Old Man Still running

Treadmill at 7:30 pace, 2% incline.

I noticed that I weigh 170 pounds.  Wow, I don't think I've been in the 160s since the '70s.  I'm going to have to find my plaid bellbottoms and bring out the disco music.  "Stayin alive...."  Yep, that is what I'm doing.  You punk youngsters were still in diapers or as my kids like to put it, you were "still dead."

Time to start training for Boston.  It is in just over two weeks.   I need to get the foot speed up.   Uh, I guess I should run a little pavement too.   Do I really have to?

Treadmill  4 miles at 6:58 pace and then backed off to 7:30, then to 8:00

Treadmill. First 10 at 7:30 pace with 2%, and periodic step-offs.   Last 4 did spurts of 10% incline.

Weight 167.  Will target 165 which will be 12 pounds lighter than what I was when running RR100.  Feeling lighter on the feet.  Also doing more upper body and some core.

Busy this weekend helping with the Internet broadcast of General Conference.  This is my 20th conference.  We've come a long way in 10 years.   My conference experience always involves a computer in front of me.

Treadmill, trying to get the feet used to turning over fast.   Did 6 mile at 6:40 pace with some step-offs.  The last two a little slower.   Continuing to work on doing some core, upper body, and calfs.   Trying to find a way to not have my calfs cramp up during the marathon.  During all the few marathons I've run, my calfs have always cramped causing me to practically walk the last 4-6 miles.  And I have only run a few marathons, I'm still a rookie.  I think I've run in 5 marathons.  Compare that to 59 ultra race finishes (31 of them 100s).

p.m.  Six more TM miles, most at 6:40 pace.  Felt much more comfortable, but was on a different treadmill.  Seems like the feet are getting more used to going faster. Quad soreness all gone from the 100 last week.

Last night I read in Ultramagazine how Jenna Gruben died in a car accident on the way home from Moab Red Hot in February. I ran in that race. She placed 3rd among the women in the 33K.  Very fast.   I guess that really bothered me because all night I was dreaming about the Moab course and I felt so bad for those who were close to her.  She was from Colorado.

So, I didn't get a great-night's sleep and turned the alarm off to get a bit more.

p.m.

Stupid sinus infection is back.  Back on antibiotics.  Treadmill 10 miles, 7:30 pace with 5% incline, plenty of step-offs, but the pace felt comfortable.

OK, so much for resting and tapering.  On early Saturday morning, I'm planning on running the Paria River down in Southern Utah, Northern Arizona.  The canyon runs from east of Kanab to Lees Ferry on the Colorado River.   I've done the route three times before.  My brother and his sons, and sons-in-law are doing a backpack of the canyon starting on Thursday.   I'll run in Saturday morning, catch up with them and help them finish.  For most of it, there is not trail, just a giant slot canyon with about 400 river crossings.  There are some springs along the way.   I would probably start after midnight and catch them by mid-morning and hopefully exit by early afternoon.  The entire route is roughly 40 miles but it is tough to run it fast.   I'd be doing much of it during the dark.

Quad busting hill workout on the treadmill, four miles.  Two miles out on the pavement in the wind.

I'm looking forward to my Paria Canyon run Saturday.  In 2002, just two months after I becamed determined to get in shape when I was about 60 pounds heavier, somehow I got in my mind the idea to "run" Paria Canyon in one stretch with my brother-in-law Ed, who was in much better shape than me.  If you want some laughs, read my write-up.   This was there first time I even tried to do long miles in one stretch.  By the time I reached 20 miles, I was breaking down.   It would still be two years before I discovered ultras.

Details and pictures later.

Drove to the Whitehouse trailhead 30 miles east of Kanab to camp for the evening.  Did a late afternoon run up and down amazing washes to the Paria Rimrock area and viewed incredible hoodoos, including the Toadstool Hoodoo.   Made it back to camp before dusk and then tried to get some rest before my huge run after midnight.

Detailed run report is now here including pictures and audio clips.

This turned out to be one of the most amazing, toughest adventure runs I have ever done.  My brother, two of his sons, two sons-in-law and a friend were on a three-day backpack of the Paria River.  This is an end-to-end hike from east of Kanab to Lees Ferry on the Colorado River through one of the most amazing and large slot canyons in the world.  You hike from Utah to Arizona. I've hiked/run this route three times before.  It is around 40 miles total depending on the conditions of the river and the various trails taken.

My plan was to catch up with the group, and cover their two-day distance of 27 miles, do it in only 8 hours, timing it so I would join them in the morning.  And then hike the rest of the route (13 miles) with them.

I started my run after midnight, at 12:30 a.m.   The river was the highest I have ever seen it due to the run-off and warm temperatures.  I did notice that with the cooler night temperatures, the river went down about a foot compared to the afternoon depth.  It was still pretty high and in the narrows areas covered the complete width of the canyon.  The run would include at least 400 river crossing as I would need to zig-zag crossing the river in order to run along the beaches on the sides.   The river would become higher and higher the further I went, until all the crossings were at least thigh deep.  The water was a brownish mud color, so you could never see the bottom or be sure how deep it was before you stepped into it.

The challenging feature of this run was I did the most difficult portions in the dark.   It was tough work keeping the pace up, focusing on the best route, developing skill in the river crossings, and somehow finding the springs in the dark.   For most of the time, I had a blast, all alone in the dark, with cliffs towering above me on both sides for hundreds of feet.  Stars could be seen high above in the gap between the clifftops.  The sounds of the river were constant.  At other times, it became very tough and frustrating, especially as the river became deeper in narrow areas.  It was impossible to go fast in those sections.

To make a long story short for now, until I write my run report, my plan was very successful.  I had worried that I had passed my brother and company camped somewhere in the dark.  But when I reached the last spring area, I was hopeful that I would find them.  About an hour after dawn I arrived there and found some campers.  "Are you the marathon guy?" they asked.  They were amazed to see me running in.   I was pleased to know they had talked to my brother.   They were right around the next corner.   I ran into camp, and let out a whoop!  It was a great reunion, so deep in the canyon.   I arrived exactly as planned, just as they were preparing to leave their camp.   I had traveled the 27 very tough miles in 8 hours.

We hiked together for awhile, but as the hikers started to tire with their much heavier packs, they wanted to keep their feet dry at a river crossing.  I decided to push on ahead at a faster pace, but I no longer could run because of I had a tight hamstring that flared up during the hiking.  So I just walked it in  for the last seven miles and finished the typical 4-day backpack in 13 hours.   That was about 7 hours faster than my best previous attempt. If I had run the entire route, I think I would have finished in about 11.5 hours.   If the river was much lower, I think I could do it in 10 hours now that I know the route even better.   Something to shoot for in the future.

It truly was one of the toughest, amazing running adventure I had ever accomplish.   I long to return.

I now have over 1000 miles for the year, the earliest I have ever reached that milestone in a given year.

See Bob's pictures  I am in at least one.   I ran all the cool slot canyon areas during the night and caught up with them as we spilled out into the wide-open desert.

I posted my full Paria River Run report at: http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=259

I'm in a forced taper for Boston.  The run left some muscle soreness in my left lower leg.  Nothing concerning, just will take a couple days to go away.   The rest is good.    The tight hamstring I felt during the last ten miles didn't amount to anything, thank goodness.  I think all the water crossing just used the hamstrings a lot more pushing the legs through the water.

Still resting and gaining weight.  Funny how that Saturday 40-mile, and after-run feast, left me five pounds heavier.  Go figure.   Left lower leg soreness amost gone.  My bad left ankle (injured a year ago) is sore too.  I've just learned to ignore the pain, it never gets terrible any more.  During a really long run, other stuff hurt far more, so I don't notice it.

Starting to think a little about Boston, coming up soon.  Maybe tomorrow I'll start training for it.

OK, I'm in the 6th day of my one-week Boston Marathon training program.  I searched high and low on the Internet for a one-week training program.  Why is it so hard to find one?  I finally found one that I think will work.

Day 1.  Run 40 miles with wet feet the entire way.  Do more than half of it in the dark.  Pretend like the boulders you pass are slower runners on the road.  Finish in 13 hours.  - CHECK

Day 2. Eat like a pig. No miles - CHECK

Day 3. Sleep in. Run in your dreams. No miles - CHECK

Day 4: Sleep in some more. Laugh at people running on pavement. No miles - CHECK

Day 5: Sleep in and watch people run on TV. - CHECK

Day 6: Introduce your feet to at 6-minute pace again. Do two-a-days on the treadmill.  This is crash course now, cramming for the exam.  - CHECK

So, I'm right on schedule.  I think this one-week Boston training program is very cool and will work fine.  I highly endorse it.

Wow, what an experience running in the Boston Marathon.   My detailed race report can be read here: http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=299

Sleep has been the story since I ran Boston.  That night, I just had to stay up and watch the Jazz game to the end  (past 1 a.m.) and then needed to get up at 4:30 a.m. to catch my flight.  The night before I only had a few hours of sleep because of pre-race excitement.  So yesterday, boy did I sleep.  Slept on the plane, when I got home, and then nine hours last night.

Recovery?  I think I've recovered (just a tiny bit of shin soreness) and plan to run after work.  I signed up for the Thanksgiving Point half marathon on Saturday, hope to place in my age group.

Time to push hard training again.  I feel fully recovered from Boston.  Stormy weather out this morning so hit the treadmill.  Hill workout. 7 miles at 8:00 pace with incline 10-15%, holding on the front of the treadmill so I can close my eyes and snooze.  All systems go, nothing really complaining.   The other miles were easier at 5%.  

Ogden marathon and Squaw Peak 50 are the next races to focus on.  Quite the diversity.  But my theory is to train to keep the foot-speed up but also start hitting the hills much harder.  If it works out, I'll PR at Ogden and then have the footspeed for Squaw Peak to course PR there (my sixth time running there). Also doing much more core, upper body, and calf workouts.

Treadmill

Just five days after running Boston, I thought I would go ahead and run a new half marathon that is in the neighboring city of Lehi, Utah.  It would be an interesting test to see if I have indeed recovered from Boston.  100% of the entry fees from this half go to funding a new Children's museum at Thanksgiving Point.  They ended up raising $32,000.   The race director is ultrarunner Kendall Wimmer.   He did a fantastic job putting the course and together.

The course isn’t fast, but it isn’t terrible tough either.  It winds and rolls like crazy.  A cool feature is that at mile 3 in runs through the stunning Thanksgiving Point gardens.  The tulips were out in force.   It also runs along the Jordan River over to Willow Park and then returns.  In only its first year, 630 runners started, a pretty big race.  It was an impressive event, very well organized and plenty of great food at the end.  They did a fantastic job pulling in sponsors and had great awards including generous cash awards.  

The morning was perfect, not a cloud in the sky.  The start is early, shortly after dawn at 7:00 a.m.  It was about 38 degrees at the start.

My legs felt good early on and I started in the top ten for the first mile, then backed off as we ran along the golf course and through the gardens.   About 8 runners passed me in that stretch but I kept them in my sights.  For the bulk of the race, I held about 20^th place.   There were tons of aid stations, but I ran through every one without taking anything, just using my hand-held water bottle with diluted Ensure.  My legs started to feel a little slow around mile seven, but I was proud that I kept the foot on the gas pedal the entire time..

My miles splits were: 6:15, 7:01, 7:10, 7:20, 6:58, 7:02, 7:27, 7:07, 7:15, 7:28, 7:23, 7:24, and that last mile was probably near 8:20, although that mile might have been a little long.My average mile pace was 7:15.

A couple guys passed me around mile ten and one of them noticed my Boston shirt and recognized that I was running just five days after Boston.  I replied, “Yep, pretty crazy.”  I was fading during the last mile and two runners reeled me in, but I kept pushing the entire way.

I finished in 1:34:52.   Good enough for 24^th place overall and first place in my age group.  The 2^nd place guy in my age group was more than ten minutes slower.  I was shocked to see that I was only three minutes out of the money.  Could have won $300 for masters champion if I would have really pushed like crazy.  I ended up in 4^th place in the masters.

It was nice getting to all the goodies at the finish with just a small handful of runners milling around, pretty deserted.   That's a good clue that you finished well.

It was interesting to see that my pace was almost exactly the same as the first half of Boston.  However, this felt much tougher because of the altitude.  My lungs were really working.  No cramps and I felt fine at the finish.  I hung around and cheered the finishers, having fun talking to many other runners who somehow recognized me.  

At awards, I received a nice trophy.

Ran the "Handgun route" out out to Eagle Mountain town center, through Ranches and through the Church farm. 17 miles.  Started at 3:00 a.m. and finished at 6:00 a.m. for a 10:41 pace.  Not bad on the rounte, felt fast. About 5.5 miles was on pavement, the rest on dirt roads.  Had some climbing, about 900 feet.   I call it the "Handgun route" because the map of it looks like a gun: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ut/saratoga%20springs/346127229247492886

The bad news is that my problem tendon in my ankle is very bad again.  Not quite as bad as last April, but pretty bad.   I'm wondering if seasonal allergies flair it up.  I'll have to research.  I can't remember twisting it bad again.  On all the uneven dirt roads it really complained but was better on the pavement.  A little discouraging, but I know it eventually gets better.  Healing is VERY slow and just stopping running altogether doesn't seem to help a ton.  Sticking to pavement or treadmill does help.  Boring. 

Got out again early, at 3:00 a.m.   This was the same run as the previous morning but I added a couple miles to the handle of the gun and increased my pace to 10:14 average.  Felt like I was going faster, but there are some slow climbs and dirt roads.   Boy, the cold air really sinks down to the middle of Cedar Valley.  Both mornings my hands in gloves really got cold for a few miles in that area but then it got warming going up Unity Pass to the Ranches.  The nearly full moon was out, very bright.  For over half the run I didn't use my flashlight.   The problem ankle was much better today.  I wore different shoes and that probably helped.  I'm encouraged.   I also noticed that a possible side-effect of taking Zyrtec for seasonal allergies is tendon disorders.   Has me wondering because both last year and this year, I started having the tendon pain when I started taking Zyrtec.   Yesterday I switched to something else.  We shall see.

The map of my run is at: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ut/saratoga%20springs/439127238059614718