July 4th would normally be a 5k run, but I was helping with a ward breakfast, cooking bacon and pancakes with Scott. So, we did a run yesterday morning instead. We started at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon and ran back down to the mouth of the canyon. The portion we ran was exactly a half marathon. We ran together most of the way, but the last five miles, Scott got in a groove and moved on ahead and finished in 2:01 and I came in at 2:09, which is actually my second fastest 1/2 marathon time. The whole route was downhill which is nice training. It was beautiful weather and we saw a lot of cyclists on their way up the canyon....ugh, that looked tough!!

Utah Valley Marathon

06/13/09-Utah Valley Marathon. What a great race. Truly a hidden gem of a marathon. I thought we were going to get rained on, but only ended up with a few sprinkles. The race began at 6:00 am and so I had to hop on the bus at 4:30, but still had to wait around about 50 minutes. We ran down Provo Canyon and then through Orem a bit until we picked up the Provo River Trail that ran almost to Utah Lake and then back over to the finish line at the Provo Towne Center. I ran the first half in 2:28 and felt really good. I thought the downhill would beat me up, but I felt pretty good. I was able to keep the pace on the flat the last half and finished the last half in 2:29 for a finish time of 4:57. Even though my family wasn't waiting for me at the finish, there was a Creamie and some cold chocolate milk, which were fantastic. I must say that this race was very well organized and I would highly recommend it to anybody.

Scott and I just got back from a 1-1/2 hour run on the Jordan River Parkway. Beautiful weather, lots of people. My trusty sports watch died on me yesterday and so I went to Wal-Mart and got a new one. Turned out to be on clearance for $10.00. What a deal!! However, when I used it this morning I noticed that it doesn't go past 60 minutes on the stopwatch, which is great if you only run 10k or less. But at my age and memory skills I need to know how many hours I've been running. Soooooo, I'll just have to get a different watch today. Gotta have the right tools for the trade. Next week is the Utah Valley Marathon.

Adoption Exchange 5k

My buddy Wes Hutchins and I ran the 5k at Murray Park last Saturday. There were about 400 people running, but most of them under 4 feet tall. This truly was a fun run. No clocks, no numbers and not much of a starting to line. The mayor said "Go!" and off we went. Two laps around the park. The first lap I finished in 10:10 and thought I was really cruising. It was nice to be near the front for once. I finished in the top 20, I'm pretty sure, in 20:40. My thought at that point was that it couldn't have been a full 5k if I finished more than three minutes faster than my best 5k. Sho'nuf it wasn't certified 5k. That's ok, because the Adoption Exchange netted $6k from the event, which was the real reason for the run. Besides, we run races to expand our wardrobe anyway:)

I ran four times around my neighborhood today---16 miles. I stopped at home after each lap for a bathroom break and some food. When I reached the kitchen after my second lap, Abbe had her special chocolate energy waffles waiting for me. It started to get warm on the third lap, but I was drinking enough. In spite of all the liquid and waffles I still managed to drop two pounds. Hate to think how far down I would have gone had I not drunk as much.

Saturday, April 18th I ran the 6th Salt Lake City Marathon. I ran by myself because Vijay has a stress fracture in his hip. The weather was perfect. Not cold, not hot, with a slight breeze near noon. I met some great folks along the route as our group leapfrogged each other along the way. I met three people from Germany, a gal from Los Angeles and a few others. I finished the first half in 2:15, my second fastest 1/2 marathon time ever, including 1/2 marathon races. Almost from the beginning my hip flexors were tight and they continued to worsen the further I ran. I stuck to my plan to only walk through the aid stations, but during the last mile I walked two extra times for a hundred yards or so each time. At first I thought I could finish with a PR, but as time went on I knew that wasn't going to happen. Later I thought I could PR for this course and then finally I felt I'd be doing great to finish upright. I finally finished in 5:03. My Abbe was waiting near the finish line with our daughter, Ellie. Ellie snuck through the fence and dragged me over the finish line. Vijay had been taking pictures of me every couple of miles since the 1/2 way point and was also at the finish line. Like every marathon I've run that emotional high accompanied me across the finish line. This time my quads and hip flexors were really sore for a few days and my quads are still a bit tender. Abbe and I celebrated Saturday evening with burgers and fries at Five Guys. It was good and worth it!!

Last night it snowed in Salt Lake City. Fortunately, it was my favorite kind of snow-doesn't stick to the streets or sidewalk. Kind of disconcerting with the Salt Lake City Marathon is in less than 48 hours. My buddy, Vijay won't be able to run because he was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his hip. He was going to switch to the 5k, but his wife strongly counseled him against that too. So, he's going to try and get some pictures of me along the route. We both went to the expo for the race this evening. I was dismayed that the expo seems to be getting smaller every year. In the picture above, taken at the Salt Lake Half Marathon 2008. Vijay is in the middle and the third muskateer is Scott.