Old Man Still running

Shamrock Half Marathon

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Location:

Saratoga Springs,UT,

Member Since:

Jan 31, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

2016 Finished 12 100-milers during the year.  86 career 100-mile finishes, 9th in the world.   First person to do 6 consecutive summits of Mount Timpanogos.  Won Crooked Road 24-hour race. Achieved the 5th, 6th, and 8th fastest 100-mile times in the world for runners age 57+ for the year.

2013  First person to bag the six highest Wasatch peaks in one day. First and only person to do a Kings Peak double (highest peak in Utah).  I've now accomplished it four times. 

2010 - Overall first place Across the Years 48-hour run (187 miles), Overall first place Pony Express Traill 100.

2009 - Utah State Grand Masters 5K champion (Road Runners Club of America).  National 100-mile Grand Masters Champion (Road Runners Club of America). USATF 100-mile National Champion for age 50-54.

2006 - Set record of five consecutive Timpanogos Summits ("A record for the criminally insane")  See: http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=42

2007 - Summited 7 Utah 13-ers in one day.  See: http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=14 

Only person to have finished nine different 100-mile races in Utah: Wasatch, Bear, Moab, Pony Express Trail, Buffalo Run, Salt Flats, Bryce, Monument Valley, Capitol Reef.

PRs - all accomplished when over 50 years old

5K - 19:51 - 2010 Run to Walk 5K

10K - 42:04 - 2010 Smile Center

1/2 Marathon: 1:29:13 - 2011 Utah Valley

Marathon - 3:23:43 - 2010 Ogden Marathon

50K - 4:38 - 2010 Across the Years split

50-mile - 8:07 - 2010 Across the Years split

100K - 10:49 - 2010 Across The Years split

12-hours 67.1 miles - 2010 Across The Years split

100-mile 19:40 - 2011 Across the Years split

24-hours 117.8 miles - 2011 Across the Years split

48-hours 187.033 miles - 2010 Across the Years

Long-Term Running Goals:

I would like to keep running ultras into my 60s. 

Personal:

Details at: http://www.crockettclan.org/ultras/ultracrockett.pdf Married with six kids and six grandchildren.  Started running at the age of 46 in 2004.  My first race since Junior High days was a 50K. I skipped the shorter road stuff and went straight to ultramarathons.  I started as a back-of-the packer, but have progressed to a top-10-percent ultra finisher.  Wish I would have started running at a much earlier age.  Have had several articles published in national running magazines.  Check out my running adventure blog at www.crockettclan.org/blog

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Total Distance
83.00
Mizuno Wave Elixer - Red Miles: 57.00Montrail Wildwood Miles: 21.00
Total Distance
15.00

Out the door at 4:55 a.m.  Didn't go to the rec center because it always takes them several days to get the lock timer fixed up when daylight saving time kicks in.  So, I had no excuse but to brave the cold.  30 degrees out and it was pleasant.   Ran pavement.  Easy pace, about 8:30, some hills.  http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ut/saratoga%20springs/310126866228460278

p.m.  Spring is here!   Reran the same route after work with the dog.

Mizuno Wave Elixer - Red Miles: 15.00
Comments(1)
Total Distance
23.00

This morning I was out running at 3:55 a.m.   I previewed (in the dark) the half-marathon course (Shamrock half marathon) being run this Saturday in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain.   It starts Westlake high school. It is a challenging course, will be fun, but really not a viable course for the long-term.   It has to cross busy roads four times and runs along a busy road without a shoulder and blind corners for about two miles.  It jumps from bike paths to roads, to sidewalks.  There are lots of turns and it crosses about 20 streets.  So not very fast at all. But there are some fun stretches including above the golf course in the Ranches, over a hill south of the Ranches, and the last two miles are fast downhill.   There is about 800 feet elevation gain and decline.

Course  Website

My splits were:  7:44, 7:59 (hill), 8:56 (hill), 7:56, 9:09 (getting lazy), 8:42 (sight-seeing), 8:22, 9:21 (hill), 9:08, 8:15, 8:35, 7:17 (downhill), 7:44, 1:20.    Total was about 1:50.   I think 1:45 is probably a pretty good time for me on the course.  I suspect I’ll push for about 1:40.

I did take a wrong turn after mile 5 (took the mistake out of my splits).  I turned too soon and did an extra 1.5 miles in a neighborhood.  I figured it out and then just went back to the mile 5 location and started the watch again.  No biggy, extra miles are good and I had time.

I did notice that the race director had painted mile marks and arrows on some nice sidewalks.   That’s not good.  They are small, not big enough to keep me on course in the dark.  I also took my sweet time checking street signs.   It was a fun run and I look forward to racing it on Saturday.

p.m.

8 miles with the dog.  15 miles in two days was probably too much for her.  She was happy to get back home.

Mizuno Wave Elixer - Red Miles: 23.00
Comments(8)
Total Distance
4.00

Four fast miles with the dog to keep loose.  Will run some miles with jun tomorrow morning bright and early.

Mizuno Wave Elixer - Red Miles: 4.00
Comments(1)
Total Distance
26.00

I got up bright and early at 2:30 a.m. to join jun and scottw for a long early morning run in Cedar Valley.  I helped jun map out a course that would allow him to do big miles, returning to the car or use convenient stores for aid stations.  It worked out great.  I'll let jun tell the details.   I ran about 9-10 minute miles.   I did the first 2.5 loops of the course, putting in a little over 21 miles, all in the dark.   As we passed by ranches, we would wake up the dogs and they would go crazy.  The temperature was cool but fine, probably about 26-32 degrees.  It would vary with some warm pockets.

Here is where I ran

All went well, until we finished the 2nd loop.  Jun was about 100 yards ahead and scottw about 300 or so yards behind me.  jun stopped at the car, but I went on ahead to get seven more miles.   But as I continued running up a very straight road, I couldn't see jun or scottw's headlamps behind me.  Where were they???   I continued on, then thought I saw at least one light.   At the 3.5 mile mark from the cars, I turned around, and in less than a mile ran into jun.  He said scottw never returned to our cars!!   How could that be, he was so close behind.  jun went on and I ran back to the cars.   No sign of scottw!!  His car was still there.   I shined my green light all over.

I concluded that somehow scottw had taken a wrong turn near our cars.   Come to think of it as we had been running, he had mentioned that he was all turned around and had no idea where we were.  I jumped in my car and drove all over Cedar Valley, on all the roads within three miles of our cars.  No sign of scottw.   Wow, what happened?   I was sure he was fine, but if he got lost, I realized he would have a devil of a time figuring out where the cars were. I could imagine his frustration trying to explain to someone that he had been running around in the dark with some guys, got lost and had no clue where his car was.

I drove on the first loop we did, thinking he took a wrong turn and ran that loop again, but no sign of scottw so I drove toward the Ranches and found jun.   jun told me not to worry.  He was going to continue to run.  I was worried, so I drove back to the cars to search some more.  Thank goodness, scottw was sitting in his car.  Sure enough, he had taken a wrong turn and ran loop 1 again and then got confused in Eagle Mountain city center which way to go.

Now that it is over, it is REALLY funny.  How in the world can someone get lost in a wide-open valley without any trees, as flat and flat can be where you can see for miles.   I said goodbye to scottw and then drove and found jun still running.  We had a good laugh.  Amazing.   Lesson to be learned.  Whenever you do a crockett aventure run, you must study the map and even better take a GPS.  Something always goes wrong on crockett's adventures.  You can get lost, even in a wide-open valley without trees.

p.m.   I took a vacation day in order to watch the NCAA games.  It was worth it.  That BYU game was amazing.   I did an additional 5 miles while listening to the post game.

Montrail Wildwood Miles: 21.00
Comments(6)
Race: Shamrock Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:37:53, Place overall: 12, Place in age division: 1
Total Distance
15.00

I ran in a new half marathon, Shamrock Half Marathon, held in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain.  It starts in Saratoga Springs at the High School , heads west into Eagle Mountain, making a couple loops in the Ranches sub-divisions, and then returning to the High School.  The first and last three miles are rural, running by farms, and the rest runs through neighborhoods.  This half is pretty tough with lots of turns and about 800 feet hill climbing.

I got hit by a sinus infection yesterday, so the bacteria probably affected me, but I still pushed through it.   It was a brisk 23 degrees at the start and 32 degrees at the finish, but the sun came out during the race and made it feel warmer.  I dressed about right.   I believe there were 98 runners who started and only one other person I knew, buddy Mark Ellison.   Strange that it didn’t attract many runners from Saratoga Springs.   I did a little warm-up run, but it was too cold to spend much time out before the start.

We started a little after 8:00 a.m. and I quickly took the lead to get my legs going.   I was still leading at the 1/2-mile mark, but then backed off.   For the first five miles I really struggled to get warmed up, but after that felt much better.   My splits for miles 1-5, were 7:06, 7:17, 7:58(hill), 7:43, 7:49.   About four runners passed me before the first mile and buddy Mark Ellison passed me during mile 2.   I was able to keep him in sight for the rest of the race.   Another pack of several runners  passed me around mile 4.  At mile 5, I think I was in about 9th place.   As I made the turn in the middle of the Ranches, my oldest son Davy was in his car at the intersection heading to work.  He honked the horn and yelled out the window.

Finally at mile 5, I felt semi-warmed up and my legs enjoyed the gentle uphill.  I was closing the distance on the pack ahead of me.   Finally we got some downhill which my legs appreciated but still a couple more young runners caught up and passed me.   The final runner to pass me was a girl, who caught me as we crossed a busy road around mile 7.5.  We crested a steep hill at mile 8.7 and I really blasted down a quarter mile dirt road very fast, almost catching three runners ahead.   My splits miles 6-9 were 7:30, 7:13 (downhill), 7:54 (hill), 7:42 (up and down).  

I was now headed back to Saratoga Springs.  I could see Mark only a quarter mile ahead, I was gaining on him, but every time I was thinking I would catch him, either he sped up or I slowed down.   I did pass a runner slowing down right before mile 10.   We crested the final hill at mile 11, and I knew there were two fast miles to the finish.  The girl and a guy were in my sights.  I passed the guy at mile 12 and then started to close the distance on the girl.  Could I catch her before the finish?   It looked like I could, came within 20 yeards, but with only a quarter mile to go, my left quad complained so I backed off.   My splits for miles 10-13 were: 6:58, 7:41, 6:55 (downhill), and 7:13.  I was obviously feeling great near the finish, clocking negative splits.  I wished the race was a couple miles longer because I could have caught 4-5 runners ahead who finished within a quarter mile of me.  

I came in at 1:37:53.   I had hoped to break 1:40 on this tough course, so I was pleased.  I came in 12th place overall and first in my age group.  I received a nice little plaque. Two runners in their 40s were only a couple minutes ahead, so I was close to winning that age group too.   I was also pleased that all my miles were sub 8:00.  I believe I could have continued sub-8s for quite awhile more. 

For cool down, I ran for awhile on the track.   I think that is the first time I've run around a track in 30 years.   Wow, what a bore, felt almost as bad as a treadmill.  I went back to the finish and cheered lots of people as they came in.

Mizuno Wave Elixer - Red Miles: 15.00
Comments(11)
Total Distance
83.00
Mizuno Wave Elixer - Red Miles: 57.00Montrail Wildwood Miles: 21.00
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