I started running in the fall of 2007. I truly believe I was inspired to start running and I have seen some very big blessings come my way because of following that inspiration.
Ran Boston Marathon 2013 & 2014. My favorite PRs: 2011 at the SG 1/2 and 5K where I ran the 5K in 22:22. 2013 Nebo 1/2 (downhill) 1:36:15
Short-Term Running Goals:
Long-Term Running Goals:
Running throughout life with Tom. Staying healthy and happy.
Learn from others, learn from myself, work hard, do my best, enjoy!
On running and on life.....
On occasion we need to make a second effort - and a third effort, and a fourth effort, and as many degrees of effort as may be required to accomplish what we strive to achieve.
~Thomas S. Monson~
Personal:
Going to St. George? Bag the hotel and stay in one of our condos instead!
Nice to wake up a little later today and not use an alarm clock. Tom and I each did our own thing. We passed each other on the trail and gave a little high five. Other than that it was pretty much just me and my thoughts. Though there were several people out and about and it was nice to see lots of action.
Happy to see our buddy Karl G out today. He actually had a heart attack and died at the finish line of AF 1/2 earlier this summer. He really did die. We are grateful he is alive and able to get out and start running again. He looked so happy to be out! I chatted with him for a bit and he seemed to be doing things pretty smart for the most part.
In the middle of this I did 2 x 1 miles (7:45 pace) with a .10 recovery between. It will be hard to hold that pace at the bottom of Nebo 1/2 on Saturday. We will see what happens.
Mt. Nebo Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:36:15, Place in age division: 2
Easy Miles
Marathon Pace Miles
Threshold Miles
VO2 Max Miles
Total Distance
13.10
0.00
0.00
0.00
13.10
Fun stuff this morning! I decided that since I run this canyon every week that I should use my home court advantage and go for a new downhill PR. My previous downhill PR (1:42) was at Hobble Creek half about 5 years ago. This year for Hobble Creek I was hoping to beat that time but it didn't work out and I got 1:48. (had a few extenuating circumstance and lost the mental capacity). So my plan coming into this race was to get low 1:40s and hopfully sneak down into the high 1:30s.
Since Tom is running Big Cottonwood full next Saturday he took this at my pace instead of his. I also had Beth and Aub as the 1:35 pacers to help me out. I loved not having to look at my watch and figure things out! I was able to stay with Beth and Aub till about 10 miles then I just kept them in sight.
I was nervous for a bit at mile 2 as my right leg was getting very tight on me. But luckily after about a mile all was good. The water stops were every 2 miles and they popped up so soon each time! I was loving it!
I knew the last few miles were going to be the hardest and I just kept trying stay focused. I thought of Brayden Nielsen a few times when things were hard and heard a Booyah to keep me going. (May Brayden rest in peace and may we all embrace his booyah attitude for life!)
I was happy to see my posse at Beer Can Flats! Chad, Hal, Pat, Roman and Doug were all there to cheer me on. Many of them ran to the mouth of the canyon with me.
Looking back at my splits I had one mile that I got 8:01 the rest were all under 8:00 with an average of 7:20 overall. My legs felt great the whole time! My breathing is the thing that slowed me down.
The timing system was all messed up. Not sure what happened but if you look at the official report it will probably say I got 1:28. That would be pretty cool, but it is wrong. Everyone was off because of a timing issue. They said that even though the timing was wrong the placings were correct. Tom ended up 2nd in his age also, even though he was running with me. There was like a 16 minute difference between him and first place. So even if he would have pushed hard he would have still ended up with 2nd.
Anyway, very satisfying! I know I could not do this time on a flat course but it was sure fun to do it here today! And I got a really cool leaf medal!
I left Tom sleeping while I went out early to meet the Payson Canyon crew. Tom is running Big Cottonwood full on Saturday so he took today off from his regular schedule. Today was a fairly small group, just me and 6 of the guys. They are always so kind to let me be part of the gang and not cramp their style too much. It was mighty dark this morning. I had a head lamp but the batteries died right as I turned it on. I must get AAA batteries before our final Payson Canyon run next Thursday.
I sure have enjoyed the canyon runs this year. I am going to miss it.
I had to get my long run in today since I will be helping out at the Spanish Fork Half Marathon tomorrow. I was lucky enough to do pretty much the whole enchilada on my own. Glad to have it done and start the taper.
Yesterday I got out to run and was having some trouble with my right knee. It was making me run very differently and I was afraid of doing something dumb so I decided not to run on it. I am usually one who will err on the side of caution...especially this close to the marathon, so it wasn't a hard call for me to call it a day. I iced, compressed, rested and Ibuprophined it through the day and evening. I also wore a little band around the area which all seemed to help.
This morning I went out to try again. I wore the band and everything felt alright. While I am sitting here I feel it a bit but not like yesterday.
I decided to go ahead and try my Yassos for the day. I planned to do them at a 7:20 pace just to see if I could. I was able to do that 6 times. All of them were 3:37 except one at 3:36. However, I didn't have anymore in me. Six about did me in. I thought if I were to try 7 I would have had to be scraped off the road and thrown to the side with all the other road kill. I thought of doing four more at a slower speed but knew I still had a few miles to get back home and didn't know if I would make it if I went for more.
So for today I am happy that the knee felt better and that I was able to keep that pace for 6 repeats.
Sad that this was the last Payson Canyon run for the year. I have loved my Thursday morning ritual! Ran at a slower pace today and enjoyed the moment. Beautiful full moon to light the way at the beginning but got rather dark as the moon set behind the mountain. Glad to have a working headlamp with this week. Also glad to have a long sleeve shirt as it was a bit nippy.
I love these fall mornings! I wish they could stay as long as winter and summer stay. Tom got out again today for the first time since the Big Cottonwood Marathon last week that trashed his legs. We went over and met up with the SF gang. It was a bit nippy and windy at the beginning but a very nice morning for a 16 miler. A few did a bit less and two of our guys did 23. I'm glad I wasn't on their plan.
My knee was a little bothersom at the beginning but seemed to feel good the rest of the way. I tried to take it really easy on any down hill segments. I hope it won't be a problem at SGM but it is possible that it might give me some grief. That is ok though...I took that risk when I decided to run Mt. Nebo 1/2 a couple weeks ago.
Sad to run into a running friend who has been battling cancer. Just found another spot that needs to have a biopsy. My prayers are with her and her family and doctors. Those of us running after talking to her took our own health into perspective again as we left her. Grateful for every single healthy day in our lives! Which is one reason to run....because I can!
The cold and wind scared me into my longs today. They were fine but shorts would have been fine too. It was just Chad, Tom and I for most of the run. Hal joined in for a few. He decided to take some extra Zs and get out a bit later. I was jealous at first but then happy when we were done and he still had to run.
Tom and I both saw a shooting star....I think that means we are both going to have a great SGM next week!
I'm kind of getting excited and a bit nervous. I am going to be gambling a bit by trying to shave a big chunk off my PR. I know I can run a PR this year....just not sure how much I dare go for. Realisticly anything under 3:52 will be fabulous! But I know I can see it in the 40s and possibly the higher 30s. Here's to hoping everything falls into place next Saturday!
