Elite Jogging For Dummies

Eight easy miles over the U/Federal Heights/Avenues loop. For the first couple of miles I was stuck wondering how I'm ever going to drag my body through 26 miles at the end of the week, but fortunately I loosened up a bit after a while.  This taper is making me a little anxious ... I think I preferred running > 90 mpw. 

Yesterday morning I received word that my oldest friend, Ryan Jensen, whom I have known since kindergarten, had taken a serious downturn in his fight against an invasive bladder cancer.  I have seen him as recently as May and, although not completely well, he was relatively strong and was able to do almost whatever he wanted to do.  That has all changed in the past couple of weeks. He has been moved to a hospice near his home in Portland. 

So I booked a ticket and, along with my high school buddy Frank, we flew up to Portland last night at 6:50pm. We arrived at the hospice at about 8:30. Ryan was mostly asleep, but had a few lucid minutes where we could engage him.  He is so gaunt it is hard to believe it is my friend. His body has been ravaged with this disease.  I could see traces of the friend I have known, but it is not easy.  Still, there was no where else I would rather have been. We spent time catching up with Ryan's dad and one of his Portland friends.

When it became clear Ryan needed to continue to rest for the night, we headed off to bed.  The hospice has a guest room that we stayed in and that was ideal--it definitely beat staying in some faceless freeway motel.  This hospice, by the way, is an amazing environment.  They care greatly for the patient, but the grounds and warm interior also provide a lot of support for families and friends. A very peaceful place.

Although we were only going to be in town for a short time, I decided I would get up early and get in a run--try to clear my head a bit and process this experience.  I headed out a bit after 6am in the warm Portland morning under partly cloudy skies.  I ran a couple of miles around a neighborhood and stumbled on a nearby high school that had a nice track. I wanted to move my legs a little bit and I thought the repetition of the track might give me some focus. I ran 2 x 1 mile--5:23 and 5:25.  Then some jogging and back to the hospice.

 Ryan was still sleeping after I showered so Frank and I spent some time wandering around the facility, talking.  When Ryan woke up we got to have some very good quality time with him.  The pain management slows the mind considerably, but we were able to communicate, just keeping things light. Ryan's wife and his dad came over and we spent a few more minutes with them. Then, too soon, it was time for Frank and I to head back to the airport to come back to Salt Lake.  I had a moment alone with Ryan and shared a thought or two with my old friend.  His parting words were "I'll see you. . . " as if it were nothing at all.

Two miles. 

I drove up to the top of I Street this morning and ran 10 laps around the meadow. It's a bit sketchy running on the trail in the dark, but I know that ground like the back of my hand.  This was the right place to run today.  

Easy tune up from Foothill Sbux w/ Josh and Megan.

St. George Marathon.  It wasn't the race I wanted to have or expected to have, but it was a really interesting race and overall a good experience.  The lesson: it all comes down to the day.

It was raining on the bus ride up to Central for the start. When we arrived, all the flags were blowing northward, that is to say, in the wrong direction.  It was clear we would have a headwind, the question was for how long?  The answer, it turned out, was "the entire race." The air temperature was not cold, so the rain was not too much of a factor other than waterlogging some shoes, but the wind was relentless in its persistence.  

I started with the lead pack through the first mile. Then I heard Clyde say the pace was too slow and most everyone took off.  Josh and I didn't go with them, but hung together through mile 9 when Josh had to pick it up as I was not holding the pace we needed. It was clear he was planning to run a super time no matter what.  I was struggling a bit from the bottom of Veyo all the way through Dammeron Valley and my splits reflected that. I hit the half in 1:18:42 and it was clear that I would have to have a phenomenal second half to get a PR, let alone run anything near 2:30. 

 After Josh took off, I ran the entire race by myself except for a couple of guys I passed in the last mile.  So it was a long solitary race for me.  While cruising through the rain I had lots of ups and downs, mostly mental, but worked through the tough patches pretty effectively.  I had a side stitch at mile 18, but that was the only notable physical problem.  I had no calf cramps, which is significant for me.  Most of the struggle was in dealing with the wind as it was sucking my energy and my splits were not reflecting the effort I felt like I was putting into the race.  

  When I hit 20 miles in 1:59, it was evident that my effort was not yielding dividends sufficient to reach my primary goals.  What I was left to do was try to run a strong, competent final 10k, make sure I didn't get passed, and try to track down whomever happened to be within sight. I passed a couple of guys in the final two miles, fought off a surge in the last half mile from Bernie Boettcher, and finished feeling all right in 2:36:53.

Talking to other runners after the race, it was clear that I was not the only one that had a hard time fighting the wind.   Seems like it took its toll across the board.    Amazingly, after leaving me at mile 9, Josh pushed through the wind and ran his way to 4th in 2:30:05. Really impressive.  

Overall, I think that without the wind, I could have run 2:32 something today. I don't think that I would have run sub-2:30.  Maybe. Who knows? I do know I was in better shape for this race than I was last year.  Like I said, though, it all comes down to the day.  

Here are my splits (from the Garmin, which were almost dead on with the mile markers):

1-6:01

2-5:52 

3-5:33

4-5:40 

5- 5:42

6-5:23

7-5:31

8-6:37 (Veyo)

9-6:20 

10-6:17

11-6:37

12- 6:18

13-5:58

14- 6:02

15- 5:43

16- 5:39

17- 5:54

18- 5:50

19- 6:20

20- 6:08

21- 5:52

22-6:06

23-6:00

24-5:57

25- 5:59

26-6:12

So, there you have it.  It all comes down to the day.