Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
STG 08
3:55 am – alarm goes off to Kelly Clarkson with another alarm set for 4:00 am to the tune of John Mayer.
3:58 am – Em’s alarm goes off and says, “honey, did you sleep in past your alarm”?
4:12 am – Hot shower goes on
4:25 am – Em comes in to see what’s taking me so long to get out the door. I think she should run part of the race to ease her stress levels. She really does stress over the race more than I do.
4:40 am – We board shuttle van to go to bus loading area. No salt packets to be found. Start eating banana and bagel and we notice that it’s raining outside.
4:50 am – Go to Rec Center to meet anyone else (Adam, Spencer, and Taylor). John’s brother and sister are there and while John is in the “can”, they tell us how as a kid he used to have to take all (read = ALL) his clothes off to go to the bathroom. Matt goes in as well and confirms a lot of clothes are hanging over the stall door.
4:57 am – Head to find a bus to board and wonder how long the rain will last.
5:05 am – On the way up the canyon. Started eating Powerbar and finished last of water. The buses windshield wipers are going the whole way up.
6:02 am – Step off bus to see rain pouring down in flood lights. I tucked my clothes bad into my hat so rain stays off my head. I was glad I was with John and Matt because I didn’t know that our green #’s got us into the “elite” runner’s area. Instead of 30 people in one line for the potty, there were 3. I sat in there for a while each time to stay out of the rain.
6:37 am – Over the loudspeaker it is announced to have “John Stockton approach the aid station, not the John you’re thinking of though”. It is later confirmed this was Matt’s doing. I don’t care what you say, it’s still funny. It brought quite a few funny looks when it was announced that Steve Young was running the Salt Lake Marathon last April.
6:45 am – The wheelchairs take off. It’s announced that the clothing bag bus will wait to leave until 6:55 am. It doesn’t really matter as the only thing that’s dry are my socks at this point. I had to low-ride my pants to keep the shoes covered. And that won’t last much longer at the rate this rain is coming down.
7:00 am – It’s a go, only took us 22 seconds to get to the start line. It’s really raining now that we’re not grouped so tightly together. First mile check and we’re doing about 7:45 per mile. I wondered if we’re going to slow. Someone says take it easy the first few miles. I think we can’t waste the downhill and I start going at 1.5.
Mile 3 – I can see reflections off the puddles in the road and start to run on the lane markers so I’m not in puddles. I then go to edge of road because I’m getting splashed from other runners going through the puddles.
Mile 4 – Forgot about some of these little uphill sections, can’t see the motorcycle caravan for the race leaders anymore.
Mile 5 – Getting in a groove and found out I’m ahead of the 3:10 pacer with the red/white balloons. I stopped to visit little boys room (by room, I mean a sagebrush just past the aid station) and as I came back onto the road the pace group passed me. They were cruising. In fact, someone next to me said they were going at about a 6:45 pace so I let them go ahead thinking I could catch them after the hill at Veyo.
Mile 7 – Just came down the big hill through the town of Veyo. Hit the aid station and heading up the hill. I can see the pace balloons just in front of me so I figure I’m in good shape.
Mile 8 – Looked at my watch and saw 12:-- so I must have missed the mile 8 marker.
Mile 9 – 16:14 to do 2 miles including the hill. Slowed to eat my 1st GU and visit little boys room. I can still see the 3:10 balloons in front of me. As I walk back onto the highway I realize the sloshing of water in my socks. Good thing they’re the totally boss Ironman socks from WRC. I guess there’s no point trying to avoid the puddles. In case you’re wondering…it’s still pouring. In fact, a guy next to me said it would be nice to be up with the pace group so we don’t have to battle this wind on our own. Good call, time to reel them in.
Mile 11 – Still climbing up Dammeron Valley, barely under 8 minutes, and yes – it’s still raining.
Mile 13.1 (Halfway point) – Finally past the uphill grade. I can see the 3:10 balloon ahead of me as I come to the aid station. I decided to have a bite of banana and I can see the halfway clock coming too. It reads 1:40:05 as I pass, which means I have to do a negative split of 10 minutes. That’s runner-speak for running the 2nd half faster than the first half. Fairly tough since you are more tired at the end and tend to slow down a bit, but not at STG, the 2nd half is when the “bottom drops out”. I will have to run the end in 1:30:00 (that’s an average of 6:52 per mile!), thus a 10 minute negative split.
Mile 14 – I see the balloons go around a bend but I’m stuck in between groups with no protection from the wind. I keep thinking of David Millar on a day in the Tour de France when he got stuck between to echelons (riders form columns across the road or side-by-side instead of in a strait line when the wind is blowing sideways) and for about 400 yards his heart rate was at 95% as he battled to fight both the head wind and the cross breeze. Anyway, I start to think if I can catch a little group ahead of me I can draft behind them until just past 15 when the hills really start.
Mile 15 – I can see Dan Smith ahead of me and I end up passing him right past 15. We chat for a second (as much as you can chat when running a marathon) and I mention we need to catch the balloons. He responds, “I gave up on that miles ago”. Not me, “good luck Dan, see you at the finish”.
Mile 16 – Here’s the lookout viewpoint that spectators can come to. People are spread out for almost half a mile. Right towards the end I hear a woman’s voice say my name. As I turn around to try and see who it is, all I see are two ladies who look to be in their 60’s. Guess I’ll add being hit by seniors to my list of accomplishments. Turns out it was Sherry Dalton and her sister (Dick’s wife) watching for all of us. J
Mile 18 – There’s a slight uphill as you go towards an overpass along some new subdivisions. I fell in behind this guy who was cruising and literally let him ‘pull’ me up the hill. Right at the top he slowed down to have a GU or something and I thanked him (silently of course, there’s too much energy involved in speaking out loud) and took off for the hills.
Mile 19 – I’ve needed to make a pit stop for quite a while now. I grabbed some Gatorade and went over to the edge of the road. I noticed my watch said 55.39 seconds as I come back on the road. That pit stop could have meant the difference.
Mile 20-ish – Just past this is where the “bottom falls out”. My slowest mile split from here on out is 7:10, flying for me especially at the end of the race. This is where the real race starts for a marathon. They say your body can store enough glycogen (sugar in muscles and kidneys – otherwise known as fuel) to get you about 20 miles, so now is about where people tend to hit the “wall” and run out of gas. I’ve done this both physically and mentally (both different types of bonking) and it’s no fun to have gone so far and have so little left to do. Today is a different story though. I put it in perspective for myself, only a 10k left or 6.2 miles. What’s my fastest 10k time? Like 40 – 42 minutes or so. I’m at 2:28:30 now, so 42 minutes equals …….(wait for it)……. (is the anticipation building)……… (here it comes) ……. 3:10:30. Technically I need 3:10:59 and I’ll qualify, but 30 seconds isn’t much of a cushion. And my pace guide says I’m 3 min 30 sec behind. RUN!
Mile 23 – We’re basically at the bottom of the hills and the first stop light is just ahead. I can’t see the 3:10 balloons at all, but I’ve been ‘chasing’ a girl with a pink top (no one else had pink so she was easy to keep an eye on, that and she was fast enough I never caught her) who’s not too far in front of me.
Mile 24 – We turn off the highway and onto Diagonal Street. Funny thing, there’s the PVC pipe contraption of mist-ers runners can run under to get cooled off. Of course, no one’s runner through them as it’s still pouring on us. I see I’m at 2:56:13 (only 2 minutes off my pace guide – I’ve made up 2 minutes in 4 miles!) which leaves me 14 minutes to run 2.2 miles. It’s going to be close.
Mile 25 – There are volunteers handing out wet washcloths (to drop water on your head and wipe sweat off your face) and runners are actually taking them. Do they not notice the rain falling on your head to cool you off and clean off any sweat? I actually start to feel kind of warm and I take off my jacket and tie it around my waist. One girl in front of me slows down and starts to walk. As I get up to her I say, “don’t slow down now, we’ve got less than a mile”. I don’t have energy or time to say to her, but here’s my situation. At the 25 marker I was at 3:03:11, so I have just under 8 minutes to go 1.2 miles. This will be freakin’ close.
Mile 26 – The marker is right before the last turn of the course, a sharp 90 degree left hand turn. Normally this wouldn’t be tough, but when you’ve been going straight for 26 miles, suddenly going sideways can be taxing. I take the turn wide and pass a guy right afterwards. I saw I was at 3:10:01, which leaves 59 seconds to go .2 miles. I don’t want to look anymore so I just sprint for all I’m worth. This is the longest .2 miles I have ever seen. I split time looking for Em behind the ropes and count people who haven’t started their sprint yet. I motioned to Em that I’m close. I actually feel good, usually I’m praying no one notices how bad my cramps are or pray the cramps subside so I can look somewhat photogenic at the ‘glory moment’. I bet I passed 30 people on that stretch; no one wanted to beat the clock more than me.
Finish line – Now I can see the gate of balloons…and the clock L It’s at 3:11:2- something. The last 20 yards or so I let up in somewhat of anguish mixed with sadness and regret. No pain, just the feeling of being SO CLOSE. I remember untying my jacket and kind of throwing it to the ground as it came off around my waist and then getting my picture taken right as I walked through the finish line. I wondered later what I looked like in the picture.
Finishing area – The stopping has stopped blood flow too, and I can barely move my legs. I’m not in any real pain, I just literally feel like my legs don’t move. I try to get some bread and something to drink, but quickly realize I’m not ready to eat anything. I go to put on my jacket and then just lay on my stomach for a minute or two to try and grasped the gravity of what happened.
Now I’m getting cold. I see someone with a blanket so I walk over to the tent thinking it’s a finishing area, turns out it’s the First Aid tent. Someone hands me a blanket and a Gatorade and I notice a couple people on cots with IV’s, youch. Then John’s calling my name and I see he’s on a cot with someone rubbing ice on his calf. He pulled a 3:20:--. That’s amazing because he hadn’t run the last week and a half with plantar fasciitis.
After I sat in the first aid tent for a minute or two drying off and trying to get warm I realize I better go find everyone. One of the cool things at St. George is they have a tent where volunteers have these wands where they can scan your chip and a little machine spits out your time on a label. Here’s the moment of truth. It comes out 3:11:33. Literally I was 34 seconds too slow or 1.8 seconds per mile. Two weeks ago I set a new personal record (PR) of 8 minutes faster than my previous best. Now today I beat that by 7 minutes. For a year I’ve wondered if I could take off 15 minutes, and I whittled it down to 34 seconds. Yet it doesn’t satisfy at the moment.
I guess the one satisfaction I can take is with the Grand Slam. Technically I was 2nd in my age group, but the guy who was first was first overall…so I move up and become first in my age group (20 – 29). There were only 4 in my age group that finished so at first I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Then Matt reminded me of a detail that really put the feat of running 6 marathons in one year. He asked me how many started out (including John and Matt) attempting the Grand Slam – answer, like 50 or 60. How many finished (including John and Matt – oh, they didn’t finish) – answer, like 30. So finishing first in my age group in an event where only 5 people even completed the race is a pretty daunting task. Daunting enough to not know if I want to do it again, but rewarding enough to go after those dang 34 seconds!
3:58 am – Em’s alarm goes off and says, “honey, did you sleep in past your alarm”?
4:12 am – Hot shower goes on
4:25 am – Em comes in to see what’s taking me so long to get out the door. I think she should run part of the race to ease her stress levels. She really does stress over the race more than I do.
4:40 am – We board shuttle van to go to bus loading area. No salt packets to be found. Start eating banana and bagel and we notice that it’s raining outside.
4:50 am – Go to Rec Center to meet anyone else (Adam, Spencer, and Taylor). John’s brother and sister are there and while John is in the “can”, they tell us how as a kid he used to have to take all (read = ALL) his clothes off to go to the bathroom. Matt goes in as well and confirms a lot of clothes are hanging over the stall door.
4:57 am – Head to find a bus to board and wonder how long the rain will last.
5:05 am – On the way up the canyon. Started eating Powerbar and finished last of water. The buses windshield wipers are going the whole way up.
6:02 am – Step off bus to see rain pouring down in flood lights. I tucked my clothes bad into my hat so rain stays off my head. I was glad I was with John and Matt because I didn’t know that our green #’s got us into the “elite” runner’s area. Instead of 30 people in one line for the potty, there were 3. I sat in there for a while each time to stay out of the rain.
6:37 am – Over the loudspeaker it is announced to have “John Stockton approach the aid station, not the John you’re thinking of though”. It is later confirmed this was Matt’s doing. I don’t care what you say, it’s still funny. It brought quite a few funny looks when it was announced that Steve Young was running the Salt Lake Marathon last April.
6:45 am – The wheelchairs take off. It’s announced that the clothing bag bus will wait to leave until 6:55 am. It doesn’t really matter as the only thing that’s dry are my socks at this point. I had to low-ride my pants to keep the shoes covered. And that won’t last much longer at the rate this rain is coming down.
7:00 am – It’s a go, only took us 22 seconds to get to the start line. It’s really raining now that we’re not grouped so tightly together. First mile check and we’re doing about 7:45 per mile. I wondered if we’re going to slow. Someone says take it easy the first few miles. I think we can’t waste the downhill and I start going at 1.5.
Mile 3 – I can see reflections off the puddles in the road and start to run on the lane markers so I’m not in puddles. I then go to edge of road because I’m getting splashed from other runners going through the puddles.
Mile 4 – Forgot about some of these little uphill sections, can’t see the motorcycle caravan for the race leaders anymore.
Mile 5 – Getting in a groove and found out I’m ahead of the 3:10 pacer with the red/white balloons. I stopped to visit little boys room (by room, I mean a sagebrush just past the aid station) and as I came back onto the road the pace group passed me. They were cruising. In fact, someone next to me said they were going at about a 6:45 pace so I let them go ahead thinking I could catch them after the hill at Veyo.
Mile 7 – Just came down the big hill through the town of Veyo. Hit the aid station and heading up the hill. I can see the pace balloons just in front of me so I figure I’m in good shape.
Mile 8 – Looked at my watch and saw 12:-- so I must have missed the mile 8 marker.
Mile 9 – 16:14 to do 2 miles including the hill. Slowed to eat my 1st GU and visit little boys room. I can still see the 3:10 balloons in front of me. As I walk back onto the highway I realize the sloshing of water in my socks. Good thing they’re the totally boss Ironman socks from WRC. I guess there’s no point trying to avoid the puddles. In case you’re wondering…it’s still pouring. In fact, a guy next to me said it would be nice to be up with the pace group so we don’t have to battle this wind on our own. Good call, time to reel them in.
Mile 11 – Still climbing up Dammeron Valley, barely under 8 minutes, and yes – it’s still raining.
Mile 13.1 (Halfway point) – Finally past the uphill grade. I can see the 3:10 balloon ahead of me as I come to the aid station. I decided to have a bite of banana and I can see the halfway clock coming too. It reads 1:40:05 as I pass, which means I have to do a negative split of 10 minutes. That’s runner-speak for running the 2nd half faster than the first half. Fairly tough since you are more tired at the end and tend to slow down a bit, but not at STG, the 2nd half is when the “bottom drops out”. I will have to run the end in 1:30:00 (that’s an average of 6:52 per mile!), thus a 10 minute negative split.
Mile 14 – I see the balloons go around a bend but I’m stuck in between groups with no protection from the wind. I keep thinking of David Millar on a day in the Tour de France when he got stuck between to echelons (riders form columns across the road or side-by-side instead of in a strait line when the wind is blowing sideways) and for about 400 yards his heart rate was at 95% as he battled to fight both the head wind and the cross breeze. Anyway, I start to think if I can catch a little group ahead of me I can draft behind them until just past 15 when the hills really start.
Mile 15 – I can see Dan Smith ahead of me and I end up passing him right past 15. We chat for a second (as much as you can chat when running a marathon) and I mention we need to catch the balloons. He responds, “I gave up on that miles ago”. Not me, “good luck Dan, see you at the finish”.
Mile 16 – Here’s the lookout viewpoint that spectators can come to. People are spread out for almost half a mile. Right towards the end I hear a woman’s voice say my name. As I turn around to try and see who it is, all I see are two ladies who look to be in their 60’s. Guess I’ll add being hit by seniors to my list of accomplishments. Turns out it was Sherry Dalton and her sister (Dick’s wife) watching for all of us. J
Mile 18 – There’s a slight uphill as you go towards an overpass along some new subdivisions. I fell in behind this guy who was cruising and literally let him ‘pull’ me up the hill. Right at the top he slowed down to have a GU or something and I thanked him (silently of course, there’s too much energy involved in speaking out loud) and took off for the hills.
Mile 19 – I’ve needed to make a pit stop for quite a while now. I grabbed some Gatorade and went over to the edge of the road. I noticed my watch said 55.39 seconds as I come back on the road. That pit stop could have meant the difference.
Mile 20-ish – Just past this is where the “bottom falls out”. My slowest mile split from here on out is 7:10, flying for me especially at the end of the race. This is where the real race starts for a marathon. They say your body can store enough glycogen (sugar in muscles and kidneys – otherwise known as fuel) to get you about 20 miles, so now is about where people tend to hit the “wall” and run out of gas. I’ve done this both physically and mentally (both different types of bonking) and it’s no fun to have gone so far and have so little left to do. Today is a different story though. I put it in perspective for myself, only a 10k left or 6.2 miles. What’s my fastest 10k time? Like 40 – 42 minutes or so. I’m at 2:28:30 now, so 42 minutes equals …….(wait for it)……. (is the anticipation building)……… (here it comes) ……. 3:10:30. Technically I need 3:10:59 and I’ll qualify, but 30 seconds isn’t much of a cushion. And my pace guide says I’m 3 min 30 sec behind. RUN!
Mile 23 – We’re basically at the bottom of the hills and the first stop light is just ahead. I can’t see the 3:10 balloons at all, but I’ve been ‘chasing’ a girl with a pink top (no one else had pink so she was easy to keep an eye on, that and she was fast enough I never caught her) who’s not too far in front of me.
Mile 24 – We turn off the highway and onto Diagonal Street. Funny thing, there’s the PVC pipe contraption of mist-ers runners can run under to get cooled off. Of course, no one’s runner through them as it’s still pouring on us. I see I’m at 2:56:13 (only 2 minutes off my pace guide – I’ve made up 2 minutes in 4 miles!) which leaves me 14 minutes to run 2.2 miles. It’s going to be close.
Mile 25 – There are volunteers handing out wet washcloths (to drop water on your head and wipe sweat off your face) and runners are actually taking them. Do they not notice the rain falling on your head to cool you off and clean off any sweat? I actually start to feel kind of warm and I take off my jacket and tie it around my waist. One girl in front of me slows down and starts to walk. As I get up to her I say, “don’t slow down now, we’ve got less than a mile”. I don’t have energy or time to say to her, but here’s my situation. At the 25 marker I was at 3:03:11, so I have just under 8 minutes to go 1.2 miles. This will be freakin’ close.
Mile 26 – The marker is right before the last turn of the course, a sharp 90 degree left hand turn. Normally this wouldn’t be tough, but when you’ve been going straight for 26 miles, suddenly going sideways can be taxing. I take the turn wide and pass a guy right afterwards. I saw I was at 3:10:01, which leaves 59 seconds to go .2 miles. I don’t want to look anymore so I just sprint for all I’m worth. This is the longest .2 miles I have ever seen. I split time looking for Em behind the ropes and count people who haven’t started their sprint yet. I motioned to Em that I’m close. I actually feel good, usually I’m praying no one notices how bad my cramps are or pray the cramps subside so I can look somewhat photogenic at the ‘glory moment’. I bet I passed 30 people on that stretch; no one wanted to beat the clock more than me.
Finish line – Now I can see the gate of balloons…and the clock L It’s at 3:11:2- something. The last 20 yards or so I let up in somewhat of anguish mixed with sadness and regret. No pain, just the feeling of being SO CLOSE. I remember untying my jacket and kind of throwing it to the ground as it came off around my waist and then getting my picture taken right as I walked through the finish line. I wondered later what I looked like in the picture.
Finishing area – The stopping has stopped blood flow too, and I can barely move my legs. I’m not in any real pain, I just literally feel like my legs don’t move. I try to get some bread and something to drink, but quickly realize I’m not ready to eat anything. I go to put on my jacket and then just lay on my stomach for a minute or two to try and grasped the gravity of what happened.
Now I’m getting cold. I see someone with a blanket so I walk over to the tent thinking it’s a finishing area, turns out it’s the First Aid tent. Someone hands me a blanket and a Gatorade and I notice a couple people on cots with IV’s, youch. Then John’s calling my name and I see he’s on a cot with someone rubbing ice on his calf. He pulled a 3:20:--. That’s amazing because he hadn’t run the last week and a half with plantar fasciitis.
After I sat in the first aid tent for a minute or two drying off and trying to get warm I realize I better go find everyone. One of the cool things at St. George is they have a tent where volunteers have these wands where they can scan your chip and a little machine spits out your time on a label. Here’s the moment of truth. It comes out 3:11:33. Literally I was 34 seconds too slow or 1.8 seconds per mile. Two weeks ago I set a new personal record (PR) of 8 minutes faster than my previous best. Now today I beat that by 7 minutes. For a year I’ve wondered if I could take off 15 minutes, and I whittled it down to 34 seconds. Yet it doesn’t satisfy at the moment.
I guess the one satisfaction I can take is with the Grand Slam. Technically I was 2nd in my age group, but the guy who was first was first overall…so I move up and become first in my age group (20 – 29). There were only 4 in my age group that finished so at first I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Then Matt reminded me of a detail that really put the feat of running 6 marathons in one year. He asked me how many started out (including John and Matt) attempting the Grand Slam – answer, like 50 or 60. How many finished (including John and Matt – oh, they didn’t finish) – answer, like 30. So finishing first in my age group in an event where only 5 people even completed the race is a pretty daunting task. Daunting enough to not know if I want to do it again, but rewarding enough to go after those dang 34 seconds!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Winding down - sort of
Well, today probably was my last hill/interval/tempo run for a while. This was sort of a litmus test for me before STG this Saturday. I do a 'hill run' that is up and over a big hill by my house and then I turn around and come back. One way is .75 miles so round trip is 1.5. I call an out-and-back one leg and I got up to 4 legs before TOU (Top Of Utah - in Logan) and broke my personal record there by 8 minutes. To qualify I'll have to take off another 7 minutes.
I did three legs today. I was even a second or two faster than last time I did this workout so I'm pretty confident for this weekend. I wanted to do 4 again but the thought kept going through my head that I'm usually saying the week of a race, "just get me to the start line healthy". So I decided somewhere on leg 2 that I would just do 3. Besides, I want to get to work early so I can leave a bit early Thursday because the "U" game starts at 6 and I'm in Orem, and I think skipping one leg won't hurt the rev in my engine for race day.
I was kind of sad this morning while I was stretching. It's been unusually warm this late in the year and has been perfect for running so I'm a little bummed that this adventure I've been on is coming to a close. I'll discuss this later, but basically I started training Christmas Eve '07 to run the Grand Slam (see link to the side) which is 6 marathons in the state, plus we did a crazy mountiain 10k in Park City. Here I am, stretching the hammies and the IT Band realizing that almost 1,000 miles later it's almost over. Not sure what I'll do next (as my wife so graciously asked after an all-too-important event: ok, what's next?). For now, I think I want to sit back and enjoy this for a while. Hopefully, that's what this weekend will be -- hangin' in St. George with the fam, swimming in the pool, couple of ice baths, listen to some of conference.
BUT -- That's only after we take care of bid-ness! Gotta go get that 7:15 (or faster) first! Can't get ahead of myself. Woooooo, the blood's flowing just thinking about it. Nope, not ready for this to be over yet. Time to go grab my prize.
This will be the first time STG will have record of me crossing the finish line!
It'll be great to qualify first time out!! :)
I did three legs today. I was even a second or two faster than last time I did this workout so I'm pretty confident for this weekend. I wanted to do 4 again but the thought kept going through my head that I'm usually saying the week of a race, "just get me to the start line healthy". So I decided somewhere on leg 2 that I would just do 3. Besides, I want to get to work early so I can leave a bit early Thursday because the "U" game starts at 6 and I'm in Orem, and I think skipping one leg won't hurt the rev in my engine for race day.
I was kind of sad this morning while I was stretching. It's been unusually warm this late in the year and has been perfect for running so I'm a little bummed that this adventure I've been on is coming to a close. I'll discuss this later, but basically I started training Christmas Eve '07 to run the Grand Slam (see link to the side) which is 6 marathons in the state, plus we did a crazy mountiain 10k in Park City. Here I am, stretching the hammies and the IT Band realizing that almost 1,000 miles later it's almost over. Not sure what I'll do next (as my wife so graciously asked after an all-too-important event: ok, what's next?). For now, I think I want to sit back and enjoy this for a while. Hopefully, that's what this weekend will be -- hangin' in St. George with the fam, swimming in the pool, couple of ice baths, listen to some of conference.
BUT -- That's only after we take care of bid-ness! Gotta go get that 7:15 (or faster) first! Can't get ahead of myself. Woooooo, the blood's flowing just thinking about it. Nope, not ready for this to be over yet. Time to go grab my prize.
This will be the first time STG will have record of me crossing the finish line!
It'll be great to qualify first time out!! :)
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Little Cottonwood Loop
I made a new run today. I headed south down Highland to 9400 South, turned east up the hill and went to the mouth of Little Cottonwood. This 7 miles was probably 90% uphill, but running towards the mountains (Montmeny sounds like many mountains right? mountains are my 2nd home) and trying to get there before the sun came up was gorgeous. Then coming home along Wasatch and through neighborhoods to get to Brighton is 90% downhill which is what I was hoping to find to get ready for STG next Saturday. This is a very scenic area of the valley. It's much different to see while running, even the roads look different when you're huffing and puffing along on foot.
Funny thing: I wore a tri shirt from Aquaphor (my sponsor - see link at left) which they made a little short. It's too big in the gut so it's pretty loose but not long enough so it looks like a belly shirt. Some people on the team commented that it looks like a sports bra for guys. I wanted to try it for the pockets in the back, but it was so loose that my GU flew out. Plus, when I ran past girls I hunched over a bit so it didn't look like the aforementioned sports bra.
Really, if I stand still it goes down right to the top of my shorts. But I know when I'm running it doesn't stay there. I don't have a beer belly yet, actually have some abs that show from these 6 races, but I'd rather go topless than look like my clothes don't fit. So that'll be getting retired. Maybe John could wear it, his torso is shorter and he's got a chest that would fit it.
Well, off to make some pasta for my afternoon run. I'm trying to keep my daily mileage up for next week. I'm not one for tapering, I've read how it's mental that you think you're losing fitness. But I'll quote many top athletes who've said that for every day off it takes two to get back to where you were. Plus, each time I've tapered I hit the wall at like 16. I need to push the wall back to like 24. So two runs per day it is! Bring on those carbs!
TOU - 9/20
I have a soft spot for TOU. It's a tough course actually. The first 14 miles are down the canyon which isn't really that steep so your legs aren't beaten up too bad, but then it gets flat for 4 or 5 and then the hills begin. Just past 18 till 21 is a gradual climb, then there are three decent uphill grades to pass, and although the last one only lasts about 30 feet, the simple fact of how steep it is and that it comes just before 25 is like a death march. What I like about this course is this was my 'virgin marathon' as it was my first that I finished. Now that I've done it 3 times I can relive the course in my head.
So I started out at the start line with Dick Correy, Matt Dalton's bro-in-law. He's my height but probably 15 pounds lighter if you can believe. Last year at STG he did a 3:02 or something, so he can fly. He took off at the start and was gone in about 20 steps. I decided I'd just go at what I thought was a comfortable pace and not look at my watch for a while. At mile 1, 2, and 3 I had done 7 min miles each with not much trouble. Well....it was on. At about 9 I noticed I still wasn't breathing as hard as those around me, and by 15 I had to start working. I stopped to answer nature at 18 but then still did a few 7:30's.
After the aid station at 15 there was a guy who had his wife come up to him on a bike with a blood sugar kit. He was a diabetic, and was running a marathon! I patted him on the back and said, "that's impressive, way to go!". I was getting sore by 22 but it had sprinkled on us a few times so I wasn't as hot and dehydrated as other races. I was looking at my watch and realized I had a chance to get to 3:15 which is what John needs to qualify for Boston. Oh, he signed up back when we signed up for the Grand Slam (see link at left), but bailed long ago. So I picked up his packet, shirt, and put his chip in my pocket. Now that chip was my motivation to get to the finish line!
By 25 (I run right past my hotel - wish I could have someone start the ice bath for me) I couldn't keep the same speed, but my slowest times here at the end were 8:40 so not too bad. I couldn't even sprint to the finish. I ended up beating my PR (Personal Record) by over 8 minutes and finished in 3:16:48! And Dick was only about 2 minutes ahead of me. I realized that when you go so quick, there's no line at the massage tables. I walked right up and laid down. Of course, there were like 4 guys and 1 girl, so yes, I walked the extra three tables to the girl. Sorry, not quite sure if I'm comfortable getting a massage from a guy. Not ready to play for that team.
After the long walk to the hotel (about 3 blocks), ice bath, Jamba, and a footlong from Subway I hopped in the Green Gazelle to head home. I thought I'd get sleepy, but with a new PR I couldn't find music loud enough. I was bouncing the whole way home. Then we watched the "U" win a close one with Air Force (we scored a TD with a minute left to break a tie and then intercepted a pass on their next play). That was a good ending to a great day. Of course, the two bags of ice in the tub helped too. :)
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Office Humor
Ok, I'm sure of you out there do this too. Sometimes when I get bored at work (which doesn't happen if the boss is reading this), I think: What would Jim [Halpert] do? And then my mind kicks into overdrive. Here's my latest concoction:
So I share an office with a lady named Aliece. She's very nice and totally high in my "book" because two of her nephews played for the U in recent years. The only drawback is that she is a "Y" fan and even has a Y hat in her back window of her car. Some afternoons she tends to doze off. I used to play computer sounds and music to scare her but that is only funny for so long (precisely 37 times till the humor wore off). To take it to the next level, I created a sign for her back window to cover up the Y hat. I've done it a couple times now and it usually lasts a couple days before she notices.
Now that the season is getting going, I need to come up with some more goodies. Maybe having "The Office" coming back on next week will help. :)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Look both ways
This morning I did a “hill run”, which sounds exactly like what it is. I jog from my house to Highland Drive and 7200 South, take a breather, and then GO! Up the hill to the next light and down the other side to the first light you come to. It’s almost exactly .75 miles from light to light. I’ll take 30 seconds (when I’m close to race day, a minute or more in off-season) and turn around and do it backwards. That’s one ‘leg’. I’ll do at least 3 legs, and sometimes try for four but I usually hit the snooze button a time or two and don’t have enough time for a fourth leg before I have to head home to get ready for work. Sometimes I have to check on my ‘red fern’ behind the fence in the field and I run out of time there as well.
In the fall and spring I’ll be doing a few legs in the dark. And this morning it was raining so I was wearing my dark blue and dark red Aquaphor (http://www.teamaquaphor.com/ ) jacket which is oh so visible. It was 65 degrees so the rain wasn’t cold and I took off my jacket after the first leg because I was warm and getting wet didn’t matter. It’s kind of fun, makes you feel like a kid splashing in puddles again. Anyway, my realization was that I bet 2% of cars passing me on the road never even saw me. Normally I’ll wear bright colors: Livestrong yellows, or Bronco orange, or just white so I’m more visible. What’s really visible is when it’s warm and I don’t wear a shirt – let’s just say my future’s so bright, I (and everyone else around me) gotta wear shades!
So I have to take evasive maneuvers crossing intersections so cars don’t run me down. Which is why I liked this article from Runner’s World: http://dailyviews.runnersworld.com/2008/09/i-almost-hit-a.html.
Here’s what I’d like you to remember. 1) when you’re about to cross an intersection or pull out into traffic, look for runners (not joggers, they’re not moving fast enough to worry about – J/K), and 2) when you’re turning right onto a street, make sure you look to the right and see if anyone is coming along the sidewalk. I’ve had 3 times where I watched a driver looking to their left for at least 15 seconds before they pulled out and never once looked to their left where I was coming up on them. One of the people actually acknowledged me with a wave, but the other two – both women (not suggesting anything, just pointing out) just kept on keepin’-on. I was ready to throw my water bottle at them just to say "hey!". And no that’s not THAT outlandish, you should hear what Em did when a guy pulled out in front of her. Ask her about the dude with the 2 cell phones and the bad language.
Oh, and just in case you need help recognizing a runner, whether on the road actually running or in their “down-time”, here’s a good read to help you out in that arena: http://dailyviews.runnersworld.com/2008/09/can-you-spot-th.html.
Or maybe I should just dress like this guy:
In the fall and spring I’ll be doing a few legs in the dark. And this morning it was raining so I was wearing my dark blue and dark red Aquaphor (http://www.teamaquaphor.com/ ) jacket which is oh so visible. It was 65 degrees so the rain wasn’t cold and I took off my jacket after the first leg because I was warm and getting wet didn’t matter. It’s kind of fun, makes you feel like a kid splashing in puddles again. Anyway, my realization was that I bet 2% of cars passing me on the road never even saw me. Normally I’ll wear bright colors: Livestrong yellows, or Bronco orange, or just white so I’m more visible. What’s really visible is when it’s warm and I don’t wear a shirt – let’s just say my future’s so bright, I (and everyone else around me) gotta wear shades!
So I have to take evasive maneuvers crossing intersections so cars don’t run me down. Which is why I liked this article from Runner’s World: http://dailyviews.runnersworld.com/2008/09/i-almost-hit-a.html.
Here’s what I’d like you to remember. 1) when you’re about to cross an intersection or pull out into traffic, look for runners (not joggers, they’re not moving fast enough to worry about – J/K), and 2) when you’re turning right onto a street, make sure you look to the right and see if anyone is coming along the sidewalk. I’ve had 3 times where I watched a driver looking to their left for at least 15 seconds before they pulled out and never once looked to their left where I was coming up on them. One of the people actually acknowledged me with a wave, but the other two – both women (not suggesting anything, just pointing out) just kept on keepin’-on. I was ready to throw my water bottle at them just to say "hey!". And no that’s not THAT outlandish, you should hear what Em did when a guy pulled out in front of her. Ask her about the dude with the 2 cell phones and the bad language.
Oh, and just in case you need help recognizing a runner, whether on the road actually running or in their “down-time”, here’s a good read to help you out in that arena: http://dailyviews.runnersworld.com/2008/09/can-you-spot-th.html.
Or maybe I should just dress like this guy:
Thursday, September 4, 2008
I'm hungry
I had an email conversation with my bro-in-law (in a roundabout sort of way) Spencer about running 6 marathons and he mentioned something about eating. Of course, Michael Phelps was mentioned and his 12,000 calorie a day diet. I told him I’ve been following counsel from Chris Carmichael (Eat Right to Train Right; friend/coach of Lance, founder of Carmichael Training Systems) who breaks down the year into 4 periods. For my size/weight during Race season I should eat 3400-3900 calories per day. Yeah, sounds like fun getting to eat whatever you want, right? Well, he spells out to eat 70% carbs, 16% protein, and 14% fat. He also ranks what are good carbs and bad on 4 levels. Pretzels are on level 3, where level 1 is the best. So you can imagine where twinkies and those triangular Bavarian crème-filled chocolate covered doughnuts rank which are my personal fave. In a side note to this side note, I once had apple fritters on the top of my list (which were one of the only foods Lance Armstrong felt like eating when he was going through chemo), but Em said once that anything with a fruit name can’t be considered truly treat-worthy.
hhhhhmmmmmm, forbidden doughnut.
hhhhhmmmmmm, forbidden doughnut. Marge: Homer, stop picking at it!
Homer: Oh, but I'm so sweet and tasty.
Ok, back to calories. 3000 is a lot. I know Em says I eat like a girl, which is partly because I eat 6 or 7 times a day so I get full pretty quick. But eating so often (every 2 or 3 hours) it’s tough to feel hungry most times. Interestingly though, and I mentioned this to a counselor in my stake presidency that ran about 8 miles of Deseret News with me, when it comes to fast Sunday…the typical fast for 2 meals isn’t so bad. I get to eat at 11:00 in the morning! Of course, when I fast until when everyone else eats dinner, I’ve gone 5 meals.
Em can probably vouch for this conversation, though she hates (sorry, dislikes, we’re trying to teach Spence not to say the “h” word) to have the actual conversation. I’m referring to the fact (entering stereotypes now so –well, you’ll see why) of how women are usually trying to cut calories and men are trying to add calories. So at meal times both spouses can be scanning boxes and doing math in their head or on paper to keep track. The reason some wives (I know one in particular) dislike this “group math” effort is because the one doing subtraction wants to add, and the one doing addition normally wouldn’t care. It’s funny to witness, but the part that a wife can get “up-in-arms” over is that husband and wife are trying to go different directions. Again, I’m not speaking to anyone in particular, haven’t witnessed this first-hand, no names can be inserted, completely generalized Men-Mars Women-Venus stereotypes being referred to. J
It’s funny that this has taken me a couple of days to put together. Anyway, I was wondering how many calories the pioneers burned each day crossing the plains, especially those pushing handcarts? Bet they would have fallen in love with Powerbars and Gatorade, maybe it would have been called Pioneerade if it was around back then.
Em can probably vouch for this conversation, though she hates (sorry, dislikes, we’re trying to teach Spence not to say the “h” word) to have the actual conversation. I’m referring to the fact (entering stereotypes now so –well, you’ll see why) of how women are usually trying to cut calories and men are trying to add calories. So at meal times both spouses can be scanning boxes and doing math in their head or on paper to keep track. The reason some wives (I know one in particular) dislike this “group math” effort is because the one doing subtraction wants to add, and the one doing addition normally wouldn’t care. It’s funny to witness, but the part that a wife can get “up-in-arms” over is that husband and wife are trying to go different directions. Again, I’m not speaking to anyone in particular, haven’t witnessed this first-hand, no names can be inserted, completely generalized Men-Mars Women-Venus stereotypes being referred to. J
It’s funny that this has taken me a couple of days to put together. Anyway, I was wondering how many calories the pioneers burned each day crossing the plains, especially those pushing handcarts? Bet they would have fallen in love with Powerbars and Gatorade, maybe it would have been called Pioneerade if it was around back then.
You're winning!
So coming home from swapping cars with Em, Spence and I had the following conversation:
Sp: Dad, how old are you?
Me: I'm 30 (fairly enthusiastically as I try to get used to being 30)
Sp: WOW
Me: Yeah
Sp: Dad, you're winning!
Me: I am?
Sp: yep, you're almost to 100 and then you'll be old (100 being his favorite # to count to)
Me: I guess that will be old huh?
Sp: Wow dad, look! The library. That's where we got Madagascar!
I guess he's not TOO worried about me getting old.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Park City Marathon
Holy Schnikies,
That was the toughest course I've run yet. I planned on finishing in 3hrs 45 min and did it in 3:46, so I hit my target basically. From start to mile 5 was rolling hills, to 13 was a consistent climb, and then the fun began. The halfway point had an aid station and a band playing, then you turn a corner and start the climb up to the Lodge at Deer Valley. One guy I was running next to said, "only 4 miles of climbing". I wasn't quite sure, but did he say "4" miles? 3.8 miles later we got to come back down. Then it was more rolling hills to the end. We actually ran across the bridge over main street but then there's this hill that's maybe 40 yards long but so steep not a single person was running. I will say this was the most scenic course I've run.
So 4 weeks until Top of Utah in Logan and then 2 weeks after that for St. George. I'll download some pics here shortly, but till then, it's off to bed for a 5:30 run in the morning. I'm getting tired of the long drive to Utah County every morning.
OH -- Football season starts this weekend! The U's first game is a road game in the "big house" (100,000 seats compared to 42.000 for Rice-Eccles), but then it's boy time in the south end zone a week later! I am a Utah man sir and I live across the green..... For those who don't know, the brothers-in-law (Russ, John) and Grandpa Clark and I have season tickets. That's fun stuff.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Watch your head
Calendar update -- tomorrow is the Park City Marathon! I'll be flying solo on this one as none of the Salt Lake Farmhands were men enough to attempt it. I will give kudos to John as he should be up there to watch or run a few. This is stop #4 on the road of the Grand Slam (Salt Lake, Ogden, Deseret News, Park City, Top of Utah aka Logan, and St. George).
Random road rage:
I was driving to work (in dangerous Cougar town – I have my Crimson Kevlar vest each day just for protection) and passed a semi pulling a big tractor on the trailer. On the back was a big sign that said “Wide Load”. I was close to Pleasant Grove and thought I’d take a picture and send it to my friend Mac who lives in PG and as a joke say, “what are you doing on the freeway heading south? Don’t you work in Salt Lake?”
About 10 seconds after I took the photo (trying to get it from my phone to the IT box), as I was trying to change lanes to pass him, I hear this loud BANG. I look up to see a cloud of dust and shrapnel flying everywhere. Rock chips, glass shards, and brake lights were all I could see. It was like being in a desert windstorm (not that I have, but this is what I imagined it would look like). I slammed on my brakes and started praying that the glass I saw wasn’t from my window.
Turns out the semi clipped the American Fork exit’s overpass and smashed the cab of the tractor that was being pulled. Talk about excitement for the morning. Funny thing was, it kind of reminded me of Mac (he’s definitely not overweight), just tall enough to forget to duck when walking under doorways and hits his head every now and then.
Thought for the day:
"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle -- when the sun comes up, you'd better be running. "
Random road rage:
I was driving to work (in dangerous Cougar town – I have my Crimson Kevlar vest each day just for protection) and passed a semi pulling a big tractor on the trailer. On the back was a big sign that said “Wide Load”. I was close to Pleasant Grove and thought I’d take a picture and send it to my friend Mac who lives in PG and as a joke say, “what are you doing on the freeway heading south? Don’t you work in Salt Lake?”
About 10 seconds after I took the photo (trying to get it from my phone to the IT box), as I was trying to change lanes to pass him, I hear this loud BANG. I look up to see a cloud of dust and shrapnel flying everywhere. Rock chips, glass shards, and brake lights were all I could see. It was like being in a desert windstorm (not that I have, but this is what I imagined it would look like). I slammed on my brakes and started praying that the glass I saw wasn’t from my window.
Turns out the semi clipped the American Fork exit’s overpass and smashed the cab of the tractor that was being pulled. Talk about excitement for the morning. Funny thing was, it kind of reminded me of Mac (he’s definitely not overweight), just tall enough to forget to duck when walking under doorways and hits his head every now and then.
Thought for the day:
"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle -- when the sun comes up, you'd better be running. "
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Where'd you go?
So we were at a ward BBQ last night and Allen, Melissa, and Brooke were giving Em a hard time about not updating her blog in the last who knows how long. So I realized I hadn't updated mine either. I'm just glad no one knows about mine yet. :) I want to but by getting up at 530 to run takes it's toll after the kids go to bed and I just want to eat my cereal and hit the pillow.
So I'm making another effort. This morning I pulled out an old CD to listen to on the drive to work and forgot how good it was. Here's a line for the day from this fabulous album of Dave Matthews. I partially pulled it out because I heard that Leroi Moore passed away a couple of days ago. Anyway, here's a cool line that may give you a flash from the past:
"I can't believe that we would lie in our graves, dreaming of things that we might have done".
So I'm making another effort. This morning I pulled out an old CD to listen to on the drive to work and forgot how good it was. Here's a line for the day from this fabulous album of Dave Matthews. I partially pulled it out because I heard that Leroi Moore passed away a couple of days ago. Anyway, here's a cool line that may give you a flash from the past:
"I can't believe that we would lie in our graves, dreaming of things that we might have done".
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Greenskeeper Shawn
I’m joining the foray into blogging.
So the other night my in-laws said they would bring some left over sod to us. We’ve been cleaning up a mess of random bushes and wood chips strewn everywhere left from the family we bought our house from. So I have a couple sections that are just dirt which have become somewhat of a dirt box for my boys. Well, we met my wife’s parents and younger brother at Hires for burgers and fries and even a milkshake. Mike and I were the only ones who had some of the wonderful concoction which was an Oreo & peanut butter shake. Clark almost laughed Diet Coke out his nose when Mike told the waitress the flavor. But hey, Oreo – good, Peanut butter – good, put them together – uber good. Em made fun of me later in the night for not eating like a real man (meaning crap like ice cream, doughnuts, and other junk; even though I helped with Mike’s shake. More on my eating habits to come – running 6 marathons in 8 months requires a slight change of diet).
So we get back and start unloading sod by our “dirt box”. Now, my ‘work shoes’ consist of retired running shoes (retirement comes at 300-400 miles on each pair – yes those are 2 0’s after each number and each pair may last about 5 months) which have lots of holes in them for ventilation. So I go change into my North Carolina (Tar Heels! - I'm trying to teach my scouts the proper way to play basketball) shorts and my Sorel snow boots. I know it’s June but it was overcast and I was tired of getting dirt in my toes.
So Em goes to the gym and the boys are left to play with their toys in the dirt. I had a bucket for each boy and we set out smoothing our dirt spot by moving piles of dirt to our other dirt hole. So I shoveled and they used little spades to fill our bucket, and then we’d dump it over by the house. Eventually my 2 year old, Tyler, came to me and said, “bed”. I guess I worked him pretty hard. So we went in and got them into bed and I came back out to finish.
Once I had it all in (by light of street light now that it was almost 10 o’clock) I started hosing it down to smooth out the sod and hope it survives. Here’s where the funny “ah-ha” moment came. Let me remind you what I look like. I’m in my Russell Surfboard shirt (from Newport Beach on senior trip 12 years ago), my UNC shorts, and my Sorel snow boots, and I’m just spraying water out of the hose. Almost without thinking I started laughing and said the following:
“So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one -- big hitter, the Lama -- long, into a ten-thousand foot crevice, right at the base of this glacier. And do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga...gunga -- gunga galunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consiousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.
Now, in an effort to make this blog somewhat interactive, the first person to name who said this wins a prize! I’ll give you a hint – think greenskeeper, floating candy bar in a pool, and “it’s in da hole!”. Leave guesses in comments section and I’ll post the winner when we have one.
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