Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

AM - Smithfield Canyon, 8.5 miles, averaging 7:03/mile. It's my birthday.

PM - Hillside-Summit loop with Seth. Hot out.

Canal trail. Did a few strides.

Ran the Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run today, a rare 15K race. I got up a little before 5AM, ate breakfast, and then grabbed my flats and jogged down to Carson's house for about a 2-mile pre-warmup warmup. Then we all carpooled with Carson's brother and sister, and one of their friends.

Got to the start line around 6:10, so plenty of time. We warmed up by running two miles up the canyon, and then back down, so 4 miles total. Perhaps it was too much pre-race running (6 miles total), but I needed the mileage more than the race.

Weather was pretty good. Nice and cool at the start line, maybe around 50 degrees. Didn't see any wind while driving up the canyon, so I was not counting on the famous Blacksmith Fork tailwind. Oh well. Managed one good portapot stop, and then it was time for the race to start. Narnia did not exist this year. Actually, the two portapots were there, but the race portapots were not in front of them, so they were exposed for the whole world to see. The magic was gone. But I used them anyway.

They actually started on time, which was great compared to last year. They were really ready for the crowd this year. I took it out pretty hard the first mile. My top-tier goal was to run around 46:00, which would be 15:20 per 5K, and about 4:57/mile. A tough goal, but I split pretty close to that at Utah Valley!

First mile was 4:58, but I knew it wasn't happening. Was working too hard and breathing too hard. The little tiny rollers in the canyon felt like big hills, and the downhills didn't feel big enough. My running felt uncoordinated, like I was lumbering rather than smoothly gliding. In other words, I was feeling pretty flat. But from taking it out hard, I was by myself from the gun, and it stayed that way to the finish.

I thought perhaps it would get better, but the race rolled by pretty much the same the whole. I mean, it wasn't terrible or anything, in fact it was pretty decent, but my last race was UVM, so I think I was expecting to feel like that again. Mile 2 was 5:04, then 5:06 for Mile 3. 5K was probably about 15:40.

Miles 4-6 were more of the same. Still on the downhill, but indeed we did not get a canyon wind today. In fact we picked up a slight headwind by the middle of the race and stayed through the end. Nothing major, but you notice it when you're trying to race into it. 5:06, 5:02, and 5:14 for Miles 4-6. Not sure what happen on Mile 6, probably the headwind picking up. 10K split was probably about 31:40. Waayyy slower than UVM. I think I've decided that Provo Canyon is quite a bit faster than Blacksmith Fork, though.

The end of mile 7 is the big hill of the course. Tried to work the hill, and hit 5:19 for the split. The first bit of mile 8 is uphill too, and then it's pretty flat. 5:22 for mile 8. By now I was out in the sun, but thankfully it stayed quite cool out, and was still great temperatures for racing. Mile 9 is downhill, with a really sweet downhill at the end of the mile as you approach downtown Hyrum. 5:09 for Mile 9. Then the last 0.3 to the finish was 1:29, as I tried to pick it up some.

My "official" finish time was 47:50. The timing mat was not turned on yet, so we used one of the race official's watch time, which matched mine pretty well. So it's all good. I definitely expected to run faster and to feel smoother, but I'm grateful to win the race, and to break 48-minutes, which is a nice barrier at the 15K distance (3xsub-16 5K's in a row). So it was a course best and a 15K PR, and a win. Gotta take it! Josh Steffen was 2nd and Kevin Dickey was 3rd. Carson was 4th. Official times were kind of mixed up for the top people, so hopefully everyone kept a watch time.

After the race I cooled down another 4 miles with Carson and his brother Todd. We ran up the course, and about 12 different people told us, "Hey, you're going the wrong way!" Each person thought they were being original. I usually told them that we had to go back because I left my windows down. The cooldown gave me 19 miles total for the day.

Stayed around for the awards and the raffle. I didn't win anything in the raffle, but the prize for 1st overall was a very cool pottery bowl. It's extremely huge. Not sure what I'll do with it, but it's unique and one of the nicer prizes I've won.

So it was a beautiful day and a nice day to race. Met some new people, saw a lot of bloggers (especially at Scott's pre-race BBQ yesterday, which was a great time), and got a little sun. A successful Saturday.

AM - Canal Trail. 7:24/mile for 8.25 miles. Felt kind of bleh, but I guess I did race on Saturday. I'm not sore at all, though.

PM - Forrester Acres with some strides in the grass. 6.25 miles, no watch.

Ran up Smithfield Canyon for 6 miles. Averaged 6:10/mile going up. Then averaged around 5:20/mile going down, once I hit the pavement again. 5:49/mile average for 12 miles. It was a beautiful morning, and I felt good. Probably felt better than during my race on Saturday. 

AM - Birch Creek Canyon with Carson. 8.5 miles, slow.

PM - Forrester Acres with Seth. No watch. 5.75 miles.

AM - Smithfield Canyon with Carson. 7:14/mile average for 9 miles.

PM - Planet Walk with Seth. 5 miles, no watch.

Kind of a weird workout today. I ran down to Skyview track to do mile repeats, and found that every gate was locked. Seriously? Heaven forbid someone does a track workout. Anyway, I circumnavigated the whole facility, and finally found a breach: I was able to army-crawl under the fence in one spot. Sometimes it pays to be extremely skinny, as normal person certainly could not have done this. Then I started the mile repeats. The workout was supposed to be 6x1600m with 200m recovery (60 seconds) at threshold pace (about 5:10/mile). I did the first one in 5:16. The second one felt quite a bit easier, and was 5:11. But by then some kids camp was flooding the track, so I decided to leave. Plus, I was really needing a potty stop. So I ran back home, used the facilities, changed to my NB 790s, and then hit the canal trail. Ran most of it at a brisk pace, and did some intermittent strides throughout the run. Averaged 6:30/mile for this 9-mile segment. Got 14 miles this morning total. Not quite the workout I wanted, but it could have been worse.

Long trail run today, I ran the High Creek - Cherry Creek loop with Jon. I guess this is a "short" trail run for Jon, but 20 miles and 4 hours is the longest I've run in quite some time. Jon came over to my house at 5:30AM, and then we piled in my car and headed out to Richmond (about 6 miles north of Smithfield). Parked at a big pullout along Cherry Creek, and then started the run on the dirt road (5200' elevation), which changed to paved as we headed north toward High Creek. This was the road segment that would make the route a "loop", rather than a shuttle. Not especially fun, but the road is actually very pretty to run on, and I thought it would be good to get this part done with at the very beginning while it's cool, rather than at the end of the run, when our legs are beaten up, feet hurting, and the the temperatures baking.

After about 3 miles we got onto the High Creek dirt road, and headed up the canyon. After a couple miles of that, we finally got to the trailhead and started the "real run". High Creek is a beautiful canyon, and the trail is in great shape. Lots of foot bridges at creek crossings, so we didn't even have to get our feet wet. It's a nice wooded single-track for a couple miles, and then it opens up to a gorgeous alpine meadow. Wildflowers were blooming everywhere, and everything was green. Once we were in the meadow (at about 6500'), we could see Cherry Peak, and big vertical cliffs everywhere, about 750' of sheer rock in some places. It feels more like Colorado or Wyoming Rockies more than Utah. There are also waterfalls dropping down the cliffs in several places.

The trail kept climbing, but was runnable. Eventually it got very steep, though, and we hiked most of the rest of the way up to High Creek Lake, which is a little cirque lake at the top of the canyon, near the ridge. The lake just pops up out of nowhere, and it very peaceful and beautiful. Not a ripple to be seen in the water, and the cliffs reflected perfectly off the surface. We could look down off the cirque to the meadow below, and it's a beautiful site.

We took a food break at the lake, and pitifully attempted to skip a few stones, and then continued on. From the lake at 8800', we climbed a few hundred feet to the saddle, and then ran just below the ridge, behind Cherry Peak. We had great views from there, including Naomi Peak (highest peak in the Bear River Range), and Smithfield Canyon. It was very green too. We ran along the ridge for a couple miles, which was fairly slow going due to rockiness and undulating terrain.

We finally topped out right at 9400' at the final pass, where we could see down into City Creek Canyon, and also had great views of Cache Valley, the Wellsvilles, and even Logan Peak (the radio antennas give it away). Finally, we started our rapid descent into the Cherry Creek drainage. We dropped about 1500' in probably about a mile, and it was pretty slow going for me. Jon got out a bit ahead of me. Eventually we dropped into a small meadow, and the trail got a little less steep, but still rough going.

Eventually we made it along Cherry Creek, and it was nice and shady, and the trail became less rocky and more packed dirt, which was nice. Plus there was a woman out there (the only person we saw on the Cherry Creek trail) who was doing trail maintenance and clipping overgrown vegetation. She did a great job, and our last mile or two were really smooth. Several creek crossings in here, but I just plowed through the water, since that is more fun, plus were were almost done. We finally made it off the single track, and then ran downhill on the dirt road for about another mile. Made it back to my car to complete the loop, 19.6 miles in just barely over 4 hours. Averaged 12:20/mile, or something stupid like that. It was fun to do a scenic trail run as a change of pace, so to speak. It was a beautiful day, and a good run.

took today off. My quads are still hammered from Saturday. Just sticking with my "don't run while I'm sore policy". I'm kind of surprised and disappointed that I'm so sore, but maybe it will help me for Des News...

Took another day off due to soreness. Should be ready to go again tomorrow. So basically one trail run ruined an entire week of training. Goes to show how dangerous trails are. I'll never run one again. However, it has also shown me how much I enjoy not running. I look forward to my imminent retirement from the sport.

Back at it. Quads are still sore, but not the deep soreness from the last few days. Ran to Hyde Park and back with Carson. 7:15/mile average.

Smithfield Canyon with Carson. 10 miles, 7:12/mile. Quads are...ahem...still sore. But at least not tender to the touch anymore. Very nice, cool morning. I was actually a bit chilly for the first half.

AM - feeling better. Ran 8.5 miles, averaged 6:32/mile. Did a few strides in the mile.

PM - Willow Park & Planet Walk from work. It was HOT! 6:51/mile average pace for 5.75 miles.

Long run with a workout today. I got up early (had a meeting at 8AM, so needed to finish and shower before then!), and ran up Smithfield Canyon. I wanted to do tinman tempo pace on the way up (6:15/mile), but it wasn't happening. Averaged about 6:50/mile on the uphill on the road before I hit the dirt at about Mile 6. Had a slight headwind, plus the new chip 'n' seal slowed things down, but it was mostly due to running so early; I can never run fast until at least 7AM. I continued up the canyon dirt road at a decent pace, and then eventually got to the start of the single track after a couple miles. Did a mile on the single track, then it was time to turn around a little bit after the first creek crossing. It's a pretty good trail, and I still need to run the whole thing at some point (goes all the way to Tony Grove).

So I turned around at 9 miles and went back down. Pace was pretty easy until I hit the paved road, then I started the workout portion of the run: 2x2-miles with 2 minutes recovery (deuces wild?). The first two-mile interval was 10:02 (5:05, 4:57). The first mile was a little slow, but I got to be feeling better by the second mile. My body had finally woken up. The second interval was better: 9:42 (4:54, 4:48). So by the time I felt good and warmed up, it was time to cool down! Kept a steady 6:30 pace back up to my house to finish the run. 18 miles total, 6:42/mile average.

AM - Birch Creek Canyon with Carson. 7:31/mile average pace for 8.25 miles.

PM - Forrester Acres with Seth. 5.75 miles.

Tempo day. I planned on doing some intervals, but I decided that I hate intervals, and never want to do them again. Ever. Again. In my lifetime. I love tempos. I will run tempos. Today I ran a tempo. Did the Bear River Loop. First 10 miles in 56:10 (5:37/mile average), then coasted back in, with 6x100m strides along the way. 5:52/mile average for the entire run.

Ran home from work. Blazing hot, but fortunately I took a hand bottle, so the hydration helped along the way. Averaged 7:01/mile.

Ran with Seth up Smithfield Canyon. 7:21/mile for 7 miles. 

5 miles easy on the canal trail, with a few strides at the beginning and the end.

We'll see what happens tomorrow with the 10K. My training was just "okay", and definitely not what I wanted in terms of speed. I may not be in as good of shape as before UVM, but you never know. That's what raceday magic is for. That, and running downhill.

Des News 10K today. I enjoy this race because it's so competitive, and I got a full order of competition today! Definitely both the deepest and top-heavy Des News field I've run in. It's sick how fast people ran today, but sick in a good way. It's great to have a race like this right here in Utah. Too bad it's all downhill, as no one outside the state gives the race any respect. But it's a great race.

Anyway, Stacy, Seth, and I drove down to SLC on Friday afternoon. Went early so that we could take our new (used) Volvo to the dealer (only dealer in the state) to do some magical dealer-only work (ie - turn off the air bag light). Managed to escape only spending $110 for that and a few other things.

We then shacked up at the Skyline Inn on Foothill Dr., just a couple miles from the start line. Ordered in pizza for dinner and sat around and gorged ourselves on TV (we have not have tv reception at home since we built our deck--no big loss). Went on to sleep my worst night of sleep ever. Absolutely terrible beds there, plus the room was too warm (weak AC). Wished I was in nice, cool Cache Valley. Got probably 3 hours of sleep, but I was ready to get up at 4:30AM, simply to get our of that dang bed. To top off the terrible bed, the room had no coffee machine. Even our hotel in Provo, a stone's throw from BYU, had a flippin' coffee machine. Oh well. My nervous system was pretty amp'ed for this race, so I was quite wide awake and ready to go anyway. But it would have helped with "other things".

Ate a banana and a couple mini-Cliff bars, and headed out to the course. Ran there, so it was about a 2 or 3-mile warmup. Conditions were cooler than I thought it might be, which was good, but still quite a bit warmer than what I'm used to. When I turned up Wakara, I noticed that we would have a favorable wind direction for that part of the race. Perhaps that helped make the race times so fast. I'm sure the nice temperatures helped too.

Took a potty stop, then warmed up a little more, did some strides, sat in the grass, and generally wasted time. Listened to a guy cuss up a storm because he realized he forgot his iPOD. Totally ruined his day. If you hate running that much, then don't do it! This guy was angry beyond belief, though, probably one of the same people who threw a fit on Ragnar's facebook page a few weeks ago.

Just before the race started, I bumped into an old teammate from Calvin, Kris Koster. Kris was a freshman when I was senior. He went on to be a multi-All American, and ran around 30-flat on the track in the 10K, and under 14:30 in the 5K too. He has family in Utah, and was here for a funeral, and jumped in Des News at 5PM last night. Pretty cool to see him after 9 years, and it definitely made my day (and helped my race, see below).

Chatted with a few others, and weaseled my way into the start. I somehow ended up 3 rows deep, and couldn't get any further up, being a 125-lb weakling and all. So I settled for 3 rows back, behind all the kids, including an 11-year-old whose mom personally insisted be up there.

They started the race right on time (this race is always very well-organized), and we roared out. Always a fast start, this Des News 10K. I quickly found myself in about 30th place or so. I got out from the crowd and wormed my way up, and was probably in about 20th by the turn onto Wakira. I couldn't believe how far up the leaders were, and how far back I was from my "peer group". I could see Jeff and Brad O. way the heck up there, and Seth P a little ahead of them. Leaders were almost out of site by a half mile. I figured that I was just having a tank of a race and going really slow. First mile split was 4:31. Okaaay. My goal pace for the first two miles for 4:35-4:38. I was not slow; everyone else was just extremely fast. Hopefully they would all pay.

I started running down the people that went out too hard. Knowing that my first mile was 4:31, I pretty much figured everyone went out too hard, and I was destined to win. Well, I didn't really think that, but I figured a lot of guys would come back to me, including Jeff and Brad. One-by-one I picked people off the next few miles. Mile 2 was 4:37 (9:08 for 2 miles). The pace felt quite hard (never felt relaxed at any point), and the downhill was hurting my back. I actually accelerated more and gained more ground on the flatter sections and on the uphill sections.

Mile 3 was tougher than I remember, and actually had quite a bit of uphill. Where did that come from. But again, I gained the most ground on the uphill, so although painful, it was good for my race. I also noticed a guy in dark maroon coming back to me, and I immediately recognized the distinct stride with the high leg kick: Kris Koster, my old college teammate. It's funny how you can recognize a stride after all those years. I was gaining on Kris, and he was the link between myself and the next pack ahead of him (Jeff, Brad, etc). Mile 3 was 4:50 (13:59 for 3 miles).

I was targeting 4:45 for the next couple miles, and then Mile 6 is always a death-march. Not that you can really "target" much at Des News. You more just load and go, and hope for the best. It's not a cerebral race. I caught Kris during the 4th mile. "Pack it up" I said to him as I pulled along side him. Got a lot of warm fuzzy college memories. Calvin College XC was well-known in DIII for its pack running. It's what gave us our strength, and how we won championships.  I ended up running with Kris the rest of the way, and we reeled in people together. Hit Mile 4 in 4:44 (18:43), so back to an ideal pace.

We made our turn onto the parade route, and of course by this point things were very uncomfortable. I really dislike any race shorter than 15K at this point of my running career. Too much pain, too much turnover, too much breathing, not enough rhythm. Kris and I continued to work together. Right around Mile 5, Kris looked up and said, "I lift my eyes up to the hills," a reference to Psalm 121 "

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills—
       where does my help come from?

 ² My help comes from the LORD,
       the Maker of heaven and earth."

Words of encouragement to me and also a reminder to enjoy God's creation that we were running in. Laboring but spurred on, we reeled in and passed a guy in red, and Jeff & Brad O. were coming back, and it was inevitable that we would catch them. Mile 5 was 4:45 (23:29), perfect.

I don't remember, but I think we finally caught Jeff & company with about 1 mile left. I sat on the pack for a few moments to gather some strength (I've been feeling pretty gassed since Mile 2!), and then made a move on the inside before the turn onto 900 S. Passed everyone, but then I couldn't finish deal, and we all stayed packed up. Made the turn onto 900 S, and started the uphill section to the finish. This part is always hard, and this year was no different. The work I'd done the last 3 miles to catch everyone was definitely set in, and I no pop.

Eventually Jeff, Brad, and some other guy passed me back, and then ground me up the hill. I sat and hoped for a good kick. Ugghh. Not feeling the fire either. Wish I had done some 10K training, as I promised myself that I would, but the last month was just miles and tempos, nothing hard. Had a little gap from the pack at Mile 6, but was 5:05 (28:34), which actually is my best Des News mile 6 split, so I shouldn't complain. Was 2 seconds beyond my peer group that I needed to beat, so still within striking range!

Unfortunately I didn't strike, and those guys somehow put another 3 seconds or so on me in the last 0.2. I guess Brad is a sub-1:50 800m guy, so that doesn't help (I ran 2:02, almost 10 years ago), but there's still no reason it couldn't have gone the other way for me. Kris had fallen back from my a little bit on 900 S (the uphill at altitude probably hurt him more, being a flatlander), so I remained ahead of him. Saw the clock for the first time right before I finished and realized that was going to kill my time goal of sub-30:00, and would be in the 29:30s. I had no idea. So that was good! Last 0.2 was 64s.

Was glad to be done, glad to hit my time goal, and glad to beat my course best by 48 seconds. Official chip time was 29:38, gun time was 29:39. I'll go with chip time here. Starting 3 rows back did not help, although running 4:30 for the first mile (opposed to 4:20) probably did help.

That said, I was a little shocked to get my bum handed to me on a platter en-route to a 29:38. 3 years ago that time would have been good for 3rd overall and 2nd Utahn; this year it was good for 13th overall and ?? Utahn. Not top 3, that's for sure. But it was all very exciting racing, and fun to work my way up in a good field like that, to recognize people as rivals and reel them in over the duration of a race, and to find an old teammate and work together with him (running with Kris was definitely the highlight of my day, by far).

Another positive was that we were all reeling in Teren J. over the last couple miles. Never came into contact with him, but I'm always glad just to have him visible. He ended up about 15 seconds ahead. He is running the TOU Half, so perhaps home-field will give me the advantage I need to finally slay the dragon? Jeff has owned me this year at the shorter distances (5K/10K). Perhaps we need to race another half marathon? TOU Half, Jeff? But I least I had to opportunity to make the pass in this race, whereas at Law Day I couldn't even made contact! And thankfully  I don't have to race any more 5K's or 10K's for a year or two or three. Maybe ever.

So in a nutshell, it was a PR effort, and a big course best. Great time and good progress compared to my 2007 time. I think I am on track for where I need to be to make a legitimate Trials shot. I get better as I go out in distance, so I don't put too much stock in 10Ks (especially downhill ones), but I have every reason to be encouraged because I can compare to my '07 time. The big negative was not being able to finish out yet another race. Although I have not been falling apart at the end, my kick and my killer instinct has not been there at any race this year. I believe that more than 50% of the problem is just attitude and emotional fatigue from the race. True the lack of speedwork didn't help, but most of it is mental. It can be improved.

After the race, I talked with Kris and a few other people for a while, then cooled down back to my hotel with Kris and Teren. Felt pretty good during the cooldown, and worked out most of my calf and quad soreness during the 4-mile run. Hopefully I'll feel good on Monday...for the start of marathon training! Everything I've done so far this winter, spring, and summer, has led up to this point. Just get me to 14 weeks before the marathon, healthy and fit. And that's where I am. The race is Nov. 6. I am healthy. I am fit. Just need the specific training, and to endure the next 3 months.

Easy run up Upper Canyon Rd and back on Smithfield Canyon, then Summit Dr to Hillside. Probably too hilly for a post-race run, but I was in the mood for it, because I haven't done this route in several months. My calves are sore, particularly the left one, but they got better once I got going on the run. Not the worst recovery every, but I have a few days still.

*****

Some fun comparison/analysis of my Des News races I've run over the years. Lately I've been enjoying the thoughts of being a "lifelong runner", and looking back at progression over the years. I am now in my third decade of running (age 11-20, 21-30, 31+), and it's cool to be 31 years old and still shaving time off. The course was short and a little bit different back in 2003, so the splits don't match up, plus I missed about half of them. But 2007 to 2010 is a direct comparison. I feel a little better about my "non-kick" this year, as I was only 1 second slower than in 2007, where I had to kick like a fiend to beat some high school kid in the final stretch. So maybe I was finishing halfway decent, but everyone else was just that much better...Another thing I can take away is that my Mile 6 was worlds better this year than any other year. So perhaps I'm getting more strength in my old age.

	2003 (different course)	2007	2010
Mile 1	??	4:38	4:31
Mile 2	(9:42)	4:38	4:37
Mile 3	4:36	4:57	4:50
Mile 4	4:58	4:53	4:44
Mile 5	5:33 pace (two mile)	4:57	4:45
Mile 6	5:33 pace (two mile)	5:21	5:05
6.2	(31:09) -- short	1:03 (30:27)	1:04 (29:38)

AM - Birch Creek Canyon with Carson. 8.25 miles, averaged 7:40/mile. Calves still a bit sore, but getting better. Seth was throwing up last night, so poor sleep for all of us.

PM - Forrester Acres with Seth. 5.75 miles, untimed.

Ran home from work. 9.75 miles, averaging 7:28/mile. Soreness is mostly gone, but still a bit tired. Plus, it's stinkin' hot out this afternoon.

Woke up with a fever, must have caught what Seth and then Stacy had. Funny how that works. Knocked me flat on my rear until about 3PM, and then the fever finally broke. No running today, but I'm sure I'll be set to go again tomorrow.

AM - canal trail, 5 miles, 7:07/mile.

PM - ran home from work. 8.25 miles. Was not feeling well (stomach bug), and it was a death-march in the heat. Considered hitchhiking, but I made it. Stacy is sick again too.

Feeling mostly better today, but I kept it mellow and didn't push thing. It was a hard week for all us, with Seth sick Monday night, Stacy sick on Wednesday and Friday, and myself sick on Thursday and Friday. It's a weird, lingering stomach bug, not fun. Ran 12 miles total, up Smithfield Canyon. Nice morning. Averaged 6:57/mile for the run.