run, run, run

Provo, UT 6:45 am

Pace: 8:21

I got new shoes yesterday. I had ordered them online and wasn't sure they would make it to Boise before I left, so I had them shipped here. But I left my old shoes, with the Nike+ sensor on them at the office. So, last night I looked through my backpack for an old sensor. I found the one from when my other iPod got ripped off and was able to sync it with the receiver on my iPod. I was very proud of myself. My wife said "yeah, you're a genius, now go to bed."

I ran from the Residence Inn up to Will's Pit Stop and during the first mile my left foot was hurting near the arch. That got me worried about my new shoes (they are the Brooks GTS8, I had been wearing GTS7s). But it went away pretty quickly and didn't come back. So all is good.

 The rest of the run was good. I met up with Matt at Will's and ran the usual Provo route down 9th East to State and in to work at Springville. When we arrived, my wife was already in the office with my work clothes and bagels for breakfast. How cool is that?

Provo, UT 6:45 am

Pace: 8:32

Pretty much the same run as yesterday. That will do it for me this week. I'll take three days off and then get a few short runs in Pittsburgh next week before the marathon.

Pittsburgh, PA 6:15am

Pace: 8:14

This was a really cool run this morning. I haven't been to Pittsburgh before, but we went downtown and walked around a bit yesterday, so I was able to get my bearings. My hotel is next to PNC Park where the Pirates play, so I left the hotel and crossed the 6th Street Bridge over the Allegheny and ran down the river around Point State Park. Then I went past the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (where I'm working this week) to the Smithfield Street Bridge over the Monogahala. I went along the shoreline to the West End Bridge (it was getting kind of scary down there in the dark) over the Ohio, around Heinz Field and back to the hotel.

I didn't really concentrate on my pace or anything else other than not getting lost or stabbed. I'll do a couple more 5-mileish runs tomorrow and Wednesday then take two days off before Saturday's marathon.

Pittsburgh, PA 6:15 am

Pace: 8:27

Same run as yesterday. The distance is a little more and the pace is a little slower because I took a wrong turn. I saw a path along the river that I thought I could run on and looked for an entrance. When I found the entrace, a sign said Danger! No Pedestrians or Bicycles! So I turned around. I didn't want to die today.

Pittsburgh, PA 6:10am

Pace: 8:32

I took the same route over the bridges this morning, but I shortened it by cutting through downtown instead of going around the riverfront. That made for a more interesting run, that's for sure. Downtown is pretty active that time of morning. A lot of stopping and starting messed up my pace, but I wasn't really worried about that.

That's it. My last run before the marathon. I'll rest up tomorrow and Friday mornings, then drive down to Baltimore Friday afternoon. Then Saturday morning I see how it goes. Ready or not, here I come.

This was a really cool race. I had wanted to do a big city marathon to see what it was like and I wasn't disappointed. All together there were more than 17,000 people participating between the 5k, Half, Relay and Marathon. The course was great. It started at the stadiums and passed by the harbor, Ft. McHenry, through a variety of neighborhoods, around a lake and ended up with a run through Camden Yards. We also ran past the USS Torsk, which was cool for me because my dad served on that submarine back in the day.

My time wasn't the best, but it was a tough course and I didn't want to relive my disappointment in Pocatello. With all of the hills, I knew I wasn't likely to make a PR, so I decided to take it at the best pace I could and enjoy the race.

I started out following the 3:40 pace group and hung with them through the first half and felt real comfortable. I fell back briefly when I had to make a pit stop at Ft. McHenry (mile 10), but caught up again by mile 12.

Mile 14 was awesome. I got to the halfway point right when the half marathon was starting. They started out on a parallel route to avoid congestion, but I ran past them as the gun was going off, the crowd was cheering and the confetti was flying. Then a short ways later I saw my wife at the side of the course so I ran over and gave her a kiss. Afterward some guy running behind me said "Boy, I sure hope you knew her."

I passed a guy in a BSU hat around mile 17 and gave him the Go BSU fist pump. He was also from Meridian, but then I broke his heart by telling him that I'm a BYU fan.

I slowed way down during the last 7 miles. The hills and the sun were getting to me. I had hoped to hang strong till the end, but I kept reminding myself that I was there to have a good time and I wasn't going to get uptight over my finishing time.

So, in the final analysis, I wasn't thrilled with my performance, but it was a great experience and a really fun weekend. At 4:14:54 only one of my previous four marathons was slower, but I still finished in front more 60% of the other racers and in the top half of my age group. I could have just staid in Pittsburgh over the weekend and watched TV in the hotel room. Instead I met the challenge of running 26.2 miles and had a great time doing it. Not a bad way to spend a weekend.

Pittsburgh, PA 6:30 am

Pace: 8:49

Slow and easy my first run after the marathon. I was going to go out on Wednesday morning, but I was just lazy. I don't know what my problem is. This is kind of a throw-away week for me. Eating crap, not running. I need to get home and get into a new routine. I'm going to try something different over the fall and winter. I need to get my overall fitness level up by eating better and having more rounded workouts. I hope it will work.

Pittsburgh, PA 6:40 am

Pace: 8:49

My last run in Pittsburgh until I return in January. It will be colder then. After staying up late watching that stupid football game last night I wasn't very motivated to get out and run this morning, but I'm glad I did. I was able to appreciate running in a cool city one more time before going back home. Although I am very anxious to get back to Boise.  It's been a long road trip.

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 8:27

It's getting darker out there. I went up Cloverdale to Edna and Five Mile. I took the path next to the HP campus. It was really dark. It actually made that stretch of the run kind of exciting.

After three weeks on the road, it was nice to be home and running on my familiar routes again.

Boise, ID 8:00 am

Pace: 8:33

My wife's old car didn't pass emmisions inspection yesterday, so I took it to the shop this morning and ran home the long way. That poor car is so old it can vote. It is a blue car, so I suppose it will vote for Obama this time.

It was good to get out a little later and run when it was light out although it was quite a bit colder this morning. I went up Maple Grove and then ran on the trails in the wetland area at Maple Grove and McMillian then back up Mitchell and back home down Cloverdale.

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Pace: 8:12

29 degrees when I left this morning. This was the first sub-freezing run since last winter. I'm not really looking forward to the long, cold winter, but I guess I whined enough about the heat in Houston that I should just get over it. Maybe I'll break out the treadmill on some of the colder days this winter. But I doubt it. I hate that thing.

Randy came this morning, so it was my fastest run since the marathon. I needed someone to pull me along. I need to remember to eat something before I go out in the mornings. I've been cutting back on what I eat in the evenings, so I was feelling kind of depleted this morning.

Boise, ID 8:30 am

Pace: 8:13

Stupid car failed the inspection again. So I took it in to the shop this morning (again) and ran home. Took a shorter route since I got a later start. I might go out again later today. Maybe.

Boise, ID 5:15pm

Pace: 8:24

Apparently it's been getting too dark and cold in the morning for Randy, so he suggested that we run at 5:15 this evening. I said ok. Then he didn't show up. I guess he got busy at work, or just plain forgot. Either way, no worries. I just went out running on my own.

It's been a long time since I've run in the evening. I like mornings better. When I got home I ate a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie and I'm telling you, that thing could not have tasted better. Something about eating when I'm hungry after a run makes food taste so good.

Salt Lake City, UT 6:15 am

Pace: 8:40

My first (of likely many) run in Salt Lake City. I took off from the hotel through downtown and then took 3rd North up the the University of Utah and then back down 2nd South. I lucked out on the course. The run up the hill wasn't near as steep as the run back down. It was a nice run. A lot of the usual obstacles of running in an urban area, but before 7am it is pretty quiet.

With about a mile left to go I was really feeling the rumblies in my tumbly so I ducked into the Marriott and used the restroom. Life got much better after that.

There are a lot of places to run/explore here. Too bad, with the schedule I'm working, almost all of my runs will be in the dark.

Salt Lake City, UT 6:15 am

Pace: 8:57

I didn't run yesterday because I suck. I had one of those hotel nights where you can't sleep at all until about 4:30 then I woke up an hour later with a splitting headache. I even put on my running clothes and then decided that I couldn't do it, so I went back to bed.

This morning I went out back the Avenues, but this time when I got to the top of 3rd North I turned left on Virginia instead of turning south. Then I took 11th past the cemetery and down B Ave. That added another mile and a pretty significant hill to the run, but I liked it better. There was a great view of the city from up there.

Salt Lake City, UT 8:00 am

Pace: 8:54

I didn't have to be into work as early today, so I ran up City Creek Canyon. It was a great place to run, especially this time of year with all of the trees turning. It would have been an even better run if I had stayed on the pavement. I saw a trail and figured that it just went along the other side of the creek. I figured wrong. It went straight up the mountain. I followed it longer than a rational person probably would, but then I turned back and went up the pavement.

My pace was really slow going up the hill, of course, but I made up some time on the way down and through downtown.

Home tonight.

Boise, ID