Running with Satellites

Debbie, my wife, bought me a Garmin GPS running watch for my upcoming birthday, and I've been having a ball with it. I ran fifteen miles last Saturday and came home and analyzed my pace, pace/mile, elevation gain, etc. on my computer. I never realized how much even a slight incline slows my pace. I completed the 15 miles in 2:08, with an average pace of 8:34. This was the same pace as my last marathon, which was encouraging since I didn't feel like I was pushing myself as hard this time. I biked 24 miles on Monday, again with my Garmin, and ran my ten mile loop up summers hill in my fastest time yet, 1:19. I didn't run today because we had a death in the family--our refrigerator. We spent the afternoon shopping for one, buying one, moving the new one in, and the old one into the garage (the freezer still works!?). By the time we were done, Debbie had to leave for her mountain biking class, and though I've run in the dark with a little LED flashlight before, I wasn't up to it tonight. Besides, I'm due for a little recovery time. Here's a graph of my pace vs. elevation on the fifteen mile run.

Horseshoe Challenge 20K Trail Run, Driggs, Idaho

On Saturday I drove to Driggs and ran the Horseshoe Challenge 20K Trail Run in Horseshoe Canyon. It was beautiful! The first half, running up to the ridge, just about killed me. I had to walk several of the steepest parts of the trail. I even experienced just a little bit of blurred vision for a few seconds at the top, but the run down the mountain was awesome. I felt like a little kid again, jumping over streams, hurdling fallen trees, and scampering down the soft, dirty trail in the shade of pines. It was exhilarating. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours, which I did (1:53). I took 6th place overall of about 20 runners, and 1st place in my division (there were only two people in my division. Ha!) They gave out some good prizes at the raffle, and I won a winter beanie embroidered with a winged potato for placing first in my division.

I rested on Sunday. On Monday I biked for an hour. And last night I ran my 10 mile loop in the dark with an LED flashlight in 1:22. I'd like to complete the Richmond Marathon in 3:30. I hope I can do it. I'm training on hills, and the Richmond Marathon is mostly flat, so I'm hoping if I can maintain 8 mpm on rolling hills I'll be able to perform even better on a flat race.

10 mile loop

This last week I biked 20 miles on Monday, Ran 10 miles (8 mpm), Swam for 30 minutes on Wednesday, and Ran 10 miles yesterday. I ran the 10 miles on the same loop but the opposite direction. It was hot, and it was hard. It's the first time I've ever done two 10 mile runs in one week. The biking and swimming is enjoyable and will hopefully help me get ready for a triathlon in the summer. Today is my day off, and I need it. I'm thinking about running a 12 mile trail race tomorrow, but I haven't decided yet. I'd like to go do it at a nice, relaxing pace, but it's hard when it's a race and there's someone in front of you that you want to pass.

I'll never run a marathon again

This summer I ran my first marathon: the Teton Dam Marathon in Rexburg, Idaho, where I live. I went into it thinking, "If I can do it in under four hours, then I'll have reached my goal, and never run a marathon again."

I finished in 3:58. For the last two miles I kept asking myself, "Why am I doing this?" Yet, two months later, I ran another marathon: the Mesa Falls Marathon in Ashton, Idaho. I finished in 3:44.


And now I've registered for the Richmond, Virginia Sun Trust Marathon in November. I wonder if I can finish in 3:30. I don't know what's happened to me, but at age 34 I am suddenly hooked on something I never would have foreseen myself doing.

Now, my goal is to run a marathon in all fifty states by the time I'm 50 years old. This blog is a record of my journey toward this goal.