Many Moons...

It has been "many moons" since I have blogged in here.  I wanted to give a detailed description of our great trip over Resurrection Pass (4 days from Coopers Landing to Hope, Alaska) with photos.  However, the events of the summer had me sidetracked for quite some time.

 Here is the quickie version of our 40 mile Resurrection Pass trip.  It turned out there was a whole horde of us that ended up going on the trip which was quite nice.  It was a very fun group.  We had the "Trail Blazing Fools" (which did just that), the "Just Happy to Be There" group, and - - - me.  I can’t remember everyone’s nicknames - otherwise I would spell them all out here.  Actually I was happy to be there but hiking about ten miles every day for four days straight started to take its toll on me and a few times on the trip I was felling somewhat worn out.  I slowed down the running for the summer and was not in as good of shape as a few months earlier.  I have a lot of photos of the trip and will put a few in this posting.  The group photo above was taken at the start.  A group of three men just finished hiking form Hope and they looked beat - we asked them to take the photo with all of us in it.  I remmeber thinking "I hope I dont look like them when we finish."  Four days later - when we did finish, I felt a little tired but not as "beat" as those three guys looked...

Photo above is our first night at Juneau Lake Cabin.  We experienced an unusually high amount of rain during the summer of 2010 and the weather forecast for our trip in July did not look very good.  Fortunately, for some reason, we experienced very little rain on our trip.  It was overcast about half the time.  We had cabins reserved for each one of the three nights and I will have to admit - they were VERY NICE!  When we got to mile 38 it started to drizzle a little then two miles later when we got to the parking lot it was raining harder – good timing.  We sent the kids ahead to go pick up the other vehicle at Coopers Landing and bring it back to Hope which we figured out would take them about an hour.  About the time the kids came with the vehicles it just started to rain very hard.  Driving home, when we got to the other side of Turnagain Arm, we looked over at Hope and it was dark with rain and clouds.

Photo above is Devils Pass - not too much further to Resurrection Pass.  We did a little Geocaching along the way and found a few caches.  The second cache we found was in pieces, ripped apart by a bear.  One cache, just over the summit, was about 200 yards off the trail in some heavy brush – we let that one go.

Photo above at Fox Creek Cabin - our last night.  Did not have a good outside photo of the Devils Pass cabin which was in a very scenic area.  Two weeks before our trip some mountain bikers were attacked by a bear on the same trail so we were a little concerned about bears.  We set the “trailblazers” up with some bear spray.  I had my 10mm G29 with a 15 round magazine in an easily accessible small pack with a rip open zipper and Dan had his 1911.  We did not see any bear.  Any sign of bear we saw was at least a week old.  Usually we see a few bears, black and brown – but not this trip.  We were a little disappointed – we hardly saw any of the bigger animals at all.

There is a lot more, a lot of good times but I will leave the stories for another time.

Upcoming Adventure

Upcoming 34 mile adventure Rez Pass - we will let you know how it goes.  Click on map to see the big picture...

Commute

Here is the info on my 15 mile commute.  It is uphill most of the way (see graph).

It starts out on a narrow trail through a forest with a lot of roots on the trail.  It goes through a construction area where I have not found out the best way to get through there yet so, I just barge through for the time being.  So far no flack from the construction workers.  After the first mile it finally gets to a paved trail.  Miles 2-3 is the only part of the commute were I have be on a road with traffic.  At mile three I am on paved trail all the way to Eagle River.  In Eagle River I cut through the VFW where I show my military ID and they let me pass...  Then up through the new neighborhoods in Eagle River until we hit our house in the old neighborhood.  It is the ultimate commute that seems to change every year.  Right now Michelle takes me to work and I run home.  Hopefully later I will be commuting both ways.  Click on map to see the bigger view.
  - Brad

"Takes a licking and keeps on ticking..."

I have a Timex watch - that Michelle uses.  Now that I got that out of the way, I have been running a race every Saturday since April 17.  I am surprised I have kept it up.  I will probably do something for the Midnight Sun in June - not sure what yet.  I iwll probably get back into the Orienteering competitions again this summer which will keep me going.  I am seriously considering doing the Fireweed again also.  I have not done the bike commute yet this year but I will probably get going on that soon.  Keep on running and let us all know what is going on.
- Brad

La Grande Corsa | The Big Race

It has been over a week since the big race (April 17) - I could not remember my PW for this blog when we were traveling so here it is - now.  I really enjoyed running the race in SLC - it was much easier than I expected.  Probably because I trained for the marathon and ended up running the half marathon.  A lot of things seemed to add up for the half marathon being the best thing for me to run - my physical therapist stating I "...should probably reduce your exercises with a lot of impact...,"  three weeks ago, seemed to be the cherry on the top.  So the half it was.  Things seemed to go very well.  Our hotel was about 100 feet from he starting line so that reduced a lot of logistical concerns.  It was a great day weather-wise.  Sunny, and out of the five times I have run the SLC half, 5k , bike marathon it was the warmest.  Got a little too warm near the finish which is way different than previous years.


Back to the Race (Torna alla Race)

I missed the gospel choir at the start (they were there the last two years).  The start was packed - it was at the Legacy Bridge at the University of Utah (the race ended at the Gateway Mall in downtown SLC).  We lined up in the back of the middle third and it took us five minutes of walking to cross the start line after gun went off... (was there even a gun - or was it just a countdown???).  Once we crossed the start and began running I immediately found myself winding through the walkers and slower runners (probably should start lining up in the middle from now on...).  Michelle was with me and Chris, Jason, and Austin were making a break for it.  I did not see Rachel or Chelsea until a mile from the end.  Michelle was going to walk but kept up with me very well.  Started out with 10:30 min/miles which seemed very easy.  My plan was to run the entire way but walk through the water stations (which is what I did).  Michelle kept up with me very well until about mile three.  I slowed down to see if I could see her but she did not catch up so I kept on going.  I ran alone for the rest of the way.

Water Tragedy (Acqua tragedia)
I never felt like I need to take walking breaks so I kept the walking short at the water stations.  The Garmin was telling me around mile four that my times were slowing down to 12:00 min/mile - I was still feeling good.  The next two miles were downhill so my pace picked up.  I was getting pretty thirsty at mile six and was looking forward to the next water station.  I remember that there was one coming up soon from my previous years runs.  When I got close I saw a hole (~8" diameter and 4" deep) in the middle of the road that I jumped over - I remember thinking that I "hope Michelle sees it because they are like magnets to her."  Getting closer to the water station I remember seeing some bog round orange and black things waving in the air.  I wondered, "are those some kind of flags marking the next water station?"  Why would they do that?  The orange and black things ended up the water coolers.  Apparently they did not have any cups and were holding the coolers in the air for people to put their mouths below the spigot.  I was much more thirsty than previous water stations so I figured I had to stop and get in line.  This is the only time I stopped during the whole race - just to wait in line for a couple of sips of water...  Tragedy in my book.  I took my sops and easily got going again.

Let the Entertainment Begin (Che il divertimento comincia)
As usually about mile three my runners high started kicking in and I was pretty much zoned out for the next few miles.  I saw a to of people around me that I felt like I knew - I might have actually known them but everyone kept on running.  In long distance runs you usually settle in with the usually crowd that you will be running the rest of the race with at about mile seven - at least that is what happens with me.  So, I picked out the usuals and tried to pass them about mile seven.  I passed a few but settled in with "my crowd" for the rest of the race.  There was a group of women that had a faster pace than I did but every mile they would stop on the side of the road (considerate) and do yoga and stretches.  They would pass me then stop again.  I got to see this the rest of the race until we hit the hill at mile 11 where my marathon training let me pass them permanently.  It was entertaining watching them and the different things they would stop and do on the side of the road.  The leader of the marathon passed me just after mile 11 past Liberty Park.  It was motivating to see the leader, running all alone with a pace car.  I temporarily picked up my pace for about a mile.  Mile 11-12 were going up State Street.  A gradual hill that got steeper at the top.  I tried to pass a few people but they ended up returning the favor, back and forth until we got to the top.  We had to run through some road construction and I took the tangents zigging and zagging through the construction and ended up ahead.  I am not sure why people stay in lanes like they are driving a car when you are running a race...  It was downhill the rest of the way to the finish and I really picked up the pace.  I felt great and passed a lot of people the last mile.

Finish (Finire)

I immediately started seeing people I knew just after I crossed the finish line.  Susie and Rodrigo, Austin and Jason, James and Martha Willis, Chris, then Michelle (a lot of others too).  I felt like I could have run a lot further (of course, I trained for twice the distance I just ran...).  It was good to see everyone.  Chris got some updates on Chelsea and Rachel on the marathon course.  I kept on suggesting we run the course backwards to find them then finish with them.  No takers.  We got all our post race snacks and were talking to people.  Chelsea texted that they were at mile 23.  We walked out to the Jazz BBall place and waited.  I decided to walk up the course and run back with Chelsea and Rachel.  I walked, then sat, then walked and finally saw them.  It was fun to run the last short distance with them.  I peeled off before the finish parade zone and got some good video of them crossing.

It was a to of fun - pretty cool to do it as a family.  It was very easy but felt good to rest the remainder of the day.  Rachel and Chelsea did great running the full marathon with impressive time.  Now it is over it is easy to say "I want to do it again."

Ooohwhee! Wat up wit dis? Wut up wit dat?

Did a seven mile training run with Jason on Saturday.  He smoked me - Wut up wit dat?  It was a sunny warm (40 degrees) day good enough for shorts.  Plan was to do a casual seven mile run.  There was a little ice on the road in the shady areas where we started.  As we started the run I brought my chalkboard and laser pointer to give Jason the fatherly lecture on how to pace yourself in a long run.  Before I got the chalk out of my pocket Jason "did a little jingle, did a little jangle" and took off.  The next thing I knew was that Deandre Cole and John Stockton came running by.  When I got to the weigh station I though I would see Jason on the long straightaway - I did see him, as a small dot on the horizon.  Anyway it was a good run for me.  Jason went nine miles and finished 20 minutes before I finished my seven miles (algebra that in the train to Chicago formula).  It was fun running with Jason for the few minutes I saw him.  We did see a lot of church members on the trail taking advantage of the GC halftime.

I'm going to try this instead...

I noticed a few weeks ago that the Salt Lake City Marathon finally got its web site back up.  I also noticed that they added a new racing category.  Besides the Marathon, Half Marathon, 5k, Wheelchair, and Bike Tour, they added a Motorized Rollerblade 26 mile marathon on the same course and starting time as the marathon.  Well -  this solves all my problems.  I wont have to train any more, all this running is getting pretty tiring and making me sore.  Also, the excitement of blasting through the streets of SLC going 20-30mph on rollerblades is pretty exciting.  When I found out I ordered a pair of motorized rollerbaldes and they just arrived.  Here is a photo of them.

It looks like I will have to wait until packet pick-up to actually change to the motorized rollerblade category - they wont let you do it online if you are already registered.  I am supposed to get a helmet too.

23

Sorry, I don't even update our own blog any more! Chelsea and I ran 23 in Rexburg. It was pretty good looking back on it though in the moment, especially towards the end, i just wanted to die. One thing we are banking on is that the last stretch should be filled with crowds cheering you on so there should be some more energy to give us some pick me up. All you who are only doing the half, you better be down there!!!! :)

The 2010 Second Decennial Tundra Bob, Three Forks, Peace Sign, Stealth MP, Sunburn Ultra Marathon Run for the Cure

Well, I did the big one. Ran the Tundra Bob’s Ultra Sunburn Marathon For The Cure on Saturday. I am still recovering.

It was a great day – one of those relatively sunny and warm days. Temps were 32 degrees when I started and got up to 51 degrees during the run. I have a good sun burn on my face too. The ice on the trail turned to puddles, which got my shoes wet – necessitating sock changes etc. Started off on the four mile loop then got a wild hair and went out on some snowy roads/trails, which turned out to be VERY HILLY (which was a mistake to run hills that early but the Indiana Jones in me said to keep on going). I knew that snowmobiles and ATVs needed a permit to be in this area but I was not sure about runners.

So, hoping that my O-6 get out of jail free card (hey man – it has worked before, multiple times), and pleading ignorance, would keep the MPs from haulin me to jail.  I was about four miles into the wilderness and decided it was best to turn back.  I got to the top of the hill and could see the trail following a powerline as far as I could see.  Curiosity satisfied, I turned around and headed back to civilization.  I began to realize that all the hills (steep ones) that I had been running were taking a toll on my legs.  Not good for so early in my run.  With one more hill to go before returning to civilization I saw a slowly moving truck heading toward me.  It was the MPs.  I was just beginning to slow down as I waved to the MP and he waved back and just kept going.  I have been busted before running in the woods by the MPs and the STB and was able to talk my way through it (training for a marathon seems to be an acceptable excuse.  Even when they are training RCPs for IEDs (long story).  I was wondering if they have my photo on their wall with a note saying they are tired of my stories and to just let me pass.  I digress.  Back to the run.  After passing the MP I headed up the last (steepest) hill and got back into civilization and flat ground.  I was planning on doing four 4.2 mile loops around the airstrip to start off the run but my Wilderness Family diversion took care of those miles.  I was out of the snow and back onto the paved trail. 

Unfortunately the sun melted the ice and the trail was now puddles of water and mud with slick ice on the sides (where you are tempted to go to avoid the water and mud – a loose/loose situation).  The loop led me back to the truck where I shed a layer, refilled my CamelBak, ate a granola bar/gummy bears, and took off.  I wanted to make sure I had some food so I avoided the extreme hunger I had on the 23 mile run in Eugene.  I headed out to the paved trail that parallels the Glenn Highway – hoping for a drier trail.  It was drier but noisy and boring.

I plugged along for 23 miles then my claves started cramping – getting worse and worse.  This slowed me down A LOT.  I stopped in the middle of the trail and laid down to stretch them out.  I ended up walking the last four miles.  Unfortunately I planned on running 27 and that was the distance to return to my truck.  When I went back into the gate at the Post I had about a mile to go.  I was so tempted to ask someone for a ride - - - or call an ambulance.  However, I hobbled back to the truck and made it home alive.  The run was an eye-opener for me.  It was the fifth time I have ran over 26 miles and defiantly the most difficult.  I think running the steep hills (up and down x 6) was a mistake early in the run.  With the pain in my legs the last three miles it really made me wonder if I could do this in a real run (sorry Tundra Bob).  I am pretty sore today.  Not sure what my plans are for April 17 right now.

Brad

p.s. click on photos to see bigger versions

The "walk in the park" run.

Did a seven mile run today.  It was cake.  I purposely ran negative splits with the last half at over two minutes per mile faster than the first half.  The unfortunate part was it was on a treadmill.  Running in Oregon and Washington over the last few weeks has spoiled me.  We had warm weather and the snow was melting, looking good for running outside until Monday - then all hell broke loose and it snowed every day and got cold.  For a runner, and the owner of a new refrigerator, I guess that would qualify as hell.  So, I am not sure when or where I will be running my 26 mile run.  I am hoping there will be some serious melting going on.  Otherwise a good excuse to catch a plane to Hawaii - - - or New Zealand.
Brad

U Dub

Did another evening run - this one around the University of Washington Campus in Seattle.  Once again it is nice to run on paved surfaces without snow and ice.  It was a good run except my 5k split was slower than usual.  I can not figure out why.  A little more hills but they don't seem to bother me.  Not sure why it was slower.  The countdown is getting close to the marathon.  I got a hotel room right next to the start so I can hear the gospel choir.  Another map below - markers are one mile laps/splits.

Treadmill Long Run

So I am in California this weekend, without Chris :( Of course I came thinking I was so lucky to be in CA for such a long run (17 for me, as I am behind I redid the schedule and thats what I was on). Lo and Behold, it was POURING! I couldn't believe it! So I went to our local YMCA that thankfully I am still a member of on our family membership (I am not sure when they kick you off of that...but yeah). Unfortunately I didn't know they closed early on Saturdays so at 7 pm they kicked everyone out, and I had just gone a bit over 15 miles! Boo. So, now I'm even more behind I guess, but whatever. Better than 0 which is what it would have been had I not gone to the gym. The longest I have had to run on a treadmill this whole time is 4 miles, so I was not looking forward to it! And they had the speed interval setting on the treadmill I was on, but not in a way that you could time it! Ugh, so instead of it automatically going to my run speed for 5 minutes then my walk speed for 1 minute I had to pay attention to the clock and do math and change manually. Blah. The one thing that I did notice I liked though was that being on a treadmill FORCES you to be consistent with your pace, both during the running and especially the walk breaks. Anyway, I was glad I got it done. And Chelsea ran 17 miles in Provo somewhere. Chris is still hurting :( So we will see what happens for him.

The Eugene Expedition

Did a 23.5 mile run n Eugene, Oregon last week.  Had to do another run in "Track Town USA."  I did a 5 mile run along the river in Eugene a couple of years ago and I was looking forward to doing a longer run there.  I wanted to run on Pre's Trail which is a really nice trail made of soft wood chips on a firm base - very nice to run on.  Unfortunately Pre's Trail is only about 4 miles long so I ended up making it an adventure with exploring and running all over the place.  Here is the map with my run (each marked "lap" is one mile from my GPS, click on it to see the bigger version).

It was a sunny day about 6o degrees with a slight wind from the east.  I had a hotel that was right next to the river trail which led about a mile to Pre's Trail.  It is very nice to run on - very comfortable.  In fact, probably too comfortable.  You can really tell the difference when you move back onto pavement.  I added some photos of the run on my FaceBook page.  I headed right to Pre's Trail and then did a lot of side trips exploring to lay down some more miles.  I figure I would finish along the river trail.  It was interesting exploring a lot of places I have never been before and it almost made me forget I was running.  There were some really good canoe trails/waterways and very nice homes.  I ran around the U of O stadium which is just off the trail. (I have a tradition of running around football stadiums when I visit towns e.g. Auburn, Ann Arbor, College Park MD, UW, etc.).  I retraced my route on Pre's Trail because it felt so nice to run on then took off on the River Trail.  It was getting dark about this time and I ended up running the last four miles in the dark.

About mile 15 I started to get some hunger action going on.  This seemed to get worse each mile after that.  I had been taking some sport beans and nothing else.  It was catching up to me.  Before the run I decided not to drink any sweet sports drinks because I think that is what made me nauseated during my last long run.   At mile 20 I was starving, my mouth was watering and all I could think of was food.  Not just food, but a lot of food, even fried food (which I don't like very much).  At mile 22 I realized that I had a bag of COSTCO gummy things and I ripped my CamelBak off and tore open the pouch and inhaled them.  It was not enough - in fact it made things worse.  I started running even faster, in the dark, to finish so I could eat.  I was constantly scanning the area for anyplace that served food - even a fine restaurant.  Could you imagine this sweaty big guy with a military CamelBak barging into a fine eating establishment yelling "WHERE IS YOUR FOOD!"  Well, the thought made me laugh during my run.  I made it back to the hotel just in time for "Soup Night" - ummm broccoli cheese - it will do.

Things to remember:

• Drink more water
• Check to see when the sun goes down
• Eat more food
• Bring more food

Brad

Payoff

Wow!  The payoff from the training is really starting to show now.  I did a six mile run today with a 9:44.43 mm.  I noticed that when I hit five miles I was still less than an hour into my run - I have not run that fast in a long time.  This might not seem like that speedy but I think it is pretty good for someone who is getting close to 50 years old.  I figured I would be fast on this run because I have been running 5k runs as my short distance runs during the week and they are around 30 minutes now.  Next week I will be in Eugene, OR and I am going to try to get a 23 mile run in on Pre's Trail (click for more info).  I will probably run on the south side of the river too, to get more miles in (that is where I started training for the half marathon in 2008 it adds a few more miles to the run).  Runners high is cookin' now so I am going to go enjoy it.

-Brad

20 miles

I ran 20 miles yesterday! I can't believe it! After running 17, I wasn't sure if I could do it. My hamstrings were killing me so much when I ran 17 that each step was painful. But that didn't happen this time. I think it might have been from tightening up because it was cold. This time we were on the treadmill so at least it wasn't cold. Running on the treadmill for 5 hours is crazy! I watched "Bouce" with Ben Afleck and Gweneth Paltrow, then an episode of "Monk," then the end of some Lifetime movie--not to mention the other crazy happenings around the gym that Brad spoke about. It was not easy, but I felt pretty good the whole time. I'm a little sore today, but not too bad.

Michelle

"It's a Miracle!!!"

Had a real good 20 mile run yesterday.  The best part is that I was having a lot of joint trouble all week and there was a possibility I was not going to do well and might have to cut it short.  I had been hobbling and limping all week but for some reason I felt like I could do the run.  My thought was I was going to do it if I had to crawl (I kind of get that way when it comes to running - most of you know I broke my toe two hours before my first marathon in 2000, and finished the marathon - it took six months for my toe to heal).  In preparation for the run, I took it real easy on Friday and it helped a lot.  Besides the joint pain, I noticed that my R IT band was tight.  I have two exercises/stretches I learned for this after I knee surgery, and some icing, that I did most of the day on Friday and Saturday morning that seemed to easily take care of that.

So my 20 mile run went something like this.  We were planning on running 12 miles outside on the snowy trail at Ft. Richardson, change clothes and finish on the treadmills at Ft. Rich or the Alaska Club.  However, it was raining (pretty hard) when we were planning on starting and we did not want to get wetter than we usually get.  So we headed to The Alaska Club for what I thought was going to be psychological torture.  The first three miles I had a little hop in my run due to the hip pain - I am sure it looked a little strange.  There was some pain but not as bad as it had been most of the week.  Even with this going on I was doing a lot better than I thought I was going to do.  For some reason, at mile three, all the pain went away and I felt great, I even sped up a little.  Miles 3 to 11 were great - I was zoning out, in another world, so much that I barely knew I was running but the Garmin kept clicking away.  During miles 3-11 some folks we knew came by and ran on the treadmills besides us.  It seemed like there was a comedy show going on around us.  An overly dramatic person was parachute running on the track.  There were people jumping like frogs around the track, lambs and lions playing together, a swarm of locust...  Now this could have been the "runners high" but the friends running around us seemed to be acknowledging the strangeness too.  Back to the run, miles 11 to 14 were getting tougher but tolerable, I slowed down a little knowing that I still had a ways to go.  Miles 14-17 were tough and I was feeling OK but I started to feel like my hips and knees were very tired of supporting my body - just from standing, never the less the running.  I had already changed my shirt at mile 11.  I did not feel any blisters coming on but I decided to change into the second pair of socks I brought.  I sat down for about three minutes, changed my socks, and started running again.  It was not hard at all to start running again - in fact it rejuvenated me and miles 17-20 I felt really good.  I kept up my same pace and those three miles went pretty fast.  I felt pretty good right after the run - not sore at all.  However, I was nauseated for about two hours, right after, which luckily went away.

It has been about 12 hours since we finished and my joints feel fine - a lot better than last week.  I also think, for some reason, that I have the least amount of soreness that I have had after any long run.  There are a few muscle aches but very minor.  I can move around without any problems at all.  Defiantly healed from what I was going through last week.  Just some very minor quad and shoulder soreness, no IT band problems, and I am NOT LIMPING!  It is a MIRACLE!

Administravia

So whats up???  Rachel and I are the only ones running???  You all need to post on the blog and let us know how you are doing.  How your runs went, on schedule, etc. - we all want to know so we can help motivate each other ("flippin burritos" - we have a 20 miler coming up on Saturday!).  If you cant post for some reason let me know and I can add you to the list of permissions to post.  Dang! 20 Miles!!!!.... #@!&$*!!!!

BJH

Einstein was right!

Finished the six miler a couple of hours ago.  It was a nice sunny day - about 26 degrees.  I did it along the Glen Highway snow covered trail near Ft. Richardson.  The first mile was kind of tough, cold and some of the lagging soreness still around.  Mile two I felt much better, warmed up and joints felt good.  I decided not to wear a hat (had it in my pocket) which was a good choice.  Mile three was the Mamma Mia mile.  I did it for time and no real improvement from my last one (which was indoors).

After running on firm ground in Texas earlier this week I felt the differences of running in the snow.  There is a lot more isometrics involved which I am sure burns up energy.  I also noticed that I lean further forward when running on the snow which, I think, is a good thing.  My upper body is more centered over my feet.

The rest of the run was OK - the fourth mile was hard because I was recovering from the MM.  The fifth mile was nice and the sixth I noticed I was getting tired but I could have easily continued if I did not hit the parking lot at the same time...

Michelle and I were talking earlier about how six miles does not seem like a big deal now compared to last summer.  It is all relative...

Crop Circles!!!

Returned from Texas in time for the six mile run - which I think I will do outside.  It is real sunny and bright outside today.  Michelle said she will do hers inside.  I will do the MM (mumbling mile) today also.
Here is a keyhole photo of one of my runs in Texas - the one where I WAS RUNNING ON THE FREEWAY.  I noticed that there is a real crop circle in the photo - can you spot it?
Congratulation to Rachel for healing so quick - I am jealous.

My Foot is Healed!!

So I was pretty nervous about todays run. Even though it was only six miles I haven't run AT ALL in 2 weeks, and really hardly at all in about 3 1/2 weeks, I felt really behind and was afraid I would have lost all my stamina. I was also nervous that my foot would just start hurting again during the run! I have been really anxious that if it kept hurt I would get too behind in the training and then not be able to run the marathon which would be a total bummer.

But, none of that matters because the run was great! I mean, don't get me wrong, I was SO TIRED at about mile 2 or 3, I was totally winded, but that may have been a combination of the time off and the fact that the first half of the route was pretty uphill. The last half was downhill and I felt totally fine. Our run ended up being more like seven miles, but thats fine because I (and Chelsea it turns out, total slacker for no reason!) are behind so we may need to alter the run lengths a bit to catch up, so seven was probably actually good. My foot felt fine the entire time! I am so happy! I had gotten used to running 3 times a week so I actually kind of missed it. So, I am double glad to be back at it.

I have to give a shout out to Josh Johnson, our Elders Quorum President (who is also the husband of one of the sisters I visit teach). He is studying Athletic Training and has been working with the BYU Men's Basketball team this past year, and since he was the closest thing I could come up with to a doctor (as we can't just go and pay for a bone scan out of pocket) I told him about where my foot hurt, etc, and it was his suggestion to take the 2 weeks of and ice it (which I did. that hurts.) and he seems to have been right on! I want Chris to tell him about his knee/IT band thing and have him try and diagnose something too, haha, but I don't know if Chris is a believer yet :)

Incentive to run...

Finished a 5k run a little while ago in Ft. Worth, TX.  I was just ahead of a big storm front with the winds picking up - extra incentive to run faster and beat the curtain of rain coming up from behind.  Finished in just over 30 minutes.

Four mile run in Dallas

Just finished a four mile run in Dallas.  The map they gave me for a three mile loop had part of the run on the freeway.  I guess it is OK to run on freeways in Texas...  I will post the map later.

Quick and easy five miler

Did a quick and easy five miler at the Alaska Club yesterday in between basketball games and errands.  Michelle's was even quicker and easier...

Crunch, crunch, karunch for 17 miles.

Did the 17 mile run with Michelle.  It was a success.  Started out great.  The aches and pains I had all week dissipated after about a mile.  Now I think about it - THAT WAS A LOT OF RUNNING.

We did it outside on the snowy trail at the Army Post - Ft. Richardson.  It was 17 degrees at the start (11:00am) and about 23 degrees at the end (~3:30pm). Mostly overcast and a light breeze form the north.  It beat the heck out of 17 miles on a treadmill and the psychological trauma that would have brought.  Our original plan was to run the Glenn Highway trail from Eagle River to Mountanview and back.  However, it snowed about 3 inches in the middle of the week and the trail had not been plowed.  I did a test run and I got snow in my shoes after about 50 feet.  We went to Ft. Richardson and they had their 4.2 mile loop trail plowed (Thanks Dean!).

It was almost four hours of hearing snow crunching under your feet.  The spikes in the shoes worked great.   I am sure it takes a little more effort to run in the snow but it was comfortable.  After mile 11 I noticed that my quads were feeling pretty sore.  About the same time Michelle started moaning - I thought she was having a baby.  I told her that and she started laughing.  But then I remembered where Deja got her drama queen stuff from.  Michelle's hammies were hurting her.  We kept running - and it was tough.  However, at the end I still did not feel as beat as I thought I would.

I was really worried about this run after having some pretty bad RA symptoms in my shoulders, elbows, and hips.  However it worked out good.  We were pretty beat the rest of the day - and today too.  You can follow the bouncing Brad and Michelle by clicking this link and click "Player" in the upper right hand corner of the page.

Dang!!!

17 mile run tomorrow!!!!   I am hammered and I have not even started!!!  :-O

Sunny and - - - hot???

Did the five mile run yesterday, which for various reasons turned into a 6.2 mile run.  I did it outside on the Glenn Highway trail.  They are actually plowing it this winter and it is good timing for marathon training purposes.  It was sunny and about 14 degrees but felt hot.  Sun was beating down on me and I dressed too warm.  I used the run to re-calibrate my watch with the GPS and Foot Pod to run indoors.  I hope I did not mess things up.  The run was real nice - a good break from the Treadmillitis.  When I was done with the run I must have been real hot because when I took my jacket(s) off and my CamelBak you could see all the perspiration vapor coming off everything.  My Screw Shoe video on YouTube went somewhat viral with well over 1,000 hits in less than a month.  Some people viewing it are from Ireland and they sent me some e mails wanting to know more about wintering running in Alaska.  I was going to post a video leaving the igloo and dodging dog sleds but ended up making this video from my run yesterday.

Not doing so good...

So, the 14 miler killed. We ran around the rose bowl and, Brad, it REALLY WAS 70 degrees. In fact I think it was closer to 75 by the time we were done. So it was pretty hot. We had half powerade half water in our running packs (Chris and I gave one to Chelsea for Christmas). We ran for 5 minutes, walked one, the whole time. Thankfully Chelsea is a math major so she did all of our calculating :) We were doing about 11:45 minute miles so that was pretty cool. Till about mile 11 1/2, or 12. Then we started feeling the pain. Or at least I did, somehow Chelsea kept me going the last 2 miles. And then I did the worst, stupidest thing you could ever do. I just sat down. I didn't walk it out or do some light stretching, the thought of taking one more step was worse than death. But then I really felt horrible, I couldn't walk for 3 days. And when I did it was this old woman hobble. I have to say, Chris had a hard time as well so we were both hobbling around together and my family was making fun of us quite a bit :) So, that was my first bad run. I will say though, Chelsea and I ran 14 miles in 2 hours 50 minutes so we are on track to do the marathon under 6 hours right now. I think 5 1/2 is going to be our goal.

The Second was this weekend, simple 5 miles right? Well, during the half hour run I did on Thursday my foot started hurting, but not too bad and I was almost done so I just finished. It felt totally fine the rest of the day and all day Friday though, so I thought the run would be fine. About mile 2 it started hurting again, and by mile 3 it hurt so much I had to walk the whole rest of the way home, 2 miles! Ugh it was the worst. Today, Sunday, my foot still hurts a little, I don't know what it is. It feels like its bone that hurts, not muscle, on the top/side of my right foot. But I don't know. I'm not running Tuesday or maybe even Thursday, but I really hope come Saturday for our long run I will be fine again. Unfortunately we have catastrophe insurance so I don't really want to go to a doctor because we will have to pay everything out of pocket. I might call the BYU health center and see how much it is for a non-student to just walk in and get a foot looked at...

Anyway, wish me luck that its nothing and that come Saturday I'm all better!

The 1 + 1 = 8 minutes. AKA, "There is No Spoon" run

Did the 14 mile run today.  I had a water with ice to drink in one container and big frozen Gatorade in another.  The ice and frozen Gatorade did cool me down from the hot 70 degree running environment.  I will have to do that from now on.  I also brought a second shirt and changed into it about half way through which helped a lot.  I will have to do that again too.  It was pretty much what you would expect for running 14 miles.  Fist two miles were normal.  I was completely zoned out from miles two to six.  I think I ran straight through all that without slowing.  I was in some deep concentration mode and when I snapped back to reality, at about mile six, I had no idea what had happened except about 50 minutes and four miles went by.  Deja walked by and said "hi" which is what I think snapped me out of it.  Then I was back in REALITY - running - - - on a treadmill.

Things were fine until mile nine when my legs started getting pretty tired.  I took a two minute walking break which seemed to help.  I was really pushing things by mile 11 and I got off the treadmill and started running around the track which felt like I was in a refrigerator - much cooler.  Mile 12, I got back on the treadmill and was in the pain and punishment mode.  Michelle was about a mile ahead of me and the last two miles she kept asking me how much longer I had.  It went something like this: Michelle, "How far have you gone?"  In Brad's head "I have no idea, I am too tired to look."  Brad's body movement = rotate my arm to show Michelle my wrist which had my mileage displayed in 1/16" fine print numbers on a bouncing arm.  Michelle squinting, "how much longer till you are done?"  Brad, burning his last molecules of ATP, "I don't know."  Michelle, "How many more minutes?  Fifteen?"  In Brad's mind, "That requires a calculation that is way beyond my current capabilities."  Brad's mouth, spits out some random number between one and 30.  The next thing I knew I slogged through the last mile of the 14 miler and finished.  Now we are done we are both pretty sore.  I am not looking forward to any more long runs right now...  Next long run I am bringing a calculator.