In search of old age PRs

First run of the new year! I found a new trail through the bottom of a

canyon that feed into a large open farming area. There were no

trespassing signs, but I wanted to work my way back toward a road (any

road). I came across a migrant worker camp and decided to turn around.

There were no trespassing signs all around their camp and I didn't want

to disturb them. I eventually found a water-runoff drainage system that

connected up to a neighborhood on top of the mesa. I followed it back

to the street and worked my way back home. I was planning on being home

in 30 minutes so we could make dinner with some friend, but the

exploring made me late! It was still a cool run. I will try later in

the week to head north on this same trail. There was an old burned out

car down in the canyon at the trail split...weird. I believe there is

lake somewhere down there...

Run through the canyon and up by the tennis courts then on the road back to the house.  I changed my shoes and it made a world of difference.  The canyon is always a little muddy, but I need to get over the "new clean shoe" thing.  

Played tennis later that night for about 1 hour. 

Speedwork at Mt. Carmel High School.  One mile warm up and one mile cool down with 6x200.  

Storm watch 2008...haha!  So, its raining...only about 10 people showed up from a group of 100.  Got a little wet, but it was about 60 degrees.  Talked to a runner about surfing and it got me excited.  I purchase a wet suit after the run!
 
Next week, I'm going to run with a different trainning group (West Coast Road Runners).  They meet at different trails every week and are starting their June marathon program.  They train for Rock n Roll San Diego, but I'm sure they will have some Boston people.  The USA Fit guys are tapering for the Carlsbad marathon in a couple of weeks then their season is over.  I plan on going to the marathon to watch my fellow runners come in.

Temp work at Mt. Carmel High School.  One mile warm up and one mile cool down with 3x1000.  It's hard to believe I was doing 14 of these last summer.  I'll try to add one every week.

10 miles on the road. The canyon was closed because of flooding. The course was rolling hills.

Tennis later tonight.

Three miles with a new running group...West Coast Road Runners.  They are sponsored by the RoadRunner running store (big place).  It appears that they will have a large number of sub 3:30 marathon people.  I'm excited to train with them.  I will have to do my long runs on Sunday for a couple of months, until the group catches up.  They train for the San Diego Rock-n-Roll in June.  In a few weeks the group will begin meeting at different sites in San Diego.  It will be cool to run a different place every week.

Hard hilly run in the middle of the day.  It was hot (85) and humid.

Ran on the treadmill in Wyoming. The treadmill said I did 7 miles, but there is no way. I tried to do some tempo work (5x1000), but the distance was hard to measure.

There was a coach in the USA Fit San Diego running group that lobbied hard for his runners to do their runs on the treadmill.  I'm appalled on two levels--1) treadmill is boring and 2) you live in FREAKING San Diego.  It was 83 degrees yesterday.

I hate the treadmill.
 

Flew from Laramie, WY back to San Diego today.  It was nice and warm when I got off the plane, so I did a run as soon as I got home.  Ran some new trails North of the house.  I found a late 90's minivan with 2006 plates at bottom of canyon.  Someone had wrote "were coming for you" on the back.  It was pretty cool.  Probably not a great place to run, but very exciting.  If I ever disappear running have the police search the farm house and lake area north of my house...hahaha...mmm.

Six miles with new running group at Mission Bay.  Most people in the "Chicago" group are sub 3:20 marathoners.  They group tries to average sub 8:00 pace, so it should work out nicely.  They also have a Boston group that gets mileage in before the group runs.  

I ran the 1/2 marathon route that I will be doing in February.  This is going to be toughest course I've run.  It has several huge hills, but at least it is an out and back.   The route is through some of nicest property in California (Rancho Santa Fe).  Its on steep, winding roads.  The race finishes on a massive 3/4 mile climb back up to the park (300 feet).  The race is sponsored by the Hash House Harriers, so there should be a good "after" party.

My calf to ankle was sore from the run yesterday, but I switched shoes and it seemed to work itself out.  Nice run in the bottom of PQ canyon.

New speed workout regiment designed by the new running group I joined.

One mile warm up and one mile cool down with 1/2/3/2/1 minutes at 95%

VO2 max with 1 minute recovery between each. 3 minute recovery after

set then finish with :15/:30/:45/:30/:15 at 95% VO2 max. I can not

measure my VO2 max and I don't wear a heart monitor so I tried to do

them sub-5K pace...for me that's below 5:30/mile. It was hard workout,

but it is nice to be doing speed/tempo again.

Run in PQ canyon.  It was about to rain, so I ran it pretty quickly.  I'm trying to follow the new running group schedule.  The group is running 6 days a week, so this should really up my mileage.  I really need to work on speed before the 1/2 marathon.  I found an elevation chart on the course and it does not look good.  I've paid for the race, but I'm kind of dreading it.  I hope the shirt is nice...lol!

Eight mile run in the rain.  It was mid-50's and a little breezy, but I felt pretty good.  Worked in four 2/2 (2 minutes hard with 2 minute jog for recovery).  Tried to keep the tempo runs in the sub 5:45 range, but I was running a lot of rolling hills.

Run with West Coast Road Runners group.  We meet at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas.  It was a nice, fast run.  There are 8-10 sub 3:10 people in the group.  We had a nice sub-7:30 pace with a couple of fast tempo mixed in.

Easy miles with Elizabeth and pushing the stroller.  

Nice pace on rain soaked streets.  Learned today about Gordon Hinckley and thought about how this would affect friends in Salt Lake.  I have to travel for the rest of the week, so it will be a challenge to run.

1 mile warm up and 1mile cool down with 14 :60 at 95% followed by :60

jog/rest. Nice run, but would be better to do it on a track.

7 miles on a treadmill in a hotel (Sacramento). Awful.

Another run on the hotel treadmill

Nice group run from Solana Beach south to Torrey Pines with a couple of tempo miles mixed in.  The group decided to run the San Dieguto 1/2 marathon with me next Sunday as our training run.  It should be fun, but it puts some pressure on me to run well on a very difficult course.  The group is going to stay with the training schedule, so there will be no "rest" before or after the 1/2 marathon.  I'll probably go out 85% and see how it goes.  There are several 1:20ish people that I will have to let go.

I received some new shoes today, Adidas Super Novas.  I will have to test them this week.


 

Run in heavy rain.  I was going to go skiing today, but the upper part of the mountains are closed (high winds).

Track work out at Mt. Carmel High School.  Funny fact, this is the high school where the movie "Bring it On" was filmed.  

1 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down with 8 x 400 with 200 rest in-between.
 

Treadmill run in Houston.

The group wants to do the Half Marathon race "together" as a training run.  The plan is to have some tempo and surges mixed in.  The pace will be way slower than my planned race pace (training run=7:30/mile), so I am having a tough time deciding what I will do.  I will probably run it with the group.

Run in Park Village at night.  

It looks like Sunday's race will be a training run.  That's OK, I'll probably try to go surfing later that day since it is supposed to be nice. 

Group run in Carlsbad followed by a stretching seminar.  I rarely stretch after I run and it showed during our seminar.  I've read conflicting information on stretching, so I have not stretched much at all this running season. 

1/2 Marathon training run tomorrow.  There is a FREE beer garden afterwards for all runners!
 

Half marathon race on rolling hills run as a training run.  The course was an out and back with 3 large hills (San Dieguto).  There were 8-10 of us that started out at 7:45-8:00 minute slow pace.  At about mile 4 we split into two groups and sped up to 7:05 pace.  At mile 9, I wanted to run a better half-pace, so I dropped it down to a 6:15 pace for the remainder of the race.  I felt really fresh coming in and enjoyed the free beer garden.  At all the water stops there was beer available.  You had to check your cup before drinking.

Later that afternoon I had my first surfing experience in San Diego.  It was a blast.  We surfed for about 2 1/2 hours.
 

Treadmill at 24-HR Fitness in Denver.  My arms felt a little weak during the 1/2 Marathon yesterday, so I did a few minutes of weights after the run.  As dumb as it sounds, I really want to be careful and not add any body mass.  Last Winter, I lifted weights 3 times a week and gained 15 pounds from it.  I'm down to 165 and would like to be at 160 before Boston.

Treadmill in Denver followed by some lifting for arm strength.

Treadmill followed by weights in Denver.

Run in the neighborhood.  Nice to be back out on the streets.  I have to go to Calgary next week, so no outdoor running all week!

Run with group.  Nice hill work-out.  Finished last 3 miles in sub-6:10 pace.

Run with Lucas and Elizabeth pushing the stroller.  It was a trail run so a little difficult.  Surfed earlier that morning.

Treadmill run at Hotel in Calgary.  It was cold and dark outside.  I will probably run on the treadmill for the rest of the week...yuck.

Finally, a run!  I only had a chance to run once while in Calgary last week, so it was good to be back out..

Nice long run with group in La Jolla.  The course started with a 350 feet climb the first mile then into rolling hills.  Route stayed along the ocean for most of the way with some trails.  It was a large group today (250+).  Probably because the weather was so nice (mid 60's at finish).

We did a drop down mile at #10 at marathon pace (sub-7:00) and  decided to hold it the rest of the way in.  There were four other guys that were pushing the pack and able to maintain the pace.  It's been nice training with sub 3:00 runners.  I really need to make time for speed work.

I got the run in just between rain storms.  I took a short-cut through a dirt trail and became a little bogged down in the mud.  I will be in and out of town for the next two weeks, so its going to be hard to get the mileage in!

Treadmill at 24-Hour Fitness in Napa followed by weights.  I had to run after work, so the only choice was the treadmill at night.  It would have been a nice day to run outside (low 60's).

Another early morning run on the treadmill at 24-HR Fitness followed by weights.  They have a policy of 20-minutes on the treadmill if people are waiting...how can you only run for 20 minutes!  I greatly dislike gyms.

Speed/tempo workout.  1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down with 4 x 1600.  I did the run in the canyon.  I believe Spring has arrived (80 degrees).

Rolling hills in the canyon.  Ran up and down some steep pitches and inclines.  It was a hot day for a run (80's).

My parents are in town, so I missed the group run.  Did the mileage in the canyon on a cloudy day.

Run in New Orleans down St. Charles street.  This was a very nice and safe route.  I began close to Canal Street and ran by Lafayette Square, Garden District and turned around at Audubon Park (close to Loyola University).  You can run on the Streetcar tracks (packed dirt).

Run on St. Charles again, but this time with one of the company owners.  I'm afraid we went a little too far for his level.  Good run, at an easy pace.

Run by myself on St. Charles.

Run with the boss on St. Charles.

Long run with group at Torrey State Pines Beach.  It was a nice run and not very difficult.  We keep the pace around 8 minute miles.  I could have gone another 6 easily.  I don't think I've ever felt so "fresh" after running 20 miles...mile 2 felt just like mile 20.  I hope that's a good sign!

Hill work-out in the canyon.  It was supposed to be an easy run, but I found a few trails I'd never run on.  One peak had an incredible view.  I tried to work my way back down to the main trail, but I ended up in a flooded creek bed.  I had to double back, so the pace was slow.

Hilly miles down in the canyon.  Lots of lizards, but no snakes yet. 

Speed work at Poway High School.  1 mile warm up and cool down with 5 x 1200.

Marine layer still over the canyon in the late afternoon.  It made for a nice cool run.  There was a stiff breeze from the ocean for the entire run...perfect for running.

Run down in PQ Canyon late in the day.  Lots of runners, bikers and bugs.

13-miler a little short.  Ran in Rancho Santa Fe then west toward the ocean and south of Del Mar.  Nice run with a good mixture of road, trails, sand and hills.

Run in PQ Canyon past the Ranch House (trail) and back on the road. 

Hilly run in the PQ canyon.  Long speed work out planned for Tuesday, so took it easy.

Speed work-out at the track.  Originally, we were to meet at Poway HS, but the track was closed so we moved to Rancho Bernardo HS.  RB has a very new and "springy" track.

We did a 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down with 10 x 800 in-between.  The goal was to run each at marathon time speed (YASSO 800's) then the last one 15-20 seconds faster.  My goal is 3 hours at Boston so I began the 800's at a 3 minute pace (the theory goes that your later 800-finish times in minutes will be your marathon time in hours).  I found the 3 minute pace a little easy, so I picked it up.  It was helpful to have coach there timing and motivating us.  Here are my laps:

1-3:00 minutes
2-3:00
3-2:57
4-2:54
5-2:52
6-2:54
7-2:53
8-2:50
9-2:51
10-2:27

According to Yasso, I should have no problem with a 3-hour marathon..lol.  I know its not this simple, but it was a good work-out and I built-up some confidence before the marathon.
 

Hill work out in PQ canyon.  I was a little sore from the speed work-out yesterday, but I loosened up after about 20 minutes.

Half trail run with the other half street.

Run with group around Mission Bay on a hot and humid day.  We did first 4 x 7:45, dropped the next 4 x 7:30, next 4 x 7:15 and last 4 x 6:40.  It was a good work-out.   Some of our sub 3:00 hour people haven't been around for a few weeks, but Coach did a good job setting the pace for me on the last 4 miles before dropping back.  Next weekend will be a 22-miler!

Slow run in the PQ canyon and streets.  It was in the mid-80's and I was stuffed from Easter, so it was a s-l-o-w run.

Hot conditions again today down in the canyon.  I tried to stay under the trees, but had little success.  Lots of lizards out, but no snakes yet.

Also, I bought some new Mizuno Wave Precision 7 shoes today.  I will probably save them until summer running.  I like the Fila Providence II, but it is no longer available and the III is a horrible replacement shoe.  I tried the Addidas Supernova 6 and was indifferent.  I have a couple more Fila II that will get me through the year, but I'm still looking for a replacement.

Most of my daily runs have been labeled PQ Canyon.  From now on, I will be more specific since I've been using the canyon as a general reference site.  Today's run was on the Del Mar mesa.  I was feeling a little burned out today, but the narrow trails in the slot canyons through the mesa got me excited again.  I turned both ankles (not very serious), but it was worth it.  It's not a good area to run with music since you have to pay so much attention to the trail, wildlife and possible people/bikes (it's also easy to get lost).  It was in the 80's, but I felt strong at the finish.

I crossed the Del Mar mesa from the PQ canyon into an area known as McGonigle canyon (aka The Forbidden zone-lol).  There are some great trails in this area and I found a large lake between the mesa and canyon, the only problem is the "stolen" cars and immigrant camps.  Twice, I heard voices just off the trail.  I was also spoked by a large condor less than 5 feet from me!  This area is cool, but probably wise to run the area with a buddy.

Here's an article from 2206 on the area:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060604/news_mz1n4outdoor.html






 

Run in PQ Canyon.  It was pretty humid when I did the run, but there was a nice breeze.

Long run at an easy pace.  We soaked our legs in the ocean after the finish.  I felt fresh at the finish, so I'm excited about Boston.  We ran at an average 7:45/mile pace.

Quick treadmill run at the hotel in Denver

Treadmill in hotel

Tempo work-out in PQ canyon.  2 mile warm and cool down with five 3:00/3:00.

Run  in the PQ canyon.  I saw my first snake this week on the trial...4 ft. rattle snake!  There were also 2 really large lizards (iguanas?) and hundreds of caterpillars.  Spring is here.  

Run from Oceanside to Cardiff with the group.  We started with a 2 mile warm-up then the next 11 at marathon pace.  I felt strong at the finish.  One more week then Boston!

Lazy run in the middle of the day.  Nothing noteworthy, just recovery from Saturday.  

40 minutes at race pace in canyon.  Tough run on narrow trails and steep ascents/descents.  I was exhausted after the short run!

Tempo work of 4 x 3/3 minutes with mile warm up and cool down in the canyon 

Tempo run in the canyon.  Lots of bugs out today.  I actually got "pooped" on by a bird the last mile.  It hit my knee...glad I wasn't running faster!

Ten miles at race pace.  I'm starting to get a cold, so the pace was difficult to keep.  We also had a 400 ft. climb over a mile stretch.  Very hot this morning.

Six miles at marathon pace.  It was pretty difficult with the rolling hill, heat and humidity.

Easy run in the canyon.

Short, east run around the hotel in BOSTON with Craig.  Nice and sunny even at 7 PM.  We are expecting much of the same on Monday.

Me and 26,999 other people ran Boston today.  The race was massive...massive amount of buses, massive amounts of runners, massive amount of spectators.  Everything took longer--like waiting for the bus, getting to Hopkinton, using the port potties, etc...  Before moving into the corral to start the race, we probably walked a total of 4 or 5 miles, but I was ready to run when the gun went off.

The first 20 miles of the race are incredible.  People everywhere.  Below are my mile splits:

Mile 1--6:48
Mile 2--6:30
Mile 3--6:32
Mile 4--6:20
Mile 5--6:39
Mile 6--6:31
Mile 7--6:32
Mile 8--6:39
Mile 9--6:34
Mile 10--6:42
Mile 11--6:39
Mile 12--6:33
Mile 13--6:41
Half Time--1:27:02 I was hoping to come in around 1:29...way too fast!
Mile 14--6:37
Mile 15--6:52
Mile 16--6:37
Then the hills of Newton!
Mile 17--7:01
Mile 18--7:07
Mile 19--7:11
Mile 20--7:27
I was cooked after Heartbreak Hill!
Mile 21--8:36
Mile 22--8:19
Mile 23--8:21
Mile 24--8:00
Mile 25--8:18
Mile 26--8:03

The race was 26.5 on my GPS .  It was impossible to cut the corners with all the runners.  Total time of 3:07:45.

I had a pretty good race going until Heartbreak Hill.  I had some serious cramping after that hill all the way to the finish line (I had to stretch or change my pace almost every 1/2 mile).  This is definelty a course you can improve on once you run it once and know the difficulties of the 2nd half. 

The crowds were incredible, the volunteers was great and the weather was nice.  Everyone should try to run this marathon once.

Slow, recover run today in the canyon.  I began to feel much better at mile 3.  I may try to run 10-12 on Saturday.  I've decided to run the San Diego Marathon in June in an effort to reach my sub 3:00-hour goal before Fall.  I just hope I don't over-do it!
 

Run with the group today in Chula Vista...almost the border!  Me and some fellow Boston runners dropped down a "group" and did a slower, easy pace.  Felt pretty good, but I was fading a little at the end.  I will probably do some longer runs over the next two weeks to make sure I'm fit for the San Diego Rock-N-Roll.

Partial road and canyon run.  Almost fully recovered from the marathon on Monday.

Short run on a hot day.  Still moving a little slow after the marathon.

Run in the early morning before flying to Atlanta.  I had a little hip pain.  I'll probably take Wednesday or Thursday off to make sure there are no issues. 

Run in the PQ Canyon.  Had some pain in my right foot near my ankle.

Run on the Del Mar Mesa.  Had some hip flexor pain.  I may need to reduce some mileage until fully recovered from Boston.

New Mizuno Wave shoes.  I also implemented some stretching.

Long run down the coast from Oceanside to Del Mar.  The last few miles were pretty tough.  I didn't have much spring in my step.  I will probably pass on the San Diego marathon on June 1 and look for shorter races. Maybe, I can get more speed during the summer before a Fall marathon.

Finally recovered from the flu.  I've decided my next marathon will be Tucson in December.  I'll probably start full training in July.

Run in Park Village

Half the mileage was in the canyon (dirt) and the other half on the road with some rolling hills.  Fast pace at the finish.

PQ Canyon (see Friday)

PQ Canyon (see Friday)

Park Village (see Friday)

PQ Canyon (see Friday)

I've been a slacker with this log book, so I'm going to try and update it this week.  I made a commitment to run the Ragnar Northwest Passage relay over the weekend and I need to try and build up some speed so as not to embarrass myself. 

Elizabeth and I are spending the weekend at Red Mt. Spa in St. George.  Today, I ran Snow Canyon.  St. George is a great place to run.  I really couldn't feel the elevation change from sea level in San Diego, but the humidity was a lot lower making the running easier. 

Speed work at High School.  1 mile warm up and cool down with  6 x 200.

Hill run through the canyon.

Tempo work.  Mile warm up and cool down with 3 x 800 on dirt trail.

Run around Lake Miramar with a new group.  1 mile warm up and cool down with 3 mile tempo.

Run in Park Village.  Planning a long run on Sunday.

Run through PQ canyon.  First 5 miles were nice.  It was cool and cloudy, but then the sun came out and it was a struggle back in the heat/humidity.  

Received our initial "legs" for the NW Passage relay from Paul.  I'm going to try and get a 10K race in before the relay, so I can work on my speed. 

Speed workout at Mt. Carmel High School.  6 x 200 with mile warm up and cool down.  

Tempo run of 3 x 800 with warm up and cool down in PQ canyon.

Hard, hot miles in the PQ Canyon.

1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down with 4 mile tempo.  Ran with group at Lake Miramar.  There are a few 3:00 hour marathoners that push the pace.  Nice run even with the heat.

Night run because it was so hot during the day.  No moon light, so I had to go slow through the canyon.

6 x 200 with mile warm up and cool down at high school track.

Nice run along the river north of Calgary in Canada. Worked in 3 x 800 tempos.

Nice run along river in Red Deer, Canada.  

Run in Park Village.

Night run after dinner, so slow.  Run in Park Village.

Run around Lake Miramar and 10K course for July 4th with group.

6 x 200 with mile warm up and cool down

Run in PQ canyon.  I have a 10K race planned for Friday, so probably not run on Thursday.

10K race today around Lake Miramar. Hot and humid conditions. This race draws about 2000 people with a large number of elites. The course is uphill at the start, then a gradual/flat uphill for most of the race around the lake. The last 1/2 mile has about 100 ft. drop. I did about 2.3 mile warm up and lost my bib somewhere! Luckily, the timing chip had my number on it and was attached to my shoe. Below are my splits:

Mile 1: 5:58--uphill first 1/2 mile then flat
Mile 2: 6:06--tried to setting into the pack at a comfortable pace
Mile 3: 6:11--5K around 18:50. I was hoping I had enough in the tank to duplicate it.
Mile 4: 6:19--Humidity very high and was sweating a lot. Did not take water the entire race.
Mile 5:6:19--Hardest mile over the lake's dam. Very warm and a little windy.
Mile 6: 6:05--Downhill stretch and was feeling excellent at the finish.
Finish mile pace: 5:38--total time under 38. My Garmin had 37:55, but gun time was 37:58.

I would classify this as a flat course. The uphill and downhill even each other out and none of it is overwhelming. It was a PR for me...even faster than the Dessert News 10K! I'm feeling pretty good about the Northwest Relay at the end of the month. I will update my overall place and division once it is posted. I believe I came in with the #4 elite woman. The Men's winning time was probably cost to 30:00. I was told this was the first race that kicks off the Southern CA racing season.

Nice beer garden at the finish--Miller and Fosters! I would recommend this race to all runners. The volunteers do a great job.

Trail run in the canyon.  From house to Poway. I found out over the weekend that a guy I've run with once or twice on the trail (short distances) is Tony Hawk.  That's kinda neat. 

Run in Fort Collins, Colorado next to the river. Lots of bugs a little overcast, but a nice trail.

Run along bike trail next to river in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Nice run past a golf course, woods and lakes.  

Run in Fort Collins before flying out to Fargo.  It was hot, but a nice run by the river.

1/2 trail and 1/2 road

Trail run in the canyon during the middle of the day.  Very hot and humid.  Did some steep inclines.

Treadmill at hotel in Phoenix.

5 miles in the morning on the road at 6 AM in Phoenix...way too hot.  I will try again tomorrow at 5:30 AM.  Later that day I ran 3.5 on the treadmill before dinner.

Run at night in the canyon.

Run in PQ Canyon then back through neighborhood.

Run in PQ canyon.

Wow, so I wrote a really detailed race account, but it freaking disappeared when I clicked submit...arrgghh!  I will try again, but shorter version:

I ran the relay with the following guys.  I encourage you to read their blogs for more details:

Cody Draper (http://cody.fastrunningblog.com)
David Nelson (http://nelson.fastrunningblog.com)
Dale Marchard (http://dale.fastrunningblog.com)
Craig Green (http://craig.fastrunningblog.com)
Andy Browning (http://andyb.fastrunningblog.com)
Matt Rowley (http://mattrow.fastrunningblog.com)
Aaron Shakow (http://aaron.fastrunningblog.com)
Tim Sturm (needs to join the blog)

I met up with Andy and Craig at the SEATAC airport late Friday morning.  We rented the van, bought way too much food and drove up to the first major exchange.  We would be picking up our fourth van member at Leg 12 (David) when he arrived after work.  The relay is generally a 12 person race, but we were going with 9.  Van 2 (my van) only had four members, so we would all run an additional leg (total of 4) then two lucky souls would run a 5th leg.  The first exchange went smoothly, but Dale informed us an off-roading incident (see his blog), but we remained on track.  Van 1 was actually several minutes ahead of schedule and put the pressure on us to keep it up.

My first leg (#9) was a rural road run next to Lake Samish.  The area was heavily wooded, so my Garmin had tracking issues.  The course began with a nice downhill before flattening out with small rollers.  On Wednesday night, I dropped a recycling bin on my large left toe.  It had major bruising and a nasty blister under the toe.  My wife recommended I go and get it "drilled" but I didn't have the courage.  I decided to "ignore it." I was worried about the race, but there was no way a toe injury was going to stop me from running the relay.   I did not put on shoes until minutes before my leg began.  I wrapped and taped it hoping my nail would stay on and off I went.  The first 1.5 miles was painful, but the toe went numb and my gait felt better.  I ran the 5.9 miles in 35:11 at a 5:58 pace.  

My next leg was a combo (#21 & #22).  The course was a trail along the water in Anacortes, then turning uphill into town before traveling down Hwy 20 toward Alexander Beach.  I received the exchange about 1:45 AM and felt pretty good.  The toe went numb again before the first major climb at mile 2.  The climb dropped off after another 1.5 miles before beginning a more gradual climb down the major highway.  These two legs are where I ran into the most runners/teams.  I passed about 20-25 runners on this stretch.  I ran the 7.0 miles in 46:03 at a 6:36 pace. 

My last leg was #33.  It was a small downhill followed by two major climbs.  The run was on Smugglers Cove Road next to Admiralty Inlet.  I will be happy if I never see this road again!  My body began to shut-down on this run.  I went into marathon survival mode.  There were 7 teams in front of us at this point, so I still had some visible motivation.  Once again, the toe went numb after mile 2.  I was able to run down three more teams during this leg.  I ran the 4.9 miles in 32:43 at a 6:45 pace.    

Our team finished in 20:31:02.  Almost 30 minutes ahead of schedule.  We hung around to see if we would be the overall winners.  There was a 6-man ultra team that started 1.5 hours after us.  This gave them the advantage of knowing our finish time.  They stepped up their pace and beat us by 6 minutes.

We had a great team that ran with a lot of heart.  Everyone was a positive and strong runner.  I would love to run another race with these guys, but only if we have 12 people!  Props to the Ragnar staff and volunteers.  This was an incredible course.  I strongly encourage everyone to run this race for the scenery alone!

First run out since the relay race.  My toe is really disgusting, but not much pain!  I expect the toenail to fall of soon.  I ran the PQ canyon during the afternoon today.  A little too hot and too humid!  Looking forward to low humidity running again in Salt Lake.

Run in Hawaii near Wakiki Beach.  I did the run about 6 AM, but it was already hot.  I'm in vacation mode, so may not run for a week or two.

First run back from vacation. I did a nice trail run in the PQ canyon. I went right after dinner, so it was a slow pace.

Run in Park Village at night after dinner...ugh.

Run at night after dinner around Park Village.

Afternoon run in the canyon.  Overcast and a little windy.  Nice running conditions.  Ran/walked some major hills.

Run at night again after dinner in Park Village.  It is very difficult to have a good run on a full stomach!  Hopefully, this will help my training...lol.

Run in the canyon before dinner.

Run in the canyon through the Del Mar mesa.  Dropped down into a biking trail for some hill work.

I ran through PQ canyon, then up to Del Mar Mesa.  I followed a trail out to Highway 56 and then worked my way back into Park Village.  I was surprised at how short the distance was.  Good run in the heat and humidity.

Yesterday, I was in San Jose for the entire day and night, so I had no time to run.  I was able to make my "Tucson" training schedule while on the plane back to San Diego.  I should be in Week 2 of a 16-Week program.  I was supposed to run a 10-miler over the weekend, but I will be in Salt Lake Friday and Saturday, so no time to run (moving).  I will try to get my long runs in on Thursday for the next couple of weeks.

I ran the entire length of the PQ Canyon today.  It was hot and humid.  I was glad to be finished! I'm looking forward to cooler weather in Utah.

I drove back to Salt Lake for weekend to drop off one of the cars in preparation for our move back.  I ran the 15th East-Sugarhouse park route.  It gets darker much later in SLC versus San Diego.  With the low humidity, it was a good run.

Today is the first chance I've had to run this week.  We are in the middle of packing, so I may not get another chance again this entire week.  Our movers did not show up today to load in the truck, so the run helped to reduce my stress.  I fired those guys and have a new company coming in on Thursday.  I did a mix of road and trails today.  I plan on running more trails in Salt Lake this year before it snows.

Run from house up to the Avenues.  Great hill through cemetery on Center St.

1 mile warm up and cool down with track work at East High.  Ran 10 :60x:60.

Quick run around Liberty Park and back to the house.

Ran the Greek Festival 5K this morning.  The course  is very similar to the Race for the Cure course at Gateway in Salt Lake.  Not my best time, but I had a good 2 miles.  I believe the altitude got to me the last mile where a slowed down considerably.  After the race, I drove up to the Canyons to run with a friend of mine doing the Mid-Mountain marathon.  

Quick late night run around Liberty Park.

Speed work at East High.  1 mile warm up with 1 mile cool down.  Ladders at 5K pace 1/2/3/2/1 minutes with 1 minute jog in-between.  3 minute recovery then :15/:30/:45/:30/:15 with :30 jog in-between.

Run from House to Sugar House park and back.

Run with Coach Bills' group up Emigration canyon at 5 AM.  

Run around Sugar House park and Highland track while Elizabeth and Lucas played at the playground.  Included four 2 minutes 5K pace/2 minute jog tempo into the run.

Short run from the house up to Foothill via the park on 15th East.  

Speed work at East High School.  1 mile warm up and cool down with 14 x :60/:60.

Early morning miles from House to Liberty Park.

Run along the new Legacy Parkway trail with Coach Bill's group.  Early run at 5 AM, but nice sunrise.  I'm getting over a cold, so the run was a little slow, but it was good mileage.

1 mile warm up and cool down with 6 x 200 at East High track.  I did this run about 8:30 PM.  It was a little creepy, because two shadows in the bleachers watched me the entire time.

Quick run through the streets of Sugar House.

House to Sugar House Park.

Run in Golden, Colorado along the Golden Trail.  My GPS died early in the run, so the mileage is an estimate.  I stumble across a cool "dinosaur" trail next to a golf course.  Several large dinosaur tracks in the clay.  It was pretty neat.  The trail runs parallel to Hwy 6.

Speed work at East High late at night.  I arrived from Denver about 7 PM, then had dinner and went out to do speed work.  1 mile warm up with 8 x 400 with 200 recovery.  1.5 mile cool down.  First couple were hard because of the heavy dinner.  Tried out some new shoes-Asics Nimbus.  Comfortable shoes, but heavy and loud.

Easy, slow run with Coach Bill's St. George group on Jordan River Parkway.  Afterwards, we stopped at the "team's" massage therapist for bagels, motivation and stretching.  The St. George group seems to be in great shape.  They should all have a good race next weekend.

Speed work at East High School.  2.5 mile warm up with 1.5 mile cool down.  Speed was 7x200's.

Longer run from my house to Sugar House Park with a quick visit up Miller Park. 

I was in Tucson yesterday, so I drove the marathon course.  A few tough hills early and some rolling hills in the middle and at the end, but it looks fast with long stretches of downhill.  The drop is not as much as St. George, but it's spread out through the entire course.  The last 1/3 of the course is on 5 lane highway, so that will be an issue.

Speed/Tempo workout at East High School.  I did this run at night after dinner, so it was a little sluggish.  10 x 400 with 1 mile warm up and cool down.

Quick run out around Liberty Park.  I'm not sure when it happened, but Liberty Park has become a little Venice Beach complete with the hippies and street vendors.  The people of Salt Lake had better heed Cartman's warnings!

Short run around Liberty Park

Run up City Creek Canyon.  I was 20 minutes faster coming downhill.  I really need to work on my uphill endurance.  I hope to run this route every couple of weeks.  It was rainy and windy for most of the run, but I really felt for the guys down in St. George who were going 26.2 today!

The sun came out after lunch so I ran up to the track at East High for 7 x 200 with warm up and cool down. 

Around the Sugar House area with a few trails mixed in.

Quick run around Liberty after driving all day through Idaho.

Track workout at East High late at night.  6 x 800 with mile warm up and cool down.  I tried to run these between 2:45-2:55.  I read an article about late in the training season on running 10 x 800 with the last one being close to your marathon time.  They felt pretty easy, but we will see how it goes when I add 4 more.  I know I need to go a long way on my endurance training.

Easy run around Liberty Park area.

Lucas had swim lesson this morning, so afterwards Elizabeth drove me above Emigration Canyon and dropped me off for my 17 mile run.  The snow was coming down hard and the wind was blowing the first 4 miles, but eased after Little Dell.  I saw one runner and one biker on the route into Salt Lake.  The wind picked up, so it was good head wind training.  No joke, I ran with a goat from mile 9-10.  I believe it was someone's pet.  The sun came out as I approached the zoo and it made for a nice dry run back to the house.  Tough day for a run, I have a couple of blisters from wet shoes and socks from the initial snow downpour.  It may be a tough couple of months getting ready for Tucson in December.

Quick run at the track in-between the rain and the snow. 7 x 200 with mile warm up and cool down.  My legs were sore from the 17 mile downhill run on Saturday, so I didn't have much speed today.

Run from house to Sugar House park.  My calves were pretty sore from the work-outs on Saturday and Sunday.  It took about 3 miles to loosen up.

Easy recovery run around the Sugar House area.  I hope to be fresh for a hard tempo workout on the track tomorrow night.  

Today was supposed to be a tempo workout, but when I ran up to the High School track they were preparing for a football game.  I decided to run up to Red Butte Gardens and on the Shoreline trail. 

It was not too difficult of a workout, but I could really feel my left knee on the steep downhill.  I know this will be an issue at Tuscon, so I'll try to prepare for it.  Also, I ran the full 8.5 without hydration.  This is something else I am working on during my weekly runs.  I like to think that I can train my body to operate on less hydration, thus making the marathon water-stops not as critical or as time consuming.
 

I was going to run Thursday night after visiting Red Butte Garden's "Once Upon a Time," with Elizabeth, Lucas and some friends, but we stayed later than I thought we would (pretty neat--go check it out). 

Crawled out of be at 6:00 and ran up to East High track for warm-up.  Ran 4 x 1600 at 5K pace with 400 meter walk/recovery.  I wanted to stay around 6:00 minute pace, but hit all four below 5:50 and felt fairly comfortable. 

I ran in my Filas with a thick insert.  This makes the shoes weigh over 15 ounces.  I have some racing flats on order and I can't wait to run in a 8 ounce shoe.  I'll probably do a 5K next weekend in them (if they show up).

Run up City Creek Canyon from Memory Grove Park. 

Today is Elizabeth's birthday so Lucas and I took her to the Original Pancake House.  We ate way too much food, so I had to wait a few hours before starting this run.  I felt very sluggish driving to Memory Grove park, so I had teenage girl's typical diet of Red Bull and Blow-pops to perk me it.  It worked great.  The run starts at 4400 feet and paved trail ends at 6050.  I hit snow and ice about 5500 which felt great.  There was a nice tail wind pushing me up the canyon.  I made it up the 7 miles in a 9:15 pace feeling really good.  I made the turn and averaged a 6:10 pace the back 7 miles.  

The first half of the run I listened to a podcast called Phedippidations.  It is a program done by a guy (Steve) while he is running long miles.  It's a great way to warm up for the first hour.  I would recommend it to anyone running alone.  Steve touched on a lot of subjects today, but the most memorable to me was "why we run."  I agree with Steve's oberservations, that "running is the answer to a healthy life."  "Healthy" meaning much more than the physical state.  I personally, also run for pride.  I enjoy seeing improvement every season and want to see and test where my limits are.

Speed-work at East High.  7 x 200 with mile warm-up and cool down.

Run around Sugar House Park area.  Ran through Mount Olivet Cemetery close the U. of U.  Nice, quiet paved streets with beautiful trees and lots of deer.  It was a nice run.  I also ran by the "Fountain of Ute."  Not sure what this is, but I will try to find out on future runs.

Run from house to Sugar House Park.  Nice head wind and a little chilly.

I've decided to run a 5K race on Saturday.

I had to fly home Tuesday night because my father had a heart attack and passed away.  It was a very sad experience and running blog will show that I only did this run and one more before heading back home to Salt Lake.  This was a run along the Applachian trail in North Carolina.  It was a beautiful run and gave me time to reflect on my father and the difficult decision we would have to face the coming week.

Another run in North Carolina on the wooded trail.  I did this run on a Sunday.  We buried my father the day before (Saturday).  It was a tough run with a lot of elevation change, but I felt somewhat comforted when I finished.  I look forward to getting back in to my routine once I get back to Salt Lake at the end of the week.

Run at Jordan Rivers Parkway after Lucas' swim class.  Great run for 15 miles then ran out of hydration.   My legs began to cramp like at the end of a marathon and I ended up walking several miles back to my car.  I had a great pace up to mile 15 then it all stopped.  This is probably my second worst run ever.  I should recover quickly and try to do some speed work on Sunday.

Speed work at East High.  7 x 200 with mile warm up and cool down.  I was very sore from the horrible run on Saturday, but still went out Sunday night in the rain to redeem myself.  It was very slow speed work, but it helped me stretch out.

Run from house to Sugar House park in rain/snow mix.  The first two miles were difficult, but then got into a rhythm and felt good at the end.  I believe I have recovered from the 20 miler on Saturday.  I will try to do tempo work on Wednesday.

Speed work at East High.  Did this run about 9 PM in very icy conditions, but the pace felt good.  1 mile warm up and cool down with 6 x 1200.

Another late night run around Sugar House park.  It was fun to hear the sounds of the Utah/TCU football game coming from the stadium while running.

Fun race at Wheeler farm for the Humane Society.  Probably over 500 runners with some serious elite guys showing up (15:48 won it--Terrance Jamenson). 

I started out on pace at 5:44/1 mile then began to drop to 6:03/2 mile then 6:10/3 mile.  I did not get passed and actually out kicked 2 runners the last 1/2 mile (back at 5:44 pace).  I was also able to stay several seconds ahead of the first female (Emily Jamenson).  Overall it was a good race and I PR'd by 25 seconds.  I would like to get down to sub 18:00 and run 5:50 pace the entire length.  I hope to get there before the Spring.

 

Run from house to Avenues then up City Creek Canyon.  Nice cool day for a run.  I felt a little soreness from the 5K race yesterday, but nothing to stop me from getting the mileage in.

House to Sugar House park in the rain.  It took awhile to get warmed up, but eventually got into a good groove.  I have to fly to Lubbock today, so I hope to find time this week to run in Texas.

Run around hotel in Lubbock, Texas at night.

Another run around Lubbock, Texas.  Yesterday I felt a cold coming on (sore throat).  I ran slow yesterday and again today to hopefully recover quickly.

Speed work at East High School.  Another late night run after dinner.  I ran a 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down with 10 x 800 with 200 recovery in-between.  In theory, these 800 should predict your marathon pace.  I did this workout before Boston this year and averaged about 2:58.  Today, I averaged about 2:48.  I ran a 3:07 at Boston and had a major "boink!"  I hope a sub 3:00 is my future at Tuscon this December.  This was my last track workout until the marathon.  I have a 22-miler on Saturday that should test my endurance level.  I've been running 7 x 200 on a weekly basis to help my speed, but my mileage is down which may hurt my endurance.

Last long run up and down Emigration Canyon.  I got started at 6:00 AM and did 7 miles before meeting the group at 7 AM at Ruth's.  I had time to change shoes and take a Gui.  Ran 15 with the group at a slow pace early, then cruised the last 5 miles at sub 6:30 pace downhill toward Ruth's.  I felt excellent the entire run and could have easily done another 10K.  It was a nice run compared to the 20-miler I had a few weeks ago at JRP.

Run around Harvard/Yale area.  Did 2 mile warm up and cool down with 5 x 3 minutes hard and 3 minutes easy.

Speed work at East High following dinner.  7 x 200 with mile warm up and cool down. 

 
I will need to move my long taper Saturday run to Wednesday evening, because we are going out of town for the holiday.  I will do 13 miles and try to do the last 10 at race pace.

Since I will be out of town for the next two weeks, I moved my Saturday run to today. 

The plan was to run 3 warm-up miles then 10 miles at marathon race pace (finish in about 1:35).  I started running at Little Dell lake then up Emigration and down to my house in Sugar House.  A little past the peak I hit 3 miles feeling really fresh.  I clock 6:29, 6:32, 6:29, 6:27, 6:30, 6:25, 6:25, 6:27, 6:23 and 6:03 to finish the 10 miles.  I felt good and could have gone another 13 miles at this pace and elevation drop!  I finished in 1:28.  The Tucson course does not drop as rapidly as Emigration, but I think a sub 3:00 is very possible after today's run.

I hope I can stay somewhat in-shape over the next two week taper/holiday.  I wish the race was this weekend!

Run in Dawsonville, GA park.

Speed work at track in Dawsonville, GA.  1 mile warm up and cool down with 7 x 200.  Lucas, my 2 year old, ran 1.25 miles non-stop with me!  

6 laps around the local park in Bryson City, NC. while Elizbeth, Lucas and my mother visited the mini-train museum (they loved it).

Steep, narrow trail run up and down Deep Creek River in North Carolina.  First 1/2 easy and second 1/2 at sub-race pace.

Short run around park a few times in North Carolina while Lucas and Elizabeth played at the park.

I did a short run on the "challenging" section of the Tucson marathon.  I have not run for over 8 days, due to a nasty cold so I wanted to get out and stretch.  I ran the "biosphere 2" section which is an out and back.  Mile 1 and 2 were very difficult as my legs and lungs began to function again (I think I left a lung back in Salt Lake).  The last mile I ran at race pace and felt pretty relaxed. 

I think my cold will be a factor tomorrow, but there is not much I can do about it at this point.  I hope to give it a good effort tomorrow.

Mile 1: 6:15 Fast down hill start

Mile 2: 6:41 Settled into race pace

Mile 3: 6:51 Enjoyed the desert sights as the sun came up

Mile 4: 6:49 Hit some hills

Mile 5: 6:37 Rural road hits a major street

Mile 6: 6:24 Fast downhill

Mile 7: 6:25 More fast downhill

Mile 8: 6:28 Sun goes behind clouds and course hits another major road

Mile 9: 6:28 Steady downhill

Mile 10: 6:31 Steady downhill

Mile 11: 6:52 Turn toward Biosphere 2

Mile 12: 7:21 Challenging hills

Mile 13: 6:46 More challenging hills

Half split 1:27:00

Mile 14: 6:53 Up the hill and back out to the major road

Mile 15: 6:43 Tried to settle into race pace again

Mile 16: 6:44 Pace feeling OK

Mile 17: 6:44 Still feeling OK

Mile 18: 6:53 Road begins to intersect a 6 lane highway

Mile 19: 6:55 Legs starting to feel very heavy.  Began walking through water stops

Mile 20: 7:30 Doing the math in my head and worried

Mile 21: 7:42 I can fell it slipping away as I smell car exhaust

Mile 22: 7:34 Decent mile, but I need to pick it up

Mile 23: 7:47 More highway, will this ever end

Mile 24: 7:49 Getting ready for the last major climb

Mile 25: 8:39 Course runs through an alley way behind a grocery store with big uphill

Mile 26: 8:04 Course flattens out, but I’m done.

Mile 26.22: 1:36 One more major climb to finish line then a turn onto a dirt track

Total: 3:04:10

I didn’t have the training I wanted for November and it showed at mile 20.  I still wanted to give myself an opportunity and I felt strong at the ½ point.  My overall goal was 2:58:00, but at mile 20 I knew this was not going to happen.  I didn’t have any major cramping, but my legs felt like bricks at the 20-mile mark.  I felt well enough to run, but I’ve been trying to shake a nasty cold for the last four days.  If I would have hit my goal, I would have placed in my age division. 

The race organizers did a great job, but there is not very much crowd support.  The winner (Kenyan?) of the past years blew up with 5K to go and had to drop!  He was leading by over 5 minutes!

I would recommend this race.  The first ½ is incredible on rural roads.  The turn toward Biosphere 2 is challenging and last 7 miles are on a major 5/6 lane road open to traffic.

 Kudos to Bill.  I saw him at the finish and he had a great race:

http://mandlerwm.fastrunningblog.com/

Run at the Ice Oval in Kerns.  Neat facility, but the track is hard.  This was my first run since the marathon and I could feel it.  My left leg (behind the kneed) was given me issues, so I just ran it nice and slow.  I'll try to work it out during the week.

Snow run around Liberty Park.  I'm probably still a week away from full recovery.

I "unfroze" my Gold's Gym membership and began using it again today.  I hate the gym.  I ran from my house to the gym and back.  While at the gym, I mainly did upper body work.

I was going to try and get some gym time in with the run, but it was closed.  Run from my house, around Liberty, to Gold's then home.

Run from house to Liberty in icy conditions.

Speed work at East High track that was covered with snow.  7 x 200 with mile warm up and cool down.

House to Liberty then gym.  Upper body work-out...I hate the gym.

Run from house to Sugar House park then gym for more upper body. 

This may sound odd, but this is my 4th trip the gym and I've already gained 4 pounds.  I try to do light weights with high reps to keep the mass down (lol).  Hopefully, some long runs will bring the weight back down.  I was 158 last week and today I'm 162 (both measured on the gym's scale).  Two winters ago, I incorporate the gym into my workouts and topped out at 185.  I need to stay below 165 this year.

House to Sugar House park then gym...again.