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Top of Utah Marathon

Last Saturday I finished the Top of Utah Marathon up in Logan, UT.  It was my first time running a Marathon and it was a great experience.  The course started at Hardware Ranch, came 14 miles down Blacksmith Fork Canyon to Hyrum and then wound its way North up to Logan.  Great course.  Beautiful scenery. Fantastic weather.

It probably didn't help that I hiked Neff's Peak with a ~4,500 vertical net rise three days prior and was still sore from the hike when the race began.  The running felt great for the first 15 or so miles.   A friend of mine from the neighborhood (Ryan) ran the first half of the Marathon with me and then blazed ahead at mile 13 when I told him that my left leg was tightening up and I started to come off our sub- eight-minute-mile pace.  At mile 16 both of my legs were tight at mile 21 walking at the aid stations didn't relieve the pain - so I just ran.  I felt like an old granny at the end.  Thousands of people were out cheering and provided a nice boost.  Ryan ended up qualifying for Boston in the process (sweet!) while I limped in to finish with a 3:49.  Hey, at least I beat Oprah!!!!

Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay

The Wasatch Back Relay was the best running event that I have ever experienced.  I was recruited to team #167 by a friend of a friend and ran the race with 10 soon-to-be-friends (one member of team didn’t show due to a delayed flight).   300 teams of six to twelve people spread out over 177 miles of terrain from Logan to Park City and included three mountain passes, dirt roads, and crowded transition areas.  I loved the painted vans – my favorite team was the Knights of Knee, a group that shared our same 11:00 AM start time and was named after Monty Python’s Holy Grail.  They clapped empty coconuts like horse hooves virtually the whole race, decorated a support vehicle with 6 foot rabbit ears and a rabbits tail, painted the words “run away, run away” on its windows, and finished only 10 minutes behind our group.  They seemed to support our team as much as their own.

My three assigned legs were not the hardest on the course, so I tried to make them fast and ended up averaging 7 1/2 minute miles over three stages that totaled just over 15 miles.  Our overall team average was just over an 8.5 minute mile and we finished with a total time of 25 hours and 48 minutes - which was fantastic considering the difficulty of the steep mountain stages.

After our van's first series of stages were done in Eden, UT we jumped a hotel fence and took a quick dip the pool - kind of like we were back high school, but well worth it.  Fellow team members also kindly rented a hotel room so we could rest and shower in Park City.  The pancake breakfast at Heber Middle School was fantastic, organization of the event was amazing, and although I am still recovering from a lack of sleep I’m definitely up for doing it again next year. Helpful hint of the race – nail your nutrition.  Since the weather was so hot, a shared bottle of Hammer Endurolytes was really valuable.

Salt Lake Half Marathon

I ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon on Saturday.  Loved the course, the weather was nice and cool, and the event was well organized.  I ended up finishing just over my 8.0 minute mile objective (8.12 minutes/mile) for a total 1:47:35 which put me in 355th place out of 2,250 people who raced.  Hopefully with a little more training I can bring my per mile average time down into the mid 7's for an upcoming full marathon this summer. 
Speaking of training, I'm going to take a few days off and then get back on the program.

Summer Training

This summer exercise program I am on is getting, well, it is not as fun as skinning up a steep hillside in the morning to catch a run before work.  I ran a couple of sprint triathlons in the spring and now I'm a handful of weeks into a training program for an upcoming marathon.  I'm not particularly competitive at swimming, biking or running.  But I try, and it's fun most of the time. 

I can’t wait to get out and ski again.  Last night I remembered that I hadn’t put a coat of wax on the skis last spring to protect them from the dust bunnies in the basement. Humm.  I wonder if I still have some old yellow Toko laying around?