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Week starting Jun 03, 2007

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Location:

Orem,UT,USA

Member Since:

Apr 03, 2006

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

HS/COLLEGE:
mile: 4:56, 2 mile: 10:21 (1978)
marathon: 2:52 (St. George 1982)
OLD MAN (20+ years later):
5K: 19:53 (Nestle/Art City Days 5K 2007)
10K: 39:55 (Spectrum 10K 2008)
half marathon: 1:26 (Hobble Creek 2008)
marathon: 3:07 (St. George 2007)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Get back to a BQ marathon time (currently 3:40).

Long-Term Running Goals:

Have fun running, keep fit, and fight middle age spread. Run consistently and injury free. Maintain a healthy balance between running and other life priorities. Encourage my ever-aging running buddies to keep running so we can continue to share runs on the trail instead of rocking chairs.

Personal:

Blessed to be married to Karen for 30 years. We have six children (4 daughters/2 sons) ages 16 to 30, and one wonderful granddaughter.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Altra Instinct 1.5 Lifetime Miles: 83.50
Altra Lone Peak 1.5 Lifetime Miles: 21.80
Saucony Guide 7 Blue 2 Lifetime Miles: 376.95
Saucony Fastwitch 6 Lifetime Miles: 200.05
Saucony Guide 7 Black 1 Lifetime Miles: 271.15
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
26.550.0016.000.008.0050.55
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
6.100.003.000.002.0011.10

I ran the Lindon Loop with Larry this morning at an easy pace (9:15/mi avg). I was surprised a little by how hard it was to hold this "easy" pace. I guess I loosened up somewhat during the run, as we ran the last mile or so at a sub-8 pace.

I felt a little pain in my left knee this morning, similar to what I first felt about 10 days ago when I was pushing hard on a Wednesday noon run. I've felt it a couple of times since then, usually after I've been pushing a fast pace (6:30-ish) for a while. It's not serious, but I need to keep an eye on it.

At lunch time I ran Eagles View with Cory and Nathan. It was pretty hot. We pushed pretty hard, but not as hard as some other days recently (7:55/mi, not 7:30/mi). My time was 39:33 (7:55/mi). I did push to a 7:01/mi pace the last 0.75 miles, and felt pretty good about finishing strong.

 

Some comparative times for this same run earlier this year are:

1/29: 37:58 (7:36/mi)

2/5: 39:48 (7:58/mi)

2/12: 37:53 (7:35/mi)

3/5: 39:22 (7:52/mi)

3/12: 41:57 (8:23/mi)

3/19: 37:48 (7:34/mi)

4/30: 40:25 (8:05/mi)

5/7: 37:27 (7:29/mi)

5/14: 41:44 (8:20/mi)

5/21: 37:37 (7:31/mi)

6/4: 39:33 (7:55/mi) 

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Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
1.700.000.000.006.007.70

Larry showed up this morning, but the toes which have been bothering him lately hurt him as he walked over so he opted to ride his bike instead of running with me this morning. I was okay with that, but didn't know where I wanted to run. Larry (jokingly I hope) said to just run up the big hill on 2000 N six times.

I decided I would run that hill. In the Wasatch Back relay I have a big downhill leg and another steady uphill leg. I figured the hill work might be beneficial. I decided to run the steepest part of the hill, from the Oak Canyon Jr. High crosswalk near 180 W up to the fire hydrant at the top of 2000 N. This is just over 1 mile up, and then another mile back down. Running it six times would have been 12 miles, so I chose to only do it three times.

I didn't really press the pace, but I wouldn't classify it as easy either. It felt like it was just slightly under marathon pace effort. I pushed the uphills hard enough to maintain a steady stride rate at around 180 steps/minute, and then recovered on the downhills while still maintaining my form and stride rate.

My up/down paces for the three repeats were:

1 - 10:52 / 7:51 - I started at Main instead of near 180 W, so this was only 0.85 miles uphill.

2 - 10:26 / 7:36

3 - 10:25 / 7:05 - At the top, instead of immediately turning around and heading back down I continued along the road (which levels off) to our normal turn around point (0.25 mi). My thought was to catch my breath a little so I could push the downhill a little faster the last time down. I did go faster, but I wasn't really pushing. It was more like letting off the brakes a little more.

With the warmup and cooldown the total mileage was 7.7 miles. This is a little short of the 8 miles per day Sasha recommended I do, but I'm okay with that. After all, I ran 11+ yesterday, and today was hills. By the way, can I count the 1/2 mile walk with my dog I do after many of my morning runs while I cool down? :-)

I really enjoyed this morning's run. The weather was cool and the day was beautiful. I didn't notice any aches or pains, and I recovered pretty quickly.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
0.500.005.500.000.006.00

My left knee was aching this morning. I'm wasn't sure if it was because of the low pressure system that moved in (this is my bad "weather knee" from surgery when I was 14) or from the hard hill run I did yesterday. I didn't want to overdo it, so I chose to skip the two-a-day today and only do the lunch time run. Yes, I would have been running alone this morning, and it was raining hard, too, but if the knee had not of been hurting, I would have done the morning run anyway.

It was still raining pretty hard at lunch time. I almost ran in the rain anyway, but in the end opted for the treadmill, which I really don't enjoy very much. The fitness center seemed hot and humid, and this combined with the boredom and monotony of the treadmill to produce a wonderful (heavy sarcasm) running experience.

I ran 6 miles in 47:48 (7:58/mi). I think I ran 1/2 mile@9:00, 2.5.miles@8:00, 1 mile@7:47, 1 mile@7:35, and 1 mile@7:47.

 

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Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
1.000.007.500.000.008.50

It was a little cool and windy this morning. I thought Larry was coming out this morning, but he's heading out with the youth on a handcart trek at noon so I wasn't too surprised when he didn't show.

I decided to run the Orem route but lengthened it a couple of miles by going down to 800 E and 800 S (near Costco) before turning back. Just before I got to the 800 E 800 S intersection I started having some stomach cramps. Fortunately, there were some guys playing basketball at one of the churches at that corner so I was able to make a much needed pit stop.

I ran a total of 8.5 miles in 1:10:57 (8:20/mi). There was a pretty strong head wind as I headed back north. At one point I ran 1/2 mile north, slight uphill into the wind, at 8:40/mi. I then turned west and ran the next 1/2 mile, not into the wind and a slight downhill, at 7:40/mi expending the same effort. This was representative of most of the run. I tried to maintain an even effort (around marathon level), and I averaged 8:20/mi, but most of the miles were either faster or slower depending on the grade and the direction with respect to the wind.

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Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
4.000.000.000.000.004.00

I chose to play basketball with my son Andrew and my old basketball buddies this morning. With preparing for the Boston Marathon, and Andrew's shoulder surgery a few months ago, I hadn't played for months. It was definitely the right decision. Andrew doesn't live at home and it was great spending some time with him again, not just while playing but on the drive there and back. I also enjoyed being with many of my old basketball friends again. I've been playing with some of these guys for over 15 years; one is an old friend from high school. Besides all the social aspects, it was great exercise, and even though I was a little rusty, I actually didn't play all that badly. It was great fun. It was a great cross training workout. We played a little longer than normal, for over two hours, and I was plenty tired by the end.

It's hard to map basketball into running miles, but I can't not count it at all. I just roughly count one easy mile for every 20 minutes of basketball (equivalent to a walking pace), subtracting out the time between games and when I'm sitting out.

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Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
13.250.000.000.000.0013.25

I tried something different for my long run today, and learned (hopefully) a lesson or two.

My 15 year old daughter Brittany was involved in a handcart trek experience this week. We found out mid-week that parents were invited to be there Saturday morning. They talked a lot during the trek about the Willie and Martin handcart companies. Just after the leaders talked of the rescue parties that came to save the pioneers, the parents came walking in. The leaders then talked of how the youth can look to their parents as rescuers to help them when life seems too hard to go on. It turned out really well and was a great experience for the youth and for us parents. We also got to eat breakfast with them, help pack up their camp for the last time, and trek the last mile or so with them and then take them home.

I missed my normal Saturday morning long run, and my wife Karen missed a niece's baby shower for which her sister had flown in from Arizona, but we have no regrets. We made the right choice to be with Brittany. Karen went and spent most of the rest of the day with her sister and they had a great time. I ran some errands and then went into work for a couple of hours. I decided to do my long run starting from work later in the evening when it cooled down.

About 6:30 pm I headed to the fitness center. To my surprise, my clothes I had put in the fitness center laundry on Wednesday were not in my locker as they should have been. I eventually found them as I sorted through a basket behind the reception desk. It was after 7:00pm before I finally got started with my run. It was still around 80 degrees.

I had decided I would run south to my sister Katherine's house in Mapleton, which was about 14-15 miles round trip. I sometimes struggle with bowel issues running in the evening, so I took a path that took me past the house in Springville I was raised in (where my nephew now lives) at about mile 5 in case I needed to make a stop.

I had forgotten it was Art City Days in Springville, and unexpectedly ran into and through the carnival downtown. My mile splits for the first five miles were 8:28, 8:31, 8:23, 8:34, and 8:44. These were mostly level miles. The next 2.25 miles as I climbed into Mapleton were a little more uphill and I slowed to around a 9:10/mi average.

As I was approaching my sister's house I was feeling the need for a bio break and was thinking how well my plan had worked out. This was the last time I thought this during this run. As I came to her house I saw an empty driveway. My brother-in-law is a cabinet builder and their garage is a workshop (they always park in the driveway), and the house was dark, so I knew they weren't home. Fortunately, there is a gas station at the next intersection, so I stopped there for my bio break.

I was actually still feeling pretty good at this point and decided to add a couple of miles to my run by running farther into Mapleton towards the mountains before turning back north and beginning the return trip. The siren song of the beautiful summer evening was calling me. I eventually ended up on the last road that connects Mapleton to Springville before going up Hobble Creek canyon. The extra mile or two I was going to add to my run ended up being 2.7 miles one way, all gradual uphill (average pace 9:50/mi). This is where things began to fall apart.

First, I realized I had turned my 14-15 mile run into a 19-20 mile run.

Next, I noticed the sun was about to set. I would be running in the dark most of the rest of the way and wouldn't finished until nearly 10:00 pm.

That's about when I noticed that my middle toes on my right foot were feeling a little weird. It wasn't really pain, but I figured I needed to take my shoe off and see what was going on in there before it got worse. I looked for a good place to sit, and not finding one, ended up sitting down on the side of the road. As I took my shoe off, I was surprised to see a bloody sock and then bloody toes. My toenails weren't long, but there was a sharp corner on the left edge of my middle toe that had pierced a small hole in the longer toe to its left. A pair of nail clippers and a bandaid would have been real handy about now. If I could have reached my toenail to my mouth I would have tried chewing the sharp edge off.

As I put my shoe on and got up, it hurt to walk, but hurt a little less to run so I continued jogging towards the main road up Hobble Creek canyon. It was already nearly dark, and I figured I still had 5-7 miles to go, so I decided to abort the run. Fortunately I was smart enough to carry my cell phone on this run (but not a bandaid...duh). The only problem was my wife had one car with her at her sister's son's house in Kearns , and I had the other one parked at work, so my 18 year old son Adam had no way to rescue me (as he did last year on a 20 miler, but that's another story). I finally decided to call my 20 year old son Andrew who lives in an apartment near UVSC. He was home and agreed to come to my rescue. I continued to jog as I told him where I was.

When I hung up I realized that my toe was no longer hurting me. I almost called him back, but it was still getting dark, I didn't know how long before it would start hurting again, and I figured it would make him feel good to rescue me anyway. I had told him to just come up 400 South until he found me, so I decided I would see how far I could get before he got to me. I ended up making it another 2.75 miles (avg 9:44/mi), and he picked me up near Reams and drove me back to work. Aside from the toe, I was still feeling pretty good, and kind of wish I could have completed the whole run. I may try it again sometime when I have a better plan, and have a bandaid with me, and have trimmed my toenails a little better.

When I got back to the fitness center to shower, there was quite a bit more blood on my sock and toes than the first time I looked. I felt better about the decision to abort. I enjoyed the shower and actually felt pretty good as I got dressed. I was pretty hungry, though, and I knew Karen wouldn't be home until probably after midnight, so I decided on Fazoli's for dinner. I called Andrew to see if he was hungry, and ended up dropping some Fettucine Alfredo and breadsticks by his apartment to say 'thank you'.

Today didn't turn out quite as planned, but as I've discovered in life, sometimes what happens, even with some bad mixed in, ends up being maybe even better than what was planned. I really enjoyed being with my wife and daughter and the others at the trek this morning. I got some good work done in the afternoon, I enjoyed the part of the run I completed, I still managed to get in over 13 miles, with some good uphill miles which I needed, at an average pace of 9:10/mi, and I got to share some quality time with my adult son and allow him to serve me in a way that strengthened our relationship. Despite the unexpected events and apparent adversity, this day turned out to be a tender mercy, a blessing from God.

Comments(2)
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
26.550.0016.000.008.0050.55
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