Every Run is a Great Run!

Easy 10 miler at the Revolution Run with Kimi (who actually did 15) at the Olympic Oval to start the year off right. Had a fun time.

Had thought of going out to Antelope Island for the long run but ended up sleeping in a bit and going out with Kimi close to home at about 8am. Kim stuck with me for the first half of the run then I soloed it the rest of the way. Just took it nice and easy, plenty of walk breaks including most the uphills. Felt pretty good. I did a LOT of hills during this run, hope it helps prepare me for the 50 miler adequately since I did quite a bit of running on asphalt today instead of dirt trails. 

Early morning run with the gang. Temps milder than last week thankfully.

Another early morning run in the bright full moonlight. Some miles with Kim, some solo, and some with the gang. Did 3 or 4 hill repeats.

Similar to yesterday

The first of back to back long runs on a quiet, foggy but not too chilly morning. This is the shorter of the back-to-backs, plan is for 18 tomorrow.

Long run part 2 went pretty well. Started out with the gang then some with Ken K then some solo miles. Bummed that Kim had to bail out early with a problemsome knee.

Easy 4 miles in the early morning in the rain.

Easy run just before lunch.

Nice run with Kim on the Bearclaw Poppy Trail. Beautiful day, shorts and t-shirt weather. And nobody got lost.

Kim and I were 2:20 pacers for the St George 1/2 marathon. Had a great time, weather was absolutely beautiful. 

Just me and Kimi Lou out for an early morning run in the dark.

Early morning run. Started out with the gang then finished up solo. Sure have been lucky with the January weather this year.

Early morning run. Started out with the gang but last 3 miles were solo.

Waited to run until later in the morning after the sun came out. Good decision. Had a very nice run in the sun with Kimi even though I couldn't keep up with her.

Got out bright & early at 6am with Kimi. We started out with Tyler Shepherd and his gang of trail runners and ran with them a while, mostly on the high canal road. Then Kim and I got a few together until about 11 or 12 miles. Then it was solo for me the last half of the run. Was able to run mostly on dirt roads/trails this run with a few decent hills. Felt like this was my best Buffalo run training run so far, although the thought of going more than twice this far is still daunting. Actually felt my best and some of the faster miles were the last 4 or 5. Ended up with just over 24 miles for the day and 51 for the week. Now just want to eat and sleep through the rest of the day. 

Nice easy 10 miler in the earlier morning, just over half with Kimi. Felt good today, hope it holds out through my planned 18 miler tomorrow

The 2nd of my back-to-back longer runs went pretty well. I'm slow as molassas but starting to enjoy these long runs and the relaxed pace with as many walking breaks as I want :-).

Very windy!!!

Fun dirt road run with Kim on the high canal road.

Nice 7 miler to start the day

Broke in the Hokas. Comfy shoe, definitely a different animal that what I'm used to running in. Not sure or not if I'm looking forward to 50K training run on Friday.

Had a very busy day on Saturday so decided to do my very long run today. Started out around 7am, felt pretty good the first 22 or 23 miles. Probably went too fast on some of them. Was sure nice to have Kim join for 13 miles in the middle on the high canal road. Started to struggle after Kim got done. Last few miles were quite a death march. Pretty much walked the last mile which was mostly uphill.

Need to figure out how to properly fuel and pace for 50 miles. I was dead at 30 today and can't see how I could have finished another 20. Ugh I hope I can do this.

Nice to enjoy a rest week this week.

Had a nice 25 miler today to finish around 50 miles for the week. My last over-20 run before the Buffalo 50 mile. Plan today was to not repeat my mistakes from 2 weeks ago on my 50K run by doing the first half too fast. And also experiment with drinking only water plus Clif blocks (around 200 calories/hour) and hourly salt pills and NO gatorade. Everything went perfectly! Best I've felt of all my long runs and ended up with a pretty good negative split overall. Of course the insane headwind during much of the first 15 miles made it easy to keep it slow so I had plenty of energy for the last 10. Ran with Kimi, Alan and Todd for around 14 then did the rest solo with only some fine Rush tunes to keep me company. Very happy to have this positive run close to the race and feeling better about my prospects for surviving 50 miles. 

Nice day for my18 mile morning run. Enjoying taper time. Last long run over 10 miles before the race. Didn't have much gas in the tank today I'll chalk it up to new job stress. Not actually looking much forward to the race at the moment but maybe my attitude will improve in the next 2 weeks. 

Enjoying my taper

Nice morning run mostly with Kimi

Had a fun time with Kim pushing sweet Elsha at the Zion HM. Hills and stiff headwind made it tough! But weather and scenery were awesome. And so nice to finally get a chance to be on Team ELSHAnator!

Taper taper taper

Here is the quick version: I suppose with my overall slow average run/walk/hike pace I'll show these as easy miles but the last 20 were anything but! Felt pretty good until just before the Ranch around 33 miles then the dang nausea set in and I could never fully shake it. Felt very miserable most the of the rest of the way. Thankful Kim could pace me during these miles to help me keep moving and not quit. 

Here is the long version:

A few years back I mentioned to Terry that we should think of doing a 50-miler when we reached the sort-of-ripe old age of 50 years. I wasn't sure he'd be interested but he was just as up for something different and a little crazy as I was.  Then suddenly 2014...2015 arrives and it's time to make good on our geezer 50 plan. Since this race was the 50-miler closest to our birthdays and it seemed to be a good ultra beginner race we decided to give it a shot.

I was worried with this race being early in the year that the training would be miserable during winter and having to do 20-30 mile training runs in the snow. But Mother Nature decided to help us out by giving us only 1 week of winter over the holidays followed by an extended springtime. So luckily it made for near perfect conditions for training for a 50 mile race. An unexpected change of jobs shortly before the race added a bunch of stress and gave me thoughts of bowing out of the race, but then I noticed Terry had plenty of distractions/stress as well leading up to the race but was still going through with it so I figured I better buck up and follow his example.

My plan was simply to finish without dying, within the time cutoff of 12 1/2 hours. This allowed me to walk quite a bit and still finish, something I took full advantage of during this race especially the last 15-20 miles when my stomach was very unhappy and the nausea sometimes overwhelming.

Terry was kind enough to pick me up at the hotel in Layton on race morning and we headed off to the island to begin our adventure. Everyone was pretty laid back waiting for the start and this relaxed me quite a bit. It was already near 50 degrees so I knew it would get a bit warm later in the race and was glad I wasn't overdressed starting out.

We lined up at the start, somebody yelled something and then we were off. I purposely started out quite slowly to force myself into getting used to the relaxed pace and walk breaks that I knew would be required for me to have any chance of finishing without massive misery. Turns out I had massive misery anyway, but that was mostly due to a finnicky stomach and nausea, everything else felt pretty good the entire race.

Miles 1-5: Gradual uphill mostly in the dark to the base of Elephant Head and the Wranglers aid station. Very cool to see all the headlamps heading up the hill at the start line and first while before everyone got spread out. Feeling very good and quite enjoying the race so far. Had a chance to talk to a few other newbie ultra runners and also some experienced ultramarathoners. Somewhere before Elephant Head I got talking to Tara from Morgan who had done a few other 50K and 50 mile races and who seemed to be the most cheerful, perky person in the race. So I tagged along with her and a few others hoping to store up some good cheer for later in the race. The volunteers at the aid station were awesome, not just at Elephant Head but everywhere. Nice to see Kelli Stephensen among the crew at this aid station she was a great help to me and everyone. And quite the choice of food & drink, nothing like at a regular marathon. Some of the things I saw and tried included Sprite, Mtn Dew, jerky, potato chips, granola, quesadillas, PB&J sandwiches, M&M and who knows what else. Not sure which of these was most responsible for me getting sick later, could of also just been all the Cliff shots I took throughout the entire race until I just could not handle any more!

Miles 6-9: Out and back up Elephant Head and back down to the Wrangler aid station again. We were smart and walked much of the uphill while running on the flat and downhill. The view from the top of EH toward the south-west was breath-taking. We also met 3 runners on a team carrying an American Flag the entire 50 miles. Deseret News writer Amy Donaldson was one of the 3 on the team and I talked to her and the 2 other guys on the team for a bit before heading back down the hill. I quite enjoyed this entire stretch even with the hills.

Miles 10-15: Ran my fastest miles during this stretch coming down off the hill towards the lake before heading back up the hill to the uphill switch-back portion of the race. Walked quite up bit coming up the switchbacks and still felt very good. Somewhere along here we were treated to a beautiful sunrise. Still running with Tara and soon Bob from Vermont joined in. It turned out Tara had also met & run with Bob the year before. Bob was in his 60's but in very good shape and much better at this ultra stuff than I was. Great to hear his words of wisdom clear up until mile 33 when my stomach/nausea agony kicked in and I could no longer stay with him and Tara. We ended up back at the Wrangler aid station again for our 3rd and final visit.

Miles 16-20: The run back to the start/finish line area. Mostly downhill with some rollers. Still feeling good but having a hard time keeping up with the veteran ultra runners Tara and Bob. Got into the 19-20 mile aid stations just behind them and ended up getting back with them for the next 13 miles.

Miles 21-25: We're mostly done with the serious hills at this point as we run more along the edge of the islands with the rolling hills. Still feeling good, sticking with Bob and Tara and liking the run .70-.90 miles, walk .10-.30 miles strategy they were using for every mile during this stretch. Starting to get pretty warm and my stomach is starting to hint that it isn't as happy as before. 

Miles 26-33: Running along the edge of the island down to the Ranch. Still able to stay with Bob and Tara but my stomach is starting to complain more loudly. I had hoped the salt pills I was talking would prevent this but they don't seem to be cutting it. Both Bob and Tara suggests eating a ginger snack and were kind enough to give me a few. They helped a little but in the end didn't do much to help my angry stomach. It was quite nice to cross paths withTerry around mile 31 or so (probably mile 35 for him) and stop for a pic. We both still look pretty happy and perky at this point but shortly after that things would change for me. I was also quite thrilled to see Kim and her parents just a little bit after seeing Terry and enjoyed stopping briefly and talking to them. They then headed down to the Ranch where Kim would have a new pair of socks/shoes for me and would be joining me as my pacer for the last 17 miles.

Miles 33-39: Stayed at the Ranch aid station for quite a while as I changed socks/shoes and tried to find something to eat that would calm my stomach. Tried PB&J and Doritos but it wasn't working at all. I think the Doritos made it worse. I was obviously well hydrated since I had major sausage fingers/toes during the race and probably went pee 4 or 5 times during and after the race in large quantities with my urine being clear every time. Perhaps I was over hydrated? At any rate Kim and I finally started back out after my long break at the Ranch. I warned Kim about my upset stomach and that we might be walking alot. It was so great to have her there to try and cheer me up as my mood starting going downhill fast during this stretch. I could no longer keep up with Bob and Tara and had no desire to try to. Along with the upset stomach I was finding that every time I ran I would getting that horrible feeling you get sometimes where you know you need to find a bathroom NOW and it's not going to be pretty!! Explosion imminent!!! I figured since I hadn't had good luck with going potty (#2) before the race that at some point during the race this would happen. Problem was this part of the race was in the wide open and the next POP wasn't until the aide station around mile 38-39. Yikes! What to do!! Lots of walking is what we did. I could see the orange of the POP for what seemed like forever and I wondered if we would every actually get there!!! But FINALLY we did get and I was very very very relieved to finally get rid of that major irritation! I had hoped that would also help the nausea and for a little bit it did but not for nearly long enough.

Miles 40-50: After we left the mile 39 aide station after my 'explosion' I was actually able to run for maybe 1/2 a mile before the nausea returned in full force and I resorted to more of a walk .7-.9 miles, run .1-.3 miles per mile for the rest of the race. This made for a very long last 10 miles. Also at this point runners are so spread out you hardly see anyone anymore. Somewhere around mile 41 or 42 we crossed path with a boy who was only 8 years old doing the 50! What the heck?!?! We were baffled why a boy so young would be doing that, but come to find out later this boy had cancer and that this type of distance running made him feel better. Also turns out he was going to be starting chemotherapy the following Monday. Wow! What an amazing kid I sure hope he can kick that cancer out the door!!!

I was so thankful to have Kim there to keep me from quitting at one of the 2 remaining aid stations. I was just feeling SO dang miserable the entire way. The nausea feeling was so horrible but I knew I needed to try and eat but I just couldn't get anything down me. The only thing that worked at all was Sprite so I tried to drink as much of that as I could. Miles 46-48 had some very rocky, hard to navigate sections that were quite tricky to walk, let alone run. I'm not sure how the 100 milers navigated that stretch during the night. Thankfully Kim kept me focused and even though we didn't run much we were able to keep up a brisk walking pace of around 15-16 min/mile. Every now and then I could even bring myself to run for a little while. But usually when Kim would encourage me to run I was just say NO!!.  I don't think I've ever said NO to Kim that many times in all our years of marriage as I did over a 1 or 2 hour period to finish up this race!

Somewhere along here we ran into a snake. Kim was a bit startled at first but handled it pretty well. It helped that it was just a blow snake, not a rattler. I was so grumpy and partly out of it at this point I didn't really care about the snake. We had also seen Buffalo off & on over the course of the race but during the last couple miles we were able to get up close and personal. One huge bison was camped out right in the middle of the trail, luckily there was a lesser-used trail that went out around the big guy so we were happy to go that way and leave Mr Buffalo dude alone. 

The last 1/2 mile Kim tried and tried to get me to run to the finish but I was so ornery and stubborn I would  just simply say NO! and that was that. Finally when we got to the crest about .1 mile from the finish and it was slightly downhill I relented and ran my way to the finish line. FINALLY!! I was so happy to be done but also feeling so miserable I just wanted to go the car and go home. We did stop for a couple pics where I pretended to be happy and smiley but I mainly just remember feeling miserable at this point and wanting to go somewhere and lay down and die. I was however very thankful for Kim's parents and brother Shane and Luann & clan for hanging around to see my miserable self cross the finish line and also to give me a boost at the Ranch earlier and around mile 41 when the trail crosses the main road.

Kim and I finally hit the road (thanks for driving Kim!!!) and I was quite pleased to find that over the course of the 90 min drive back to Spanish Fork my nausea gradually went away and by the time we got home I was more than happy to stop at Cubby's to get a nice big Dragon-Slayer burger and fries!. It tasted so good! I was so happy to be hungry again and get rid of that stinking nausea!!! 

Overall this was a good experience and I'm glad I did it. I had sworn during the race that I would never do it again but by the time I got home I was thinking that I could possibly do it again IF Kim decides to do it when she turns 50 in 2016 or the following spring in 2017. So who knows.............

I've been walking through the week with a jog here and there but today was the first official 'run' day after the 50-miler. Legs actually feel really good. I was very sore/tired Sunday and Monday after the race but after that I got feeling pretty good pretty quick. With all the walking I did and being on dirt trails the recovery seems to be quite a bit quicker than compared to marathons I've raced, especially downhill ones.

Nice morning run with the gang. Kind of nippy though!

Not too many of us out this morning. Feeling kind of old and wimpy lately but always happy just to be alive and kickin.

Nice morning out. Not too big a group today. Nice to see Kimi feeling better and able to run well the whole way.

Nice morning. We checked out the new section of trail, pretty nice! Great to be able to run from one side of town to the other without having to deal with any traffic.

Beautiful morning for a run. Unfortunately I felt super sluggish the whole run and didn't enjoy it much. Tempted to take a few weeks off.

Nice run with Kimi in light rain on turtle wall trail. Going to take some time off from running to let some of my old-man -itis's settle down, in particular my lower gut-itis which has been flared up ever since I helped some neighbors move a couple weeks ago. In the meantime I'm going to still try and do some hill walking and maybe some hiking on the weekends.

Fun time on the trails close to home above the reservoir with Kimi. We first attempted to go in the morning but got rained out so we tried again in the late afternoon and had dandy weather.

Fun on Center Street hills

Starting to finally feel better. Maybe my gut problems are finally healing up!

Hills

Payson canyon up/down run with Kim, Dan and Chad. Pateetneet to just before Beercan and back. Nice morning!

Ran down Payson Canyon from just above Maple Dell down to Pateetneet. Legs feeling pretty good as we ease into the steep downhill training.

Ran up and down heartbreak a few times

Longest run for quite a while and felt pretty good but out of shape.

Payson canyon up/down run with Kim but this time we went up the canyon a bit further to get more of the steep sections. On the way down we ran into a bunch of cows (and cowboys) heading up the mountain. Fun stuff!

Ran up/down Heartbreak hill 7 times. Feeling pretty good but out of shape.

Not so speedy but nice to get in some good miles with a great group of runner folk.

Payson canyon up-down starting at Peteeneet just past Beercan and back down.

Payson Canyon downhill run. Good times!

Nice & leisurely

Had a fun time pacing this race. The mountains were beautiful starting out. Got a bit warm towards the end. Very well organized race and a great cause. 

Later Kim got the wild idea to go run the SF river trail as today was the official grand opening. So we got a few more miles in the hot sun in the late morning!

More fun times down Payson Canyon

A beautiful run with Kimi on San Juan Island near Jakle's Lagoon and Mt Finleyson.

Dandy run near Seattle on the streets and around Carkeek Park with a quick visit to the ocean.

Another dandy Washington morning run with Kim a couple times around Green Lake.

Carkeek Park run with Kim. Lots of crazy hills!!

Our final run in Seattle. Came across a lush green forested area with some nifty trails and managed not to get too lost.

Back at home. Ran up/down Center street a few times in the early morning hours

Payson Canyon downhill run

The hardest 11-miler I've done for a while. Down in St George and ran the Bearclaw Poppy Trail with Kimi as soon as it was light enough to not be treacherous. Carried 2 water bottles but wasn't really enough and I really died the last 5 miles or so. But Kim dragged me along to the end and all is well. Need to do some heat training it would appear.

Ran up/down Center street a few times.

Payson Canyon downhill. Didn't go well for Kim as she popped her calf muscle and had to power walk most of the way down. Luckily no hungry bears were out and about. Hope she heals up quick!

New river trail loop

Just Alan and I. Ran mostly on the river trails.

New river trail loop in the early morning hours.

Payson downhill run

Up and down center street hill a few times

Long run in the morning around SF with Doug & Todd. Not very speedy but just happy to be able to get er done.

A surprisingly pleasant run on this rainy day and Monday.

Another nice run down Payson Canyon. Glad that Kim was able to get a couple miles running in without any problems!

Ran up and down 2nd hill a few times.

Nice long run with the gang. Very happy to see Kim back in the saddle again.

Down Payson Canyon

In St George. Did some hills. Pretty warm I felt like a big slug.

In St George on a quite warm and muggy morning. Kim held out for almost 10 but played it smart/safe to keep the calf happy.

Yet another delightful run down Payson Canyon

First 20 miler since March. Dan tried to kill me but want quite successful.

Shorter version Payson Canyon run since we'll be doing long run Saturday down the canyon.

Warm & muggy!

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Nice Payson canyon run starting up closer to the top and ending in Salem. Awesome full moon at the start and nice and cool. Enjoyed the 17 miles down the canyon, last 3.5 on the flat and in the sun not as much. But good training for St George including the heat training.

Got out bright and early. So glad that Kim is all recovered now and running like a cheetah!

Nice to finally get out this week after doing nothing the last 2 days due to dang stomach flu and fever.

Always nice to get the last 20 mile training run of the year out of the way.

Very dark but peaceful run down payson canyon. Probably the final one of the year.

Been feeling pretty old, tired, and lazy lately. Good thing it's taper time!

Snuck in one more Payson canyon run before SGM. Started at the grotto to cut out a few of the steeper miles.

Nice morning for a run. Looking forward to SG next week.

Gonna try the Doc Ludlow taper program this week. No more runs after today until the big 26.2. 

Went about as I expected. Decided not to even bring the watch and just ran whatever felt comfortable to the finish line. Ran with Doug and Alan early on and then stuck with Alan all the way to the finish. Enjoyed spending time with a variety of running friends and always great to have the Beans with us at the condo. Now looking forward to some downtime over the winter and hopefully getting all healed up for 2016.

Time to try a little running after taking a break and doing only walking/hiking/yoga/strength-training stuff over the last month since SGM. Actually felt pretty good. I've been walking most days 4 miles or 6-8 on Saturdays, so today I just alternated between walking/running and covered 5 miles total. I'm just guessing that around half of that was running. I did do 4 hill repeats up 2nd & 3rd hills and ran the uphill sections. Just going to keep things light & easy over winter and just do what's enjoyable and feels good and be thankful for each day that I can move!

5 miles total at the track alternating walk/run each lap.

Ran 6 walked 4 in the lovely sunshine of St George. Congrats to Kimi on her 2 hr Snow Canyon half without even trying!

Ran 4 and walked 1.5 on a breezy but not too cold morning. Did 8 hill repeats on 1st hill.

5.5 miles total probably around 4 miles running and walking the rest. Did 5 hill repeats on 2nd & 3rd hill.

Brrrrrr!!!

Nice to feel like I'm getting my legs back, although my legs were pretty dead the last couple miles.

Out in the morning on a drizzly rain/snow mix day. Did 10 repeats on heartbreak/1st hill. 

Six on the track. 10 min/mi pace felt like a lot more effort than it should have.

So last year on this day I ran 50K. Today I was content with 5.1 miles, and for added fun I ran 5.1 hill repeats :)

A bit nippy. Felt ok for 7 or 8 miles but the cold wind gave me a brain freeze and headache the last couple miles.

Did 8 hill repeats and also walked close to another mile. Felt a bit sluggish and tired.

Went to the track with Kim and attempted to join her for her 5 x 400 repeats. First time I've run 7:15-7:45 pace in a very long time. I felt pretty good cardio-wise, but hard to get the legs to get moving. Kim glided along like a gazelle, gonna be tough for me to beat her in races anymore.

Traditional Thanksgiving morning run and party. Pretty good sized group. And I won a ham!

A delightful winterish run. Light snow, kinda nippy bit very little wind so it felt fine. I quite enjoyed myself!

Nice and nippy!

Another brrrrrr morning. Kimi made me work hard the last 30 min!

Early morning run with Kimi-lou. Did 8 hill repeats on hill #1 for fun.

Nice morning run with Kim, David, Alan, and a little bit with Carolyn. Towards the end I tried to keep up with kimi for 3 quicker miles.

Went to the track with Kim and did 6 x 400 with her. She did great and I'm glad I'm able to keep up and starting to feel like my legs are coming back.

Easy recovery run in the early morning. Warmer than usual for Dec around 40 degrees. I wore shorts!

Another mild morning for Dec. Ran up/down 1st hill 10 times for fun.

Nice morning for a 12 mile run.

Early morning snowy run. Temps not too bad but roads a little messy.

Nice to have clear roads this morning. A bit nippy but no wind so it wasn't too bad. Trying to become master of the hills - 10 repeats up/down first hill.

Early morning run with Kimi. Did a little slip-sliding and kinda nippy but we survived.

Very windy!!

Felt a little sluggish, but enjoyed NOT having lots of wind.

Got out just before lunch as roads were too treacherous in the morning to try it in the dark. A bit sloopy & slippery in spots but fairly mild temps, no wind, and suprisingly hill #3 road was completely clear. So ended up doing 6 hill repeats. Sun even decided to come out towards the end.

Kim and I joined with Wan Ho on the last leg of his epic temple-to-temple run fundraiser series from Provo City Temple to Payson Temple. BRRRRR!!! Pretty darn nippy starting in the low 20's and finishing around 10 degrees around 9pm in Payson. Wan and Kathleen who had started early in the morning and run all the way from the Draper Temple (55ish miles??) had some tough moments but they hung tough and finished well.

Five nice & sunny miles in St George with Kimi. Not super warm in the high 30's but lots better than the single digits of No Utah. Felt great! Later in the afternoon got in another mile or 2 of hiking in Snow Canyon. Love it!

Didn't get out for a run but opted instead for another hike. This time Kim, Jansen & I did the Chuckwalla, Becks Hill, Paradise Rim, and Turtle wall trail loop. Nice & sunny, mid 40's it was dandy.

Ran 5 miles in the SG sun with Kim then later did a 5 mile hike with Jansen up to the Zen Wall. Hard to leave St George this time of year.