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 can't believe it's been a week and I haven't posted the news! Last Saturday was the Top of Utah (TOU) Marathon in Logan. Most people know it and refer to it as the 'Logan marathon'. It starts at Hardware Ranch up Blacksmith Fork Canyon. Hardware is an elk preserve that feeds elk in the winter so they have food to survive. Basically it can get real cold up that high. 2 years ago it was 25 at the start and last year was 35. So I was a bit nervous. But it turned out being almost 50 which was perfect.

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. :)

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. :)

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:

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.

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.

Funny Office quote: From “the convention”
Jan: Michael, I am impressed, I completely under-estimated you.
Michael: Yeah, maybe it’s about time you start to estimate me.

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.