Salt Lake City Half Marathon 4/18/09

Sat, Apr 18, 2009
Race:	Salt Lake City Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:36:28, Place overall: 187, Place in age division: 24
Total Distance
13.10
1:36:28 (Official) This was one of the best experiences of my life. And for those of you who have gotten to know me and my accomplishments then you will know how much that means. I had a plan, from the time I woke up until the time I crossed the finish line. I am pleased to say that I fulfilled that plan to the letter (except for 1 thing) right from the time I woke up, which was 4:15am. I got down to the Gateway Center at 4:55am and found a parking space right near the finish line. I was one of three cars in the parking lot. It goes without saying that I was concerned that I might be too early. I caught TRAX up to the start line, getting there at 5:30am, exactly as planned. I wandered around for a half hour to stay warm. I didn't know anyone there and as people began to show up more and more I felt more and more alone. But even with that I couldn't help but get caught up in the electricity of moment. I watched the bike tour leave and then the early marathon starters. By 6:30am I had my gear bag checked and was stretched and warming up. I was lined up, relatively close to the front by 6:40am and ready to go. I was very excited. As the cannon went off, as usual, it is a malay random paced runners that I had to weave in and out for almost the first mile. By then I had settled into a pace quite a bit quicker than I had planned. Not that I was caught up in the moment or had too much energy, but simply that so much of the course is downhill, you don't have an option but to go fast. I had planned to not grab a drink until mile 6 or 7 - check. Just after mile 6 I realized that I had set a new 10k PR by over a minute. I then set a new 8 mile PR by 6 minutes and a 10 mile PR by almost 20 minutes. I knew by mile 6 that I would achieve my goal of 1:40:00 (yes, this is an adjusted goal from 1:35:00 because I've only run twice in the last two weeks) if I could simply stay on pace. Some place after mile 11 I was sitting at 1:30:00 and I just told myself "10 minutes left to run a mile and a half, you can do it". What I didn't know was that I was much closer to the finish than I had expected. I had missed the 12 mile marker and even the 13 mile marker. It wasn't until I was making the turn into the Gateway that I realized that I was going to beat my goal time by almost 4 minutes. The electricity of the cheering crowd hit me as I turned north toward the finish line and I finished the last 200 m at nearly a full sprint. I was happy to be done, but slightly saddened by the fact that my wife couldn't be there to see me finish. 50 feet after the finish line I did look to my left and there was my mom, beaming with pride. I gave her a big hug and just took in the moment. I know that for most marathoners this would be just another long weekend run. Even for me it isn't even close to my longest distance. But this has been a goal of mine for a while now. And knowing that just 4 months ago I was only running 3 - 4 miles, three days a week, and now have finished a half marathon race, I am just over-joyed. I didn't think this would mean as much to me as it does, but I feel a great sense of accomplishment. Ave Pace - 7:22/mile

Pine Creek - Zion National Park

Let me make one thing clear, the name of the park is "Zion", not "Zion's". It is neither possessive or plural. There is never a time that you should refer to the national park as "Zions", ever. Back to business.

I drove down to Zion yesterday with my step-dad (Curt), his boss (Dennis), and a co-worker (Brad). They wanted me to take them through a slot canyon so that they could take a group of people from Dugway Proving Grounds later this month. We got down there at about 8:30pm and set up a quick camp. The weather was beautiful and we all slept pretty comfortable. Curt and I woke in the morning, broke camp and headed over to the backcountry permit station to secure a place in, what usually is, a line. There was no one there. We had intended to Mystery Canyon, but the park ranger explained that there was still a few feet of snow in the upper canyon and at the rim. He also said that there was a high chance for thundershowers today and even snow at higher elevations. With a long approach hike we felt it best to not do that canyon as we would be getting to the technical part just as the weather was supposed to turn bad. We decided to do Pine Creek, a canyon I have done on several occasions. It has no approach and with the people we had we could probably get through the canyon in just a few hours.

We drove through the large tunnel and parked at the overlook parking lot. We donned our wetsuits and backpacks and headed down into the canyon.

It wasn't long before Brad jumped into the first splash pot and got wet. He was the first to find out just how cold the water really was. Bbbrrrrr.

After a couple of short rappels and we had the big 50 ft double-arch rappel. These pics are horrible, but you get the idea. You land in water and then have to swim about 15 feet through ridiculously cold water. I was so glad for the wet suit I had, as tiny as it was.

There used to be another short drop with a 40 foot or so swim, but that had completely filled in with sand from a flash-flood a while ago. We just walked across it. The last rappel is normally about 100 ft, but that had also filled in about 10 feet from a rock fall. It was awesome all the same.

It was a great day. We had more time so we went and hiked around Emerald Pools. That was really cool. I had never been there before. One last photo of me and Curt before we called it a day.

5 hour drive home and then a 6.82 mile run. What a perfect day.

First Race Ever!

I know I haven't had much to blog about recently, especially climbing related, but I did get to run in my first race yesterday with Brent, Kim and Brook, and Enoch. Here is the race report I wrote up for my running blog at http://jun.fastrunningblog.com/ .

I got there right at 10am so that I could get signed in, stretched, and then get a mile or two in as a warm-up. Since I was meeting my brother there we decided to do all of this together, which was nice as this was the first race either of us had ever been in. The kids race was slated for 10:45 and the rest of the races were to start at 11am.

For the warm-up, Brent and I headed north on Geneva Rd and into a neighborhood where we grew up years ago in elementary school. It was cool to see our old house. I probably haven't driven by it in over 10 years. We looped back around through the neighborhood and back to the park. It ended up being 1.87 miles at a nice slow pace. I thought it was a perfect warm-up.

Here's where the problem started. We got back at about 10:45, just in time to watch the kidlets run, which was super fun. But then they ended up being extremely late getting the 5 and 10k races started. They didn't end up getting them started until 11:20, which meant that my warm-up had not only worn off, but now I was even a little tight from standing around.

Once the race began I tried to jump out in front of the crowd so that I wouldn't have to weave through the pack of potential 5k runners. It worked to some extent and I found myself within about the first 15 or so people. As I passed the 5k turn-around things cleared out considerably and I was alone, for the most part. Twinkies was about 100m ahead and Davy C. about 50m ahead of him. There were about 2 or 3 other men ahead of me spread out over about a quarter of a mile. I tried to keep Twinkies in sight and did a pretty good job for more than half of the race. I was running at a much faster pace then I was used to for that distance and found it hard to level my breathing. This plagued me the entire race.

Because I had Davy and Twinkies in my sights, like them, I turned at the wrong place and ended up getting passed by the person behind me as he didn't make the same mistake. I later learned that the way we took was the intended path for the race, but there was no marker to indicate that, so most people took what would be a minor short-cut. I was smart enough to go that way on the way back.

With about a mile left I was getting pretty tired. It didn't help that it got extremely hot and I was fighting a dry mouth and lips. I had set a goal to come in under 45:00, but as I got within a quarter of a mile I knew I wasn't going to make it. I later learned that the race was actually longer than a 10k and that if I adjusted the mileage I would have actually just made my goal. Above all things, that makes me the happiest. I ran the entire race in 46:16. I'm very excited. Here are a few pictures of those of us who ran.

Me finishing in 46.16

Enoch ran the 5k and did fantastic

Kim finished around 58:00

Brook came in at 52:00ish

Brent finished with 48:00 something

Back Home

I touched fake rock last night at the gym. It sucked.

I am running 20+ miles a week though.

That rocks!

Climbing? What?

I haven't touched rock, fake rock, or anything relating to rock in over two weeks.

This sucks.

I hope I can find time tomorrow.

Things That Matter

A friend of mine is participating in a walk to help raise money for Breast Cancer research. I don't think there is a single person who reads my blog who hasn't been personally affected or, at least, has known someone with Breast Cancer.

She is traveling to Denver and will be walking over 60 miles in three days. She is hoping to raise $2300 in the process. If you can help in any way, please do. Here is a link to the official site and where donations can be made.

Thank you everyone.

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/DenverEvent?px=3090329&pg=personal&f
r_id=1310

Jack of All Trades

I don't want to be that guy who can't stay with one thing and has a new sport every couple of years. It is a pretty common thing in my family. Sorry Bre and Dad, but its true. I look back over the last couple of years and between soccer, mountain biking, and peak bagging I feel like I've bounced around a bit. Climbing doesn't count. It has been on one constant for more than 13 years now.
While soccer was mainly an opportunity to hang out with my brother and sister it was a sport a have grown to love. I would continue playing if I didn't have to drive 40 minutes to do so, pay $45 to play, and then show up just to play half of a game. Maybe as my life slows down in a couple of years it will be something I can start up again. As for now it has to be put on the very far back-burner.
I won't speak to mountain biking. Over the last many years it has been something I've just done when invited by someone else.
Peak bagging has been a hobby of mine for several years now and something I don't plan to quit any time soon.
Last year my wife started pushing me to jog as a means of keep my cardio up and staying healthy. She doesn't want me to have a heart attack. After pushing through the first excruciating weeks of miserable outings things got better and I really began to enjoy myself. Now running has turned into a full-grown passion. I am running 5 days a week, with a minimum workout of 4+ miles a day and long days above 6 miles. I have already booked my registration for my first 10k and plan to run a half marathon later this year.
All of this is in preparation for getting back in the mountains. This summer I plan to run 2 - 3 days a week in the mountains, linking peaks and hitting the trails. By next year I want to sign up for my first mountain race and maybe someday do an ultra-marathon, such as the Wasatch Back. I also have a goal to jog King's Peak with a longterm goal of getting the record for the Triple Crown, car to car (currently just over 13 hours).

What's my point? I want running to be a life-long activity. I have made an effort to surround myself with people who will motivate and inspire me. I really believe that I can be successful at this and continue doing it when I'm old.