Pacing the Utah Valley Half Marathon

I know, you're thinking "What? The half marathon was more than a week ago and you're just posting about it now? Here's a few options as to why it has taken me so long to post this. You can choose one.

1. My recovery affected my ability to think coherently.
2. I was waiting for my rockin cool race photos to get posted.
3. I had moved on and was prepping for Ragnar.
4. My lawyers advised me that if I wanted to win the nomination I had to wait.
5. I was swamped with television and radio appearances promoting my awesomeness.

Feel free to mix and match any of the above or come up with your own. I'm totally good with that.

The race went well. I paced the 1:50 group which meant I needed to maintain an 8:23 pace the whole course of the race. This pace is much closer to my actual race pace so I was anticipating this more than the Thanksgiving Point race.

The race started at 6:00 am which meant that I was getting up at 2:30 am in order to eat some breakfast, get showered and out the door. The last bus left the parking area at 4:30 and I wanted to be there in plenty of time to use the porta potties and be ready. This plan worked smoothly.

I had about 10 people that came up and said they'd be trying to keep up with me. I let everyone know that we'd be running at a slightly faster pace than what was listed to compensate for the couple of hills that we'd encounter on the way.

During the course of the race, I had a small group that stuck with me the whole distance. The course was really nice and had I been running this all out, I would easily be posting about a new PR. Since this is my fastest pacing time, maybe I should say it is a pacing pr?

Me in the bright shirt.

After the race, I grabbed a couple food items and caught the bus to head back to Fleet Feet in American Fork for my half marathon coaching group. It was their first 5 mile run. Around mile 3 of the 5 mile run, I tweaked my foot and ended up hobbling the last few miles.

Finally, here is the awesome race photo.

Running–It's What I Do

I was asked the other day how I can spend all my time watching movies via Netflix do only one sport—running. I've been contemplating this. Here's a list of sports I've attempted:

• P90X-too hard, too complicated, too many forms to fill out things to track, etc. Plus, when I start talking back to Tony as he is going through the exercises and laughing at the same joke over and over, then it's time to move on.
• Swimming-I can't swim well and my ego gets in the way of taking lessons. I know I have talked about the possibility of a triathlon, but the thought of me in a speedo and swim cap just makes me shudder.
• Basketball-hands, feet, dribble, run, guard. Again, way too complicated for me.
• Biking-while appealing, I'd need to buy something better than the mountain bike that has gone through two winters in the backyard.
• Weight training-I have a hard time understanding why this is even considered a sport. I always envision myself as a caveman in a rock lifting contest. I would be one that got squashed by the other caveman.
• Baseball-I was always stuck in the outfield and my times on base were when I got hit by the ball.

Running on the other hand. I just have to do one thing–run. I don't have to catch anything, dribble anything (other than water as I'm attempting to get a drink), hit anything or pretend I'm a fish. I put on the shoes and run. It doesn't matter that I can't run in straight line or that anything more complicated than just running like drinking or opening a GU while running could get me pulled over for possible DUI if I were driving. 

Getting out of the Country

I've started a half dozen posts and the majority of them I must say are pretty funny. I get laughing just thinking about the posts. Then I sit down and all the humor drains from my fingers and the posts go nowhere fast. Here's what has been going on recently (in no particular order):

• Ran a 10k on Memorial Day. It was free if I didn't want a t-shirt. The first 3 1/2 miles were uphill which sucked. It was raining in the morning and I was unmotivated to go, but a friend was running and he guilted me into it. I finished in 36:54 46:54which is a decent time. I didn't stick around for the prizes or giveaways, but my friend won a beanie and gloves.

• Deferred my Utah Valley Marathon entry to 2012. One week later, I got signed up to pace the 1:50 group for the half marathon. I'm liking the pacing gig...all the benefits of running without the stress of competition, looking to beat a PR, etc. and I get a medal for it and a lot of people telling me thanks. Can't go wrong there.

• Watched a late night episode of Dinner: Impossible where the guy had to cook three different complete meals that revolved around the Ironman theme. His meals revolved around water, running (legs) and bicycling (I can't remember what this one was...maybe road kill?) Anyway, I got thinking about triathlons and wondered if I could do one. All of a sudden I got that little thrill that I used to get when thinking about half marathons and full marathons. Only two road blocks. I don't swim well and the only bike I own is a mountain bike I bought from WalMart 6 years ago. My daughter who is 10 has taken it upon herself to join me in a quest to do a sprint tri and has offered to teach me to swim better. Who can pass up an offer like that?

• Really tired of the rain. We've had the wettest Spring EVER. There is still snow in the mountains. Some of the higher elevation ski resorts will be open on the 4th of July. We had 2 inches of rain just over the weekend. I generally don't mind the rain, but even I was starting to feel a little soggy. This week is clear and sunny. We're taking a quick trip to Vegas to celebrate my wife's grandfather's 85th birthday.

• The kids school 5k that I race directed turned out well. We made over $800 for the school library.

• The Lehi Roundup 5k/10k that I am race directing is burning a pretty good hole in my stomach. Directing a race with only 100 participants is one thing where the biggest prize is a pair of running shoes. Directing a race of over 400 with cash prizes and both a 5 and 10k is a totally different beast. I've been working to coordinate police, volunteer, sponsors, etc. I did manage to get out last week and run both courses. The course is much better than the one I ran on Memorial Day.

It was Yesterday

I'm sitting in the gym/cafeteria of Renaissance Academy waiting the final orchestra concert of the season. The chairs are hard and fold out. Luckily this time, we won't be asked to put them away because there is a "Twelfth Night" performance later that night. The small stage is set up like you'd expect for an orchestra setting, but the background is set up like something from Camelot.

The orchestra members are sitting nervously as the orchestra director gives them a few last minute instructions. One chair is empty right up front. It reminds me of a jack-o-lantern that is missing its front tooth. Normally, I would be amused at this image, but instead I realize that the missing chair is where my son is supposed to be. I duck out into the hall looking for him and spot him escorting one of his friends down the hall. I jokingly chide him a little, but the girl he is escorting tells me that he ...is being a gentleman and escorting her and they won't start without him. What more can I say to that? I return to my seat wondering when this boy became a young man. After all, it was only yesterday that he was little.

It was yesterday that this boy sat on the porch of our small apartment with a straw in his mouth which was attached to a smoothie cup that was almost as tall as he was. It was yesterday that this boy got out of the car to go to first grade when a cute little girl from his class grabbed his hand and they walked hand in hand to class. It was yesterday that this boy spent hours upon hours in his room playing Legos and trains. It was yesterday that this boy picked up the violin for the first time and I kept reminding myself that "he would get better." It was yesterday that he said "I'm going to take Arabic next year for my language" and next year he may be going to Egypt for a semester.

It was yesterday that he had his final orchestra concert at the charter school he has attended for the past five years. This boy young man sat confident (being the only 9th grade student in the orchestra) dressed in his green bow tie (that he has learned to tie himself and adopted as his own personal style), white shirt, dark pants and the sports jacket that he has taken from my closet. It is only slightly larger than he is. He did "get better" at the violin.

Sans white shirt, but rockin' the bow tie.

He'll start his Sophomore year at the High School in the Fall. He'll be driving in 13 months. This same girl he escorted down the hall will be one of the girls he dates.

I'm sure it will be tomorrow when he graduates from High School, leaves on a mormon mission, goes to college and gets married.

For the moment though, he's still sitting on that porch drinking the smoothie that is as big as he is because after all, it was only yesterday.

Fake Navy Seal or Runner?

Since the Bin Laden event that took place, the new craze is to be a Navy Seal. Everyone who is anyone is claiming to be a Seal. I'm considering going to the local Army/Navy surplus store to get my own gear just so I can be one of the "cool kids."

I came across this website that lists 10 ways to discover a fake Navy Seal. I was going through the categories and noticed a similarity to runners. Here's a list:

1. Camouflage Clothing Covered with Medals and Tridents=Running clothes and race medals


2. Doesn't Know His Class Number=Doesn't Know his Bib Number


3. Team 6=Team Name for Ragnar Relay


4. Doesn't remember the Details=After a really poor showing, my memory always gets a little fuzzy too

5. Emotional Glorification=Emotional Glorification (pretty self explanatory there)


6. Medal Talk=Medal Talk (Is there anything better than a medal? I think not)


7. Cannot Remember the Names of His Superiors=After a while all the names of the Elites in Runner's World run together


8. Advertising Killings=My last Ragnar I got 30+ kills. I put a tick mark for each one on the side of our vehicle.


9. No Female SEAL=One area that I could actually NOT get "chicked"


10. Know a Real SEAL to spot the Fake SEAL=If you don't meet at least 3/4 of these categories then you need to step up your running

I am a White Kenyan

Apparently, the 9:33 pace was in the
fashion district. If only I had had my
zebra prints.

Half-marathon photos are back. Since the race wasn't about hitting a PR or anything, i've been wondering how to evaluate the race. I've decided to break it down as follows.

Race
Meeting the goal of staying on pace the entire time: A
Being able to run with a giant lollypop of a sign the whole time: A

Race Attire
Coordinating outfits: black hat, black pants, black gloves: B
Fit of outfits: B-
Overall attire selection: C+ (this could have been a higher rank if I would have been able to find my Nike head band. Instead I was sporting the thermal Gold's Gym hat I found on clearance at WalMart)

Race Theme
I AM A WHITE KENYAN (on the sign): A+

My First Official Race Pacing Experience

This is a good example, kids, of why you shouldn't
drink and design a half marathon course.

Up until Friday morning, I was going to be at an aid station for the Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon. I didn't want to run the course because it looked like a confusing maze and I get dizzy easy was short the money needed to sign up. My sister and her husband were running and I felt it would be great to be able to cheer them on.

I never was very good about matching.

Thursday night I received a message from a friend looking for pacers for the race. He had a 1:45, 2:10 and 2:30 finish time available. Having spent the week blaming my lack of running on my shins spent the week recovering, I needed to get a run in before attempting this. By the morning he only had 2:30 left and I would rather slit my wrists felt this pace was too slow for me to hold the whole time. I told him if he had a time closer to 2:00 I would be interested. When I finished my run, I had a message telling me there was a 2:05 open. I accepted.

The price was perfect–FREE! We met Friday night to register, go over some pacing tips and then where we'd meet the next day. Saturday morning, we woke to 2 inches of snow on the ground and overcast skies. We met at the race start, got our signs and made our way to the starting line.

My sign was modified from a faster time. On the front where it has the per minute pace, it says "I Am A White Kenyan." That phrase got a lot of people laughing and seems somewhat ironic.

Makes a father proud! 

My son went in my place to the aid station out of the kindness of his heart  and because he is full of unconditional love toward his dad because I promised I'd buy him replacement ear buds after the race. His station was handing out GU so I told him to save me some. He did!

I finished the race in 2:04:44 and have been invited to participate with the group again. I'm going to spend some time working on my half marathon pace to see if that will also translate into a better marathon time also. It was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.