't fast, about 9:30/mi overall, but it was a great workout.

I made the comment during the run how lucky we are. How many people can get together with a few good friends and go for a 16 mile run at about the same pace? And enjoy such natural beauty so close to home?

To top it off, I get home and my 16 year old daughter is making homemade pancakes from scratch. They were awesome. Yes, somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.

AM. I ended up running alone this morning. Some company would have been nice, but I've always been able to enjoy solo runs. It was a beautiful morning with perfect temperatures.

As I've been recovering from injuries and building my mileage I've been cautious and haven't done much speed work. With the 5K this weekend, and the WBR less than 3 weeks away, I think I'll try a few faster miles this week and see how it goes.

This morning my mile splits were 9:25, 8:21, 8:02, 7:29, 7:31, and 9:18. I warmed up, gradually sped up, did a bit of a tempo run for miles 4 and 5, then cooled down. I didn't look at my watch except when it beeped the mile splits. I was sort of hoping that first tempo mile would be closer to 7:00 than 7:30, but I wasn't really going all out. I knew I had to save something for the noon run today.

When I went to blog this entry today I saw the empty month of June with no entries yet. It was a bit intimidating to think of all the miles I would have to run to match the 180+ miles I ran in May. I wondered if my old body would hold up for another month. I thought of the Nestle 5K this Saturday, and of course the Wasatch Back Relay in a few weeks. We never quite know what's going to happen, but it's alway an adventure and, to use a basketball analogy, you miss every shot you don't take.

I don't go to the library much, but Karen does. I went with her Saturday and ended up renting and watching the movie "Without Limits", a movie about Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine. I didn't care for some of the language, and I wouldn't recommend his lifestyle, but his mental toughness and courage while running was truly inspiring. I used his quote, "The only good race pace is a suicide pace" to inspire me to finally break 20:00 minutes in the Nestle 5K last year. Maybe watching the movie will inspire me to break my 19:53 PR at this year's Nestle 5K this weekend. I know my old body has limits, but it's a fun hobby finding out what they are.

PM. I went out with Tom, Nathan, and Bill at noon. The weather was pretty warm, but there was good breeze. We headed east toward the mountains and did the modified Eagle View course that heads north and includes the longer (but not as steep) uphill. Tom turned back as planned at 2.5 miles. Nathan, Bill, and I went to 3 miles before turning around. By unspoken common consent the pace gradually picked up on the way back. Near the end both Bill and Nathan pulled away from me, Nathan significantly. My mile splits were 8:46, 8:14, 8:53 (the hill), 7:40, 7:19, and 7:21. Nathan went sub-7:00 the last mile. Overall average pace for me was 8:01/mi for the 6 miles. Good company, good run, and a good workout for me.

Another beautiful morning. I ran just short of two miles before meeting Larry and Wayne. We ran the 2000 N hill and loop through Lindon then added a 1/2 mile loop around the block get our six miles in. The conversation wasn't so good today. For some reason we started talking about how bad we all were as young men. We didn't confess too many awful sins, but it seems we each made our fair share of bad choices through those difficult years. Looking at where we are now, all I can say is we are walking evidence of the power of Jesus Christ to make bad men good, and good men better. We're still far from perfect, but there's been significant progress, and hope for more to come. So maybe the conversation this morning wasn't so bad after all.

AM. I ran a little over a half mile then met Wayne at Larry's. Larry never came out, even after knocking. Wayne couldn't see their car in the garage. We finally decided to head out for the Wednesday run up the water tank hills. The light rain got a little heavier during the run, but was never real bad.

We both commented how it would be nice if the hills got easier after doing them so many times. They didn't seem very easy this morning to either of us. It was encouraging when we reached the top to realize that we had run the 2.5 miles from home to the top of the hills 4 minutes faster than last week.

I'm planning on some more miles at noon, but the weather doesn't look too favorable.

PM. Tom and I ran 5 easy miles in the rain on the modified Eagle View course. We didn't focus much on the running, just had a nice conversational run. My Garmin showed an average pace of around 8:21/mi. I might have preferred to hear laughter in the rain walking hand in hand with the one I love (Karen)...or I might have preferred to be singing and dancing in the rain...but running in the rain with Tom was pretty enjoyable, too.

It turns out Larry and his wife Jolene were in Park City yesterday for her birthday and that's why Larry didn't run. He had texted both Wayne and me, but neither of us looked at our phones before the run. Maybe it's Wayne's wife's birthday because he didn't show up this morning.

I ran 0.6 miles before meeting Larry and Kevin. They both wanted to do the water tank hills (I did them yesterday but they missed out) and we were headed there, but then Kevin suggested we run to the mouth of the canyon instead. It was a good choice. We added a little distance on so we could run down to the gas station and back up just to get the hills in. Kevin pushed up the hill and left me behind. We ended up with 6.5 miles. I pushed the last 1/4 mile or so at around a 6:30 pace and it felt pretty good. Overall pace was 8:45/mi.

Since school is out now, and my morning schedule is not so tight, I was able to join my adult son Andrew for basketball with "the old gang" this morning. The core members of the group have been playing regularly together for 25+ years. I haven't been for months and the participants had changed a little. Until Dean, Lex, and Nate showed up, I was 25 to 35 years older than the other 8 or 9 people there. I wanted to change my mind and go home and run a few easy miles instead, but I was Andrew's ride and he wanted to stay, so I stayed. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and I didn't stink it up too bad. It was great to talk with Andrew on the ride there and back and we had a good conversation in the kitchen after we got home. I don't get much time to talk to Andrew and that opportunity was the key consideration in choosing basketball over running this morning. I would have only run a few easy miles anyway as my legs have felt a little sluggish as I've boosted my mileage, and I wanted to rest them a little before the Nestle 5K tomorrow.

I was torn between running the Nestle 5K this morning and helping with our stake service project to prepare Camp Shalom for Young Women's camp. I'm the stake clerk so I was in stake presidency meeting early last Sunday morning when we first found out about this urgent, last minute assignment. The stake that was originally assigned to open the camp the week before couldn't get in because of too much snow, and they couldn't do it this week because of some other big stake event they already had planned. So the camp director asked our stake if we could please help out. This was a big assignment that would require at least 25 volunteers, generators, shop vacs, snow shovels, etc. President Yeates, the stake presidency counselor who was given this assignment, left the meeting and he and a high councilor started calling bishops to ask them to get 5 volunteers from each ward.

I contacted President Yeates yesterday and he said they had 28 volunteers, but they expected some no shows. I decided to do the race, but late last night I was still conflicted and couldn't find peace in my decision. It seemed to be a decision between service and selfish, and I was choosing selfish. I count on the Lord's blessings to help me with my running, and I wasn't feeling worthy of asking for that help when I was unwilling to help him. More than once I nearly decided to just skip the race go help with the service project, but that didn't feel right either.

It finally dawned on me that I could do both. I'd have to go down a little late, and drive myself, but that was a small price to pay for peace, for being able to do both good things. Unfortunately it was past midnight before I made my decision. I had prepared my things for the race, so I then proceeded to pack another bag with work clothes. When I got up this morning I grabbed gloves, tools, my shop vac, and generator and loaded them in the Suburban and head to the race, a little late, but with peace in my heart.

Well, I was mostly at peace. I was a little disappointed at the heavily overcast skies and steady rain. I knew there was a small chance of rain, but I had expected a beautiful morning anyway. I felt a little hurried before the race but managed to get my number, hit the bathroom, and get a little warm up in. I didn't feel quite warmed up enough, but things looked like they were getting serious at the starting line so I headed over and worked my way to the front. I actually started on the sidewalk to the side. I did not want to get stuck behind a bunch of slower runners like last year.

It was only a minute or so before the race started (a few minutes early by my watch). I started quickly and successfully avoided getting stuck behind too many runners. I was breathing hard pretty quickly and began to wonder if I was mentally and physically ready. I mentally reviewed the targets splits I had come up with yesterday: 6:35, 6:15, 6:20, and 0:30 for 19:40. I chose to not wear my Garmin this morning and just ran with my Ironman watch.

1-6:35 I was a little surprised that I was exactly on target. I was breathing a little hard, but the legs were feeling okay. I was staying even with most of the runners around me, and passing a few who had apparently started out too quickly.

2-6:29 At this point I pretty much knew 19:40 wasn't going to happen in the rain today, but I thought sub-20:00 might still be possible. I was still pretty much running even with most of the runners around me and didn't feel like I was fading or backing off the effort. I was still working pretty hard.

3.1-6:55 I didn't see the mile 3 marker so I don't have the third mile split, but my target was to run the last 1.1 in 6:50 and I ran it in 6:55. I feel like I held on pretty strong, and only a few runners passed me. As I rounded the last curve on the track I heard footsteps then Hal Amos passed me. I thought the finish line was going to be at the end of the next straightaway but then I saw it just after the curve. I fired the turbo thrusters and zipped past Hal to finish in 19:59:67 (by my watch), barely under 20:00. I wish I wouldn't have misjudged the finish line and started my kick a little sooner.

I was surprised by how much kick I had left. While I feel I was fairly tough mentally during the race, I think I was a little off my game. I didn't feel ready at the start, and I think the rain (especially not being able to see clearly through my wet glasses) prevented me from focusing and leaving it all on the road.

I finished 5th in my age division, same as last year, even though my time was 6 seconds slower. I think with the rain the conditions were slower this year. I ran this race so I could compare my fitness last year to this year. Overall I feel like I'm at least where I was last year, maybe slightly ahead since I didn't feel like I raced my best, the conditions were slower, I had too much kick left, and I still had a comparable performance.

And I guess it was my lucky day, too. I called a neighbor who was participating in the service project to see how many showed up this morning. He said there were 38 people and that my help wasn't needed. I would have enjoyed the service project (I always do), but standing wet and cold under the bleachers as the rain continued, I have to admit that I was quite happy to not be driving 90 miles each way and working in the rain, mud, and snow. And during the drawing for prizes (lots and lots of awesome stuff) I was talking to Darin when I heard my number called. I hadn't heard what it was for but I hurried up for my prize. They handed me a big bag of Laffy Taffy and Sweethearts and a small white box from Costco. As I walked back to Darin I wondered aloud what I had won. Someone then said something like, "If you don't want that iPod Nano I'll take it." It turns out I won a 4GB iPod Nano. Cool! Of course it now belongs to Karen (my idea, not hers). She just stopped by and I need to go help her download songs.

Not only is every race an adventure, life itself is a pretty incredible adventure. We all have bad times now and then, that's why it's so important to enjoy the good times...like today.

AM. 5.9 easy miles with Larry.

PM. 6.2 easy miles with Tom.

Once again I experienced the phenomenon of running in the morning at a certain effort level and running in the middle of the day at what feels like the same effort level and having the pace of the daytime run be significantly faster (about 1:00 minute per mile today) than the morning pace. An interesting experiment would be to run in the morning with Tom and at midday with Larry. Is it the time of day, or who I'm running with? I'm sure who I'm running with has some effect, but I've experienced the same thing when I've run alone in the morning and alone at midday. Hmmm.

This morning I got in 1.5 miles and then met Larry and we ran the 2000 N Lindon loop. We were a bit surprised that Wayne didn't show up. He's running the Teton Dam marathon this Saturday and is tapering this week, but we still thought he'd show up for our easy run this morning.

It was another beautiful spring morning. As I walked home after parting with Larry I was struck by how beautiful everything around me was. The sun had risen over Provo Canyon, the air was crisp and clean, and everything seemed to be lit up and full of life. The brilliant blue sky was scattered with fluffy white clouds. Timp's majestic snow-covered peaks seemed to glisten. There was a tree whose beautiful green leaves seemed aglow.  The songbirds were at their best. My neighbors' dark green lawns and colorful flower beds were bold and beautiful. What a loving Heavenly Father we have who has given us such beauty to enjoy.

AM. I ran a little a little before I met up with Larry. We then ran the water tank hills. The temperature was in the low 40's with a pretty strong chilly wind blowing, but with a couple of shirts and my gloves I never got too cold.

We took it easy through the first 3 hills but then I pushed hills 4 and 5 pretty hard. On the way back down I decided to push the last 1/2 mile down from 400 E to Main on 1600 N. There was a pretty strong headwind, but I still managed to average a 5:54 pace. The best part was that it felt pretty good.

I think I'm in pretty good shape for the relay next week. I was hoping to have stepped my fitness up a notch from last year, but with shoulder surgery over the winter and a couple of injury setbacks I'm just happy to be where I am, which is about where I was last year, which was a good year for me.

It's great to have goals and strive for improvement and keep looking ahead, but I also think it is important to occasionally look back and see how far you've come, and count your blessings, and take joy in it. My glass isn't full, but there's quite a bit of water in it, enough for a cool refreshing drink.

PM. Ran 6.2 easy (8:12/mi) and enjoyable miles with Tom and Darin. I feel pretty good getting 12+ miles in today. Of course, Tom had 14+ and Darin 16+ I think, and of course their miles this morning were considerably faster than mine. That's okay. My glass is still well over half full.

Ran some easy miles with Larry up towards Provo Canyon. I ran a little before meeting up with him for a total of 6.9 miles. It was unseasonably cool again this morning, but it was still a very enjoyable run.

I guess you could call today's run a "running lifestyle" run. No particular plan, no intervals, no pace goals, no uncomfortable effort...just a couple of buddies running along sharing good conversation and enjoying the beautiful morning. I think runs like today's run motivate me to keep running as much as the pursuit of PRs. Work kind of imploded on me yesterday and I ended up working until 9:30pm under a bit of pressure to get some bugs fixed. After this morning's run therapy I'm ready to face another day.

A little cross training again this Friday playing basketball with Andrew and the guys in the morning. There were only 6 of us this morning, so we only played half court, but it was still pretty fun. I got a little scare when a tall but quick young man and I both went for a loose ball. I ended up taking a hard shoulder to my sternum. Fortunately my skeletal structure withstood the blow without any breakage. My sternum is a little sore, and it twinges a little if I twist a certain way, but I'm grateful it's minor enough that it shouldn't affect my running.

As evidence, because we only played half court I didn't feel like I'd gotten enough of a cardiovascular workout so I went out and ran a few miles after we got home. On our run yesterday Larry was telling me that years back the neighborhood group would run a "fast mile" from the top of the WordPerfect curve (about 800 E and 1600 N) down into our neighborhood (about Main and 1600 N). I ran the one mile up (8:56) to confirm that it was a mile, then ran the "fast mile" at a quick but less than all out pace (6:11), then cooled down a mile (8:12) by going around the block a couple of times. I didn't notice any discomfort in my chest while running.

I'm late blogging this run. It's been a busy, but good, weekend. Kevin, Larry, and I headed out at 7:00am but Larry informed us he had to be back to go support a hike some of the Relief Society sisters in our neighborhood were doing. Kevin and I went out again for some more miles after dropping Larry off. We ended up going about 10.6 miles

It was good we kept it a little short today because Tiffany called and asked if we could stop and pick up some glitter on our way to see Amy in the Art City Days parade. Tiffany is interning at Lavendar Farms and has help design the fairy costumes for their parade entry. One young fairy couldn't make it this week so Tiffany asked Amy to fill in. She did an awesome job and had a lot of fun riding on a small horse-drawn wagon and waving at everyone watching the parade. Karen and I are both from Springville so this is our hometown parade, but we hadn't been for many years. We, and our other two daughters, got shaved ice and watched the parade and had a good time.

I then spent a few hours running errands to help Karen and the girls get ready for girls camp this week. After that I left Karen and our older daughter to shop, cook, and pack for camp and took our two youngest daughters to visit my parents at their property in Nephi canyon. My Mom said they were going to eat around 5:00pm and we passed through the gate at exactly 5:00pm. The marinated chicken, corn on the cob, shredded potatoes, and pumpkin pie were delicious. I visited with my parents and two of my sisters, taught Emily how to drive the four wheeler by herself, lost at Canasta, taught my daughters to play Yahtzee, and enjoyed the absolutely perfect weather and frequent visits from the humming birds. We had planned to leave around 9:00pm and passed through the gate at exactly 9:00pm. I only mention our arrival and departure times because this is the only time in recorded history that we have arrived to and left from a scheduled event exactly on time. My daughters thought that was pretty cool. It was also cool when we saw an inch worm floating in the sky attached to...absolutely nothing. There was nothing but sky above, and there it was dangling on an invisible thread in the breeze. My sister saw it, too, so we have four eyewitnesses.

What a fun day!

I ran six easy miles (9:20/mi) with Larry this morning then the Lake View 10K loop (8:05/mi) with Tom and Nathan at noon. Fortunately , Tom had run 14 miles in the morning, and Nathan had run 8 fast ones, so they were willing to slow down to an 8:05/mi average pace so I could keep up.

Karen made me a tray of peanut butter bars for Father's Day yesterday, even though she had been sick all night and still wasn't feeling well in the morning. I hope eating peanut butter bars is good preparation for running the relay, because I'll be eating them whether it is or not. What a sweet way for her to tell me she loves and appreciates me, almost as sweet as the homemade cards with heartfelt messages that my three youngest daughters gave me. My three adult children showed their love by being there, and by allowing me to watch the "My Turn On Earth" DVD Karen gave me instead of the first half of the NBA Finals game between the Lakers and the Celtics.

I skipped my morning run with Larry and Wayne because I wanted to help Karen and the girls get off to camp this morning. I saw Larry and Wayne both as they started and as they ended their run, and I missed being with them. I wanted to hear about Wayne's experience at the Teton Dam Marathon on Saturday (he doesn't blog...but he should). I did hear that it was a very hard marathon. I think he said the overall winner was barely under 3:00. His goal was under 4:00 and he finished in 3:45. He's come back from his sever health problems over the winter very quickly.

I finally headed out for a solo run at around 8:00am. I decided to go longer today as I'll be tapering later in the week for the relay. I ended up running from my house up to Bridal Veil Falls, almost exactly 7 miles one way.

My splits on the way up were 8:27, 8:34, 8:05, 8:14, 8:10, 8:47, and 9:05.

I averaged 8:19 for the first 0.8 miles on the trip back then started a 3 mile uptempo run starting at the start of the Army National Guard's 2 mile run that is just after the rise out of Nunn's Park (says, "Hooah" on the start line). My splits were 6:56, 7:19 (some uphill), and 7:20. The third mile would have been faster but I stopped to pick up some toys that some toddlers had been dropping from their strollers. I had passed two young mothers going the other direction, each pushing a stroller. I saw the first toy and kept going, but then saw another one 20-30 yards farther along the trail. I decided to double back and return them to their presumed owners. On the way back I found a third that had just recently been dropped. As I caught them and presented the toys I noticed they had plenty more they could have dropped. I thought of Hansel and Gretel dropping breadcrumbs but quickly decided the mothers didn't look like witches so I returned the toys and resumed my run. My average for that mile had dropped to 7:33 (I think) at the point I resumed but I managed to pull it back down to 7:20 by the end.

The 3.5 miles from there, up the hill on 800 N and back home, were very hard for me (8:51, 8:48, 8:53, 9:33/mi for last 0.5 miles. I was pretty tired and it was getting pretty hot (around 80 degrees). The overall average pace for the 14.3 miles was 8:19/mi.

The forecast highs for the relay are 92 on Friday and 96 on Saturday. I think today's run was good mental preparation for running tired in the heat. At least during the relay I'll have my van mates giving me plenty of water to drink and cool down with. I can't believe it's relay week again already. It's going to be awesome!

Larry and I ran the water tank hills at a very easy pace this morning. My legs were a little tired from yesterday's hard run, but they loosened up good and felt great by the end of the run.

We stopped once to talk with a woman who had an Aussie shepherd like Larry's dog Ozzie. We stopped again later to talk with Cheryl Harper and another runner (Bruce I think?). It was a beautiful morning and a relaxing run.

I'll probably run 5 or 6 easy miles tomorrow. I'm at about 32 miles so far this week. That will put me at around 38. With the roughly 16 miles I'll be running in the relay on Friday and Saturday that should put at around 54 miles for the week. I'm hoping to make the relay miles fast miles (at least moderately fast I hope) so this should end up being a good training week for me.

I decided to back off and only run a few easy miles this morning. Wayne showed up to run with Larry (he didn't know if I would be running today), but Larry never came out so the two of us went out for an easy 2.8 miles. He's still recovering from the Teton Dam Marathon last Saturday so he didn't mind the short easy run.
 

Leg 6 - 6.9 Miles - Very Hard - Summits Avon Pass then descends into Ogden Valley.

We started at 3:00pm. I watched our first four runners valiantly battle the heat. Tom and I got a little break with some shade and cooler temperatures up and over Avon Pass, but we had other challenges. Tom valiantly conquered the relentless uphill run climbing 1200' to an altitude of over 6200'. I took the baton from Tom and began my leg with energy. After over 4 hours of watching my van mates, it felt good to finally be running. The leg begins with a 1.5 mile ascent to the 6500' summit of Avon Pass. It wasn't very long before I began to feel the affects of the climb and the altitude. I was glad when the descent began. I had seen the WSU runner (Weber State ladies "has beens") head out a little before me and hoped I could catch her. The dirt road was pretty rough and I had to be careful as I tried to take the brakes off. I made good time on the steep part of the descent and managed to pass the WSU runner and a few other runners. My pace slowed considerably as I reached the base of the mountain and the road flattened out, but I still felt like I was running pretty well and continued to pass other runners. One young, tall, fast runner passed me in the last mile or so. Overall I feel like I worked hard and ran the leg pretty well.

Splits: 8:10, 7:09, 5:48, 6:00, 6:36, 7:02, 7:06/mi for 0.9 (Avg. 6:50/mi)

Leg 18 - 5.2 Miles - Hard - Difficult uphill road climbs to East Canyon Reservoir.

I started this leg about 1:52am, with cool temperatures, a nearly full moon, and a strong headwind. The leg climbs from 5300' to 5800', with some ups and downs along the way. It was a perfect run...if you subtract the hills and the headwind. Similar to the first leg, I felt like I ran this leg pretty strong. I think I passed 8 runners and was passed by 2 runners from elite teams (one was from the Runner's Corner team). I caught right up behind a 9th runner just before we climbed the last big hill. He didn't seem to want to let me by and we both pushed hard up the hill. I think the sprints into the exchange point are a little dangerous, and usually meaningless, so I was content stay behind him as we both pushed hard to the finish.

Splits: 7:56, 8:04, 7:55, 9:11, 8:22, 7:15/mi for 0.2 (Avg 8:17/mi)

== 

Leg 30 - 3.6 Miles - Easy - Flat leg through green pastures to Middle School

I started this leg at 10:23am. It had started to get pretty warm, but I knew Van 2 would bear the worst of the heat today so I didn't complain. The first half of the leg is on a narrow dirt road with team vans parked along the right side. I started out pretty fast and was soon zipping past a slow moving team van on its left side, both of us going the same direction. There was about 3 feet between the van and the left side of the road. Just as I was approaching the driver's door she apparently spotted a parking spot and felt she needed to swing left a little before entering it. I yelled "Hey!" (not very informative, but I didn't have time for "Excuse me! I'm running here and you are about to push me off the left side of the road and into a fence. I would rather not have that happen. Would you mind letting me pass?") I fired my adrenalin-fueled thrusters and tried to squeeze past the mirror and escape the danger before becoming a story for other runners to tell. I'm not sure if it was my "Hey!" or the sound of my shoulder striking her mirror, but she finally noticed me and stopped. Luckily the mirror was movable and it didn't really hurt me or even slow me down much. I still managed a 6:40 split on the first mile (maybe adrenalin-aided), but my tired legs couldn't hold it. I slowed a little through the middle part of the run but still managed to pass other runners and not get passed. I fired the final fuel in the thrusters for a pretty good kick around the final curve past the crowds and into the exchange. It felt very good to be done.

Splits: 6:40, 7:04, 7:39, 6:57/mi for 0.6 (Avg 7:07/mi)

==

My overall average pace was 7:22/mi (8.1 mph) for the roughly 15.7 miles. I feel good about my efforts and performance and think I performed about as well as I could given the race conditions and my current conditioning. My legs are pretty stiff, especially my quads.

Our "2 Slow 2 Win 2 Dumb 2 Quit" team finished 35th out of 545 regular relay teams. We took 2nd place in our Men Sub-Masters division. The 1st place team finished nearly 3 hours ahead of us, well out of our reach, but the 3rd place team was only 5 minutes behind us, with four other teams within 40 minutes. It took the combined efforts of each team member to give us the final edge.

I'm still trying to figure it out, but even with everything going so well some of the magic of past years seemed to be missing for me.

I had awesome van mates and team mates. We got along well and worked well together. I thought things went pretty smoothly logistically. We had a couple of hiccups (as usual) but we responded to them well.

I think I ran pretty well. I passed a lot of people and only got passed by 4 or 5 elite runners that were obviously out of my class. As a team we finished a little slower than last year, but the course was a little longer. We finished 2nd in the Men Sub-masters division instead of 1st, but it was still a very respectable performance against so many quality teams.

I thought the race was well organized, especially for how big it was this year. It was cool seeing so many runners and teams spread throughout the entire length of the course.

The weather was hot at times, but not really too hot during my legs, and it was hotter last year. The nearly full moon for the night legs was nice.

Everything went pretty darn well. Still, at various times during the relay I felt like I was just going through the motions. I wasn't feeling the excitement and fire, the "Spirit of the Wasatch", that I've felt in the four previous relays.

One thing may have been that I overestimated my 10K pace, resulting in all of my projected estimates being beyond what I was capable of doing. Even though I think I actually ran pretty well for me, I was always slower than my estimated pace. Tom did the same thing, and he beat himself up pretty badly for not performing at the very aggressive level of the estimated paces. He ran very well, but seemed to feel like he'd failed. I think his disappointment may have affected me more than my own. I think in future years we both need to estimate our "flat 10K pace in Salt Lake City" pace as a "flat 10K pace in Salt Lake City when running three 10K's in 24 hours with very little sleep". It might result in more reasonable and achievable targets.

Another thing was that I didn't seem to feel as much camaraderie with the other teams in the relay this year. I'm thinking this had to do with there being so many teams this year. In past years it seemed like we'd chat more with the other teams at the exchanges, and even with some of the volunteers. This year every exchange seemed to be so crowded and busy. It was more of a "busy big city" feeling than a "quiet rural run" feeling for me...the being alone in a crowd sort of feeling at times. Everyone else seemed to be having a good time though, so maybe it was just me.

Every time I kiss my wife Karen it isn't magical (most of the time but not always), but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop kissing her, because when it is magical it's...well...magical. Rather than kiss off the relay, I think I'll embrace it again next year and keep the love alive. (Insert your own relationship metaphor here.)

I ran the Tuesday morning route with Larry and Wayne. Unfortunately, this route includes the big hill up 2000 N. The uphill actually felt pretty good, but my quads complained about coming back down.

I'm pretty sure it was the big downhill in my first leg of the relay on Friday (Leg 6) that did this to my quads, especially after reading Sasha's comments this leg:

"We made a mistake on this leg assignment underestimating the pounding effect of that downhill. It is very nasty - dirt, lots of turns, and a three mile stretch of 8% downhill. More quad-trashing than we realized. Jeff damaged his quads on this leg, and it hurt him for the rest of the relay and threw him off his projections." 

Of course Jeff averaged 5:39/mi on this leg and I only averaged 6:40/mi, but it sounds like I'm not the only one whose quads were thrashed by the descent of Avon Pass.

I ran the water tank hills with Larry, Wayne, and Kevin this morning. Wayne and I pushed the last few hills a bit. My legs felt fine on the way up, but my quads, still sore from the relay, didn't like the downhill much. Wayne and I pushed again a little (not all out) the last mile or so. I think the last half mile was at about a 6:55/mi pace.

My sternum/ribs (where I took a hard shoulder playing basketball a couple of weeks ago) have started hurting me a little again after about a week of no pain. I must have done something to aggravate them. I don't think it's anything serious. It just needs a little more time to heal.

Update: I went to our health fair at work today and had the following screenings done:

Blood Pressure:  122/77 (Desirable < 120/80)
Cholesterol:  162 (Desirable < 200)
Glucose:  94 (Desirable < 140)
Body Fat:  18.1% (Healthy Male 40-59 12% to 24%)
Body Mass Index:  23.8 (Normal 18.5 to 25)
Bone Density:  0.4 (Normal +1.0 to -0.99)

Basically, I'm pretty darn healthy, mostly due to my running (because I know my diet isn't very good). I'd never had my cholesterol, glucose, or bone density tested before so I was very pleased with these positive results. My blood pressure was just a little high, but I'm not worried. It varies over time and when I checked it recently at the pharmacy I was well under 120/80. I think it may have been a little high today because the young woman doing the screening was really cute and friendly and had a beautiful smile. (Don't worry, I already told Karen the same thing.) I've always been nervous around girls, especially cute ones.

It was great having Larry, Wayne, and Kevin all out again today. I hope we can keep it up. We did the Thursday run up towards Provo Canyon this morning. I inserted a few fartleks including a half mile at 5:53 pace. I averaged 8:50/mi for the 6.9 miles.

Well, at the prompting of my daughter (who was helping with Lavender Days at Young Living Lavender Farms this year) I ran in the Run Through the Lavender 5K for the first time, and maybe for the last time. It's not much fun running races no one else is interested in running. It's a lot more fun to have buddies running. I did bump into a former co-worker and my dentist's hygienist who ran the race, but it's not the same has being with my running buddies.

And the course, to me at least, is difficult. The course is almost entirely on dirt roads that run through the lavender fields. It is kind of cool to be able to have an unobstructed view of almost the entire course...the winners way up ahead and the masses coming behind...but most of the first half of the course is uphill. I warmed up well, a couple of miles on the course, and felt good at the start. Right from the start it felt hard to breath, but I chalked that up to starting fast and running uphill. I couldn't generate much speed on the gradual but steady uphill. When I finally got to the downhill I didn't have enough zip left to make up for the slowness on the uphill. Most of the last mile I had increased difficulty breathing. I was breathing every step and couldn't seem to take a deep breath. My chest felt tight and I had a pretty sharp pain in my back. I pushed through it as well as I could to the finish. I recovered very quickly after the race and felt great.

My splits were: 6:54, 6:51, 6:45, 0.11 in 32.96 (5:13/mi) Total 21:04 (6:46/mi)

I finished 17th among the men, 2nd in my division, and got chicked by two ladies.

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago I took a hard shoulder to my chest playing basketball. It didn't bother me during the Wasatch Back Relay, but I must have done something to aggravate it this week because it's been sore the last 3 or 4 days. It feels tight, it's hard to take a deep breath, and if I twist or stretch wrong it hurts. During this race my legs felt pretty good but breathing was difficult, very difficult near the end. I'm sure I'll be fine in the standard 4-6 weeks.

The awards ceremony was on a stage under a big tent with enough chairs for all of the runners. That was nice. The awards ceremony was done very well, except that they ran out of medals by the time they got to us older guys. At first they just gave me a 2nd place AD medal with a woman on it (which I didn't really want), but later they took the bib numbers of the winners and said they would send us the correct medals.

I was a little disappointed to finish in 21:04, and a little disappointed that I didn't win the 45-49 age division. They were giving nice Lavender wreaths to the AD winners. A time of 22:00 won the 45-49 division last year, but the man that beat me was only 44 last year. Local Ken Richens of Nephi ran it in 19:55 last year and 20:03 this year. I talked with him after the race. He ran St. George in 2:58 last year (to my 3:07). I would have taken 1st place in any of the other men's divisions age 35 or higher. Why did Ken have to be in my division this year? Oh well.

Probably the highlight of the race for me was waiting for the race to start. I started chatting with a young runner from Timpview and the guy from RunnerCard that was waiting to start the clock when the race started. I told him I liked races timed by RunnerCard (because I do). I then asked if the company wasn't run by Doug Padilla. He said yes, and introduced himself to me. He was Doug Padilla. The race started 10 minutes late so we had some time to talk. I told him I thought he had a cool job. He said they don't make a lot of money, but it keeps him involved in running and going to races. We talked about the challenge of timing the Wasatch Back Relay last week...long start, long finish. He was at BYU roughly the same years I was. As a missionary in Barcelona, Spain between 1979 and 1981 I remembered taking luggage (didn't arrive with their flight) to a couple of new missionaries who had just arrived. I remembered one was a big name runner from BYU. I thought I remembered it being Ed Eyestone, but I wasn't sure. Doug served in El Salvador, but confirmed that Ed Eyestone served in Barcelona about that time. It would have been cool to serve with Elder Eyestone, but I only saw him that one time before I headed home. At one point I asked the TimpView runner what his goal was and he said around 17:00. I said that I wished I could run 17:00 instead of 20:00. After a second Doug looked at me and said, sounding a bit surprised, "You run 20:00?" I don't know if it was admiration or disbelief. I choose to not be offended, so I'll take it as a compliment.

The raffle had some good prizes, including a couple of iPods, but I didn't win this time. After showering and eating breakfast back at my parents' home in Nephi, Karen and our two youngest girls hit Lavender Days for a few hours. We had low expectations, but ended up having a fun time. We ate snow cones, watched a couple of western shows, watched professional jousting at noon (Tiffany joined us as it was during her lunch break), shot arrows and threw axes, rode a couple of medieval rides, listened to a cool little old lady (named LaRue I think) play her accordion, and saw some cool snakes at the tail end of the reptile show. We stopped in Springville at DQ for Dilly bars and Blizzards on the drive home. Add all that to dinner out with my parents the night before (they never brought my dad's food and then messed up the check so badly we finally decided to alter the bill so we didn't cheat them out of 10 bucks and/or risk the waitress getting into trouble) and to the fact that we beat my parents 2 out of 3 games of Cribbage, and it was a pretty great trip.

AM. Ran the Lindon Loop with Larry (say that 10 times fast). It was a beautiful morning. This was one of those times where the conversation was the focus and we just happened to be running while we were talking. Average pace was 9:16/mi.

PM. At noon I ran 5.1 miles in the heat with Tom on a modified Lake View route. We each carried a bottle of water and were glad we did. It was good conversation, as usual, and at one point caught ourselves running a little faster than we wanted to be. I had talked Tom into wandering some streets we don't normally go on and I think I must have sped up a little as I was trying to figure out how to get back on course without exceeding our 5 mile goal. Average pace was 8:11/mi.

I ran the 2000 N route with Larry and Wayne this morning. I was feeling pretty good this morning so I threw in a few fartleks. The first one was up the the second half of the big hill. I ran back and rejoined them then pushed again on the last bit of uphill and added a little distance after our normal turnaround. I figured that would give me a chance to chase to catch them on the downhill. I rounded the first curve and couldn't see them. I then turned the corner and still couldn't see them. I was just becoming suspicious when I passed a couple of bikers and they said something, apparently to people behind me. I turned and saw Larry and Wayne in stealth mode trying to catch me. They had hidden as I passed them. They never caught me as we hit the top of the big hill and I took the brakes off. I averaged 6:01/mi for roughly 3/4 miles down the hill. I ran up to rejoin them and had little desire for additional fartleks the rest of the run. At the end of the run Larry gave Wayne and me the challenge of going a little farther than him up a side street and then trying to catch him before our normal finishing spot at Slater's corner. It was too much distance to make up in so short a time, but it did get us to push hard during the end of the run.

Another very enjoyable run with the guys on a beautiful morning. It's runs like these that are the reason I'm a runner. Races and PRs and all that are great, but it's the daily runs that are the staple of my running diet. They keep me healthy and happy.

6.4 miles @ 8:38/mi average

AM. Larry, Wayne and I ran the water tank hills this morning. We added on some distance at the top to get to 3 miles (6 miles round trip). I charged the last hill hard, but most of the run was at an easier pace. I did try using what I'm calling the biker rule. Someone told me that when you're riding up hills on mountain bikes that whoever gets to the top of the hill first has to go back down and ride up with the last rider. I went back a few times this morning, but it was never very far. I may continue this practice. It will allow me to push as hard as I want and still be able to run with my buddies. Hopefully they'll do the same for me when they get up the hill first.

PM. Well, I ran with Tom in the lovely heat today as planned...well sort of as planned. First, Tom said he had overdone his workout this morning and was only going to go a couple of miles. That meant he would turn back after only a mile, but one mile with Tom is better than none. About a mile into the run I suddenly decided to turn back early with Tom, and I ended up running both miles with Tom. I suddenly decided to cut the run short when I stepped on an uneven surface and rolled my left ankle. Those of you who know me know that I seem to do this more often than most people. Based on experience, I felt the best plan was to head back and "run it off" on the way back. By the time we got back it felt good enough that I went the extra distance to get to two miles. I'd rate this a 3 on my 1-10 ankle sprain scale. It doesn't hurt much to walk on it. I'm icing it now. Depending on how it feels in the morning, I may back off a little the rest of the week, or maybe not, but I think I'll be good to go again for sure by Monday. Ah, it's the adversity in life that keeps life interesting and helps us better appreciate the good times.

I stayed up late last night to take care of an urgent matter so I chose to skip the morning run. I did take an early lunch and get in 3.75 miles before meeting up with Tom and Nathan for our noon run. We ran the old Lake View run at an easy pace. I was especially careful on the dirt path where I twisted my ankle last Wednesday. This was my first run since then. I ran out front so I could have a clear view of the path ahead. That path really needs some maintenance.

My ankle felt pretty strong, but not quite 100%. We'll see how it feels this afternoon and tomorrow morning. So many of my buddies are training so well right now. I don't want to fall too far behind. Now that the relay is over, it's time to focus for the next three months on preparing for the St. George marathon, and the half marathons leading up to it.

I've been reading the book "Mormon Scientist" about renowned scientist Henry Eyring. He called himself a "happy muddler". He counsels that there will always be many unanswered questions: "In fact, each answer seems to raise more questions . . . Actually, that's what makes science and religion, fun. Faith is feeling good about myself, feeling good about God, and muddling along after truth as best I can . . . I'm a happy muddler".

I like the approach of just being happy and doing the best I can with what I'm given and not worrying too much about things I don't know or I can't control. I plan to just happily muddle my way to St. George, training as much as my body and my schedule allow. For me, training and fitness and achievement and PRs are just means to an end. The ultimate goal is to be happy, not just at the destination but all along the journey, smooth or bumpy, rain or shine.

Ran the 2000 N Tuesday route with Wayne. Larry's hip is bothering him so he joined us on his bike this morning. It was good to have him along. We pushed the pace slightly faster than normal, including up the big hill. It took us both a while to get going, and we were both plenty ready to stop at the end. The 9 miles I did yesterday at noon is a little more than I normally do at once, but Wayne ran 9 miles last night, so he had even less recovery time than I did. He's stepped up his training the last few weeks. He had 50+ miles last week and is running very well.

We had our relay team post-race party last night. Will and Kevin couldn't make it, but everyone else was there. It was fun. Afterwards, my sister-in-law who came with us told me I had a great group of friends. She's so right. 

AM. Wayne and I ran the water tank hills this morning. Larry was on his bike again, and brought along our neighbor James, also on a bike. Without speaking, Wayne and I both seemed to agree on pushing the pace a little faster than normal this morning. When we hit the hills, the challenge was to see if the runners could beat the bikers up the hills.

The first hill is pretty steep and the bikers seemed to struggle more than the runners. I was slightly ahead of Wayne at the top. I didn't want to run alone, but I also didn't want to give up any hard earned ground. Wayne encouraged me to keep going and not wait for him, so I did. I pushed up the remaining four hills. I finished about 45 seconds ahead of Wayne and never saw the bikes again until I'd run a half mile past the top of the hill and was on my way back.

My time from our start in the neighborhood to the top of the hill was exactly 27:00 minutes. The first mile or so only climbs about 100 feet, but then we climb over 600 feet in the next 1.5+ miles. This time isn't fast for many on the blog, but in our little world Wayne and I climbed the hill pretty fast today. We were tired coming back down, but still held a steady pace (not all out) the last 0.6 miles down 1600 N at 6:39/mi pace. Larry coasted this section and still beat us, but we had the satisfaction of having another quality run behind us. I'll find out at noon if I pounded my ankle too hard on the downhills.

PM. Ran the traditional Lake View route with Tom and Nathan. The temperature was in the lower 80's. We could feel the heat, but it wasn't really oppressive and there was a breeze. Tom turned back as planned after a couple of miles. Mile splits were 8:38, 8:17, 7:58, 7:50, 7:39. It was good to see Cory out running again today. Nathan and I were talking afterwards that we think he's not running with us because he doesn't want to slow us down. We all treat our Monday and Wednesday noon runs as easy runs, usually having run a tougher run in the morning. We need to convince Cory to start running with us again.

Things didn't go quite as planned this morning, but it was a good run anyway. Last week Larry, Wayne and I decided to start running 10 miles instead of 6 on Thursday mornings. I tweaked my ankle last Wednesday so I missed the first 10 mile Thursday run. I was looking forward to today's run.

I got up on time but my GI tract felt a bit off this morning and I didn't feel quite ready to run when I hustled to Larry's a little late. Wayne hadn't arrived yet and Larry was working on his bike. His hip is feeling better but he had decided to ride one more day before trying to run on it again. I asked to borrow Larry's bathroom and then finally felt ready to run. At first we thought Wayne had forgot we were leaving at 5:30am instead of 5:45am, but by 5:50am we realized he probably wasn't coming...very unusual for Wayne. Larry was still working on his bike but I decided to head out and let him catch up.

I ran up to Provo Canyon (about 3 miles) and then went another couple of miles up the trail. As I headed toward the canyon the headwind was pretty stiff. When I started on the trail I turned my hat around backwards so it wouldn't blow off. As I recall, I averaged around 8:50/mi the first four miles and just over 9:00/mi the last mile up. I felt a little GI distress during this mile, but it faded and never returned.

I finally ran into Larry on the way back down around Timpanogos Park. We had overlooked the fact that while Larry could catch up quickly on the bike, his dog Ozzie wasn't on a bike. Larry had to keep waiting for Ozzie. By the end of the run Ozzie was a living example of being dog tired.

It was great having Larry's company for the run back home. With the overall downhill and the wind at my back, I was able to pick up the pace. I ended up averaging 8:31/mi overall, with the last couple of miles being around 7:40/mi I think. My ankle held up well. I'm icing it anyway to hopefully prevent any setback.

My training and fitness is not where I hoped it would be at this point. I see Tom and Terry and Nathan and Josse and others training so hard and running so well and I must admit I'm a little jealous. I'm not afraid of the work and effort and pain. I'm afraid of blowing a gasket. If my body was a Ferrari I could just put the pedal to the metal, but I feel like I'm nursing an old Model T Ford. If I push too hard I'll find myself on the side of the road with steam boiling up from the radiator. But I feel pretty good about keeping the old car running and with the speed I am able to coax out of it. I'm grateful to be running as well as I am.

Wayne and Larry picked me up at 6:00am and we headed to the mouth of Provo Canyon. The wind was pretty strong (as usual) but the morning was cool and the day was beautiful for a run.

We ran up to Vivian Park then on up a half mile past South Fork park to get to 8 miles (16 miles round trip). Since Wayne and I were pushing a little faster, Larry turned around at 7.5 (South Fork Park) and we met back up with him at Vivian. Generally we averaged a little over 9:00/mi up and a little over 8:00/mi down. My overall average was 8:36/mi  for 16.2 miles. During mile 15 I threw in a tempo mile at 7:00/mi pace.

My right hip and left ankle were a little sore. The ankle is the one I twisted last Wednesday, so that's not too surprising after running 52 miles on it this week. I have some arthritis in my hip so that pain is not unfamiliar. Overall the old Model T held up well and I'm please with it's performance...no blown gaskets this week. 

I got very little sleep last night so I called Larry at 5:15am and said I was skipping the morning run and going back to bed. He seemed quite un-disappointed. I feel a little bad because I'm pretty sure he followed my example.

I went down for the noon run a little early and got in 1.7 miles on the treadmill before Tom was ready to go. I think Nathan is out of town this week. Tom had done a tough 10 mile canyon run this morning (man, he's training well!) so he was only going 4 easy miles. Even though it was 82' or so, and the humidity was up, I still enjoyed the run and talk with Tom (as usual). I then added another 2.6 miles on my own. I think I averaged around 8:30/mi overall for the 8.3 miles.

The ankle I twisted about 10 days ago is doing well, but it's complaining a bit that I put 52 miles on it last week, including 16 miles on Saturday.

Many of you know that shortly after Latter-day Saint missionaries return home after serving full-time for two years they are normally asked to speak in church. Often many of their friends and family attend to hear them speak. Yesterday a couple in our ward, the Gessels, spoke in church after returning from Portland, Oregon where President Gessel had served as mission president for 3 years. Many of the hundreds of missionaries who had served in their mission while they were there were in attendance. The chapel was nearly full before the regular ward members started arriving.

What an amazing meeting. The stake president was in attendance and authorized the meeting to be extended by 15 minutes. I drank in every moment. The messages were inspiring and the spirit was wonderful. I bring up this meeting because President Gessel presented a wonderful analogy that I could relate to, both in my life in general, and in my running. He said the previous mission president told him being a mission president was like running on a treadmill. Once you get on it may slow down or speed up, but it never stops for three years. President Gessel said that for him it was more like a 3 year long game of Whack-A-Mole.

What an accurate description of how so many of my days seem to go. I wake up in the morning, whack on as many moles that pop up as I can (never getting all of them), review my score at the end of the day, occasionally consider how to adjust my strategy to successfully whack more moles in the future, then sleep, wake, repeat. Sometimes it's fun whacking the moles and I do pretty well. Sometimes my arm aches, the mallet seems so heavy, and I can't seem to hit even a single mole. What a great analogy! If that was the only thing I got from the meeting it would have been worth attending, but that was just one sparkle of a many-faceted gem. It was brilliant!

If you are not familiar with Whack-A-Mole...from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whack-a-mole:
"Whac-A-Mole is a popular arcade rededemption game. A typical Whac-A-Mole machine consists of a large, waist-level cabinet with five holes in its top and a large, soft, black mallet. Each hole contains a single plastic mole and the machinery necessary to move it up and down. Once the game starts, the moles will begin to pop up from their holes at random. The object of the game is to force the individual moles back into their holes by hitting them directly on the head with the mallet, thereby adding to the player's score."

I went out a little early this morning and got in a couple of miles before meeting Larry and Wayne. I warmed up a mile up 1600 N them pushed the mile back down in 6:16. That was it for speed today. We just ran an easy pace on the 2000 N Lindon hill run, but it didn't feel all that easy. The ankle's holding up but is still a little weak. I'm still trying to ice it after every run and wear my neoprene ankle wrap for a little support and heat therapy during the day.

Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I ran the water tank hills this morning. We took it fairly easy to the base of the hills, with Kevin half-wheeling us most of the way. Kevin started up the first hill pretty strongly. He's always run the hills well, but he's been inconsistent with his training. I couldn't let him be the fastest up the hill today so I went with him. We ran together at a pretty strong pace (for us) until the top of the second hill. At this point Kevin seemed to back off the pace and I pulled away. I felt like I held a pretty strong pace (for me) all the way to the top of hill five. I headed back down to run up with the last runner. Kevin wasn't too far behind, with Wayne not far behind him, followed by Larry. We all ran the last bit of hill five together. What a team!

For my own future reference: To hills: 12:16, Up hills: 15:16, Total: 27:32

On the way back I decided to push the last mile. This is the same "fast mile" I ran yesterday that starts near the old WordPerfect buildings and comes down 1600 N then into my neighborhood almost to my house. It starts with a bit of gradual uphill, then a bunch of good downhill, with some level at the end. I ran it in 6:12 today, 4 seconds faster than yesterday. As Wayne said, it feels good to open up. It was also good to be cheered on by a group of 8 or 10 runners going up the other side of the road. Rich Lamoreaux and his wife were among them. We had seen them sprinting down the hill earlier as we were headed up. I think they were doing downhill repeats.

I'm easing some speed work into my training with these "if it feels good do it" fartlek runs. My goal is to maintain my weekly mileage at 50+ and add a little speed work, while waiting for my ankle to get back to 100%. I'd then like to add some "serious" speed work in the form of mile repeats and tempo runs. It's odd I guess, but I'm eager to feel the pain of effort instead of the pain of injury.

I'll be skipping the noon run today for personal reasons, and it's not because I'm lazy. 

I ran 10 easy miles with Wayne and Larry this morning, our new standard Thursday run...3 miles to Provo Canyon, then 2 miles up the trail, then back home. It was a beautiful morning, albeit a little more humid than normal.

We were asked to help drive some youth up to hike Ensign Peak last night. Jack Christianson, a Church history expert and motivational speaker, and member or our ward, was our tour guide. Two of our daughters were among the youth and we took our youngest daughter along, too. At the top, after learning about the history of the peak, we all sang the hymn "High on a Mountain Top", which was written about that peak. What a great experience. Even if you don't care about Mormon Church history and you just want a great view of Salt Lake Valley I highly recommend this short but fairly steep1/2 mile hike. Brigham Young and other pioneer leaders laid out the city from this hill two days after first entering the valley on July 24, 1847. It's 1.5 miles due north of the Salt Lake Temple. You can Google for more info.

I chose to do a little cross training this morning by playing basketball with my son Andrew and the gang (only 5 of us this morning) again. My ankle felt good, but my right hip was pretty stiff and sore until it loosened up. I'm glad I haven't played basketball for a while, because at times I sure needed some excuse for my play this morning. Andrew on the other hand played great. It was a lot of fun and I survived unscathed.

We were planning on running down South Fork from Trefoil to Fort Utah (about 17 miles) tomorrow, but tonight Larry called to see if I was interested in running the Diamond Fork run with the Sojourners. I've never ran or hiked that area, but I'm up for a new adventure. My ankle survived basketball well. I'll have to keep a close eye on the trail tomorrow and avoid any missteps.

I enjoyed this morning's Diamond Fork run with the Sojourners running club. There were about 30 runners that showed up for this roughly 18 mile mountain run. These included Wayne and Laryy who I drove there with, Bill Rieske from our relay team, Rich and Marci Lamoreaux who live nearby and who I stayed with at Boston last year, and Hawk and Cheryl Harper of Runner's Corner.

The run starts at Three Forks on a single track trail. Wayne, Larry, and I started near the back with Hawk and Rich and a few others. As we worked our way uphill, I enjoyed talking with Rich about the relay and about his experience running the Squaw Peak 50 the past two years, among other things. Wayne had pulled ahead of us and I didn't see him again until the gathering point at the top where the run moves onto a paved road. Larry had been running in front of us talking to Hawk, but then Larry stumbled and fell. He was okay, but when we started up again Hawk was in front followed by Rich and me and then Larry. Hawk pulled quickly away from us and Rich and I pulled slowly away from Larry and the other runners behind us.

There was a big uphill to start the paved portion of the run. Wayne, Larry, Rich, and I all started together with a couple of other runners. It wasn't long before Wayne started pulling ahead again. A little later Rich pulled away, too. I hung out in the back taking it easy on the big uphills. At the top of one hill we could a long downhill leading off into the distance and could see many of the runners strung out ahead of us. I was surprised how far ahead Rich and Wayne were ahead of me, so I told Larry I was going to try and catch them. He had a couple of other runners to run with so I took off. It took me almost a mile to catch them, a mile I ran at 5:46 pace. I was quite surprised to look down at my watch and see how fast I was going, but I was also quite pleased. There was a final big hill at the end of that mile, and we had been following the ultra marathon strategy of walking parts of the steep uphills, so I was able to recover by the top.

About that point the course leaves the road and starts on the trail back down past the Hot Pots and back to where we started. Wayne, Rich and I started out together for a while but when we hit the single track trail Wayne gradually pulled a little ahead of me and Rich dropped back behind me. This left me alone running down a beautiful shaded trail listening to the babbling brook and singing birds. This probably my favorite part of the run.

We caught up with most of the other runners at the Hot Pots, where some were taking a soak and others were continuing on down. Wayne and I didn't wait too long and decided to continue on down the last 2 or 3 miles. We passed some small groups of hikers and a couple of bikers and made pretty good time down to the cars.

Some of the runners, including Bill and Rich, had parked at a parking lot farther down and had run about a mile up to where we parked to start the run. I knew we'd have to wait a few minutes for Larry, and I didn't want Bill and Rich to think poorly of me for running less than them, so I ran down to the other parking lot and back up. When I got back all the runners were down and the snacks were out and Cheryl offered me a big bunch of grapes. They tasted way good, as did the cold bottle of water I had in the car.

On the drive down we stopped at Red Cliffs (I think) and took a short hike to see the ancient carving of a sun in a cliff. It was pretty cool.

I wouldn't want to drive this far very often (I love Provo Canyon being so close) but I really enjoyed the run today.

By the way, the distance is kind of a guess. My Garmin registered 17.22 miles. However, Hawk says that Garmins are notorious for being inaccurate on trail runs. He said some guys rode this course on mountain bikes and their odometers registered 18 miles. He also said that his son had measured 7.5 miles of it with a distance wheel and his Garmin only registered around 6 miles I think. So I'm counting 18 miles for the run, with an additional mile for run down to the other parking lot and back. That was closer to 1.5 miles, but I figure counting a Garmin reading of 17.22 as 19 miles is generous enough.

AM. I ran solo this morning. It seemed very warm and humid - mid-60's and 83% humidity. Even though it rained on me the first part of the run, and there was a tiny bit of breeze occasionally, I never really felt much coolness.

For the last week or so my right hip has been stiff and sore in the morning, as it was again this morning, but it loosens up and doesn't bother me much during my runs or during the day. Still, I decided to stick close to home this morning and just run 1/2 mile loops in my neighborhood. I decided to warm up a mile then try a 4 mile tempo run at marathon pace effort, followed by a mile of cool down. My mile splits for the tempo were 7:34, 7:32, 7:33, 7:23. This was a mostly level 1/2 mile loop, 1/2 slight uphill, 1/2 slight downhill. Given how hard it is to get my legs moving in the morning, I feel pretty good about my efforts. I ended up adding an extra 1.5 miles to the run. Most of it was at an easy 9:00-ish pace, but I threw in one fast 1/4 mile to see what my tired legs could do. I ran a 5:46/mi pace for that 1/4 mile stretch and it felt pretty good.

I've enjoyed inserting some faster miles here and there into my runs lately. My ankle is feeling much better. Now I've just got to work through this hip thing. Still, overall I'd have to say the old Model T is sputtering along okay.

PM. I put in a little more distance this morning because I'm not sure what the weather or my work schedule is going to be like today. I still hope to get some more miles in at noon. 

[I sing]
Oh, what a beautiful mornin'!
[You sing]
Oh, what a beautiful day!
[We sing in harmony]
We've got a beautiful feelin'
Everything's goin' our way.

[Singing fades to humming in the background] 

The run with Larry was good this morning, and I tacked on a couple of extra miles, but the morning itself was incredible. The air was fresh and clear. As the sun peeked over the mountains in the east it lit up the tops of the billowing clouds in the west.

I was greeted by drivers, bikers, other runners, and neighbors. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. As two bikers slowly passed us as they cheerfully worked their way up the steep 2000 North hill, I decided to help the trailing rider so I accelerated and pushed him up the hill for a bit by pushing on the back of his seat.

To top it all off, some tough bugs I've been chasing at work, that just wouldn't seem to go away, were both verified as resolved this morning. I can now relax and enjoy our company day at Lagoon tomorrow, followed by vacation days the rest of the week.

[I start to sing again, cheerfully and energetically (be grateful you can't hear me singing) ]
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah! Zip-a-dee-ay!
My, oh my, what a wonderful day!
(come on sing along)
Plenty of sunshine heading my way.
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah! Zip-a-dee-ay!

Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder.
It's the truth, it's actual.
Everything is satisfactual.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah! Zip-a-dee-ay!
Wonderful feeling!
Wonderful day!