TOU Marathon (Top of Utah)

     Based on the past week, this race went better than I could ever have expected it to! Based on the 16 weeks before, this race was a huge disappointment. Starting at the beginning: 16 weeks averaging 38.8 miles per week! Finishing at the end: the FLU. I had hoped to qualify for the Boston marathon this race, putting in 14.8 more miles per week than last year (I crossed the 1000 mile mark for 2009 at the 8 mile mark!) but ended up ill for the week and a half before the race and a couple days after. I thought I was better the Friday before the race, but apparently I was wrong...
     The day went something like this: 2 hours of sleep was apparently all I needed so I got up and watched an episode of The Mentalist. Then I took a quick shower (running without a shower is like playing in mud instead of dirt - filthy) and had oatmeal and chia. My dad drove my mom (they spent the night), my brother, and me to the bus pick up. The ride was nice enough, but the line to the POPs were very long - apparently 5 minutes isn't enough time to take care of business? We ended up giving our bags of clothes to some honest people, hoping they would get it on the last bus - they came through for us!
     We made it to the starting pack just after the wheelchairs took off. Trav and I said our good-byes and good luck to Mom then started working our way to the front. Adam Arnell (a co-worker from a previous job who also went to NDJH and CHS) was about where we wanted to be. I chatted with him, eventually about the marathon and found he was shooting for 3.5 hours. I said, "You got 3:23 at Ogden, why 3:30?" He seemed surprised that I knew his time and said something about not training as much as he had hoped. Then he asked about my goal, which is to qualify for Boston. To which he responded, "Is this easier than Ogden?" I think Ogden is easier since the downhill portion comes right when you need it (though I've run TOU faster both times than the fastest I've run Ogden). "But you ran that in 3:39, were you not ready for it?" That's not it, I just enjoyed Ogden, negative splitting it by 14 minutes. Before I could explain that if I had done my best, I don't think I would have gotten below 3:29, the gun went off! So, to me, it seemed as if I said that the only reason he beat me was because I wasn't trying. Though I am a bit cocky, I don't think I could have beaten him but...
     I tried to start the race close to the front so that I wouldn't have to waste energy weaving through people, but at Ogden, I started I start really far back to prevent me from starting too fast... Like Bear Lake, I was trying to pace myself by my heart rate, but what happened the week or to before this race killed that plan.
  The first mile was a little fast and my heart rate a little high, but not too bad.
  The second mile was decent on time, but again, my HR was high.
  Mile 3 was good, but I remember my legs feeling dead - which I attributed to not running much in the past week. But my HR was 10 too high! A co-worker, who I beat in the TOU half marathon by over 2 minutes, passed me here. We had very similar race plans, finishing between 3:05 and 3:10.
  Mile 4 was good, still pushing through sluggish legs. HR still too high - I'm realizing that this will probably be this way the whole race unless I slow down...
  Mile 5 I kept my HR steady, but apparently slowed down. Travis passed me, followed shortly after by Adam. At a GU at the end of this mile and took gatorade at the aid station
  Mile 6 I kept Adam and Travis in sight, even though I used the POP - which had a fresh bottle of hand sanitizer that I had to unscrew the top of to get the pump to work. You might think that this cost me time - but it didn't. I think it was a 25 second stop, but no biggy.
  Mile 7 aid station was a Clif shot block (electrolytes and jell-o?) and Gatorade. HR still high as well as the time.
  Mile 8 was more of the same...
  Mile 9 aid station was an electrolyte gel cap and Gatorade. I could still see Travis and Adam at this point, but...
  Mile 10 they are out of sight and the mile marker was off.
  Mile 11 aid station was GU and Gatorade, as well as water over my head. It was also long, making up for the short 10th mile.
  Mile 12 had a bit of a tailwind.
  Mile 13 was the same - nice tailwind, but I could tell I was going to cramp up if I didn't get some more electrolytes, so instead of the shot block, I was going to take the gel cap - but they had fallen out of my pocket :( so shot block it was.
  Mile 14 was good for my time, I crossed the half marathon at 1:37:00, did the math and knew I had to run 7:10 miles from here on out. "The Climb" from a movie that I had recently watched with my family came on my iPod (if you know the movie, you know why I didn't include the title). The song is about seeing a dream, almost in your grasp, but knowing you just won't make it this time. There will always be an obstacle in the way, an uphill battle, sometimes you have to lose. It's not about how fast you get there or what is waiting on the other side, it's about the climb. I don't think any tears came out of my eyes, but I knew that I didn't have it in me to meet my goal this time. It was just time for the uphill battle.
  Mile 15 was also good for my time, but my HR was about 11 miles ahead of target... Gatorade and shot block, water over my head.
  Mile 16 was the last good mile, HR high. POP stop, same story as before...
  Mile 17 (16.9) was where the first cramp hit, in my right ham. Bad sign - but you have to push through or give in, and even though my HR is high, I still have a chance at a PR (Personal Record). GU and Gatorade, water over my head
  Mile 18 is where the Maverick is that I first saw Jeri Dawn and my girls last year - I was looking forward to that. My dad popped out in the lane and took my picture - I did my best to look good.  Apparently Jeri Dawn and Dean (friend who saved my race) saw me before I saw my dad with the camera. They thought that I looked terrible...
  Mile 19 is the 1st of two uphill miles. I was a little slower than I had hoped, but not too disappointing. At this aid station, I took Gatorade and a shot block.
  Mile 20 was a little slow as well, but was a turning point - I started cramping more. It could have been really bad, but Dean and his daughter came by on their bikes and asked if I needed anything. I told him I lost my electrolyte gel caps he gave me. He told me to run on and he would get me more. Just before the peak of the hill, he caught back up, gave me three pills and some water and asked if I needed anything else. I asked, "When can I take more?" The answer was a half hour - so mile 24!?!
  Mile 21 was where people started passing me last year and I couldn't do anything about it. It was a little better this year, a few passed me, but a passed a few too. Gatorade and water...
  Mile 22 was where I caved in to the tightness in my calves - last year. This year, it is where I about caved in to the pure lack of energy, but just as I considered resting, at about 21.3, I saw a familiar red shirt - Adam! I decided that I had to beat him. He was about 50 yards ahead and moving a little faster than I wanted to go, but I stuck with him. Gatorade and water...
  Mile 23 was rough. At 22.3 I had some serious cramping and Adam started pulling away. Just then (like within 5 seconds) Dean rode up with electrolytes! Adam moved to about 200 yards out, but I worked on reeling him in. More GU and Gatorade.
  Mile 24 was a good one - I reeled Adam to within 25 yards and Jeri Dawn ran me down the hill from River Heights into Logan! More Gatorade and water over my head. Jeri Dawn said Travis was 4 minutes ahead! Good for him!
  Mile 25, just after the aid station, a few people passed by and I thought, "Now is the time - maybe Adam won't notice me if I'm with them." Yeah right. I looked back at the corner - he was 20 yards back. Then the hill - small any other day of the year, but nearly insurmountable this day - I was sure he would pass me. More Gatorade.
  Mile 26 was more will power keeping me moving. At the first corner, I thought I could see Adam, a block later I wasn't sure. By center street as I passed people and other passed me, I couldn't pick out Adam behind me - just 4.5 blocks left - including the downhill!
  Mile 26.2 - no sprint :(

     As Adam came through, he said, "That's what I get for trying to stay up with you in the beginning!" I think he was talking to Travis - who PR'd by 30 minutes at 3:21:06. Adam was 3:24:47 and my time was 3:24:04 - a PR, but not a BQ.
     Last year chocolate milk hit the spot (I had 2 large Nesquiks!) In fact it was so good, I e-mailed the company to thank them for supporting races! This year, a few swallows of the chocolate milk made me sick. The salty wheat bread chunks that tasted like doughnuts at the half also made me sick. I wonder if that has anything to do with the last week? Here is how that went:
     Tuesday or Wednesday of the week before last week, I started getting the flu - I distinguish the flu from a cold by my hunger level: when I get the flu, I get hungry an hour after eating. Figuring this means my body needs more fuel, I started taking more food to work. By Friday, I had a mild sore throat, worse on Saturday. Sunday I didn't feel so good, skipped church, staying home with a sick daughter, but felt OK by mid-afternoon until I ate some Taco Soup - that did me in an hour and a half later. I took it easy Monday, though a bowl of cereal before bed was too much for my stomach. I felt alright Tuesday (in fact I played basketball and it went just like it normally does). Wednesday I decided it was time to run again - sort of. I took my 7-year old for a 2.5 mile run walk, averaging 13 minute miles. By the time we got home, an hour and a half after dinner (Tacos) I was ill. Thursday was fine. Friday, when I woke up, I finally felt good! I ran 2 miles and suddenly had a little hope for the race - which is probably why I couldn't sleep that night, 2 hours. I thought that I was better. A friend had invited us over for dinner after the marathon. He is half Mexican and makes amazing - you guessed it - tacos. An hour and a half after dinner I realized that I was still not over the flu...
     Travis put in around 25 the weeks he ran, but had quite a few weeks with no runs... His training this year wasn't nearly as good as last year. He runs on guts, and I run on training. I beat him in the half by 2 minutes (1:25:31 to 1:27:30). We both figured I would lose him and probably beat him again. Then I got sick... I guess that's all part of the experience. I am pleased with the results, considering the past week. I am disappointed with the results considering the 16 before... Congrats to Travis for destroying his PR!
     The following shows my planned time and heart rate followed by the reality of my time and heart rate.
Plan                     Reality
Mile Min Sec  HR    Mile  Min   Sec   HR
 1     7    35  153      1     7      3.6  161
 2     7    10  163      2     7    21.2  170
 3     7    10  163      3     7    13.1  173
 4     7      5  163      4     7    19.5  172
 5     7      5  166      5     7    32.9  173
 6     7      0  167      6     7    37.9  172
 7     6    55  168      7     7    32.8  173
 8     6    50  169      8     7    37.0  172
 9     6    45  170      9     7    41.5  171
10     6    40  171    10     6    44.9  174
11     6    40  171    11     8     0.5  174
12     6    40  171    12     7    13.6  175
13     6    40  172    13     7    20.5  175
13.1  0    40  172    13.1  0    43.0  176
14     6      0  173   14     6    20.4  176
15     7    10  173    15     7     6.0  181
16     7    10  178    16     7    23.0  181
17     7    15  178    17     7    54.1  179
18     7    20  180    18     7    24.9  180
19     7    30  181    19     7    58.9  182
20     7    35  182    20     8    23.0  180
21     7    20  182    21     8      0.4  179
22     7    55  182    22     8    59.9  180
23     7    55  183    23     8    56.0  176
24     7    35  185    24     9      6.6  174
25     8    15  184    25     8    46.2  176
26     8    15  187    26     8    53.7  177
26.2  1    36  187    26.2   1    49.8  180
      189   46  174.1        204     4.9  175.4

TOU/2 Marathon

     I did it! I ran the TOU Half Marathon in my V5Fs - or VFFs! Apparently it was so inspiring that Jeri Dawn just had to get a pair! Not really (inspiring), but really (Jeri Dawn did get a pair, as well as her walking partner and her two boys.) Over all the race went well, I achieved my goals - completing the half in VFFs and beating last year's time of 1:30:03. My final time was 1:25:37 (6:32 per mile), a 4:26 improvement!
     My mom and brother (Travis) ran it again and my dad and sister (Jenni) ran it as well!
     I could analyze a few things, but mostly I need to get better at running with better form while almost barefoot - my heels would land, then the balls of my feet would slap the ground pretty hard. It's not so bad for 8 miles or so, but more than that and the next few days can be a little painful! Last Saturday, on my long run, I tried to keep my heels off the ground. This helped to significantly reduce the foot slap, but my calves have never been so tight in my life - YAAWEE!
     I have noticed a problem with my recent marathon training, though; the last two Saturday runs have left some part of my running muscles quite spent. This isn't good considering the TOU Marathon is in just 11 days! Hopefully I can fully recover from the long runs and achieve my current greatest running goal:BQ

Vibram 5-Fingers (VFFs or V5Fs)

     Maybe it is too early to tell, but I think that I am going to love running in my new shoes! Monday, I wanted to run 8 miles in these things, but held back and just did the middle 4 in them. I have run 1, 1.25, 2, 2.25, 3.1, and 4 miles barefoot in the past month (getting blisters on the 3.1 and 4 milers). The blisters aren't much of a concern, skin heals. In fact, I ran the 4 miler the Monday before the Bear Lake Marathon! I guess that I am more concerned about injuring something on the inside, so I plan to take the barefoot and V5F training a bit like a 1st marathon training course - adding maybe 10% more mileage every other week. I'm sure that I'll break that plan soon, but it's always good to have a plan - so you know what you aren't following. I plan on running the TOU Half Marathon August 29th in these or barefoot, and probably the same for the marathon three weeks later. We'll see how that plan goes.

Bear Lake Marathon

     I ran this in a completely different type of shoe that I purchased after the Ogden Marathon (4 weeks ago) in an attempt to switch to barefoot/minimalist shoes. So this was my first run longer than 12.6 miles since the marathon and in my new shoes - next shoes will be Vibram 5-Fingers!
     My goal was to beat the average of my marathons (not including Running From an Angel) of 3:39:12 but I really wanted to beat 3:30 and PR. It was also a test to see if running marathons 4 weeks apart allows enough recovery time for me, though one could argue that I didn't give it my all in Ogden, since my negative split seems to indicate that I rested the first half. As a side note, I tried to predict my best possible finish (I came up with something just over 3:28:42) using target heart rate goals, with times per mile starting something like 9:00, 8:40, 8:30, 8:20, 8:10, 8:00, 7:55... finishing most in 7:50 (nothing special, just seemed doable) with my heart rate eventually climbing to 166 in the first 13 miles, then 169-170 in the next 7, 173 after that, and maybe 181 for the final mile, with 167 being the overall average. I told my wife that 3:28 was the best possible finish. I was off this after the first mile.
     Boring Details (not to me)
     Total 26.2 168/185 3:27:06 (7:54.27 pace)
     0.2 154 1:56.6 9:43 pace (the mile markers count down from 26.2 so the first split is at 26 to go)
     8:09.9 163 (clearly faster than I had planned, so I thought, "If I do 8 minute miles from here on out, I'll finish at 3:30!")
     7:47.8 164 (wasn't supposed to hit this for quite a few miles)
     7:52.1 164
     8:00.6 164
     8:08.2 165
     8:05.9 165
     7:54.6 165 (at least my heart was following the plan!)
     7:51.2 164 (somebody passed me - from my age division I later found out)
     7:56.0 165
     7:44.1 163
     8:13.2 165
     7:58.2 163
     7:35.7 167 (half marathon time was 1:44:21)
     7:50.2 166 (I passed him back, as well as two others, now for the tall man in white shirt)
     7:40.8 170 (heart rate went up sooner than expected, but pace didn't change much?)
     7:24.1 171
     7:47.8 170 (my wife drove by with the kids, turned around stopped and cheered!)
     7:43.1 171 (heart rate is still higher than expected)
     7:54.8 170 (my family - bros/sis, dad, G-parents - was cheering from up above at Sweet Water Cabin (trailer) Park)
     7:54.0 170 (time to boost the HR)
     8:01.9 172
     7:49.4 173
     8:14.0 171 (oh no! I'm slowing down, but have passed a lot of the Halfers...We started at 6:48, they started at 7:40. I can also still see the man in white, as well as a women in orange that is just ahead of him, and they're also passing people)
     8:06.0 173 (I need to pick it up, though I passed two women who placed 2nd and 3rd overall in the women's)
     7:42.8 178 (Caught the man in white! It turns out he is a co-worker who has run Boston, and beat me by a minute in Ogden. I also passed the women in orange - 1st place female overall)
     7:43.2 178 (sprinted after the turn into the park! Second half was 1:42:45 - negative split!!! Final 10k was 49:16 - 7:56.77 pace)
     If I had finished 26 minutes sooner, I would have been 1st in my AG and 2nd overall! Instead it was 6th overall and 2nd in my AG.
     My knee is sore (I've had knee problems since the 8th grade - running has helped a lot, though the races are tough on them, as well as running in the morning if I haven't been training much.) I had been taking glucosamine for the last 1.5 years, but thought that a true test of barefoot theories would include ditching the glucosamine, so I haven't taken any since the day of the Ogden Marathon.
     Official results have posted. I could have placed 1st (1:26:25) or 2nd (1:34:38) overall if I had run the half. Oh well!

Ogden Marathon Again

     Another marathon under my feet! This one was the most enjoyable by far. The day started with little sleep and too much liquid... The bus I was on left right at 5:00am and made it to the start line by 5:46 where a frosted pasture filled with port-a-potties and fire barrels awaited.
     The goals that I had going into this one were:
  1) Enjoy this marathon
  2) Finish under 4 hours
  3) Run a negative split (last half faster than the first half)
  4) Beat last year's time
  5) Finish under 3 and a half hours
     #5 was maybe a bit of a stretch, as I only ran 285 miles in the last 4 months (last year I ran 450 miles in the 4 months before the race) but it doesn't hurt to dream big. Well, at 3:39:31.3 (1:56:48.6 at the half-way point and 1:42:42.7 for the second half), that was the only one I didn't meet.
     The sun came up about 15 minutes before the start, but the cool temperatures prevailed for nearly 15 miles (that's where the top of the only major hill was). I started out really slow - 9:41 for the first mile, 9:17 second and 9:08 for the third. After that, the only miles that were over 9:00 were the 4th (I walked for 1 minute to keep me from going too fast), the 6th (potty break), the 11th (another potty break), the 14th (did I mention that I started the day with too much liquid?), and the 15th (where I kept myself from powering up the hill by applying chapstick with sunblock to my lips, ears, nose, cheeks, and forehead).
     They say that your not supposed to try anything new in a race (26.2 miles is a long way to have to deal with the dire consequences) but the "chocolate outrage" GU at mile 9 seemed so appealing that I just had to try it! It was so delicious that at mile 13.1 I tried another flavor, and at mile 15 I took 2 more to try a little later. The only negative consequence that I can think of is the expectation that my body may have for delicious energy the next time I do another long run (Bear Lake Marathon on June 13th). I doubt that I'll buy any, it's over $1 per pouch!
     The first 15 miles, my average mile time was 8:58. The next 11 miles it was 7:36. My family was waiting near the end, so the last 0.2 miles, my pace was 6:40! It is awesome to have a family that is so supportive!
     On to the next one!

Training Again

     Well, I guess that it is time to start training again. Other than the marathon, in January and February, I ran a total of 52 miles - 2.8 less than the last week of October. I think that I may have learned something the very first day back, something that I would think I should have learned a long time ago: running in the morning is hard on my knees.
     I've had bad knees since the 8th grade but they seemed to have gotten better through marathon training. The last week of October did them in, though. I backed off on the miles but it still seemed like almost every time I ran my knees paid the price. Since April or May 2008, most of my running has been outside, in the morning. Prior to that, nearly 100% was on a treadmill in the evening. Last Monday, I ran 4 miles in the morning and by 4:00 pm my knees were sore. Tuesday evening, I played basketball - no problems, which has been the case since about three months after I began training for my first marathon. Wednesday evening - four miles, Thursday evening - 4.5 miles, and Saturday - six miles, all without soreness.
     So, until my knees are 100% - no morning runs!

Running From an Angel

     This race was meant to keep me running through the holidays. I guess that it worked, at least a little. After running 54.8 miles the last week of October (causing knee pain) followed by pleurisy in November (1 week off and pain that finally went away in mid-December) with weak training in November (9 runs for 75.4 miles) and December (11 runs for 60.5 miles), having gained over 10 pounds, I hoped that I could meet my original goal of averaging 10-minute miles.     I had run 10-minute miles in my final weeks of training so I could figure out what my heart would be doing for 10 minute miles (without elevation change). My heart rate monitor was a bit wacky the first two miles (showing max HR as 220 and average HR as 180) but seemed pretty reliable after that. By the time it was all over, my average HR was 167 and the max that I saw was 186. My split time was 2:10:45 and the second half time was 2:05:05 - my first negative split! My official time was 4:15:49.94, 33rd overall out of 80, 4th or 5th in my division (it depends on whether the top runners overall stay in the division...) and I feel pretty good about the whole thing.
     I normally use Jeri Dawn's iPod, since it's smaller than mine, and I normally listen to my "Odio" playlist, or my "Exercise" playlist. I had debated whether or not to listen to my "Christmas" playlist, but didn't take the time to put it on her iPod. It turns out that she deleted whatever playlist I had added, so I ran to her "Mix" playlist. It was actually quite enjoyable to listen to a fresh lineup of music. Some songs I had never heard, during some songs I caught myself moving to the music (something that's actually quite difficult for someone with no rhythm) and often times I caught myself singing outloud (wasting precious energy - so I started lip syncing instead), but I enjoyed listening to my wife's music. This is the first time that I've ever run for more than four hours. I used to wonder what marathoners thought about while running for so long. Now that I've trained for and run three marathons, I still wonder what they think about... If it weren't for the music, I don't know what I'd do.     My brother Travis was supposed to run too, but apparently a torn meniscus causes the strongest man alive to succumb to his wife's desires and he hasn't run for a while. So I went down with my mom! We had a great time chatting, fretting (Darrin texted everyone saying he had syphilis - we didn't know the truth for a few hours) eating at Wolfgang Puck's at the Venetian again and staying at Nanna Emerson's (my mom's friend's mom.)     In spite of the crazy wind, the ups and downs, and the few specatators (my mom was the greatest) it was a great experience. Calico Racing puts on a great event, the aid stations were great, the food wonderful and the run was challenging. It is one I may go back to!

Update - it's been a month

     I guess that it's time for an update. It's been nearly a month since the last post - a month that was busy, but I didn't really do much in the way of 'projects' - boo.
     I did spend a week in Glendale Arizona learning more about real estate investing. I enjoyed it immensely and definitely think it is worth every penny. As an added bonus, on the way back we stopped in Las Vegas and ate at Wolfgang Puck's in the Venetian - my favorite restaurant and we also got to see the best fountain show at the Bellaggio - the Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli one. I'd love to take Jeri Dawn down to Vegas for those two things. Darrin played roulette a few times. If he had done what I said, he would be $18,000 richer, but he played it smart (as smart as you can play a game of chance) and only ended up with $60.
     I finally have my polycarbonate - BJ picked it up in SLC for me - with shipping, it was around $64 as sheet. Saturday I bought the insulation boards and framework. This week I expect to get started on actually piecing it together. Then onto the duct work. I need to finish it soon for two reasons:
   1) The longer it takes, the less time I'll have to take advantage of it.
   2) I've decided not to listen to Christmas music until it's done. It drives me nuts to skip all the Christmas songs in my playlists.
     I haven't worked much on swimming. I did see some significant improvement while I was swimming each week, but there were other pressing things this month...
     Last week I ran more than I've ever run between Sundays - 53.1 miles. I've added a couple miles to a couple days and felt like running Friday morning. Other than the strange weeks, it's the first time I've run on Friday and definitely the only time I've run on Friday in addition to the regular training. Saturday wasn't really long - just 17.6 miles. I'm working on my game plan for Running from an Angel - it has 2400 feet of ascent and 2400 feet of descent - it's a killer. The winner the last time ran it in 3:22 - 50% longer than your typical marathon run. If I add 50% to my time, that puts me over 5:21. That's way too long time to be running! This Saturday is the 1st Dam 5k/10k - I still haven't decided if I should try to beat my 5k time from last year, or run my first 10k...
     That pretty much sums it up. You can check out my running blog at http://hazlon.fastrunningblog.com/. Jeri Dawn is trying to win a $50 gas card - you can help by going to http://www.yourcachevalley.com/stories then clicking on the one titled "Living in Logan" - if you click others that were written after Saturday you'll be helping someone else...

TOU Marathon ReHash

     I guess it's time to over analyze the TOU Marathon now. Well, maybe just report how it went so that I don't forget later. Sometimes I think of something that should be learned from an experience and move on, possibly forgetting some tidbit that may be much more valuable at a later date.
     My mileage and taper were basically what I had hoped for. My last couple weeks may have included a little too much junk food (I had some ice cream in the final two weeks, ate some cookie dough, and even had a bowl of cereal before going to bed a few times) but for the most part I felt and feel pretty good about it. My final two days went fairly well, I got enough rest and enough carbohydrates. The morning of the race also went as planned - though there was moment of doubt about whether or not I was prepared for the weather, since I woke up before my alarm sounded, due to the loud rain!
     Travis came to pick us up (my mom and I) at the prescribed time and we joined a very long line to get on the bus at the park as scheduled. The lines at the port-a-potties were a little long and we barely got our clothes onto the bus before it left - Travis says my bag was the last on the bus. The weather was beautiful which meant that it was a little warmer that I had expected, especially after the storms. So people were probably removing more clothes than they had planned so early. In that final hustle, I didn't grab a banana out of my bag for Travis and I hadn't eaten one either. We were still chatting when the gun went off, so my mom went towards the back and Travis and I went forward.
     We weaved in and out of people for the first couple of miles. The first mile was right around 8 minutes. It felt a little slow, but it was work moving around everyone. The next mile was a little better (around 7:18) - people were dropping clothes left and right. We had hoped to do the first couple of miles a little slow and then get on track for 7:17 the rest of the way. By mile three, we decided that it was time to start working together (as there was no tailwind - there should have been, and there always has been, but not this time.)
     I think that Travis lead during the even miles and I lead during the odd miles. He seemed to pick up the pace when he was in front and I worked on maintaining a heart rate between 179 and 181. We had one mile at 6:27 - which I didn't think was accurate, and later found that Sasha Pachev (10th time running TOU) felt the same about the distance not being correct in some of those miles. Nevertheless, our mile times were probably a little shorter with Travis in the lead. We developed a simple way for him to check our pace when he was in front: he stuck out whichever arm is to the side that he would be glancing back to, I then stuck my arm on that side straight out for "maintain", down for "slow down", and up for "go faster". It worked well even though I think that the first time Travis tried to check I was enjoying the fall leaves and missed his signal.
     The pace felt good and our time was pretty much on target (maybe helped by the solitary mile with a tail wind.) As we came out of the canyon it was nice to see spectators there to cheer us on. I didn't expect to see anyone I knew at that point but looked just in case. As we turned on to Hollow Road, I ran a little close to a girl who was standing a little to far into the road as I passed - her mom told her to move back. Also on Hollow Road, I ran a nice shiny black sports car off the road. Certified races are measured inside corner to inside corner, so that is the route you're supposed to run. When I saw the shiny black sports car driving toward me on a closed road, I held my ground. I didn't quite touch his mirror, but by the time I passed he was more than half off the road. I'm sure that I seemed like the jerk, but sometimes I think that closed roads shouldn't have traffic (for safety reasons, just in case a driver doesn't move out of the way of a runner.) Somebody from work suggested a Jackie Chan 'run on the car' might have been appropriate. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.
     As I passed Travis at mile 14, he said he was pooped. I asked what he wanted to do since we were seconds off pace and he said, "Go for our goal." So I picked up the pace and heart rate a bit. At mile 15, Travis didn't move ahead as quickly as he normally did. When I passed him, I tried to do it right on the mile mark to get our lap time. When he passed me, normally he did it a little sooner. It should be noted that at the 15 mile mark, we were 4 second ahead of a 3:10:59 finish!
     At mile 16 (where I had the run in with the shiny black sports car) I went ahead but quickly noticed that Travis was dropping off. It kind of seemed that way the most of the time - when he lead, he went fast, when he followed, he dropped off, but it was worse this time. I could tell that he was struggling and slowed significantly so that he could draft and I can't really say that I didn't welcome the slowed pace. We had lost 26 second during mile 16 and it seemed inevitable that we wouldn't make our goal time to BQ. People that we had passed 5 miles back started passing us, chatting it up with each other. One man kept riding by on his bicycle, giving his wife whatever she needed - very nice, but against the rules for personal support vehicles, baby strollers, roller blades, bicycles, motorcycles to be on the course. We kept trudging along. At mile 17, Travis didn't go ahead of me (apparently he had said to go on without him.) I glanced back and he was about 15 yards behind.
     Jeri Dawn, Sierra, Mialee and Nikell were at the Maverick in Nibley. At this point I was running behind a man who appeared to be in his 40's. Jeri Dawn called him a poor soul, but we traded leads a few time, I wasn't just drafting freely.     She asked were Travis was - I said "50 yards back." I had decided that I would check my time at mile 18. If I was near 2:11, then I figured that I had 8.2 miles to go and 1 hour to do it in, it was still possible. Unfortunately, my time was 2:13:18 - mile 18 took 8:10. I had more than 2 minutes to make up with the hardest part of the course ahead (not just the end, but the ascents were about to start - it's not really fair to the hills to call these ascents hills.) That meant 7 minute miles... I looked back thinking that if I could see Travis, I would wait for him. I couldn't, so I hoped that he was still moving.
     Mile 19 - 8:48 - not good. Apparently 16 miles was the upper limit of running near my lactic threshold. My calves were full of lactic acid - strange looking back, since they haven't felt sore at all, only painful until less than an hour after the race. I could tell that I was going to be coming into cramps soon, so I started eating bananas at every aid station starting at mile 13. That meant that of the three "Snickers Energy Bars" I brought, I only consumed one. I realized that I wasn't going to be qualifying for Boston, now it was just a fight for a respectable time. My legs were a little heavy and my heart a little sad - I knew that by setting our goal too high, I had destroyed Travis' time and maybe even his experience. He has always been pretty invincible to me, so hearing him say "I'm pooped!" must have been a little humbling, but he is greater still in my eyes.
     What followed was more of the same, people passing, me watching, trying to keep up, but I didn't have it. I felt like I still had energy but I couldn't get my body to use it fast enough. We all have random thoughts that seem directed at our current situation, so to say that it didn't cross my mind to stop running would be a lie, but it never crossed my mind to stop racing. Travis' wife and in-laws (McMillan's) were in Providence - cheering everyone on. I didn't expect to see anyone there, so that was an unexpected boost. Shortly thereafter, however, I succumbed to pain in my calves and walked for a minute or two - I honestly didn't know which during the race, but think it was probably only one since my time for mile 22 was only a minute more than mile 21.
     That's how the race finished - I walked a minute in mile 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26. But that isn't the whole story, it gets better and worse.
     Tyler Child (deacon in my ward) was sitting outside his grandma's house - seeing him gave me another little boost in mile 23. At this point I was running in River Heights and "My Front Porch Looking In" came on. As I got to the part, "And the most beautiful girl holding both of them..." tears came to my eyes. As the song ended, I could see Jeri Dawn at the top of the hill waiting for me - literally. What a welcomed sight - the green striped shirt and my brown hair, green eyed wife waiting for me. She ran with me to the bottom of the hill where the rest of my family had just arrived in time for her to make it up the hill.I'm not a pretty sight here, but she sure was! Mile 24 was the fastest of the last 5 because of her.
     There aren't a whole lot of pictures of the spectators, but if marathoners ran with cameras and took pictures of the scenery they enjoyed most during the race, it wouldn't be the fall leaves in the canyon, or the fish jumping in the river, or even the sun first entering the valley. No, their film would be full of photos of the people who came to support them on their 26.2 mile journey, even though they could only see them for a brief moment of the race.
     Miles 25 and 26 were full of pulsing shocks in the front and back of my quads, as the muscles attempted to cramp up, every step - 360 pulse per minute that I could distinctly feel, knowing it wasn't going to stop until I gave in. The last 5 miles I averaged over 10 minutes per mile, but just knowing people were going to be there at the end that I knew, I picked it up for the last little bit. It didn't make a dent in my time, but you can't hold back at that point, it's either run hard or cry hard, take your pick.

TOU Marathon (Top of Utah)

     First things first: My mom finished a marathon on her first attempt after living 52 years and never running more than 1 mile (at age 40) and she did it with an amazingly respectable time of 5:23:22.
     As for me, well, 3:34:13 after the start - no BQ. Travis and I made a valiant attempt at qualifying for the Boston Marathon, but in the end, I think that it mostly cost us time. Up to Mile 15 we were right on target, averaging 7:17 per mile. We lost about 26 seconds in the next mile and it only got worse. Somewhere between 16 and 17, apparently Travis had told me to go on ahead but I didn't hear him. A mile or so later, I thought that I had to give it one last shot and left him anyway. I was way off. My average mile after 16 was 9:32 and Travis' was 11:15.
     While finishing a marathon should always be a wonderful experience, it doesn't necessarily come without things you would change. Hindsight offers an great opportunity for learning and wishing. Now that I know we weren't ready to qualify for Boston just yet, I wish that I could start the race over with Travis with a different goal in mind. I'm a firm believer that you don't know what you can do until you give it everything that you've got, but I also firmly believe that you can learn something from every experience. But now, I wish that we had come down the canyon a little slower - maybe and 8:00 pace. I'm confident that we both could have finished fairly strong with a time closer to 3:25:00.
     I guess that we've inadvertently left ourselves room for improvement. I recognize that qualifying for Boston isn't going to be as easy as just running another marathon - it may take another year or two, or it could happen in Ogden next may. More importantly, however, more members of my family are interested in running. My nephew Jordan (in the background of the photo) says that he wants to run the Ogden Marathon with me next year. My sister Angie (Jordan's mom) thinks she may try the same. My dad (the non-exerciser of the family) seems to even be remotely interested in it. Darrin will be there too! If I have a choice of qualifying for Boston or running with Jordan, I will choose to run with Jordan. Before the time comes to make the choice however, I will train for BQ.
     Out of respect for those who have taken the time to read my blogs, I won't bore you with any more numbers at this time besides...

Boston - Here I come!

     Originally, I set out to complete a marathon. However, like most projects, this one has had a little scope creep. I didn't know that you don't have to train for a full year before running a marathon if you're fairly active, so I accomplished my goal of running a marathon 4 months early and may have done one a month early if I hadn't been in a car on the way back from Glendale, AZ the day of the SLC Marathon.
     I learned a few things the day I ran the Ogden Marathon that made me consider attempting to qualify for the Boston Marathon during the Top of Utah Marathon. Before then, I didn't know that I could sustain a heart rate over 169 bpm for an extended period of time. During my training, on my long runs I would walk for one minute out of every 20. Sometimes my heart rate would creep up to 172 and then I would walk a minute. During the walk, it would drop to 163 or so, then ramp back up to 169 during the run and repeat... During the last nine miles of the Ogden Marathon, by heart rate was between 179 and 181. My average for that race was 173 with a time of 3:43:54 (about 1:52 per half.) I felt fine and so I wondered how long I sustain a heart rate that high.
     Four weeks later, in the Bear Lake Half Marathon, I found out. Though I regretted it around mile three and at the end of the race, I started out fast and had my heart rate up to 181 in the first couple of minutes. My average heart rate for the entire race was 179, with a time of 1:37:15 - almost a 15 minute improvement over the Ogden Marathon split time. I guess that I ended up losing about 2 minutes over the last three or four miles, but my post race recovery was very short and I had no ill side affects.
     Two months after that, in the Top of Utah Half Marathon, I averaged 178 bpm and decreased my time another 7 minutes to 1:30:03. Double that time and throw in 10 minutes of slowing down or whatever and I could still qualify for Boston! The TOU Marathon adds about 7 miles of down hill to the front and 6 miles of minor ups, and downs and mostly flats to the end. I think I can do it.
     In August though, I was afraid that I was more ready in June than I would be now, with the weeks off hiking. But my average beats per mile (not to be confused with beats per minute in the previous paragraphs) is lower in August and September than it was in June, as well as my average mph is higher in August and September than it was in June. My average mph leading up to this race is 1.26 MPH faster than the last marathon. Building up to the last one, the last 3.5 months I averaged 6.94 mph - 26.2/6.94 = 3 hours and 46.5 minutes. (my time was 3:43.9.) For this one I'm at 8.2 mph - 26.2/8.2 = 3 hours and 11.7 minutes. If I can cut 0.7 minutes off of that, I'm good. For the previous marathon, I spent a lot of time on a treadmill with a 2% incline. For this one, I made my normal runs with hills, a lot steeper than 2%, but then I also went down them...
     Sure, this may all be over analyzed, and it may be extremely hot on Saturday (though the forecast is calling for rain) adding quite a bit of time to the race, but on most projects I spend more time thinking about them than actually doing them. I can't really do much about a project while I'm laying in bed, driving, sitting in a boring meeting, running (except the marathon), or eating. In this case though, I've put in the time, now all that remains is to actually run it to see if I can shave off 33 minutes from the last one!

1000 Miles!

     Sometime during my run yesterday, I crossed over the 1000 mile mark in my marathon training. Last year, on Sunday, September 16th I read the results of the TOU Marathon. That day I decided that I was going to complete it in 2008. The 17th, I started my training with 3.1 miles on a treadmill.
     Since then, I have:
      Come up with a plan
      Trained
      Learned a little
      Modified my plan
      Trained some more
      Learned some more
      Adjusted my intensity
      Taken a few weeks off
      Learned more
      Gone on business trips to Glendale, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada where I continued training
      Got off the treadmill
      Run my first marathon (Ogden in May - 3:43:54)

      Run two half marathons (Bear Lake in June - 1:37:15 and TOU in August - 1:30:03)
      Convinced a couple others to join me for TOU (Travis and Mom, Carol was already going to run it and was with us at the half)
      Gone on a fifty mile backpacking trip that turned into 75 miles after putting in more than a marathon to "rescue" a lost scout and a 14 mile hike summiting King's Peak (highest in Utah)
      Taken a week off backpacking on the coast in Washington      Trained some more.
     I've logged the miles dedicated to training for this race and this week I topped 1000 miles! I've run 155 days, and averaged 6.5 miles per run. I never would have imagined running 1000 miles in my life. Talk about milestones...
     I hope that it doesn't sound like I'm bragging. One of the things that I have learned in all of this is that anybody who can run a mile can run 26. (Actually, around mile 9 of the Ogden Marathon, somebody was displaying a sign that said, "Any fool can run, but it takes a special kind of idiot to run a marathon.)
     Among the other things that I learned are the following:
  1. 26.2 miles isn't hard if you have food and water, but 19.8 is if you don't.
  2. Junk food taste great, but it smells even better after a 15 mile run.
  3. Brownies aren't really good for running, but I can eat anything I want on Sundays and get it all out of my system by running 6.2 miles Monday morning. However, that 6.2 miles is a lot easier if I don't eat everything I want to.
  4. Many people have run their first marathon and many people have helped many people run their first marathon. They don't know everything, but they know a lot more than I do.
  5. Running too hard is discouraging, unnecessary, and very sweaty.
  6. Getting up early to run seems hard but life happens more during the day and it takes a lot more dedication to stick to your plan with life happening around you.
  7. Don't listen to people who say you can't do something just because they haven't.
  8. Don't listen to people who say you can't do something just because they haven't tried.
  9. Don't listen to people who say you can't do something just because they have tried and failed.
  10. Do listen to people who have done what you want to do.
  11. Do listen to people who say you can do something and believe in you. These people are your friends.
  12. It's not over until you say it is.

Project Updates

     Projectwise, the weekend was pretty good to me. Jeri Dawn got up early and left to help a friend with a garage sale. By 9:00am, the girls were too awake for me to stay in bed. After breakfast, I decided that I would try to finish cleaning and organizing the garage. The girls were good and I got a lot done by 11:00am. Just as we were leaving to go get free raspberry and strawberry plants, Jeri Dawn got home. So we all went to Wellsville to help an older couple thin out their raspberries and strawberries. They had placed an ad in the paper that Jeri Dawn told me about - I was one of the first to call, and after 20 people they had to start telling people that they were all out. We ended up with well over 30 raspberry plants and at least 25 strawberry plants!
     We had a little lunch and I went back to the garage. Jeri Dawn planted most of the strawberry plants, then I did the raspberry plants and the rest of strawberry plants. The garage is almost done! I can access almost everything easily, I have room to work on projects, and I still have shelf space available!
     After all the work, it was 6:30pm, so I lit the briquettes and made some burgers! Steven came for the BBQ and brought a delicious watermelon. We discussed the upcoming solar projects and set some deadlines to get things done. I've decided that I'm not going to listen to Christmas music until my Solar Air Heaters are installed - quite a sacrifice but hopefully a good motivator. I also found at least 2 alternatives to purchasing the polycarbonate sheets online - both of which are cheaper and cheaper delivery! I previously planned to spend around $350 to get 3 sheets, then $215, and now there's a possibility that it will cost just over $100! This news came while working on a scout fundraiser at Anderson Seed and Garden "fluffing" Christmas trees. Their green house is made out of the material I want to use and Mark Anderson (the owner) thinks he can get it for $18 less per sheet and minimal shipping costs. I'll find out more soon.
     Unfortunately, in all the fun on Saturday, I missed my long training run for the marathon. So this morning I put in 14.1 miles before work. My average mile time was around 7:28 - a little slower than I had hoped. I did run a route that included the last 7.2 miles of the TOU Marathon - that took 53:48. I guess if I'm going to qualify for the Boston marathon, I'll need to be at the 19 mile mark before 2:17:12 to complete it by 3:10:59.
     My swim training didn't go as planned on Thursday. Apparently the outdoor pool is closed so some swim team was using 3 lanes and an aquatic aerobic class also started the same day. I spent the first 40 minutes at going back and forth less than 1/2 the length of the pool. I did get my goggles adjusted pretty well - it's more enjoyable to swim without water in my eyes! After the swim team was done, I did 13 laps (2x25 yards) in about 40 minutes. I didn't use a kick-board at all, but did stick with the pull boy. In 2/3 of the time, I did 3/4 of the laps compared to the previous week. I suppose that is an improvement!

Running Shoes

     When Travis (bigger, younger brother) left on his mission, I decided one last time that I was going to gain weight. This was nothing new, in fact it was something that I tried every few years starting back in the 11th grade. But this time I had greater resolve, did more research and had a two year goal: weigh more than Travis when he comes home from his mission.
     Everyone knows that weight gain is just like banking; you have to put more in than you take out if you want your account to grow. However, if you want that weight to be muscle, it takes a lot more time and dedication than if you don't care what the weight is. I borrowed "Body for Life" from my mom, took a few days reading it, modified it for my goals and went to work! "Body for Life" is actually very informational. In all my reading, studying, and working out, I've found that it probably has the best philosophy, exercise routine, and nutritional information all in one place for the average person. I guess that there are a few basics things worth pointing out:
   1. Weight train 3 times a week, alternating upper and lower body.
   2. Run three times a week, focusing on cardio vascular - 20 min.
   3. Eat 6 meals a day: 1 protein, 1 carbohydrate each meal.
     Generally speaking, Body for Life is for losing weight and maintaining the change. With a slight modification, you can use it for weight gain. The modification is to eat 2 carbohydrates and 1 protein for the first 3 meals of the day. That sounded good to me - extra food! It turns out that eating that much food was a lot of work. I started eating EAS Myoplex with a banana and 16 oz. of milk for breakfast (after working out.) For a mid-morning snack, I ate 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (considered a protein by Bill Phillips - the author) mixed with 1 cup of Yoplait yogurt every day (something I continued doing over 3 years, 'til I started training for a marathon...though I reduced the yogurt to 1/2 cup.) I also used EAS Creatine that was supposed to aid muscle growth as well.
     At the same time, BJ (smaller, younger brother) was running with a friend at Kimberly Clark. They were going to compete in the TOU 5k and he wanted to know if I wanted to join them, since Logan is my territory. However, I had developed an interesting running problem - the outsides of my calves turned rock hard earlier and earlier in my runs. The last mile or so of the 5k I ran 2 blocks, walked 1, and repeated. My brother suggested that it may be my shoes and suggested that I go to Striders to be fitted for running shoes specifically made for my foot type.
     One weekend later (and a couple hundred dollars) Jeri Dawn and I had new shoes. Mine were Asics GT-2090s - "built for the moderate over-pronator who requires a combination of cushioning and enhanced stability." They worked great. However, they didn't fix my calf problem...only time and trial and error could help me resolve that, not money - unless I had an operation. It turns out that the creatine helps muscles recover from workouts by absorbing fluids. It also turns out that there are two muscles contained in a sheath on the outer calf. The sheath doesn't really grow, but that doesn't stop the muscles form retaining fluid when the blood starts pumping, resulting in immense pressure in the sheath and rock hard outer calves. I have quit using creatine and never had a problem since.
     I did end up gaining 15 lbs. - I got to 161 lbs. I wish I could say that all the gains were muscle, but it's really not easy to gain a lot of muscle without putting on fat. That's why body builders got through a cutting phase every so often. I guess that I kind of gave up on the weight gain after a winter camp with the scouts. It took me nearly 1/2 hour to get all my snow gear on because it was made for someone smaller than I was at that time. Two years after his mission, and 4 months into marathon training, Travis now weighs around 160 lbs. I drifted back to 145-147 lbs, until I started my marathon training. Now I weigh around 135 lbs.
     The title of this post is running shoes, though this post doesn't really seem to be about shoes. I decided to write about this earlier when I put my shoes on to do my morning run. On those original GT-2090s, I put over 630 miles between September, 2007 and the Ogden Marathon.
I've heard and read many places that you should replace your shoes every 300-500 miles, but I thought my shoes still felt great. Just in case, the week after the marathon, I got on Zappos to order a two-year newer model - the GT-2110, which is discontinued since it's last years model, so I got them for a much better price than this years model. They're 3 oz. lighter and felt great right out of the box. I've put over 340 miles on them and still feel great.
     I did wear my GT-2090s to run in the rain the other day and didn't really notice a difference between the two pairs. Asics are consistant, making it easy to buy shoes cheap - just go to Zappos and find a newer shoe in an older model!