I found a gym

Arizona!

Missed yesterday's five miler due to traveling snafus; made it up today running around my house looking for a gym. I finally found the YMCA open and convinced them to give me a guest pass, after which they had me fill out all the paperwork, then informed me they were leaving for their two hour lunch break so I would have to come back later. Called Nathan in crisis, (gee, haven't I done that before???) By the time I found one (LA Fitness) it had been at least 2.5 miles of rubbernecking this way and that. I then did my key run treadmill workout (basically slow until five 3 minute bursts at 6.8 mph and 3% incline). I then jogged back home in perfect running weather, about 55 degrees, a slight breeze.

As far as the LSAT, I did get my score, 154. The good news is that the last time I took it, I beat a whopping 26% of the other test takers; this time I beat 60%. And I did as well as I was doing on most of the practice tests, which is good for the real thing, when every question was brand new. I was blessed. But I think mostly I was blessed the way I needed to be (shock, shock), which was a) to know I was loved and feel that throughout the test, and b)to not do better than my hard work merited. I could have studied longer, although not harder. My score should get me in to Gonzaga....which means my lazy aspirations of not getting in at all are probably unfounded.

today's workout

Ran outside; it was so cold. The thermometer said 28 but there was a wind and it felt much colder. I used those "hotties" hand warmers inside my gloves and my fingers were still frozen by the time I finished running down the first hill from my house. By the time I got home my lips were so cold that talking was like after getting numbed up at the dentist.

Next time I will wear the winter tights and gloves over my gloves, My head and torso were warm enough. I don't run outside enough to know how to do it but I am learning. All next week is Arizona though!

But it was so fun getting outside, not sweating, actually going somewhere.

According to my plan I should have been finishing at 1:19:34, and that it was supposed to be "easy". I had a rough time ever being at the pace I was supposed to be as it was very hilly, so I went way faster on the downhills, (7:31) and way slower on the uphills (11+). Overall though I did it in 1:16:53, so too fast, and not easy. I was cold though and couldn't slow down much.The best news is my heart did not do the flip flop crash it often does in the shower, (neurocardiogenic syncope); I've learned to reach over and turn it much colder as soon as I start to feel symptoms and it completely fixes the problem so I don't have the hours of lethargy and near disorientation. And no need for the medication, at least not for that!

Christmas Eve in Houston

Here is my post that I put up on the other blog this morning.

"51F, wind W 8 mph, 5.11 miles in 1:00:18, average pace 11:49/mile, low heart rate. I felt very fatigued last night, especially my legs, even though I hadn't run hard yesterday. But I got a rare 8 hours of sleep and when I ran my first mile in 12:22 I knew it would go well. My best mile was 11:30, a low heart rate record for me. The overall pace is also a record by 23 seconds per mile. Now off to the stores.

Yesterday I was at the end of a long checkout line in a sporting goods store when somebody opened a register right next to me, looked at me and said "no waiting". I was right there. Then a lady about my age (i.e., indeterminate age) started kicking up a fuss, saying she was ahead of me in the old line. I'm like what the heck, doesn't she know holiday shopping is a competitive sport? Then I realized of course she knew. She thought since I was a man I wouldn't know. Smirking here in Houston."

Merry Christmas everybody.

Running Shoes

I have decided that my running shoes got a flat from one of those barbed weeds during the marathon and I need to get some more shoes before I run again. Hopefully it will get done soon and I can pound some pave. Right now, I just go ice skating because I found a really cheap family pass at the olympic oval. Is it a good idea to train Lexy how to ice skate on the "fastest ice on earth?" Last week they had the speed skating worlds and set a bunch more world records.

Today's Long Run

OK Nathan, here is the report I posted on the other blog, it was a good run today:

"51F and misting, this weather was perfect. 22.14 miles in 3:30:00, average pace 9:29 per mile, no heart rate monitor. My goal was to run 9:30 per mile, so I made it just barely. I went for it right out of the gate. My first mile was 9:22 and my last was 9:31, fastest split was 9:08 and slowest was 9:42. Unlike some other long runs, this wasn't a steady acceleration to the end of the run. I was struggling a lot to make 9:30 the last few miles but my overall average was there, about a 4:08 marathon pace. I don't think I could have run the extra 4 miles needed for a marathon today, though. I was done, done, done by the time I quit. I finished about a mile from my house and sat down on a rock. After 10 minutes of no improvement, I felt like laying down but I knew somebody would call an ambulance if I did that. I always run with a cell phone, so I woke up my 16-year old son from his Saturday morning slumber. No one else was home, so he agreed to pick my butt off the pavement and I made it home. Yesterday morning he skipped seminary, failed to take out the trash and drove the best car to school. I was going to give him a piece of my mind but decided to exercise some restraint. Didn't realize the payoff would come so quickly.

So where does this run leave me? No clear answer as to a goal marathon pace, but I still learned a lot. I think with a proper taper I could get 4 more 9:30 miles out of these legs, but I was definitely running in risky territory today. On the other hand, nothing ventured, right? Have to take risks to improve, and I'll know when the day arrives what to do."

My latest...nothing :(

I wish I had running to report and am really jealous of all who can. I would just about do anything to go for a 5 mile run. I'm gaining weight back, and mentally don't feel as good. This is all due to my hurting right knee. I'm waiting back for the MRI results, and my family doctor thinks it's going to be a torn meniscus. He says it's no big deal. I've been around just long enough to know that's what they all say when it involves surgery. I know that's not a good train of thought to have, when that may be the only thing that helps me, but I hate surgery. I've pretty much ruled out IT band issues. The rest I've given myself has been more than enough to let that get better. Unfortunately, if anything, the symptoms have stayed the same if not actually gotten a little worse.

I don't get where Darly and Stephen are? You guys really should check into the blog and post. It can't be any more bleak than mine.

I'm ready for another Mark post as well.

I am baaaaaaaaack

I pounded 7.3 on the treadmill this morning in an hour and am wanting to go more. I feel so much better today.
I also have high hopes for Nathan (my LSAT teacher always said, "I have high hopes for e"...I keep hearing her voice in my head. Still. Another example? "If you see a question like this, "RUN SCREAMING INTO THE NIGHT!" (Yes she yelled it)).

Have i mentioned I am now certified ADD? yup. Had all the tests. Have the diagnosis. It didn't do any good though. They won't give me the drugs because of other medical conditions.

Which are gone today, right?

It is YOUR turn. POST.

E

Endless sky, endless road.

Six miles in one hour, but outside. I'll take that while I can get it as I go home in three days back to 18 degree weather with no sidewalk availability. It isn't just the cold; I don't like running in the middle of the street. So. I'm enjoying this while I can. And I am getting so out of shape! I feel like I had a hard workout, yud.

I took off past Power on Pecos this morning, just to see how far it goes. It goes! I don't know why but it's so cool to just look down a long lonely road in the middle of nowhere and know I can't see the end. It's like hope; there is a lot of work to do, and that is the good news. Maybe I'm just grateful to be alive, grateful to be running, grateful for the Arizona sun and my brother for taking care of me here. (He thinks I'm studying right now). Oh my. I could go on and on. I am grateful.

We ran

I got Charles to run with me today. What I was doing was finally challenging enough for him to consider me a worthy running partner. I told him that I would like him to stay with me but he could run on ahead if he chose. Mostly he stayed with me. Sometimes he pulled way ahead and then jogged back to me until I caught up. But it ended up being a great workout for me as we run 11.6 miles in 97 minutes with Charles pulling me along. Near the end we had to deal with steep uphill.

I ran

At they gym. 6 miles. It was boring, except Nathan was there complaining I'm a snob cuz I don't write on this blog. So, now I did. And this is two in a row. And it's your turn, somebody. Let's talk about croxx training. I need some cross training motivation, especially if my heart is going to force me to slow down.

I pretty much just study and talk about studying.

what happens when you're too busy to run

This guy came out to look at me. He just stared at me; it was 11:30 at night so I didn't call Nathan. But I really wished I had a treadmill so I could make use of my (resultant) rapid heart rate and get some running in! Now it's Sunday and I just keep eating. And studying all day gives me the munchies. Bad. And not running does the same thing, sigh.

Is Anybody Else Going to Post?

I'll step right up folks and post my run for today, would really like to see what the rest of you are doing:

51F at beginning, 53F at end, 21.00 miles in 3:28:04, average pace 9:55 per mile. This was the goal run I had for last week but didn't make it, so I stubbornly added a half hour to the run and went for it again. It was about 10 degrees cooler and that helped, but I think my training helped too. This run puts me on target for a 4:20 to 4:30 marathon on New Years Day. A good day would be faster than that, but a bad day would be slower. Either way I should beat my St. George time unless heat is a factor, which is always a possibility around here.

When I anxiously peered out the window at 5:00 a.m. it was raining and gusty. That doesn't usually bother me for a shorter run but it gave me pause this morning. I knew my feet would be wet and my shirt heavy by the time I got done. I have a weak mind, what can I say. But I made it out the door and everything went pretty well after I got going. It never rained too hard, but my feet were wet and my shirt was heavy by the time I got done. My splits were:

10:20, 9:25, 9:46, 9:53, 9:59, 9:42, 9:53, 10:00, 9:45, 9:52, 9:53, 9:56, 9:51, 10:00, 9:47, 10:00, 9:56, 10:00, 9:58, 10:03, 10:05.

I learned a lot on this run. I got my hydration and electrolytes working pretty well so I could concentrate on my other systems. By the time I got 2/3 of the way in I was struggling with every mile, but I learned that I could push through when I don't have stomach issues.

Just Another Long Run

Given Stephen's emergence as a world-class marathoner, I am kind of embarrassed to post my humble efforts on this exclusive blog. But somebody has to keep it going, so here goes:

I had kind of a weird run yesterday. It was 56F at start, then 66F at end, so it was getting warm and that was part of the problem. I ran 17.62 miles in 3:00:00, average pace 10:13 minutes per mile. I did not take a heart rate monitor on this one. My one-mile splits were as follows:

10:43, 9:57, 9:49, 9:43, 10:10, 9:54, 9:52, 9:54, 10:03, 10:13, 9:55, 9:56, 10:09, 10:00, 10:12, 11:14, 11:17, 7:00 (.62 miles at 11:20 pace)

I ran 14.5 miles before I broke and started slowing, then after another mile I detoured into the golf course clubhouse for a bathroom break. Golf clubs are kind of exclusive places and it was the Saturday morning rush. The way you pull this off is just walk in like you know what you are doing, streaming sweat and red face like you just came off the practice tees, and dare somebody to stop you, kind of like a terrorist. They don't negotiate with terrorists -- nobody has the appetite to tell you not to go to the bathroom, it is beneath them and they just back off, hoping the "help" will show up and fix the situation.

I turned off my clock for that episode, then started it again and jogged the rest of the way to three hours at 11:15 to 11:20 pace. The good news is that just a couple of months ago I couldn't have run this whole run at even 12:00 pace, mostly because of the heat but that isn't all of it. I am definitely getting better and it won't be long before 10:00 seems slow.

The goal was to run 3 hours at a 10:00 pace, so I missed that. I had difficulties from the start keeping the speed up. I never got down to an overall 10:00 pace, though I got within 2 cumulative seconds once, but I never went negative. If the temperature had been 10 degrees colder I might have made it, but the lesson from this run is that I am probably not going to be ready to run my January 1 marthon in the low 4s -- mid-4s is more likely, which is nevertheless a significant improvement over St. George, especially considering this marathon is here in Flatlandia.

If I am feeling good in a week I will go on a 3:30:00 run and try again to see if I can maintain a 10:00 pace. If it is a little colder I might make it. If I don't make it I will back off, because I need to get a 4:30:00 run in at a slower pace if that is going to be my marathon time on January 1. The important thing is to be out on the course as long as it is going to take to run the marathon, not so important to do it at marathon speed, in fact they don't recommend that.

During the week I have been doing all my runs at low heart rate, running every day for 1:15:00. I'll probably bump that up by 5 minutes this coming week. 47 miles total for the week.

Easy living in AZ

Tough day. I slept in till 0700, didn't get out running till 0800, and managed to take four hours to go 20 miles, stopping twice for the 32 oz Powerade. (Finally. Did you know if you turn right at Germann from my house you can run 10 miles and never come into a source of fluids? Not even a mirage. I was talking to Nathan on my cell when I saw the Circle K, a beautiful sight to behold). Even 75 degrees must be dehydrating as I was still so thirsty for hours after I got back.

And there was a dog. I'm not as fast as Stephen, but I did turn around and run backwards and pretend to throw something as it chased me down the road. That worked, sort of. Except when I turned back around I ate a tree...I kind of twirled into it and tried to ignore the cars driving by..who were surely laughing and making blonde jokes. I am covered with tiny scratches but that's about it. Not even my ego really cares.

My fam is flying in tonight. I wish they would hurry. I miss them.

Halloween Run

I'm still paying the price, but I did it. I ran the Provo Halloween half marathon from the Timpanogos trailhead at Aspen Grove, down the Provo river 2000 feet into Provo. My goal was 2 hours, but, with all the downhill, it went faster than expected and I completed the race in 1:45:47, 8:04/mile and good enough for 4th place in my age division and one second behind the third place finisher. Over 700 runners participated, but I could only guess how many were in my age division.

I would be elated if I could come close to this time at the Logan run in Queen Creek on January 30. I'm sure that it will be a lot harder.

I didn't even run this morning. I'm still very sore. Hopefully tomorrow.

Food for thought

I have been tossing around an idea lately that I'll value everyone's feedback when they get a chance. After, Mark mentioned ITB syndrome and without having any insurance (until Nov. 1st) I did some reading on Google and think he is probably right. I am an overpronator on my right foot only which goes hand in hand with ITB syndrome. Once we get insurance, I'm going to schedule some diagnostic testing to see exactly what is up.

However, I am getting somewhat frustrated of being injured and not being able to run due to my injuries. I'm becoming more convinced that I needed to take it even slower and allow more time to increase my measly miles. After 15 years of basically sitting on my can, eating like crap and not taking care of myself it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm battling injury. I'm starting to think that I want to start all over from scratch again. I want to basically not do anything that causes my knees, feet, back and hips to hurt until I first strengthen my core, increase my flexibility and lose a little more body fat. Then and only then will I start to run.

If anyone else has any ideas, I'm open to anything at this point.

Stressful day=more miles

My goal is to run up to two hours a day, 6 days a week, split into two workouts, adding 4-5 miles a week until I get up to 60 miles a week. I am to do 45 this week; I am only on week two. I really don't know if I will do Boston...I am not registered and it may well be full by the time I decide. However, that's okay with me. I don't want a repeat of last year. I will go if I have a good shot at getting the time I was shooting for last year. I'm just on the boring treadmill, still worried about my knee. When I go outside my miles will likely go down a little before they go back up...we will see.

I am headed to Arizona so will be running outside there.

Go with the flow

Well, I haven't posted since before the marathon but I underestimated the impact of injuring my foot. I left the marathon kind of beaten up even though I had a pretty good run until about mile 20. I did see the Doctor and x-rays showed negative for a break but stress fractures wouldn't show up until after they start healing a bit so I am not sure at this point whether it is a stress fracture or tendon related. But the pain is going away slowly and sometimes I can walk without a limp. The drug of running is gone from the blood and so I am on a down cycle wishing I could go to the gym to weight lift to get the endorphins flowing a little.

The longest run of my life

Since blog authorship has proven successful for me, I'll do a real post.

I signed up for a half marathon run on Oct 31 from above Aspen Grove (near Sundance) into Provo. I'm kind of excited about it. It will give me an idea of what I can do on the real run on Jan 30, except that it is all downhill. There are only about 500 people signed up so far, so I should finish within the first 500.

I ran part way up and down Provo canyon this morning for a training run. I had to keep going until it was light enough to read the mile posts, so I went a little further than intended. I also had quite a scare as I heard some loud rustling noises above me in the dark. You should have seen how fast I ran then. After about half a mile, I stopped looking over my shoulder and relaxed down to a slower pace.

All told, I went up 7.3 miles and back. 14.6 miles in 134 minutes for an average pace of 9:10 per mile. I don't think my legs have ever felt so rubbery, but I was pleased.

Test

Just checking to see if I now have author privileges

Latest knee news

Well, since I check this everyday and thoroughly enjoy it, and have been disappointed with new posts and comments, I'll bore you all with my lame details.

My knee is....better....but still scary.

I thought at first I tore something, then thought that it wasn't a tear due to how fast it was getting better, but now I'm thinking it's somewhere in between. I can walk just fine and can run .75 miles at an 11 minute pace, but it soon starts to get stiff and then hurt. I then slow it down to a walk and it feels decent. Don't really know what to do. I'm pretty bummed actually. I really have huge desires to one day run fast and far. It feels like every day that goes by is a day wasted. Maybe I should just completely shut it down for 3 weeks and start over??

Any and all thoughts are much appreciated. I would be swimming to keep my cardio up if there was a pool in Afton, but no luck. I'm going to resort to just start pounding my thighs with my fists or something. :)

Finally Got a Good One

I traveled to SLC on Monday of race week, with the intention of getting some acclimation to the altitude, and I think that worked pretty well, though you can never know for sure. I was steeply into my taper mode by the time I arrived at altitude and only ran twice during the week. The first time was a run out the door of Jennifer and Scott’s apartment on Tuesday morning, out Foothill then up Sunset toward the Hogle Zoo before turning around and returning for a total of about 5.1 miles. Lots of up and downs on the run which was good. My lungs burned a little to start then seemed to get used to the thinner air. Then Wednesday afternoon I ran with Byron at the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo. The track is about 1/6 mile and we ran around and around for an hour, no idea how far we went but I felt good and Byron ran slow for my benefit.

There were complications this week, from a deal I have been working on for three months and has still not closed. Lots of tense moments made worse by me being out of town, even though I had good cell phone and internet connections. But we got most of the issues done and out of the way by the time I got into the car with Clint and headed down to St. George on Friday afternoon, although I was on the phone as we took off and Clint drove the first while until I could get off the call and switch so he could study.

Running with me in the marathon were Clint (more about that later), Byron and Marci, Elaine, Daryl and Eric. Cheryl and Nathan were entered but had to drop out from injuries. (It turns out there is no truth to the rumor that Cheryl broke her tailbone during a yoga class, but it was a wonderful story while it lasted.) Esteemed visitors at the finish line were Scott, Jennifer and Jane, Stephen, Nathan and his four boys, and Becky. Walt and Helen stayed behind in Woodland Hills to tend Byron and Marci’s kids and Kate. Dale Thurber, Daryl’s training partner, wasn’t entered in the race but came down with Daryl, drove him to the starting line the back way from Cedar City, then ran a marathon distance through the mountains while the race was going on, he was crewed by his sister and saw a lot of interesting country and wildlife. He ran about 4:15 and seemed disappointed by his time. I would kill for a 4:15.

We stayed at a motel in Hurricane and left at 3:30 in the morning to catch a 4:00 bus ride from the finish line to the start line. It was low 30s up there at altitude. There were lots of bonfires burning, probably about 50 and lots of Juans (Clint’s term for outhouses), but only one roll of toilet paper in each outhouse. Clint and I rode with Byron and Marci, and miraculously found Daryl. Byron and Marci bought us some airplane blankets at WalMart in Hurricane which really helped cut out some of the cold breeze. It was dark up there with a full moon which sank by the time the race started.

At the start of the race it took us 10 minutes to cross the timing mats, but the race computer measured our time exactly the same way as my Garmin watch did, within one second, so no complaints. I ran with a wallet, car keys and a cell phone. Everything else went into the drop bag.

Clint didn’t feel like he had trained enough for this marathon and he was probably right. His longest run going into the race was 12 miles. He has run one other marathon, at 4:45 about 5 years ago. My goal pace was 5:00, so we agreed that Clint would stay with me and dial 911 as needed. As I looked at the mass of runners in front of me trying to cross the starting mat I told Clint that I would never win this race. Quite a few people overheard me and were laughing out loud at the old man. Need some Southern hospitality out there in St. George.

Daryl ran the first 3 miles with us then took off at his own pace. Clint watched him longingly as he faded into the distance. I had a chart for my goal pace, and we were too fast the first mile then too slow the second mile. After that we pretty much stayed right on pace for the first half of the race. It seemed a little fast at first then seemed quite comfortable, even a little slow.

The first miles went by really fast. There were lots of interesting people to watch, fat, skinny, fashionable, nerdy, everybody turned out for the fun. Lots of funny signs too, but neither Clint nor I can remember what any of them said.
The first reality check was the Veyo hill, which started after 7 miles and was very steep for one mile, then a gradual uphill through mile 12. I ran halfway up the hill then decided to walk, though I still made my split for that mile. Somewhere in here I took a detour into the bushes but only lost one minute.

When I reached the halfway point I felt better than I ever have, whether during a race or a training run. The only major climb in the race was past, and I was in good shape. I was a little bit emotional that I felt so good but tried not to blather all over the course. I had told myself ahead of time that if I felt good at the half I would stretch it out a little bit. The average pace over the entire course for me was 11:23 per mile, and I started putting down some fast miles, getting as low as 9:27 on one of the splits, mile 15 I think. Reality started to sink in a little as we approached mile 18, a little more as we approached mile 20, but we were still going strong, passing hundreds and hundreds of walkers. I tried to stay hydrated and even ate a little bit of bananas and oranges, whenever offered. I was very confident and confided in Clint that I had dropped my goal finish to 4:45. Clint calculated that if we kept up the same pace (mid-10s) we would make it.

Clint and I talked about everything under the sun. We had a great time, then we weren’t talking anymore at about mile 22, as things started to get grim for the old man who was sure he wasn’t going to win this thing. I felt the first signs of fatigue back at mile 15, then my old friend returned, nausea. We kept going until mile 25 or so when the heat got me and I finally had to walk, a bit anticlimactic after thinking I would finish the whole thing without stopping to walk any significant distance. I walked the rest of the way in and Clint stuck with me. We walked all the way down the finish chute, much to the disappointment of all my fans, jogging only a few steps across the mat. My time on the Garmin was 4:58:30, and my official race time was 4:58:29, I finally broke 5 hours.

I misted off and got inside the runners area, but finally had to lay down and empty the contents of my stomach. Then my right calf cramped right under the shin bone. A couple of Army guys helped me up and into the tent where they took my vital signs, let me eat a popsicle then shooed me out. I did an interview with Scott, but found that I still couldn’t stand up without being nauseous. So I sat, and pretty soon the sun was too hot so I went and lay down in the shade (different spot from the first time), for about a half-hour then I was fine.

The real story in this race is Clint. He barely trained (he spent the summer applying for medical school, participating in a medical research team in Peru and getting engaged), yet was still capable of running faster than his first race. But he was a true champion, stayed with me the whole time, thank you kindly bud. Daryl in his first marathon since high school ran 4:15 on the dot. Marci ran about 4:19. Byron blew the lid off the course with a 3:47, almost half an hour better than his previous best time. Elaine despite all of the injuries she has been struggling with ran 4:00, re-qualifying for the next two Bostons. Eric, that sly devil, ran a 3:07 and said he was disappointed. I thought he was targeting 3:10 but apparently it was 3:00. It was his first marathon in 10 years; nevertheless, he also qualified for Boston by a wide margin.

This is a wonderful marathon, well organized and a great course. A great confidence builder and a good reward for a summer of hard running in the heat. Next up is the Texas Marathon on January 1.

St. George marathon, 2009, E's report, now I want to read YOURS

The bonding started at the bonfires, at the beginning of the race, hanging out with other freezing, pee-laden, nervous wrecks


A picture of my famous knee, the one everyone prayed for (or was this my right knee?)


A view from the runner's perspective (mine). I took this picture with my iPhone too. I was actually trying to get a picture of an amazing rock formation to the right but couldn't aim right while I was running. I thought this was cool too.


And a tribute to the weather. Could not have been better! (Unlike last year's rain)



Now for you numbers freaks. Here are the numbers:

Last year my overall time was 3:57:50, this year it was 4:00:18. I qualified for Boston both times, but only by 41 seconds this year.

Other numbers from this year:
3126 finishers behind, 44% of finishers ahead. Overall I got 2492nd place, 809th place for the women, 33% of them ahead of me, 84th place in my age division, 33% of runners ahead. I found how I ranked among the men but can't find it again. Last year I beat 51% of them, this year I think 54% of them beat me. Overall chip time 4:00:18.

Here's what my Garmin said, Average pace 9:08 min/mile, top pace 9.3 mph. The first 7.35 miles I averaged 7.1 mph, the second 4.59 miles I averaged 5.9 mph (I think this was Veyo hill area), the next 5.28 miles I got back on pace at 6.8 mph, then the last 9 I averaged 6.4 mph with a top speed on those last miles of 9.0 mph, probably my finishing "kick". So Jill, I didn't do the death jog at the end, and I didn't start out too fast, at least not too too fast.

I did so poorly because I was wearing braces on both knees, which I am hoping slowed me down a little and I had lost some fitness because of little to no outside training the last six weeks, lots of no running days.

I did so well because duh, it was downhill, my taper went better than my other two marathons, I NEVER stopped at a port-a-potty and was not dehydrated, I only walked through the aid stations and nowhere else, and mostly I did well because everyone prayed for my left knee, which barely even made itself known, the entire race!
Oh, and I had family there, oooooodles of family. Stephen and Nathan yelled at me at mile 16 (or was it 17?), then again at the end of the race. I especially enjoyed Nathan's yelling in the chute. I couldn't even acknowledge it as I was trying to finish a little faster, but it helped me. A lot. Mark and Clint and Daryl and speedy Eric were there too and although I never saw them, it was a boost just knowing they were there.

P.S. The beta blocker worked. My heart did not do its Boston flip flop but stayed appropriately where it should.

Warning: whine fest ahead

I am sitting in a hot bath with the heater on, I've been cold all day. Had a good talk with Dad. He gave Mom a bath today too, which she didn't enjoy all that much. When he was done he put her to bed and told her he loved her. She said, " I love you too, BOTH of you"
So, here's what I've been doing: Going to bed at 7, getting up at 3, yes 0300, being very good about my knee and what happens?
Aches all over, especially knee. Hurts badly. Cold all day. Blood pressure shooting up for no good reason (stent restenosed?). Cold but it isn't cold. Headache, sore throat, all of which I can handle. But my knee is really ticking me off. Why doesn't it just behave?

How to Taper...

Well since everyone else is in taper mode (apparantly that means for the blog as well) I guess I'll bore all y'all with my latest.

I am super excited about the cooler evenings and mornings that we've been privileged to here in Gilbert the past couple of weeks. Although yesterday did hit 106 degrees, by 9pm it was only 84 degrees. That meant I could go running outside at the local high school track! I also knew if was time for another long run at a moderate 10 min. per mile pace. I started out and felt great. Then at mile 2 something I felt normal when a little twinge of pain started in my right knee. I just kept running. Finally at around mile 4-5 the pain went away and I was relieved that "I ran through it". Then it came back again at around 6.5 and lasted until I finished my first ever 8 mile run! I was super excited and on the runners high with sweat dripping from my super toned masterful body as I sat down on the track to stretch and smiling the whole time. I had just ran for 80 minutes without stopping and even ran through some knee pain on top of it!

I then attempted to stand up and about fell over. My knee was screaming at me to not move or even touch it. I pretty much had to crawl back to my truck. I got home and immediately started the ice and ibuprofen. I limped into bed around midnight and couldn't sleep due to the immense pain.

I've iced twice again this morning and got a blessing. Sam thinks I probably tore my meniscus. I'm gonna try to get some sleep and keep it iced and isolated for a couple of days before I re-asses.

I gotta say though, I'm still on a little bit of a high from a new PR distance wise. My time was obviously slow compared to you jack rabbits, but my heart rate never went above 171 (zone 3-4) for my entire run. I'm pretty happy about that. Can't wait to get out and try it again...

St. George

I've made up my mind that St. George is just not going to happen this year. If I've not improved my distance and pace by next year, I'll run just to say I did it. Until then, I've got to believe I can get a whole lot better.

That being said, I'm looking to finalize plans and to make my plans (or lack thereof) known to all the runners and spectators.

I was planning on leaving early Saturday morning and arriving at finish line to greet the runners. I'll have my boys with me, but no Tami. That will be pretty stressful in and of itself.

Mark, I heard you have an extra room? What are the details of that? The last thing I want to do is stress one of the runners out the night prior to race day with four excited boys in a hotel room! What vehicles will be there? I'll have the mini-van with room for two extra people if that can be a use to anyone. When is everyone planning on leaving? My plans for both arrival and departure are fairly open as long as the boys are complying. Stephen are you coming?

course based pacing chart

Just punch in your goal time and waaah laaaaaw! (there's gotta be a lawyer joke in there)

http://www.xmission.com/~abx3/sgm_pace.php?timeSubmit=03%3A45%3A59

Well, someone's gotta write SOMETHIN'

I know tapers are boring. But my taper is kind of not because I have ran so little in the last several weeks due to knee stuff. So I did 14.2 on the treadmill Monday with a 2% incline, yay. Then didn't run Tuesday. Then ran 10.4 on the treadmill with a 0-5% incline (mostly around 2 though I tried to do some level to see how my knee would do). Likely won't run at all today, seeing as how I just ate SPAM (two bites) and eggs and rice and butter, yud. Down home southern cookin here.

K, so...what I really want to talk about is St. George! I couldn't find any cheap place that had availability so I'm staying at some scary place called the Red Mountain Resort and Spa, ahem. Even the name of the place makes me feel like I feel when I walk into Nordstroms, like high tailin' it outta there! Yes, I'm rambling. Haven't taken any Ritalin today either.

ANYWAY, it appears it is 8 miles from the place where we board the buses Saturday morning. And who is going at what time anyway? And will Clint's girlfriend really want to get up at 0400??? Is she going to be able to put up with me? I'm pretty high strung before and after a marathon...so far. And is the expo really 2.8 miles from there...I was thinking it was a little closer to the bus boarding spot. AND, I haven't gotten a rental car yet. There is a shuttle from Las Vegas to St. George but then I would have to get from the place to the buses....

AND, last but not least, I had a very hard time after Boston traveling the next day. I am open to staying another day if the motel, er, SPA thinger, has any spaces.

AND, none of my family will come with me. If I have heart or other problems, I hope I won't be all alone in the wilderness...

End of worries. Time to get on with my day. Share yours!

E

Mr. Speedy

No running yesterday in Florida, last stages of recovery from Saturday's pretty tough experience. The program for today was a little bit of speed work. I ran 6 miles, including one warm-up mile, as fast as I thought I could get away with. I thought I could make 10 minutes per mile and that turned out to be not too hard. I can see the importance of running fast, just to get the feel. As I accelerated off my warm-up lap I thought there was no way I could go more than a mile. Then my legs got used to it and I kept going faster every lap, although I purposely pushed the last one. My splits were like this:

12:13 (throw it out), 9:51, 9:36, 9:36, 9:23, 8:59, total time 59:37, then jog it in for about a quarter.

I ate some breakfast and feel pretty good so far. Not sure what I will do tomorrow, but don't want to wear myself out this week. I'm supposed to be in taper mode, but it is still 3 weeks out so I don't have to back off too much yet. I just want to make sure there are no injuries, which have affected my preparation for each of my previous 2 marathons.

First outside run!

Well, I couldn't stomach going to the gym again and running on the treadmill again. After so many runs on a treadmill I start to question whether or not I can do it in the real world.

So, off I went to the Higley High track. I left the house @ 9:45pm and the temperature was 90 degrees. I took Tami and the twins with their bikes. I ran for 4 miles in about 40 minutes and Sammy rode his bike for 3 of those miles side by side with me. He is a very good pacer. Joey did 2 miles off and on. He kept getting distracted.

Hopefully I can talk Thomas into start running again. He hasn't ran since Lopez Island 5K.

Last Big Week

Well, I figured out this is my last big week before St. George. This coming week I have to travel to Miami on Monday to speak at a conference and then we have the family thing in Eagar this coming weekend. So that leaves four training days in the middle of the week. I'll probably do speed work, which I need badly. OK, now back to this week.

I ran four times during the week at low heart rate, 90 minutes each, average pace 14:33, 13:53, 13:09 and 12:56, running MTuThF. I kept improving all week long so I was encouraged by that. I thought I might be able to run 20 this morning at 12:00 pace, shooting for an 11:00 pace at St. George. It wasn't to be. I ran 15 and some change at a 12:03 pace. I intended to go further, but first my legs started to go wooden, then my hand shook when I took a salt tablet. I don't know if that is serious or not, but it worried me enough that I quit. Plus it was raining and I was soaked to the bone. Not that it cooled off much when it rained.

The goal at St. George is definitely 5:00 at this point. Byron, Marleen's brother, gave me a spreadsheet calculator where you plug in your goal time and it tells you all the splits based on the difficulty of the terrain and the point in the race. Happy to forward it to anybody who wants it.

I've been watching the updates on the Wasatch 100, which started yesterday morning at 5:00 a.m. somewhere above Ogden and finishes up somewhere south of Provo. The winner had a time of about 18-1/2 hours, second place (a local Utah guy) an hour behind that, third place two hours behind second. The guy I follow, an ultra runner named Davey Crockett (his real name), is in 40th place and pretty much on his goal time of 28-1/2 hours. He should be finishing in an hour or two. I have no idea what it takes to run a race like that, but Mr. Crockett runs 7 or 8 of them a year. He lives in Saratoga Springs, which is on the other side of Utah Lake past Lehi. I can't seem to even run a marathon and these guys run four of them in a row, over mountain trails at high altitude all night long. They are a different breed. About 400 runners started the race and at least 250 have already dropped out. The top woman runner came in at about 23-1/2 hours, good enough for 10th place. The second woman was 12 minutes behind her, which at that distance is considered a dead heat.

UPDATE: Crockett came in at #42, third in his age division (50+), in 28:33, 3 minutes over his target. Big day for him. First place runner shattered the old record by 1:05, second place runner (the local guy, Karl Meltzer) also broke the record by 23 minutes. The second place runner has already won three major 100s this year. The guy who won Western States, the world series of 100 mile runs, came in at 22:18, almost 4 hours behind the winner. That is how good this field was, probably the best field of any 100 this year.

I am encouraged

So...I've been pretty freaked out about my knee, doing two a days, very slowly, on the treadmill, and still being in pain. Yes, I've also been icing and taking all the supplements. But it was time to go outside today for one last long run. (Yeah, I taper early, old age).

The two-a-days seemed to have acted a little like a taper. I was also having major heart/virus problems so they were really hard but not hard on the muscles...bottom line they served as a taper in a way and my long run today felt easier than it ever has. My heart rate is down to 51, even when my blood pressure is really high....I'm going off my meds though because usually it's too low...maybe it's all great news. I'm hoping. And I'm feeling better, at least today. I recommend more glutamine and resveratrol, if anyone is interested. :)

So first I ran four slowlly with a friend, and my knee was killing me. So I concocted up a brace with my CRX running tights, then a strap and a too big Futuro stretchy thing over that, all on my left knee. (My right knee hurts too but isn't scary). It worked pretty well! So I did the four, then applied the brace, filled the fuel bottles, went to the bathroom, then did 12.5 more, stopped and walked a bit, got bored, then ran most of the way back to the vehicle, for an overall total of about 21.

The nice thing was the end miles weren't hard and way too slow like usual. To make up for no tempo or speed work lately I tried to go faster uphill and actually hit an 8 min/mile uphill pace a couple of times. However, I slowed way down over all, doing the 21, with walks, in about 3:25. Just favoring the knee. It was a little bit of glycogen training in there too as I didn't drink or eat the first hour and a half, then I just drank a little Gatorade after I hit 16 (total).

Mostly I just feel great because I didn't die and feel the need to do the death jog on the last miles....AND, although I experienced great pain when the brace slipped, I think I can get it right and maybe even partially healed again before StG...meaning,...I think I can run StG, YAY. Probably not fast, but I hope to at least requalify for Boston, which means under four hours.

Down Butterfield

Elaine says I need more downhill and so Friday I went to Butterfield Canyon with Dale and warmed up starting one mile from the pass going uphill then all the way down for a total of 7.5 miles. It was 87 at the bottom and so the last mile or two, I got a little dehydrated without a camel back. I guess I averaged about an 8 minute mile but I carefully concentrated on each stride to prevent any injuries. It is about a 2500 feet drop and some places required short choppy steps.

I will do a long run on labor day but the downhill still got some muscles sore.

California Dreaming, Texas Reality

I ran a couple of times in California this week, low heart rate, felt great in the cool dry air. Then back in Texas running short and fast yesterday, about 9:30 miles for 4 or 5. So today the goal was to hit 12:00 for 20 miles. Given my fast run (for me) on Friday it was a bit of a gamble, not to mention a big step-up from last week, but nothing ventured, right?

I pretty much made the goal for 17.5, then I ran out of gas. The temperature was a little warmer this week and the pace was quite a bit fasterthan last week's pace of about 12:40. Just ran out of gas 3 miles from the house. A long walk in the heat.

My splits were: 12:30 (throw out the first one), 12:24 (that one too), 12:05, 12:02, 11:55, 11:58, 12:18, 11:59, 12:10, 11:55, 13:16 (bio break), 11:48, 12:05, 11:56, 12:06, 11:54, 12:27, average pace for 17 miles: 12:12, the first two miles and the one with the bio break really killed it.

Plus my knee started to hurt a little after I ran. I think the walking hurts it more than running, it was never a factor while I was running. But it shold be OK.

I'm hoping to do 12:00 for 20 miles next week. Only a couple of more Saturdays until the St. George taper begins.

I ran a mile today

In 6:21 on the treadmill. :) I'm pretty happy. Or was it 6:31?? Can't remember now, but I do know I felt my butt hurt real bad. Havn't had that feeling since college. (no comments from the peanut gallery either.)

Delete?

Did someone delete any comments? Jill says hers disappeared...I didn't do it...and don't think I saw any comments recently. Anyone want to confess?
Thanks
E

In the long run

I finally got to run for an hour straight. My blood pressure before was predicatably 142/85, and I went just over 6.8 miles. BP dropped to 125/75 but I had cooled down quite a bit. I'm hoping to keep up that pace for a half-marathon. I got a blister, but I refuse to send a picture.

Would a muscle rub raise a person's blood pressure?

I normally run for half an hour, and I'm going to try to keep up a 7.7mph pace for three more times this week. I wanted to get a 10mph pace for a full hour by the end of this year, but that's far out of reach now. My new aim is Christmas time 2011, when I'm a little younger.

When Lisa paces me on the bike a get winded in a hurry. I must be going a little faster. I'll have to learn how to pace myself outdoors.

Lots of truths

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIrGKB5nRKE

My first 10K

I ran my first 10K yesterday on the treadmill in 61 minutes. I almost quit at mile 3, but decided to just go slower and see if I could get to mile 4....then 5....then 6 and then eeked out another .2

As always, I'm sore today, but the back is feeling even better, and my overall health is as good as ever. It must be all that fish oil and glucosamine I'm taking.

Pressure

K, so no pressure...but I am hoping you can commit to tell me, seeing as how I have fans knocking at my door, ahem, WHO is actually going to be in StG and who is going to want to play when? I will be there, even if I don't run, already have my tickets and room....tentatively planning on having Daryl in my room? (no pressure Daryl if you want to stay somewhere else)
E

A Little Better

I went out and ran 20.00 again this morning. Temperature was 3 or 4 degrees cooler than last week. Stopped right on the dot at 20, didn't run a step further. I just walked it in the rest of the way. Same route as last week, I think I'll just stick with this route until after St. George. It is a little boring but I can get more information out of the run that way.

Last week, the first time I finished a full 20 in this heat without stopping, my speed was 13:40 per mile. My goal was to get it down to 13:00 and try to improve on that before St. George. I came in this morning at a 12:42 average pace, nearly a minute per mile faster than last week, so I am pretty happy about how things went.

My splits are: 13:31, 12:42, 13:08, 13:21, 12:38, 12:34, 12:58, 13:09, 12:49, 13:06, 13:47 (bio break), 12:30, 12:55, 12:27, 12:25, 12:01, 11:54, 12:05, 12:10 and 12:07.

The first mile is like the first waffle. Just throw it out. After that, though, I still had a hard time keeping the pace steady. As the run got harder I ran faster. With five miles to go I just gave up and ran whatever speed I liked. I don't know why I do that, but maybe it bodes well for the marathon. Pretty tired after it was done but I'm doing fine after a few hours. Next week I'll try to improve again. I am thinking I will be able to run 1 minute per mile faster in St. George, cool and downhill, versus running flat in the heat. The joker in the deck is the altitude. I think it got me in Ogden but I'm not sure. St. George is a little lower but it ain't sea level.

Best news of all: Zero knee pain, start to end.

OUCH

My knee has had it. My long one Saturday hurt more and more as I ran, but never got horrible. Monday I didn't run, Tuesday I ran hard on the treadmill and then again on the cardiologist's treadmill...Wednesday I didn't run...Thursday I ran a very hilly 9.3+ miler very, very slowly. The doctor has me on a new drug and it's kicking my (what's the proper word?) BUTT.

So.....anyway. On the downhill I had to go out of denial mode and walk...then limp the rest of the day. It ached so bad all day and was a little swollen this morning. It's done. At least for a few more days.

I'm a little scared. If my knee feels a lot better Monday I will go off the drug and try to run Tuesday.

Elaine in Pain

August rush

I won't bore you about how the car battery affected my 16 miler today when it died at Echo Reservoir.

Anyway, it meant that Dale got a 4 mile headstart so I hurried. The first mile was 8 minutes on my cell phone, forgot stopwatch. Then the second was 8, I felt good. The third was 10? Two more 8's. Another 10, 10, then 9. 11, now I was running with Dale. He went out 9 on his eighteen miler there and back, I went out 8. He had sore quads still from last week and so I made up two miles and it was in 8 miles.

We kicked it in gear and got several more 8's but with three miles left to go, we slowed for two miles doing a 12 and 13. The last mile I picked up the pace and I think I got at least an 8. I had finally put my cell phone in stopwatch mode but it was accidently turned off. If 2:26 doesn't jive as a final time, I didn't get my times right but that would give me an average of just over 9 minutes a mile on a fairly flat course at close to 5500 ft elevation. I am sure about the start and finish times. Maybe I can do a four hour marathon!

Blood Pressure

I seem to have been allocated a peculiar dip of Thurber blood. I've been trying to do an hour run all week, but it's hard to find a spare hour. Late last night I took the phone with me to the gym and just set it in the cup holder so I could get Tobias' telephone call. He called when I was 30 minutes in, so I took the call for five minutes and did another 30 minutes. That's my longest total running time in months, and when I got done my blood pressure was 128/78. I think that's pretty good, but I had checked it Tuesday before my run and it was 142/85--somewhere around there. I don't remember the lower number for sure. I've seen this before, where my blood pressure is higher before than after, but never quite this slanted.

I was thinking of going on a lard and cream diet to see if that helps. If it worked I could make a lot of people jealous, but if it didn't I might come in last place in the half-marathon race. Of course that might happen anyway. Decisions.

5K, Kind of

I got in late from California last night, then had insomnia, so was very short on time when I headed out the door. Decided to run fast and short. I warmed up for one mile (11:11), then ran two fast miles, for me at least (9:16, 8:46), then jogged it in at about a 12:00 pace. Every speed uses different muscles, but the interesting thing is that my knee never made a peep. Possibly I have turned a corner on that issue, but it will take a few more times out there to confirm. Fingers are crossed here in Texas. I'm thinking that for me a realistic 5K time is about 25:30, but I have no idea if that is good or not in the old geezer class.

I ran 6 miles yesterday!

It took me 60 minutes, but that's ok for me right now. My back is feeling pretty good. I'm sure I went too far too soon, but I guess I'll never learn. I'm pretty sore today.

Hey, who wants to have a run on Saturday in Eagar on September 19th (David's re-burial)? I'm sure you're all gonna have some kind of training to do prior to St. George, maybe I can tag along??

Echo Reservoir

We took off up past Park City on I-80 to Coleville and Echo Reservoir Saturday to run on the Rails to Trails path. This time I planned on 14 miles and Dale planned on 16.
Dale started off a mile down the path from were I parked his car. I started about 20 minutes later right at Echo Reservoir with my 3 liter camel back that had 2 liters of watered down gatorade in it. It was 86 degrees at 3:08pm so we anticipated a warmer run. At 5:19 when I finished, it was still about the same.
The first couple of miles my right hamstring and left calf muscle were tight so I went slowly at about 11 minute pace then sped up to 9 1/2 minute miles after muscles finally warmed up. I sipped fluid purposely at every mile marker from the camelback tube which is pretty nice because you can sip in less than a second and get a quarter cup of water; no spills. Maybe it was a little too nice because at mile nine it was all gone.
Mile seven was my turn around point and I was still getting about 9 1/2 minute miles through mile 9. Mile ten was a litttle slower but at mile 11 my mouth started getting dry and I slowed even more. At mile 12 I knew I was getting dehydrated and my breathing became kind of shallow. I went about 15 minutes until mile 13 thinking that at least I was not cramping up, only 15 minutes to go. By this time I was kicking myself for not filling my camelback to capacity but weakly finished without stopping and no nausea.
Dale had a one liter camelback and as so dehydrated that he walked the last three miles.
I have never been so close to callapsing so lesson learned: 86 degrees means I need about a liter of water/gatorade for every five miles. St George, I will probably try to drink about a cup every mile.

Update: I just assumed the temperature was according to the forecast but we found out that it was 90 degrees, setting a record for Coleville on the 22nd. Salt Lake City also had a record high at 102 degrees.

Also, I am trying to keep myself down because I ran 8 miles today, 24th. I felt really good like I was starting to get in shape (imagine that!) but I ran easy and didn't time myself. Hopefully I can be judicious about my training and careful with my pace. No time to get injured at this point.

Once More

Back out onto the dark streets at 4:02 a.m. Saturday. I picked up my Garmin, turned it on, then turned it on, then turned it on. It worked fine yesterday, but this morning no Garmin. Oh well.

I listened to my body and ran at a pace I thought I could maintain the whole distance, and I did. Other than a 3-minute ice water/bio break at mile 15, no stops, I even drank my water on the run. I took a few less S! Caps and that seemed to keep my stomach under control, though it made me weaker at the end. I made 20 miles plus some change in 4 hours and 40 minutes, about 14 minutes per mile. If I had my Garmin I probably would have run it a little faster, but maybe I wouldn't have made it the whole way, who knows?

The heat was off by about 3 degrees at the start, but about that much warmer than average at the end, so this was an OK run I guess. I'm just glad I proved to myself I could run the whole thing.

This heat combined with humidity is really something. By mile 7 or 8 my clothes are soaked as if I had jumped into Elaine's river. That includes socks and shoes. I wonder how this will all translate for St. George. What I should be hoping for is a really hot day, maybe that would even the field a little?

Now I have to figure out what to do about my Garmin, even though I now remember that it is possible to run without one. I wonder if I have to find the receipt to get my money back?

UPDATE: Just checked out the distance on the computer, and it was 20.48 miles, making my average pace 13:40, a little better. Thanks for the encouraging words, Elaine, but so far on my two marathons I have gone out too fast on each one. I am thinking slower is better, especially since you can feel so good so late in the race and have it all fall apart. Someone at church reported today that they saw me at the "end of my run". Guess I must have looked pretty bad, time to change locations. By the way, the Garmin is working now -- don't ask. One other thing, my knee killed me all the way to 16 miles, then it just went away like magic. Wonder what that is all about, not that I'm complaining.

K, I really need to talk about this

The amazing power of intention manifested on my Garmin today, 8:19 average pace for the first 16 miles, 8:56 pace for the next four, 9:58 for the next four, 10:32 for the next two, and a slight speed up for the last .71 to 10:10, totaling 22.71 in 3:23:57. That's exactly what I was intending...just didn't expect it to be so accurate. Lesson learned. Intend a lot!

Frustrated with my pain level now though. Apparently I hung out in the river too long afterwards and elicted my cascading autoimmune response. I now have the lupus rash, the greatly magnified joint pain, the bladder pain, and everything else that goes with this irritating scenario.

BUT. I did get the long run in, probably should have done it last week but opted for the relay instead...not the best training choice but so worth it for the fun. It also pounded me too much when I did the Mt. Spokane free fall as I still felt the effects today as I ran.

Three really great parts:
1) Paul and Mitch and Collin went with me! Paul drove and then deposited drinks at the end, then grabbed Subway, then biked up per plan. (Yes I'm a control freak, especially when it is my run they are supporting). Mitch and Collin rode their bikes (yes, it's all downhill, how else do you think I could run that fast). And, the big deal? They gave me drinks. I was waterlogged most of the run, with numbered drinks for certain mile posts.

2) We ran across the panhandle of Idaho, well, 22 miles of the 72 and it was a blast. Unbelievably gorgeous, as you will see when I post some pics.
3) I got to sit in a cold river at the end and then dry out on river rocks while eating a Subway roast beef sandwich. Heaven, even if my body does seem to be allergic to UVA. Apparently the sunscreen wore off or the waterproof aspect did. Sorry about this pic...maybe you can see around me to the gorgeous area.


Overall, a very good day...but I am in so much pain I can't rest until the pain pills kick in. Next time, more sunscreen. Oh. And I won't wait 3 weeks between long runs. Oh. And I'm done with the long downhill pounding. I'll do downhill but not 18 miles of it or racing short ones either.

Thanks for listening. :)

Back on track (pun intended)

Yesterday I decided my back was good enough to start running again. I put in 3.5 miles on the treadmill in 35 minutes. My back feels a little stiff this morning, but otherwise in good spirits. Kerry and I went to the gym on two days ago on Tuesday morning for a swim. I think the lifeguard was on the verge of jumping in and saving us both at least a couple of times. I guess what the Thurbers lack in swimming, the good Man upstairs gives us in running! Needless to say, we looked pathetic at best. We decided after our swim that the jacuzzi looked quite inviting, so we relaxed our fatigued muscles in style, then decided to work on our tans outside for 30-45 minutes. After we transformed our pasty white mayonaise skin into a light tan hue we topped off our workout with some green curry from a Thai restaurant. Hey, no judging, it was an intense pack filled morning of extreme body physiquing!

Yesterday, I decided it was time to give my back a legitimate test and put in 3.5 miles in 35 minutes. My back is a little stiff this morning, but otherwise in good spirits. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Maybe Kerry will call this morning for another workout...

redneck whirlpool

Okay, if you must jump in 40 degree churning water after a run, do it this way

park city

Dale took me up to Park City and we ran on a course called rails to trails that goes downstream from Park City to Coleville, 28 miles distance. We started out 6 miles out of downtown Park City running up to 7000 ft from about 6000ft.

It was my objective to get up in elevation again to work cardio and lungs harder since my legs are falling behind. Butterfield Canyon rises 2500 feet in about the same distance so I decreased my slope enough to give a welcome break to the muscles.

We averaged an invigorating 9:24 minute miles uphile and while I fell 4 1/2 minutes behind Dale on the way back to our starting point, I averaged 8:35/mile down.

Pics of my rasta and team shirt



Me and my rasta wig before careeening down Mt. Spokane



This was one of our 6 minute milers, posing for the colorful contest leg



This is what I saw 30 minutes after I finally laid down at 7:00 in the morning. I was on the grass, just outside the finish line with a few other homeless runners. Why did I wake up? LOUDspeakers announcing the teams, with high volume music as they started to cross the finish line.



I had a good weekend!
I was first on the docket for the S2S relay, leaving the starting line, (which looks like the finish line, (that black plastic thingy you see in the last picture) only it says "start") at 0800. However, they made us all stand there, in the COLD for half an hour while they introduced every member of every team in our 0800 start slot. I was so mad and irritated that by the time the gun went off I took off way too fast, first out of the gate. They caught up with me about a half mile later, but I didn't slow down, much. I averaged 7:10 a mile falling down Mt. Spokane for 5.1 miles. It was not only the fastest, but the funnest race I have ever ran since high school. My muscles are sore from that.

That was the first leg. The second, about 4:00 that afternoon, was less dramatic, but still fun as it was along the Spokane river in perfect 55 degree weather. I averaged 8:20 a mile...I was happy with that. The last leg was after the roller coaster at Silverwood at 1:30 in the morning. I was having those scary ischemia pains in my tummy hours before so I had no desire to push it. More than that, I could not see, even with the headlamp from me and my bker pacer. It was of course dark, but the fog was incredibly thick. I could barely run because I couldn't see where I was planting my feet more than a few yards ahead of me. It did thin out after awhile and I assumed a fairly normal pace, but I still couldn't see my watch and no one timed me so I have no idea how fast I ran.

The rest is sleep deprived. I drove when I shouldn't have driven, forcing Myron to stay awake and talk to me. I laid down for a few hours when I got home, which turned out to be more than a few hours as I didn't wake up again until 2:00 this morning. It's a new day, a new week. Starting now.

Trying to be like veterans

I have tried to get muscles slowly warm and then slam them with ice water this week trying to take it easy. I made a whirlpool with a 50 gal open plastic barrel (wondering where barrel came from?) and a pump that circulates the water I put ice in. I have done a 2 to 3 1/2 mile run three times this week and may do one more today. This week I am determined to slow down to let my body catch up.
Dale says the long run should be only 30% of your total miles for the week. So if you have done 20 miles during the week you can do a 10 mile long run. Since I have done a 14 for my longest run, I should have done 28 that week but instead did about 8. So I am way off according to heartrate training and percentage long run. The three veterans among us Nate, are the only sane St George runners.

7 minute pace

I put my math skills to work and set the speed to 8.6 mph. During the first mile I had to speed up to 8.8 and then to 9.2 to compensate for the time it took the machine to reach full speed. Only 12.2 miles to go!

A Slug at Night on the Sidewalk

So this week I have returned to my roots, low heart rate training. For me this means keeping my heart rate between 126 and 132. As a practice I keep at or below 130 at least 90% of the time. Everybody says if you train slow you will run slow, which is fine by me (not).

On Monday I ran 4.88 miles with the following splits: 14:27, 14:39, 15:09, 15:29 and 13:44 (15:34 pace)

This morning, same temperature, I started a half-hour earlier and ran 6.63 miles as follows: 13:39, 12:56, 13:11, 13:28, 13:42, 14:03 and 9:04 (14:25 pace).

Thus, my pace on my last lap was the same as the pace on my first lap on Monday, and my average pace dropped from 15:03/mile to 13:35/mile. By contrast, the best one I have run so far was on May 4 of this year, 20 degrees cooler than this morning, 6 miles at an average pace of 12:14. So for context, this morning I was closer to my best time than to Monday's time. Heat adjusted, I don't know what the difference would be, or even whether I was better or worse this morning than on May 4.

I don't quite know what to make of this. Possibly on Monday I was still tired from my 20-mile run on Saturday. Another possibility is that since I have been neglecting my aerobic training this summer, out of necessity dealing with injuries and trying to get ready for a couple of races, I am now starting to get back into "aerobic" shape, which they say is a different type of conditioning with a separate fitness level, or lack thereof. Other than that, it is all part of the wonderful mystery of running. Kind of like golf.

Y'all might not think much of my "fast" splits this morning, but to this old man they were music in the night. Just from the sheer excitement of it all I had a hard time keeping my heart rate down.

Real men run indoors

I'm over 40 years old, and I've got nothing left to prove, so I jumped on the treadmill at lunchtime today. I kept a very steady pace for 30 minutes. 7.6mph. I'm trying to work up to 8. The hills and rocks and birds and sunshine and nighttime all stayed far away, and I watched the miles tick by while my head was busy with how to get my security clearance resolved and how to talk (email) the PM shop into treating the soldiers right in Afghanistan. 3.82 miles and then I did a five minute cool down. My blood pressure was 148/85 after the cool down. A couple of minutes later it was 122/74. I shoved some soldiers aside and did my weights. No, really I was polite. I like soldiers. I did traps, chest and abs. I'm trying to think of a way to make this exciting, but....oh yeah! The biofreeze on my left hip burned for the first 5 minutes. Sigh. That's the best I can do.

Happy running!

daryl writes

Hey, I didn't think I could get on this blog at work but will try again.



I have had this goal of running through butterfield canyon all the way down the adjacent middle canyon ending up in Tooele.



Saturday before last me and Dale got this bright idea to get up at 4 since I had military duty and he had class. We started running at 05:10 at the base of the canyon and it was still dark so I had a small flashlight I carried and Dale had a headband light. We had no idea really what our pace was as Mark and other dark runners would know and we were running uphill to skew the rythm even more. About three miles in it was light enough to turn off the flashlights. The hill at this point gets really steep for about a half mile. Last time I died and walked at almost the base the slope. This time I kept plugging all the way to 4.2 mark. Dale in traditional style had made it up before me but the dcrease in the grade made me excited and I picked up the pace. Our goal was to run 15 minutes past 4.2. I caught Dale about 10 minutes later and we figured it was about 11 miles up and back.



The following week or last week I was really sore. We planned to run on Friday after I worked the night but not in the dark. That, we decided (all due respect Mark), was for the birds. My muscles felt pretty good. I started on the Salt Lake side of the canyon while Dale started on the Tooele side. He left the car unmercifully 14 miles and a mountain away.



So this time I was alone and I started off only to feel that my muscles were still not quite ready for the run. I started off slow and a little gingerly. I had a camelback full of gatorade and it was a cool morning. We were running west and north about 20 miles of Elaines long run. My camelback didn't work for some reason so I had to unstrap it from my back at three miles out and open the lid for a welcome drink. Then the same steep slope that had conquered me the first time was at hand. My muslces were warm and I plowed up the slope with ease. The 4.2 mark brought exhileration I passed the point we had gone to the week before and I knew I could make it another 6 or 700 feet up and a mile long to the top.



An hour and a half to rise 25oo feet and go 6.5 miles....... I had no trouble going 13 minute miles.. Not tempted at all to speed up. 5500 ft to about 7000 ft.



Now the down. It was really steep and even Dale walked a mile and a half because his heartrate was still way up even walking when he was running up. Again, my muscles cried and I went gingerly down. It was also dirt road for a mile and a half and then I got on pavement. Dale had started probably about a half hour after I did because he had to drive the distance but he still met me at my 8 mile mark. He had done 6 and really cruised on the gradually slope up to that point. So I took the keys and ran and ran.. 2 hours 48 minutes for 14 miles. Dale did his in 2 hours 21 minutes and ran two more miles before I caught up to him in the car.



I reached my goal but I think I am done with hill work for awhile. I have a new need for flat and long.

Stinky!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(offensive pic replaced by smelly vapor)
So, I was all slugged out at the Marriott at Thanksgiving Point when I decided to do a long one, a day early. 12 miles is all...I got out there and realized I had forgotten both my Garmin and my iPod so I just decided to run two hours, in the heat and with my Fuel Belt.
I decided to run for 30 minutes and then start figuring out when to drink and where to refill, as my Fuel Belt only holds about 24 ounces and that isn't enough for me in the heat (okay only 75 degrees or so but hot enough for me to whine).
Soon I begin to feel the sausage from the complementary hotel breakfast, ugh. I kept plodding, on dead legs which should have been awake by now...a couple of construction detours later and I was on an alternate route, heading down a very long and uncerrtain route. I had an hour plus left to run so I thought even if there wasn't a road cutting back up to the motel I still had time to backtrack. Well. 40 minutes later I didn't want to backtrack.
I smelled rotting flesh somewhere in the brush so I ran past, eyeing the curve in the road...as I approached the curve, crossed the tracks, I saw before me a very long road...I thought I could see a stop sign in the distance, maybe an intersecting road headed back the right direction!
Soon I smelled another stinky smell, a familiar one it took me a mile to identify. It was the smell I smelled when, as a 19 year old, I had danced with a guy from Alpine...who worked on a pig farm. It was the worst! 30 yards after I had figured it out I saw a sign, the only house out there. It said "ALLRED PIG FARM:. K. One mystery solved. But I was still eyeing the tiny red dot in the distance, was it a stop sign?
It was a mirage, a turn in the road with a mail box sticking out. There was a dirt road going off to the right, in the right direction, but it was gated and covered with "no trespassing, violaters will be shot and then drowned and then hung by their toenails". Of course I took that road, ducking under the gate and running faster through the field. Hey Nate. No one shot me. It's okay. You can put your gun away. There was a rise, didn't know what was on the other side of the rise so I went up it and saw....
The Biggest Golf Course ever. On the other side of this amazing gulf of green I could make out my motel. It seemed hours away but I started off on the golf cart trail, meeting many golfers on the way who looked at me questioningly. I also saw more no trespassing signs and many strange looks. I walked and walked, noting a river I would need to cross....which I eventually did, now another half mile the wrong direction from the motel. I should have ran but I was out of water, you know?
I finally made it, over the pig farm and through the golf course and onto the frontage road.....when I saw a dead skunk.

Yup, I saw it and the wind was blowing the right direction. It didn't stink till I passed it and then my eyes watered from the stink the rest of the way home.
Don't ask me how far I ran. No idea.
E

Sushi

Due to my recent back injury, I decided to take the whole week completely off. It wasn't really a decision, but more of the fact that my back was killing me. Last night on my way to get some take out sushi, I got a text from Wallace telling me he ran for 6 miles. He got me all pumped up, so after I walked in and placed my sushi order and was told it would be a 20 minute wait, I decided to go running in my jeans, belt, t-shirt (two of them) and some horrible socks. I ran for twenty minutes really slow in 94 degree heat. I felt really good and finished by getting a gallon of water at Fry's for .60 cents. The sushi chefs asked me if I was alright when I came back into the restaurant. I told them I was just really hungry. I didn't wait much longer and I think I got bumped in front of a couple of other patrons who were patiently waiting. Hey, runners do get some benefits in this world. Kind of like blondes...

Speaking of blondes, where's Cheryl?? Is she pulling an ultimate Stephen?

At any rate, my back hurts pretty bad today...probably ran too far too soon in too much heat with too much risk of re-injury and too weak of a core due to not enough of something depending on who you ask...

Once More, no Cigar

Went out on a hot Saturday night, August 1 at 9:00 p.m., to try again at 20 miles. Skipped a Mexican restaurant to do it. My splits were:

13:06, 13:07, 12:51, 12:53, 12:11, 13:31, 12:28, 14:04 (water stop), 12:33, 12:38, 12:35, 12:23, 12:00.

Temperature at the end was 91 F, relatively high humidity as usual.

A quick calculation will show 13 miles, not 20. I intended to run these at 13:00 and ended up closer to 12:00, not exactly burning up NASCAR here in Houston. It's hard to keep running slow, but if you don't you will fail in this heat. I think it's the heat, I sure hope so.

Ran shorter distances a couple of times this week, which felt good. One run included 800M "sprints" for about five miles, with jogging in between. (Elaine, don't they call these some name that relates to unfortunate bodily functions?) I ran those at about 9:00, including the jogging in between. No knee problems for either run.

Going to try again in the morning. Wish me luck.

UPDATE: I made 20 miles Saturday morning. Started out at 4:08 a.m. and ran for a long time, most of it under a nearly full moon, 80 degrees until the sun came up late in the run. The first 16.33 were solid running, averaging about 13 (Stephen, those are times, not distances), but I had sped up for some reason during the last two miles, by about a minute a mile, and I ran out of gas as the sun started to beat down. So I walked/ran the last 2-2/3, including running in the last mile. I'm pretty happy with it. My knee barked a little bit at the beginning, then settled down and was not heard from again. Only a slight twinge in it this morning, which is also very good. I took S! Caps (electrolyte replacement) the whole time and they seem to help, though they are not magic pills. I got badly chafed, the first time that has happened to me. Even with technical fibers, you can't avoid profusely sweating in this heat. In fact, if you aren't sweating profusely you are probably in trouble. Jennifer and Scott are here this month and they thought it was funny that I went out and stashed water bottles along the route the night before. I told them all runners did that but I don't think they bought it.

Stephen runs

He doesn't jog.
First off, he gets me up before my Benadryl wears off. Then he has the oxygen shipped to Cheryl's house. Speaking of Cheryl, I think he thought I was her, or fast like her, or something. His "9 minute pace" started out at 7:15 pace. And I was most definitely still asleep. Maybe that's what it's like in the army Daryl? Your first sign you're awake is chest pain? Finally, after signs of distress from his big little sister, he asked me, "now, do you want to go 4 miles or 6?" (We had planned to go 6). So we slowed down. Or I slowed down. I think he would have left me in the dust but he was worried I wouldn't find my way home. He started telling me where the house was.

Finally, we started downhill. Now. I am good at downhill. Here's what you do. Squat down, tuck your head under, and roll. We brushed by a yard waste container, which drew blood. I was not quite to the tears yet, but I had now done the blood and sweat. FunZies! AND I could now see as the sun was starting to rise. I finally found my legs and we ended about 50 minutes later, a quarter mile short of 6 miles. After I ate a plum from his back yard I was ready to go. As in, back to bed.
E

Injured!

Fishing @ Lees Ferry went great on Thursday. I got home about 11pm that night and woke up around 6am to get the family ready to go camping in the White Mountains. More specifically just south of Wahl knoll (the 409 road). We got to the camp site around 2:30 pm and just relaxed in 65 degree weather for the rest of the day. Saturday morning I went fishing @ Big Lake with Wallace and his boys along with my Thomas and Stanley. I knew I wouldn't be fishing with all those boys, but would be re-baiting hooks and untangling lines. We didn't catch any fish as the large crawdads figured they would get to the worms before the fish did.

Enough of the fishing...that evening around 5pm I tried to talk Wallace into taking a 5.5 mile run with me @ 9158 feet. He respectfully declined. I still called him a pansy and took of all by myself. I knew I would be fighting elevation, or atleast that's what all the books say, so I took a nice slow pace and settled in for the longest run of my career. It's actually quite intimidating knowing that your going to just keep going further and further. 26.2 miles still seems unreachable. At any rate, on to the injury. At 2.12 miles, I was just finishing a 250 yard downhill trot with a sharp right turn headed up the other side of the draw. It just so happens that Caleb (Jack and Karen's boy) shot his first elk with me in that same draw the previous year. I decided to look back over my left shoulder to see if any elk had decided to come back. As soon as I took a little gander of my left shoulder, I felt my lower back slip down and to the left. It wasn't a sharp pain or even a blow type of pain. In fact I wouldn't call it even painful at the time. It felt more like my back just re-adjusted. I knew within 20 more yards, however, that something was wrong. I decided I'd better call it quits so and began walking up the hill. It slowly started to tighten up. I layed down in the pine needles and decided to stretch. It definitely felt better to lay down, but I knew I still had to get home. I started walking back, then realized it didn't hurt any worse running that it already did walking. I figured what the hey and started my watch again @ 2.25 miles. I figured if this was going to be my longest run ever, I was not going to let it stop me. I ran for 6 miles total, knowing my back was messed up. I'm pretty upset about the whole thing as I felt like I was really taking care of myself and my body. I'm pretty sure that along with a generally weak core and looking over my shoulder was all I needed. Today I can only stand on my feet for about an hour or two before I just start to really tighten up and get tired. I'll go see my chiropractor tomorrow.

Maybe running just isn't for me...I've never been hurt fishing...

email to my trainer

Went 20.3, did 20 in 3 Hours 1 minute, which included water bathroom stop at 18.7, ugh. Could have gone a couple minutes faster if not for the stop.

And yes I messed up, doing the first 11 miles in 90 minutes, too fast. In my defense it was cool and a steeper downhill...there ain't no way I could have done 8 minute miles at the end in the heat...so you still have some work to do to fix my head.

My amaZing friend kept up with me, parking, biking, swapping out fuel belt bottles, all with taking care of her Dad too.. No easy task considering my erratic pace.

Now I'm at IHop where I am graciously taking her and her Dad out to breakfast. However she is paying since I also "graciously" forgot my wallet.

Here is a picture of me, sitting with my legs out in front of me at iHop. Oh, and I got new shoes. I like them a lot. No blister problems or numb left foot....at least very little numb left foot....it didn't hurt nor do the numb thing until I stopped and then tried to start again. Not cool. Must keep running. No bathroom breaks for me!