EXTREME MAKEOVER 2012

So today I ran the Hurricane Half Marathon.  I was hoping to break 1:20:00 but quickly realized at mile 5 that i would be lucky to to even finish.

Mile 1 6:01 - Running with Dustin kind of chatting a back and forth, he was giving me the low down on everybody that was n front of us.  I felt comfortable on this mile, but was thinking to myself that I probably needed to slow down and save some energy for the upcoming hills.

Mile 2 - 5:56 - Slight downhill on this section, still running with Dustin and still telling myself that I needed to slow down.  Dustin and I pick off a guy on this mile, just like Dustin said we would.

Mile 3 - 6:04 - There was a little uphill on this part, Dustin pulled away on this mile and was looking way strong.  I decided that I would just try and run my own race and try and run the hills strong.

Mile 4 - 6:24 - Starting to feel a side ache coming on, nothing to strong yet but I am trying to focus on getting up the hills at a good pace so that I could hit the downhills hard.

Mile 5 6:22 - Side ache is still there and starting to get more intense.  I am trying to push my fist into my side trying to push it out.  I am concentrating on my breathing, but with every breath in the pain gets stronger.

Mile 6 - 6:30 - Some good climbing on this mile, Nate is catching me pretty quick, I knew that he would be passing by at any time.  Stomach is cramped pretty tight, and I am now thinking that I just might not finish the dang race.  I knew that I needed to finish so that I could get into the Marathon.  I starting thinking that at least I would only have to walk 7 miles and not the whole race. 

Mile 7 - 7:08 - You can tell by this mile split that I was starting to hurt real bad.  I had to stop and walk right before the aid station and this is where Nate passed me.  He asked if I was ok, I said NO not really.  I walked to the aid station and got a good drink of gatorade and then hit the downhill section of the course.

Mile 8 - 6:28 - Stomach was still hurting, but it was easier to run downhill because I didn't have to breathe in as much for air.  Nate was still in sight and the rest of the field was a good .5 or more ahead of me.  I was glad that I could still see Nate, it kind of gave me something to chase after.

Mile 9 5:40 - I was trying to make up as much ground on the next 2 miles, because I knew that the course would flatten back out again and that there was some more hills ahead.  Nate is still with in reach but he is looking strong.

Mile 10 5:49 - Starting feel a little better.  I am glad that there is only a 5k left, and that I have made it to mile 10.  I never really looked at my watch for overall time, I was mostly watching it for overall pace.  I really need to get better at paying more attention to my watch as I get closer to the end of a race.

Mile 11 6:26 - I see Steve H at this mile, he is videoing some of the runners, and waiting for his wife to come by.  He said you look good, how are you feeling?  I asked how to get rid of a side ache?  He laughed and said just keep going?  Stomach pain is still there, but not as bad as mile 7.  I really had concentrate on my breathing, I couldn't breathe in real deep or the pain would come real sharp. 

Mile 12 6:46 - I hit this mile and I see Dustin STOP?  And he waits for me to catch up and I asked if he was ok?  He said that his hip was hurting, we chatted for a bit and he said you could still have a good time so go ahead and take off.  I passed another guy on this mile and was still chasing Nate and the 3rd place guy was with in sight as well.  I was hoping that Nate would catch him.

Mile 13 6:06 - This mile I told myself that no matter how bad it hurt that I was going to try and close the gap on Nate.  I knew that I wouldn't beat him, but I wanted to try and make up some ground on him.  When nate turned the corner on the grass to finish around the track, I thought for sure he would pass the 3rd place guy, but I found out after that Nate was thinking we would run around the track and that he would catch him there.  But the race finished just as you left the grass again.  He ran smart today, he went out slower that most of us and made up time on the second half of the course.  I was glad to finally hit the grass and really excited to see my dad and friend there waiting by the finish line.  I could finally see the clock and tried to kick to the finish so that I could maybe stay under 1:21:00.  But I missed it by 9 seconds.  Nate ended up finishing 18 seconds in front of me and the 3rd place guy finished just 7 seconds in front of Nate.  He almost had him.

So today I learned a lot about myself.  I was glad that I was able to hold it together and finish the race.  I kept on telling myself, Tyler you need to keep running through the pain, you are learning to adjust to things that happen in races.  Every race can't be perfect, there will always be things to blame a bad race on.  But you have to adjust your body, pace and etc and just keep on going if possible.  So even though I didn't break 1:20:00 I still feel like I had a great race.  I also learned some things that I need to change in my training and dieting.  THis race gave me hope for the Ogden half in 2 weeks.  I think that I will be able to shave 2 minutes off of this time if the stars line up for me and the body cooperates.  We left the race and headed for the Bear Paw and had breakfast.  I had a large bowl of their fat free oatmeal?? jk it is far from fat free.  We went back to the house and I showered and my friend and I went golfing while my dad went mothers day shopping.  Finished up at the golf course and then headed to In and Out and had some really good food and then to St. George Running Center to pick up my shoes that I ordered from Steve.  I can't wait to race in them at Ogden.  Hurricane City does a great job on this race, and I don't know who told me that this was an easy course, BUT IT IS NOT!!!!  This is a great half that throws everything at you, uphill, downhill, flat and some good rolling hills too. 

Went turkey hunting tonight, hiked 2 miles in and 2 miles out.  No turkey in the bag?  But legs were sore from the race.  Hope to get 9 miles in tomorrow morning.

Met up with Rich at Bishops Corner and ran out and around the golf course. The wind was blowing around the golf course, but it was a warm wind. I ran in my new shoes today and they felt great. It was good to run with Rich this morning, he is always good to chat with. Legs felt surprisingly good today. I really wanted to run some faster miles, but decided to hold off until Thursday.

ave pace 7:13

Ran at 5:00 am this morning.  Ran into Mac, we ran 6 together and then she left and ran around pretty little road.  I needed to get back home so that Kellie could go.  After I left Mac I ran 2 miles fast back to the house.

Mile 7  - 6:15

Mile 8 - 6:12

ave pace for 6 miles - 7:47.

PM - Went Mtn biking with some guys from the Ward.  We rode 3 miles up the gas line trail in Payson Canyon.  It is 3 miles of uphill climbing, this was the first time that I have been mtn biking in 2 years.  It was fun, but very hard at the same time.  I am counting 4 easy miles.  It was 6 round trip but I am counting 3 for the uphill and only 1 for the downhill.  I never really ran out air, but legs really started buring on some of the climbing.

Ran with Dan today for lunch.  We ran up to little baldy from Cascade Golf Course.  It was a lot of climbing foe the first 3.3 miles and then some good down hill and rollers back to the truck.  It was a great day for a mtn run.

Ran with Rich today.  He was late because his son woke up when he was leaving the house and he had to put him back to bed.  I got in an extra mile while I was waiting for him to show up.  We only had about 45 min, so I ran us up Woodland Hills Dr and then looped back on Canal Rd.  This was his first time running up Woodland Hills Dr.  Legs felt a little sore today on the down hill portion, I think the mtn biking and trail running caught up tp my quads.

ave pace 7:33

Ran with Rich today.  We met early so that Kellie and Heidi could go out and run.  It was a little brisk this morning.  I was glad that I had gloves on, hands still got cold but for the most part of the run everything else stayed warm.  Legs felt really heavy today, I think it had to do with the mtn biking and trail running this week.  Plus I hiked a lot this week turkey hunting.  I hope the legs feel a lot fresher next saturday!

ave pace 7:20

I really hard a hard time getting up this morning.  I guess it wasn't hard getting up, just hard to get going.  I never real got into the run until mile 3, after that I started to get into a groove and things started to click.  The weather is perfect right now!

ave pace 7:14

Lunch run with Kellie.  It was a bit chilly at first but then the wind died down and it warmed up a bit.  It was a blast running with her in the middle of the day.  We need to do more of this, but with work and the days getting warmer it is hard to do.  This pace seemed easy for her, I know that she could have ran a lot faster.

ave pace 7:58

The morning started at 4:00 am, Kellie and I got up and got ready and then went down for some breakfast.  We met up with James H, Bill and Dustin.  We gave them a ride down to the bus pick up and then we split our ways because they were running the full marathon.

Kellie and I boarded the bus and headed for the start line.  It was a brisk morning, luckily they had some fires going.  I love how organized this race is, it is by far the best Half Marathon that I have run.  The race began about 3 minutes late, but I can handle 3 minutes.  I ran into Sasha at the start line and I could tell that he was scoping out the competition.  I could tell that there wasn't going to be much for him, maybe 1 or 2 is all.  I wanted to finish under 1:20:00 and at least place in the top 10 overall and top 3 in my age group.

Mile 1 6:03 - I started out in like 13th place, I could tell that there would be some guys that would drop off after about a mile so I wasn't to concerned at this point.  I was running behind a kid that must have had both pockets full of sport beans.  It was getting really annoying to listen to.  I passed him just so that I didn't have to listen to that racket anymore.  I wanted to make sure that I didn't go out ot fast, I really watched my pace on this making suer that I didn't get to excited and go out to fast.

Mile 2 6:22 - This mile has a good incline to it, I picked off two more guys here on this mile and was now in 7th place and feeling good.  I ran in a new pair of racing flats and really wasn't sure how I would like them.  They only have 17 miles on them and they were not fast miles.  I could still see the lead pack and the rest of the guys that were in front of me.  I had a guy with yellow shoes in front of me that I was making sure he didn't pull away from me to far.

Mile 3 6:07 - Back on some flat ground and thinking to my self, wow these miles are coming quick.  I set my watch today for average pace and overall time.  I usually have the miles showing too, but I really wanted to concentrate on making sure that I paid attention to my overall time.  Shins are a little sore on this mile and I am thinking that maybe I made a mistake by wearing these new shoes?  I grabbed a drink of water and continued chasing yellow shoe guy.

Mile 4 6:07 - Shins are still a little sore, but now I can feel a slight side ache coming on????!!!  I thought to my self, here we go again!@#@#  I swithced up my breathing and really concentrated on making sure that it didn't grow into a bigger problem.  Yellow shoe guy is still in front of me.

Mile 5 - 5:55 - I decided that I would eat on of my roctane's at the aid station.  I was hoping that it would help my side ache.  I passed yellow show guy just after this mile and was starting to feel a lot better.  I knew that this was the part of the race that I needed to make up for lost time that I lost on the harder part of the course.

Mile 6  5:59 - Things are starting to click now, I am feeling good that I am now in 6th place and that I am almost half way. 

Mile 7 5:55 - I am pretty much all alone now, yellow shoe guy is quite a ways back and I can't see number 5 guy at all.  This is a good thing and a bad thing.  I like when I have somebody to chase, but I don't like when I have someone chasing me.  I am still trying to put some time in the bank for the last 3 miles of the race.  I am still feeling great and I actually couldn't believe that I was already at mile 7.

Mile 8 5:53 - I catch a glimpse of #5 guy and so i start thinking to my self?  Maybe I can catch him?  But I also knew that there was still a lot of race left, with 3 flat miles at the end.  I kind of start to feel sluggish and decide that I would eat my last roctane at the next aid station.

Mile 9 5:43 - I was trying to run the tangents as best as I could.  They had the left side of the road closed to runners.  So I had to run as close as I could to the middle line to hit the tangents as best I could.  Sasha said after that because that side of the road was closed that it added .1 to the course?  I ate my last GU and could see that I was just about out of the canyon.  My average pace was right at 5:59 up to this point, I wanted to be under a 6:00 min pace when I hit mile 10.  So I knew that I needed to pick it up a bit.

Mile 10 5:38 - I felt really, really good on this mile.  I love roctane GU, maybe it is more mental but I can always tell a difference when I eat one and I was glad that I only had a 5k left and that I was still feeling good.  I could still see #5 guy and was hoping that I could close the gap on him.

Mile 11 5:57 -  this is a fairly flat mile with some small rollers on it.  I was glad that it was mostly coverd from the sun by trees.  I closed the gap more on #5 guy and was still feeling good, but was ready to be done at the same time.  I knew that there would be a long straight stretch to the finish line, and that is when I would try and catch #5 guy.

Mile 12 6:13  - LEgs started to wabble a little bit on this mile.  I could feel me slowing down.  I decided that I would take gatorade for the last mile.  I was a lot closer to #5 and was thinking that I could pass him if he didn't have a huge kick left in him.  He never looked back to see if I was getting close.  So I decided that I would get close and then try and pass him with about .5 to go.

Mile 13 6:12 - I am ready to be done running adn can now see the finish line.   I swear that at times it looked like the finish line was getting further away?  Must have been an optical illusion?  I finally caught up to #5 guy and could see that he had a fastrunningblog tank on but I didn't know who he was.  I passed him and said good job he said you too, and then I took one glance at my watch and knew that if I hurried that I could maybe get in under 1:19:00.  I wish that I would have paid more attention to my watch on miles 11 and 12?  I didn't realize how much time I had lost.

Mile .1(9) Almost .1 to long?  But that is off of my garmin - 5:54 pace  I kicked pretty hard the last .5 but knew that I wouldn't get in under 1 :19:00, so I slowed down a bit and took in the roars of the crowd.  It was fun being all alone running with that many people cheering for you.  I heard the announcer yell my name and where I was from and once again the crowd went wild.  The crowds in Ogden are great.  I love that race and I will run it every year.

We waited for some friends to cross the line, both for the half and the full and then we headed out of Ogden for the journey home.  I have a lot of work to do before St. George in October, but I am glad that I am not to far out of shape.!

No running, legs still a little sore

No running today, I went turkey hunting and then planned on running tonight.  I had a dentist appointment and had to have a tooth extracted so he told me no running for 2 days!

I

Left the house in St George this morning at 6:30 and ran out towards snow canyon and then looped back home.  It was a great morning, the temp was a little warm but still good.  I stopped at the ball park and grabbed a drink and then stopped for a drink on the sunbrook golf course.  It is the best drinking fountain that I have found while running.  To bad it is only a mile from the house, but it is a great fountain to drink out of.  My mouth felt fine, I think that I could have ran yesterday but I really didn't want to get dry socket.

So the VACATION is OVER!  I can't believe that I only ran 11 miles last week!!  Wow I really slacked off, but hey now I am in for the long haul until St. George.  I guess that I will still try and kill my turkey this week, and then run in the evenings. 

We got hoime from St. George and went to a BBQ and then we came home and I mowed the lawn and then headed out for a evening run.  I left the house with no real plan, just run and see how things felt.  I started to get a side ache on the left side of my stomach, at about 1.5 miles but it wasn't bad enough to stop so I kept on going.  It left at about mile 3 and then returned just before mile 5.  I ran out past Osborne Corner and to the bottom of the Tree Road Hill and then turned around.  I thought that I would try and tempo 2 miles and see if that would get rid of the side ache. Mile 6 6:09, side ache is still there but going away.  Mile 7 5:47, side ache is gone and I am feeling good, this pace didn't feel hard until the last .25 but overall I felt fine.  Finished the last 3 miles at a good pace and was surprised at how good I felt after taking a week off.  I hope to get a schedule built this week for St. George, I really didn't have a plan last year so I hope to get something built so that I have something to follow.

ave pace for 10 miles 6:58

So the battle to get out of bed was not quite as bad as Wednesday, but it was still a struggle.  Now that my turkey hunt is over I won't be getting up at 4am every other day!  I ran the same route as Wednesday, out 4 to Powerhouse Rd and back.  I didn't see any pheasants this morning, but I did see 5 deer 4 of which were bucks!  I am really loving the morning temps and weather I wish that it would stay like this all year.  Legs are feeling fresh and I am looking forward to a good season of marathon training.

ave pace 7:17

50 push ups

10 pull ups