This will be an unusual race report, as not only did I not run, but I did not even go to the event. Last year my wife and visited Washington while the Northwest Passage Relay was in progress. I thought the course looked beautiful, and decided that I wanted to run the race next time around. Earlier this year, I sponsored and registered a team under the name of MarathonGIS.com / Fastrunningblog.com, and started making plans. However, a couple things stopped me from making the trip:

1. My wife getting pregnant, and the due date being uncomfortably close to race day
2. My current A.S. flare preventing me from running for several months, plus making my day-to-day ability to run very unpredictable.

So I bailed early on, but stayed on as the team captain and logistic manager. I’ve organized 5 relays now, and team member Dale described this one perfectly: herding cats.

We had:

• runners from 4 different states, with multiple airline schedules
• all out-of-state runners flying in the morning of the race
• another runner who couldn’t make it to the course until 8PM on raceday
• a very small pool of potential volunteers (ended up buying 2 of the 3)
• multiple runners bail out due to other commitments
• last-second ringers bail to join other teams (thanks)
• a last-minute start time change from 4PM to 2PM
• a total of 9 runners actually toeing the line (supposed to be 12)

Putting together the vans and leg order became a cerebral puzzle that looked like a chess match versus a Google spreadsheet. It also reminded me a little bit of the logic portion of the GRE test: “Runner x, y, and z are flying from Utah at times A, B, and C. Runners t, u, and v are already in-state, but live in three different towns, and runner u has to work until 5PM. The 5:15 ferry has a 90% on-time rate. Runner y’s favorite color is blue, and Runner v hates hills and is allergic to peanuts. Our start time is 2PM, and Van 1 will be to Exch 6 by 6:15PM. Determine the leg order.“

Fortunately, I did well on the GRE, and our logistics for this race ended up coming together in the end as well. Van 1 made it to the 2PM start on time, Runner U caught the ferry and made it to Exch 11 in time to run his first leg, and the 9 guys on the team ran their guts out, and by all reports, had a fabulous time. Whew! The only real mishap was Van 1 putting itself in a ditch during Leg 2 (will post pictures when I get them). Fortunately, a kind passerby pulled them out.

Not only did the team run their guts out, but they managed to take 2nd place out of 153 teams (20:31:02, 6:39/mile), and came within 6 minutes of pulling off and upset and winning the race outright. Congrats to Runningshoes.com, with their winning time of 20:25:17 (6:37/mile). Not bad for a 6-man ultra team!

Lessons learned for future relays:

• a 12-person team is not necessary.
  • fewer people creates more room in the van
  • fewer people allows you to use a car, truck, or SUV if you want to save money
  • a faster person running extra legs will always be faster than adding slower people just for the sake of having 12 people
  • you can bond more with fewer people, and also develop a “underdog mentality”

Thanks a ton to Dave, Dale, Craig, Andy, Cody, Tim, Matt, Mark, and Aaron for their good spirits and fast running!

Andy, Matt, Aaron, Tim, Dale, and Craig (photographer: Dave)

Cody hands to Andy at Exch 30.

Van 2, also a drying rack and dormitory. Gotta love the smaller team.

Another year, another Wasatch Back Relay. This year my company, Marathon GIS, helped sponsor not one but two 12-man relay teams. Co-sponsors were the Fast Running Blog and the St. George Running Center. We divided up our pool of runners into the “blue” team (fast) and the “white” team (faster). (The general idea is the FRB / St. George Running Center racing team’s colors are blue and white…).

We had no problem assembling an ensemble cast of quality runners, thanks to the pool of talent available on the Fast Running Blog. And we needed everyone in that pool, since we suffered numerous injuries and bail-outs to key runners (including myself) during the approach to the race. Thank goodness for our alternates! Although I had my doubts at times, we did end up toeing the line with 12 runners on each team.

We had high aspirations for the white team to contend with perennial powerhouses BYU and Weber State, and perhaps win the race outright. The blue team also had a good chance at Top 3.

It turned out that Weber did not field a team this year, but BYU brought the house. From the gun, it was BYU all the way, and our white team was simply outclassed by a superior (and younger) gene pool. The result: 2nd place for the white team by about 35 minutes. Kudos to BYU. Maybe next year!

Our blue team outpaced the Runners Corner mixed team, Peak Endurance, and the 26.2 Running Company down the stretch to finish a respectable 3rd place, nearly an hour behind the white team. Great job guys!!

However, we did experience victory on the timed Ragnar leg, as the white team’s Seth Wold blitzed up the 4.0-mile, 1700ft ascent in…(not kidding)…29:06 (7:16/mile!). That was 2:30 (38s/mile) ahead of the 2nd place BYU runner. I believe he broke his own record from last year. Awesome job Seth!

Unfortunately, I could not run due to my foot (and total lack of fitness), but was happy to help out by driving the Blue team Van 1. I brought my trusty video camera and shot as much footage as I could during daylight, adding my own witty and charming commentary where I could. (note that witty and charming commentary completely evaporates on day 2). I’ve uploaded the string of videos to YouTube for everyone’s enjoyment. Sorry about the poor quality, but YouTube is lame like that. You get what you pay for. Also, sorry for no video transitions, theme songs, or other movie magic. Time is money, and I’m a lazy, lazy man. But for the ’soundtrack’, you can just listen to our awesome mix tape playing in the van instead.

2008 Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back Top Teams Results (546 total finishers)

1. BYU Cross Country: 17:19:34 (5:45/mile!)
2. Fast Running Blog / St. George Running Center “white”: 17:54:16 (5:57/mile)
3. Fast Running Blog / St. George Running Center “blue”: 18:54:03 (6:17/mile)
4. 26.2 Running Company: 19:29:49
5. Peak Performance: 19:32:13
6. Runners Corner: 19:41:01

Alright, long time no blog. I figure it’s time for an update. Most of what is below was copied and pasted from my training blog, but I figure it might reach a different audience here.

So why haven’t I been blogging? Simple, I haven’t been running. The last few months have been one “injury” after another. What started with hamstring tendinitis morphed into a monster that included SI pain, hip pain, low back pain, mid-back pain, neck pain, swollen sausage toes, and a swollen, sore forefoot. The forefoot is what really knocked me out of running. And I hate to say it, but I lost the fire over the last few months. The cross training suddenly became not worth the effort. Fitness is all gone.

My foot problems was initially, and wrongly, diagnosed as a mortons neuroma. After the digits and top of the foot started swelling, I pretty much knew that was wrong, and so did the podiatrist. We did a battery of blood tests, and I came out positive for HLA-B27. Given my chronic SI joint problems over the three years, combined with the sausage toes, the blood test, and even the insertion-point injuries (plantar fasciitis, hamstring tendinitis), I knew in my mind that Ankylosing Spondylitis would likely be the fit to the puzzle.

This is not answer I liked. Who wants a chronic, degenerative disease? But I would not know for sure until I saw the rheumatologist, something that apparently takes a long time to do (I couldn’t get in for four weeks; some people tell me I’m lucky).

Okay, now for the copy and paste part.

Finally had my rheumatologist appointment today. Got the official diagnoses of Ankylosing Spondylitis. No big surprise, but I supposed it’s nice to get a dx in some ways.

No, ankylosing spondylitis (A.S.) is not the name of a dinosaur. “Ankylosing” means stiff or rigid. “Spondylitis” means inflammation of the spine. So ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic arthritic disease that causes the joints and ligaments along the spine to become inflamed. If left untreated, the spine can completely fuse, causing the person to lose mobility (hence, the “Ankylosing” part of it). A.S. is most common in men in their 20s. The cause is not quite known, but it appears to be genetics (HLA-B27 gene) combined with a trigger event (probably some sort of gut infection). Most people with A.S. have HLA-B27, but only about 10% of people with HLA-B27 have A.S. So the environmental trigger factor is a large role.

Their is no cure for A.S., but it can be treated into remission. Exercise, NSAIDs, DMARDs, and anti-TNF meds seem to be all there is at this point. The exercise is important to keep the joints mobile. Move it or lose it. Swimming is best for obvious reasons, and running is often frowned upon because of the jarring (but for the record my doc said that running is okay if it doesn’t hurt). NSAIDs treat the symptoms by killing the inflammation, but does not stop progression of the disease. They also tend to tear apart the stomach and fry the liver if taken for a long time. DMARDs (Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs) can slow down disease progression, but haven’t been shown to be terribly effective with A.S. Kind of a hand-me-down from big brother rheumatoid arthritis. Anti-TNFs (tumor necrosis factor, biologics) suppress the part of the immune system that is attacking the body. Biologics can repress or completely halt the disease, and seem to be the most promising for A.S. However, they also increase the chance of infection, and perhaps even some types of cancer.

Diet has also helped a small percentage of people deal with A.S. to varying degrees. Low-starch and No-starch diets are definitely on the fringe of the treatment, mostly (IMO) because there is no money for doing non-drug research, plus pharmaceuticals can’t make any money if people just stop eating bread. But the diet has a small but fanatical cult-like following among lay-people. In any case, it is proven that some foods cause inflammation, and some foods reduce it, so it is a safe bet to pursue that kind of diet just for general health and to help things along.

Anyway, this is long, but it’s as much for my therapeutic benefit as for anything. My symptoms aren’t too terribly severe on the grand scale. Judging by x-rays and flexibility tests, I have suffered no joint damage or no beginnings to fusion either. This is good. Since A.S. isn’t terribly well-known, most people can go over a decade without getting it diagnosed, and by that time they may have already started to fuse (once you fuse, you can’t go back). In my case, I think my hyper-sensitivity to what is going on in my body due to being a runner helped get me into a series of doctors and start asking the right questions and getting the right tests. I can track my A.S. timeline back to June of 2005, so it’s been going on for three years at the longest, which is pretty quick for a dx.

And it turns out that my clusters of “running injuries” may not be entirely from running, and are better explained as A.S. flares. It also turns out that A.S. often affects muscles and tendons near insertion points, so my plantar fasciitis and hamstring tendinitis would also be common A.S. symptoms. Of course, running didn’t help most of these things either. And A.S. also commonly causes “sausage toe”, which is what it sounds like, and is what I have going on with my feet (currently preventing me from running). Timeline:

• 1994 - June 2005: No injuries whatsoever. Nothing, nada. No back pain.
  
• June 2005 - November 2005: SI pain, lower back pain, patellofemoral pain (runners knee). Ran through most of it, then took a couple months off after St. George.
• December 2005 - February 2006: perfectly healthy, resumed running
• Feb/March 2006 - August 2006: SI pain, lower back pain, patellofemoral pain (other knee), groin strain, plantar fasciitis. No running for 5 months.
• September 2006 - December 2007: pain-free, blissful running
• January 2008 - June 2008 (ongoing): hamstring tendinitis, SI pain, sore/stiff lower back, stiff mid-back, neck pain, swollen toes, swollen forefoot.

So it’s been alternating healthy - flare - healthy - flare. I am now in my third flare, by my count. This is definitely the longest, although I don’t know that it is more severe than what I went through in 2006. So the A.S. may be ramping up each time (bad thing), but I am not sure. It would sure be nice if I left this flare and had another 15 months of quiet.

My rheumie thought it would be best to start with a prescription NSAID to wick out the inflammation. Everyone’s version of A.S. if a little bit different. If mine follows the pattern of flare - healthy - flare, then I can probably get by with taking NSAIDs as needed. However, if things don’t ever get better, and it seems to be progressing, then he will want me do go on an anti-TNF, such as Remicade or Embrel. I’d rather not do this, as it is very expensive (~$20,000/year). With insurance it is something like $100-$200/month, depending on the drug.

So now I am taking diclofenac. Ibuprofen is quite effective on me, so hopefully this will be too, and shrink my foot down to a normal size. My next appointment is in 3 months, so until then it will just be the NSAID (as needed), exercise, and a healthy diet.

Will I run competitively again? Maybe. If I can, I probably will, but if I can’t life will go on. I know I can be happy and fulfilled without running, and it is not my identity, but I do enjoy it, so I would obviously like to be able to at least go out and run 6 miles pain-free with myself or with my friends. But this whole ordeal has served to remind me that my hope is not in the present with this broken body, but my hope lies in God and in His promise of a future and an eternal life.

19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Matt 6:19-21

Well, it’s been a long road back from the hamstring tendinitis injury (but not nearly as long as plantar fasciitis). I’m not quite out of the woods, but am happy to be back running at least a few miles every day.

It’s amazing how hard a 7:30 mile seems after an injury layoff, but I take some comfort in knowing that I experienced similar issues when coming back from my PF/groin strain in 2006. I remember struggling with a 10-minute mile on the treadmill during rehab back in 2006, and wondering how on earth I would ever be able to run twice that fast for a 5K. Yet within a year I was able to average 5:15/mile for 26 miles. So my 8-minute miles right now don’t seem so bad, as I know I can still have a successful racing season in the summer ahead.

My recent hamstring injury is a tendinitis (inflammation of the tendon) where the hamstring muscle connects to the ischium (butt-bone). I have seen this referred to as “hamstring origin tendinitis“.

I first felt the injury on Dec. 25th (merry Christmas). It was quite minor, and I could run on it without much difficulty. I classified it in the “owie” category, and figured it would go away on its own after a few days. And maybe it would have.

But on Dec. 27 I attempted a 8×1000m interval workout…and pretty much destroyed the hamstring by the 6th interval. Within a span of a few minutes I went from being able to hold a 5:00/mile pace to having to walk home.

What what the root cause of the injury? I think it was a combination of all of the below (in ascending order):

• XC skiing for the first time in a year on Dec. 23. This made me pretty sore for the following week, and worked muscles that hadn’t been used in a long time. Consequently, I was running (and doing hard workouts) on weakened, sore legs during the next few days.
• Running on snow. We had a big snow storm on Christmas Eve, and my next few runs were on solid snow and ice. This slipping around is no good for the joints and muscles, and probably put unnatural strain and torque on already-sore muscles.
• Attempting to train hard for Houston. Looking back, I had just run two all-out marathons within a month, and what my body needed most was a break and a period of base-building. And that was my original plan after Trials. But then I received the opportunity to race the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Houston as a funded athlete. That was an offer that I couldn’t refuse at the time, but now I wish I had. Rather than letting my body fully recover and returning to easy mileage, I was out there doing tempo runs and interval workouts on weakened legs and in less-than-ideal weather/road conditions. Talk about setting the stage for an injury!

Obviously (looking at it after the fact), I could have avoided it all by turning down the Houston race, and just running easy mileage during the harsh winter months. But I think if the roads had good footing and if I hadn’t tried introducing a new activity (XC skiing) during heavy training, I might have stayed healthy as well. In any case, I learned not to try to train for a major race during the winter, at least as long as I live in Logan! I’ve learned that a period of easy running, core work, and weight lifting is probably the best winter training plan for me. With no winter races, I won’t feel like I need to “force” workouts.

But the good news is that I’m feeling about 95% healthy now. Here’s what I did to recover from the hamstring tendinitis:

• Rest. Running was not an option. I also took a week off with no activity, as even elliptical seemed to hurt it at first.
• After I realized it wasn’t getting much better with pure rest, I started Physical Therapy. I saw a licensed PT at our local sports med facility. I’ve done this before and think it’s a good idea for anyone with lingering injuries. My treatments:
  • Heat
  • Ultrasound
  • Stretching the hamstrings
  • Stretching the hips (these were really tight!)
  • Strengthening the hips, glutes, and hammies
    • Theraband activities / 4-way hip machine
    • Stability ball hamstring curls
    • Face-down leg raises (glutes)
    • “Walking” while sitting in a rolling chair (great hammie workout)
    • Hip sled (glutes, hammies, quads)
  • Resumed “safe” cross training:
    • Recumbent bike (non weight-bearing, did this the most early on)
    • Stair-stepper
    • Arc Trainer (great workout)
    • Elliptical (once inflammation was gone)
• Deep massage. This is helpful if you have an LMT who can get in deep to where the hamstring connects to the ischium. It is kind of a precarious spot, and you should first have an LMT that you trust and feel comfortable with. I got about three good massages, and it helped clear up a lot of the initial inflammation.
• Chiropractic. I saw my DC right after the injury, and my hips were way off. I think this was yet another factor that contributed to the injury. Correcting any misalignment (through PT and chiro) is necessary for a permanent fix once you get the inflammation down and resume running. The same goes for muscle imbalances. Getting rid of the inflammation is one thing, but resolving the root issue is another.

Now that I am back to running a little, I way to stay injury-free! This, of course, means taking things slowly. However, I know I can increase fitness faster (and safely), by supplementing with cross training. Another strategy I am starting to use to increase running volume while keep risk low is by breaking up my runs into short doubles. For example, rather than doing one 6-miler, I will do two 3-milers. The best way to get better at running is to run a lot, and doubles are great for that. Plus, the longer the run, the more battering and fatigue you get. Doubles help mitigate this, as fatigue and breakdowns in form do not set in as much on the shorter runs.

My primary goals for the spring are:

• Kick all remaining symptoms of the tendinitis
• Gradually increase mileage back to the 100+ mpw range
• Lose all the weight I gained (about 8 lbs)
• Resume real races by the end of May

It’s been a really crappy winter, but I have high hopes for it being offset by a great summer and fall! free real ringtones tone | download free mobile real ringtones t | composer free nokia ringtones | free u.s cellular ringtones | mp3 ringtones converter | send free ringtones to your phone | free cellular one ringtones | cell download free phone ringtones | free yahoo ringtones | free sprint real ringtones | music nextel real ringtones | yahoo ringtones free download | ringtones verizon wireless | free cellular phone ringtones | e315 motorola ringtones | free real tone ringtones | free ringtones | free ringtones converter | free real ringtones for verizon | cingular free music ringtones |

Many people think that GPS is always used to map routes, but this is far from the truth. When I create race course maps, I almost always capture the course remotely using high-resolution aerial photography. Rather than engaging in time-consuming and costly travel and GPS capture, I can sit in the comfort of my office and on-screen digitize the route very accurately and precisely. I don’t have to worry about satellite connection, tree cover, and topographic obstructions. In the end, it saves the client money and creates a quality product that can be trusted.

But the cool thing about digitizing data in a GIS is that you can later convert the data to a GPS-ready format, and load it into your GPS unit for easy GIS-based navigation. For my mapping, I tend to store and edit my data in either shapefile (.shp), MS Access geodatabase (.mdb), or an ESRI file geodatabase (.gdb). While these are good formats for GIS consumption, they do not help GPS users, but I can export to a more universal, “friendly” format, such as Keyhole Markup Language (.kml), which is similar to XML. Many software programs can read and convert KML files, and it can be used to make data GPS-ready.

Most people’s GPS units can accept GPX format, which is also similar to XML. Thus, to get my GIS data into a GPS, export to GPX would be optimal. However, no GIS software that I’ve seen (yet) converts directly to GPX. But most GIS software can import and export KML, and KML is easy to convert to GPX. So the general process is:

1. Convert your GIS format to .kml format. I use Manifold Systems to do this, but there are several free plugins for ArcGIS that can do this as well. Just search Arcscripts for “kml”.
2. Convert the KML to GPX. There are several programs that can do this. I personally use GPS Babel for all GPS conversion tasks, and Babel handles KML to GPX (and vice-versa) very well. Also, I do know that Garmin Trackmaker Free works for this, but I have not actually used it myself.
3. Load the GPX into your GPS unit. Every GPS software will be a little bit different, but people have had a lot of success loading the files I’ve given them with Garmin Mapsource, so I know it at least works with that. But GPX is a pretty generic file type, and I expect compatibility to be pretty good.

Many participants have been contacting me and requesting the Ragnar Relay Del Sol route. The race is coming up in a few weeks (Feb 29-Mar 1), and they want to import the course route and exchanges into their GPS units to help them prepare for the race, navigate the van, know exactly where the exchanges are, and avoid getting lost during this 24-hour, 190-mile race in the desert.

Due to popular demand, I’ve decided to just post my GPX files here. Over the next few months, I intend to post and make public the GPX files for all seven Ragnar relays.

• Download Relay Del Sol KML files (for Google Earth)
• Download Relay Del Sol GPX files (for GPS)

On February 12th Ragnar Relay announced the addition of three new races to their ever-growing armada of overnight relays. These races will take place this year in Washington D.C. (Sept. 26-27), Austin, TX (Oct. 24-25), and Daytona Beach, FL (Nov. 14-15), joining their existing races in Utah, Arizona, Washington, and Wisconsin/Minnesota.

As with Ragnar’s other races, I have the pleasure of making the course maps for the new relays. From the mapping standpoint, it appears that once again Ragnar has devised three more fantastic routes that will showcase the best of the areas they go through.

I was particularly impressed with the Maryland-Washington D.C. route, about half of which consists of the C&O Trail along the Potomac River. It’s looks truly beautiful, and you can’t beat running on a designated footpath. No traffic=good running.

Cumberland, Maryland to Washington D.C. (September 26-27, 2008)

San Antonio to Austin, Texas (October 24-25, 2008)

Tampa to Daytona Beach, Florida (Nov. 14-15, 2008)

(All course maps by Marathon GIS)

The Utah USATF has released the preliminary LDR Circuit schedule for 2008. At these point, I imagine the schedule is still fairly tentative, but my initial reaction is that I hope that they either add more races or reduce the number of races we need to run from 8 down to 6 or so.

Key changes from last year:

• Only the Striders Half Marathon is on the Circuit, rather than all five Striders races. This really shortens the racing season, but increases travel time for people coming from Ogden or Logan.
• No more Salt Lake City 5K. Not big deal, especially since this wasn’t a money race, and shouldn’t have been on the Circuit to begin with.
• No Judges Run 5K this year.
• The Sandy Classic 10K has apparently been replaced by a mysterious “Provo” race on July 4th. This is probably good, because the Sandy and Murray races were only a few miles apart, whereas any race in Provo will bring in a different crowd and/or reduce the commute for Circuit members down there. In general, I’d like to see more races in Ogden, Logan, and Provo in order to extend the “boundaries” of the Circuit and invite greater participation.
• The Great Salt Lake Half Marathon has apparently been voted off the island. This race is disliked by nearly everyone, but it’s been on the Circuit forever. I disliked it mostly for the stench of the lake. Still…it is one of the few honest, certified half marathon courses in Utah. As it stands right now, 8 of the 11 races lists for this year are record-ineligible (ie - downhill). Potentially 9 of 11, since I don’t know anything about this Provo race.

We’ll see if they add more races. As it stands right now, the Circuit this year strongly favors those who get out and run every race (ie - Sasha), particularly the limited number half and full marathons. Right now there are 10 possible races to run, and you can score your top 8. Not a whole lot of wiggle room.

Due to the injury bug biting me in the butt (literally), I’ve had to cancel my spot in Houston Half Marathon (U.S. Half Marathon Championships). So what is the definition of a “bummer“? The definition of a “bummer” is having full financial funding to run a championship race on a flat, sea-level course…and then getting injured and not being able to use the money. Bummer.

Yes, I could think of better times to get hamstring tendinitis. If this had come a few weeks earlier or a few weeks later, I would have been in the clear. However, I can also think of worse times to be injured. January in Logan, Utah is not exactly a great time and place to be trying to train hard. Some days I’ve been almost thankful to be safe inside on the elliptical, basking in my own sweat, opposed to slipping, sliding, and freezing on the cold, icy roads. Not mention being more prone to cold and flu viruses, which I had to fight off in late December, right before I got injured.

Now that I have canceled my entry and detached myself a bit emotionally, I can look at my training over December and what my training would be like right now, and realize that injury aside, maybe a mid-January race was not meant to be anyway.

I recovered pretty well from Trials in early November, but in some ways 10 weeks between a major marathon and a major half marathon is pushing it a little bit. The whole recovery, base, and workout buildup felt just a little rushed. Would I have had my optimal fitness level for this race?

On the top that, the quality of my workouts dropped significantly in December, as did my total training volume. Part of the problem was snow: lots of it. If you can’t get good footing, it’s hard to get a proper workout in. The other problem was getting sick. This messed over three weeks of my training. Recovering from illness forced me to drop my total volume, and also suspend hard workouts for a little while.

My tendinitis (probably caused by running in the snow) was simply the final straw. We have received unprecedented snow over the last couple weeks. As I trudge through and slide around on the calf-deep snow, I look around at the unplowed roads and think, “How good would my training be right now, even if I could run?” Seriously. Yeah, I can complete runs in the snow, but not fast. My aerobic fitness would have been good, but I don’t know what kind of “race shape” I would have been in.

Even if I had stayed healthy, my fitness would not have been as good as I would have liked, due to poor training conditions and missing time from illness. How well would I have run at Houston? Impossible to say for sure. Perhaps it still would have been pretty darn good. But probably not as good as it would have been if it were during a different time of year.

Is it impossible to train hard in Logan for major races during the winter? This winter it sure seems like it. Perhaps this is a lesson for me not to pursue January races. Perhaps winter should just be used for building base and for skiing. Or perhaps it was just bad luck. In any case, I’m already looking forward to spring: warmer weather, longer daylight, good footing, and better training. I’ve gotten over the disappointment of not being able to race Houston, and am now just looking forward to running and training hard again.

Product: Nike+ iPod Sport Kit
Prices: $30.00 (foot pod & iPod receiver). iPod nano and Nike+ shoes sold separately.
Rating: Very Good 8.3/10.0

Read the full review at The Final Sprint!

Many trails near of my home in northern Utah are steep, rocky, and foreboding, requiring heavy tank-like trail running shoes that can withstand the punishment of the terrain — and protect my feet as well. Many of these dedicated trail running shoes weigh up to a pound apiece in order to offer high levels of support and protection.

However, there are times in my trail running when I don’t quite need that level of stability and “armor”, but rather, I want speed and agility.

Read the full review at The Final Sprint!

When I think “Garmin“, I automatically think “GPS“. For this reason, I was a little surprised to find about Garmin’s latest fitness monitor, the Forerunner 50. It measures speed and distance NOT by GPS, but rather by a foot pod, similar to the Nike + iPod Sport Kit, Suunto Running Pack, and Polar RS800sd. This is a deviation in how most people perceive Garmin, but they are well-respected in general for all of their products. Would the Forerunner 50 follow suit?…

Read the full article at the The Final Sprint!

Well, 2007 is officially over. Something that I enjoy doing is looking back over the year and assessing how my running went, and whether I hit my goals or not.

2007 total mileage: 3765

• Not too shabby here, probably the highest mileage I’ve done in any year by over 1000

2007 performance goals (written down on 1-1-07):

1. 5K under 15:10 — Not quite. 15:23 was my best in ‘07. I think I was in sub-15 shape, but never got the right race and right day when I was really fit.
2. 10K under 32:00 — Got this one, with a 30:27 at Des News. Although this is an aided course, it was also a warm, humid morning, and I was pretty close, or ahead of, some pretty fast dudes. I decided to count it as a PR.
3. Half Marathon under 1:10:00 — Got this one three times, with a 1:09:27 at Striders Half, 1:09:33 at TOU Half, and 1:10:00 at the first half split of Trials.
4. Marathon under 2:25:00 — Got this one twice, with 2:18:09 at St. George and 2:22:34 at Trials.
5. Top 3 in LDR Circuit — Got this one, as I took 1st in the Circuit
6. Win over $1000 in prize money — Got it 3 times over. Winning both Ogden and the LDR Circuit really boosted this from my original goal.
7. Stay injury free — Fell short of this goal with only one week left in the year! Bah. Fortunately I think my current injury is much less severe than previous injuries.

2007 race review (18 total races started and finished)

2-10-07 Striders Series 5K 16:36 3rd place

• This was a meaningful race to me, as it was my first race back from injury. Not only was it great to be back, but I exceeded my expectations for time and placing, and even won some money!

2-24-07 Striders Series 10K 34:47 4th place

• Not my best race of the year or anything, but solid. Definitely the most challenging 10K I’ve run!

3-10-07 Striders Series 10-miler 55:20 2nd place

• This was a strong effort on a tough course. Didn’t quite have enough gas for the win, but felt good about this one afterwards.

3-30-07 Relay Del Sol 19:10:57 2nd place

• Team relay. Probably the most fun I’ve had during an event like this, with the highlight being trying to chase down the Google corporate team. Out of all relays I’ve done, it wasn’t my favorite course, but is probably my favorite team.

4-7-07 Striders Series Half Marathon 1:09:27 1st place

• Big breakthrough race for me here. A PR by over 3 minutes, my first overall win in recent memory, and then the feeling of just running away from the field can’t be matched. One of my best efforts and “on” days of the year.

4-28-07 Striders Series 30K 1:45:18 1st place

• This was a rather fun race. The first half was more of a tempo run, but then Bob Thompson put the hammer down and started to torch the rest of us. My win here is a bit misleading, since I got it from Bob pulling up with a calf injury, and then sitting and kicking on Steve Ashbaker. Very “un-Pre” of me. I probably deserved 3rd, but it was still a fun, memorable race.

5-19-07 Ogden Marathon 2:26:24 1st place

• This race I’ll remember and cherish for a long time. It was very much an “on” day, and all cylinders fired for me from start to finish. Days like this are rare. I broke my St. George PR, won $1100, and got to feel what it’s like to win a marathon (probably the best part).

6-22-07 Wasatch Back Relay 18:29:29 3rd place

• We assembled a great team for this race, and challenged BYU and Weber for the first 12 legs. Came out 3rd in a good field, with a really strong time. I was not in the best shape after coming back to training slowly after the marathon, but had some good legs.

6-30-07 Logan Peak Trail Run 5:29:37 5th place

• You know you’re twisted when you do a trail marathon as a fun run. I ran the entire race with Cody, and we had a really good time and saw some beautiful landscape. My first trail race. I was bleeding at the end, so it was a success.

7-4-07 Sandy Classic 10K 33:01 3rd place

• So what do you get when you run a 10K 5 days after a trail marathon? As turns out, the worst race of the summer. I was a total mental weakling here as well. However, getting pummeled by Hobie Call served as a motivator, and I upped my training after this race.

7-21-07 Draper Days 5K 15:23 3rd place

• Yet another shorter race where I was a mental weakling. Not a bad race by any means, but I was kind of disappointed in my tenacity. Am I only good at half marathons and marathons?

7-24-07 Deseret News 10K 30:27 5th place

• Finally, a 10K where I ran tough. This was easily my best “short” race of the year, and redeemed the sub-par Draper and Sandy performances. I was happy to be even 30 seconds within the likes of Trevor Ball and Simon Sawe, and I got a PR out of this race as well.

8-18-07 Great Salt Lake Half Marathon 1:10:22 3rd place

• I’m usually a fairly conservative racer, but took a gamble this race by going out with Teren Jameson and Pat Smyth in 15:00 for 3 miles. I ended up backing off, but still hung on to run strong time in a tough headwind. Probably would have been an outright PR without the headwind. Got a lot of confidence from this race, which would be important for Trials.

8-25-07 Top of Utah Half Marathon 1:09:33 1st place

• I did this local race at end of a 100-mile week as an interval workout: 4 miles @ MP, 2 minutes recovery, 3 miles @ MP, 2 minutes recovery, 2 miles @ LT, 1 minute recovery, 2 miles @ LT, minute recovery, 1 mile @ LT. Due to perfect conditions and tailwind, splits were blazing. I was actually second, but Logan (who was on pace for 1:08:00) took a wrong turn near the end. I had no idea until people at the finish told me I had won. Huh.

9-8-07 Alta Peruvian Downhill Dash 8K 21:46 1st place

• An absurd time on an absurd downhill course. Where else can I average 4:21/mile? Fun race though. I pushed it really hard the last mile and thought my legs where going to burn up and fall off (last mile was 4:10). I was sore for a full week afterward.

9-15-07 Top of Utah Marathon 2:39:22 7th pace

• The sole function of this race was to help pace several people to under 2:40:00. My friend Jon made it, and Adam came very close as well. Even though I was not “racing”, I have a lot of good memories of this race, and really enjoyed helping other people try to get their goals.

10-6-07 St. George Marathon 2:18:09 2nd place

• What can I say about this one? Perfect weather, perfect competition, and my body responded with it’s “A” game. My best marathon to date, and an absolute thrill to get the qualifier for Trials. Lot of other great PR’s by friends that day too.

11-3-07 Olympic Marathon Trials 2:22:34 53rd place

• By the far the highlight of the year and beyond. Although my time was slower, this was a better performance than St. George, despite having just 4 weeks recovery. It always feels good to run the race of your life when it matters, and I managed to do this 3 marathons in a row (Ogden - St George - Trials).  Running with the best was an unbelievable experience, and no matter what happens with my running in the future, this was an experience that I can hold and cherish for years to come. The only experience that has come remotely close was winning XC nationals in 2000. I felt blessed to run this race.

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Looking back, it was a great year. Hopefully I can follow it up with an even better year next year. First 2008 goal: get healthy and running again! But here are a few more goals for the upcoming year.

2008 Performance Goals:

1. 5K – set a PR (sub 14:48).
2. 10K — break 29:30 at Deseret News
3. Half Marathon — 1:06 or lower on unaided course
4. Marathon — 2:17 or lower on unaided course
5. Placings — Top 10 at a U.S. Championship race
6. Mileage — 4500 total miles

Happy New Year!

I was pretty excited when I got the 3rd-generation iPod nano; the possibilities for running were great. However, I lacked one critical accessory: a good protective case and armband.I soon found that the DLO Action Jacket solved my problems. The neoprene case is designed specifically for the 3rd generation (4GB/8GB) iPod nano, and comes with a 180-degree rotating belt clip and an adjustable armband. The Action Jacket retails for $30, but I was able to find it for as low as $18 (plus free shipping!) on Amazon.com. Colors are available in black, white, or pink. I personally like the black…

Read the full review at The Final Sprint! 

When I made the jump to running with an mp3 player, I quickly noticed two things:

1. Running with music is fun and motivational.
2. Stock headphones that come “free” with most mp3 players just don’t get the job done.

As a result, one of the first accessories I purchased were nicer, more comfortable, more stable ear clip headphones. Even these never quite fit my ears right and tended to jiggle around. Perhaps I should have first looked at a pair of Nike sport headphones.

I recently had the pleasure of testing the Nike Flight and the Nike Vapor sport headphones. I enjoyed both models, and each offered a unique set of pro’s and con’s.

Read the full review at The Final Sprint! 

Well, it’s almost playoff time for football season, and after watching some Packer history DVDs, I was inspired to do another quotes blog. This time all of the quotes come from the late, great Vince Lombardi. Let’s face it, the man had a way with words.

And yes, all of the quotes are in reference to football, but can be easily applied to running or life in general. That what makes them so good. Underneath each Lombardi quote, I’ve posted my own commentary and what it means to me in terms of running and/or life.

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“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.” — Vince Lombardi

I’ve said this before, but “reaching the next level” for runners takes a conscious decision and it takes sacrifice. I’ve given up or greatly limited some of my loves, such as skiing or beer, for a much greater good and a concrete legacy. I don’t really miss most of it either. And I think part of becoming a great runner is believing in yourself and believing that the dedication and drive will pay off with rewards in the long run.

“Dictionary is the only place that ’success’ comes before ‘work’. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.” — Vince Lombardi

Similar theme to the last quote, but emphasizing that the only way most of us will achieve our goals is to work our butt off. I look at guys like Brian Sell and Peter Gilmore as inspiration. They take on tremendous training loads, but it has paid dividends for them. I have seen dividends in my own running as well. When I did not value hard work and hard training, I was a 2:40 marathoner. Now, as I see it, I have just now learned how to train hard, and I am already a good 20 minutes faster. How many other 2:40 or 2:50 marathoners are out there that are just a big training cycle away from becoming a 2:20 marathoner? How many 2:25 marathoners out there are a few training-filled years away from becoming 2:15 marathoners?

“Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” — Vince Lombardi

Lombardi said this before the ‘67 season, before the Packers won their 3rd straight championship. The reference was that late in the game, if a player (or team) is fatigued, they will not be able to show guts; they will not win. So he trained his team like mad during the summer to make sure they were better-conditioned than any other team, and could therefore perform in “crunch time”.

Similarly, a runner’s ability to surge or to beat down the competition is based on their conditioning. Guts mean nothing if you are not in shape to use them. There is nothing better than making a bold move late in the race, and having the confidence and conditioning to finish it with authority. The alternative is hanging on for dear life, just counting steps and waiting for the race to end. Been there, done that, don’t like it much.

“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.“– Vince Lombardi

Nothing beats being utterly exhausted after a race during which you’ve given your all. And nothing beats the feeling of walking around like a wounded soldier during the following week of recovery after a marathon. Enjoy your soreness, it’s well-deserved.

“Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” — Vince Lombardi

Nothing beats a team. When you are running for something bigger than just yourself, it is easy to get motivated, to do that extra bit of training, and to push harder than you’ve ever pushed during a race. That is why a lot of people have trouble training on their own after a good college experience. That also may be why the Hansons are having so much success. They don’t have fancy altitude tents or a glamorous place to train, but they have over a dozen people out there pushing each other and supporting each other. That will go farther than altitude training ever will. I hope that the new FastRunningBlog.com racing team can support and push each other in a similar way, and make each other into better runners.

“It’s easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you’re a winner, when you’re number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you’re not a winner.” — Vince Lombardi

If you can survive the hard times and “trials by fire”, you will come out a better runner. Injuries and “off times” are not times to lose the discipline, but times to really use it. Again, a team or other community and support will do wonders when things look bleak.

“Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can.” — Vince Lombardi

I know plenty of runners who are very talented and very fast, but they don’t believe in themselves. One will never win unless they believe and set themselves up into position to win, through training or in the race itself.

“Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the opponent’s pressure, and the temporary failures.” — Vince Lombardi

Success comes at a cost, but once you concede and accept the rigors of hard training, it actually gets easier. I’ve found that a 100-mile week is no harder than a 60-mile week in some ways. I think most of that is psychological. You accept your training as what it is, then put your head down and do it. Once that resolve is made, little aches and pains, tiredness, and an occasional ho-hum workout just become things that you accept and move on over. Hard, high-volume training also forces you to prioritize and manage time more. Yes, I don’t quite have much free time anymore, but what would I have been doing with much of that free time? Watching TV? Now I keep what free time I do have as constructive as possible, in order to utilize and take advantage of every waking minute.

“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” — Vince Lombardi

Dream. Dream big. Set high goals and chase after them. If you fall short, so what? Chances are, you’ll still hit better race times and finishes than you did before! And what is there to lose?

“Success demands singleness of purpose.” — Vince Lombardi

This is an unfortunate truth, and is why the best runners are generally professionals. Ie - they do not work full-time jobs. I wonder for myself if I’ll ever need to (or have the chance to) quit my day job. The thing is, I really like my vocation, plus realize that a person can only hope to make a living as a runner for a relatively short number years. I imagine if I were ever presented to chance to go after running with “singleness of purpose”, I would probably still work about 20 hours/week just to keep my mind occupied and my skills sharp. What else is there to do while I’m not running?

Completely across the spectrum, this quote also brings up the idea of specialization of training. In order to become a very good marathoner, you must do marathon-specific training. This singleness of purpose within training may mean that you won’t fulfill your potential in the 5K, but it gives the best chance in the marathon. And vice versa for a 5K runner. Deliberately pick your races, pick your training methodology, and “run with it”.

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” — Vince Lombardi

I’ve already hit on this, but running is one of the few activities out there where one can really make huge improvements simply by wanting it bad enough. From desire and motivation comes very hard training, and from hard training comes fast race times.

“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” — Vince Lombardi

It’s nearly impossible to give up during a race if you’ve prepared thousands of miles of training for that race.

“We didn’t lose the game; we just ran out of time.” — Vince Lombardi

Or a rephrase for running would be, “I didn’t lose the race, I just ran out of road”. I think we’ve all had that happen, a race where things go bad in the middle, only to have a second wind and be eating people up at the end…and the finish line is curse rather than a blessing. Although I was hurting, I do wish I had an extra mile for the Trials race. People were coming back fast, and I ran out of road.

“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.” — Vince Lombardi

Not everyone can be an elite runner or a professional runner, but everyone can certainly play out the cards they’ve been dealt. Doing so with fervor usually leads to fulfillment as well as a few surprises. This quote also reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30), which is obviously about more spiritual things. In any case, we should live our lives as stewards and develop what assets we’ve been given to our utmost, whether that is faith, running, parenting, vocation, or other things.

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” — Vince Lombardi

I sometimes wonder if people think I live a lower “quality of life” because I’ve given up a lot of recreational time in order to toil and train so much. In truth, it’s just the opposite. By pursuing a dream and developing my running talent, my life is richer than it ever was. 40 years from now, I won’t remember donuts I’ve eaten, parties I’ve gone to, or extra hours I’ve slept. But I will certainly remember the feeling of winning Ogden, qualifying at St. George, racing with the best at Olympic Trials, and whatever is yet to come. Not only is the process of getting there enjoyable and fulfilling, but so is the legacy and memories that will be left.

“The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory. That’s the essence of it“. — Vince Lombardi

For me, this past year of running was made so much more sweeter by how awful last year was. While being sidelined by various injuries for 5 months, I sometimes doubted if I could race again, but thanks in part to the encouragement and support of others, I managed to keep at it and was eventually rewarded. It takes a time of darkness to really appreciate the light.

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And one more thing…Go Pack!

Well, since the new server is up and running, I can get back to blogging!

I’ve had a few weeks to mull over the USATF’s recent decision to revamp the OTQ standards for the men’s marathon. My initial blog posting was my knee-jerk reaction that I wrote a few hours after reading about the decision. Since then, I have heard many good (and bad) arguments opposing various aspects of the new standards. And it has given me a lot to chew on. Here are my current thoughts on the issue:

• Adding a Half Marathon qualifier: good. No change of opinion here, and most other people agree with this one too. Also, taking away the 5K qualifier: good. I don’t think anyone took up the offer this time around anyway. So what remains is a 10K qualifier at 28:30 and a Half Marathon qualifier at 1:05:00. A lot of people still dispute allowing runners to qualify with a 10K, but I think this year’s 10K runners (Browne, Rohatinsky, Carney, Gonzales) more than proved that they belonged (not that Browne had anything to prove, but he did qualify via 10K). Yeah, 10K times are not the best indicator of marathon times, but I do think they are a good indicator of marathon potential. Tim Noakes notes in Lore of Running that most elite marathoners are elite 10K runners as well. You need to have a good amount of leg speed to go under 2:10. And 28:30 is pretty darn fast. Sub-28:30 represents our top-tier runners. Encouraging our top-tier 10K runners to move up to the marathon should produce at least a couple top-tier marathon runners. I think this year is already proof of that with Rohatinsky and others making impressive debuts.
• Getting rid of “aided” (downhill) courses as qualifiers: good. I hold to my initial assessment of this as well, with a few concerns. Interestingly, this is the least debated of all the USATF decisions, as I have read very few voices of dissent on throwing out courses like St. George, Steamtown, and CIM. Although I’m fine with qualifying somewhere other than St. George, out of love for St. George and other local downhill races, I hope that they can find a way to stay relevant among top-tier runners around the state and region. Prize money is usually a good way to stay relevant. It would be a shame if all of the sub-elites that typically run St. George abandon the race for “legit” courses. Another concern brought up by others is that USATF may be playing “god” with what courses are legit, and what courses aren’t. At first I was not too concerned about this, but now it gives me bad vibes. Although I support Boston, New York, Twin Cities, and other point-to-point courses being exempt from the new rule, I would like to see some firm protocol or criteria being set in place for other exemptions. Just being a major marathon shouldn’t be the only way in. What about all the other small, local point-to-point courses that do not traditionally produce “aided” times? Do they get the shaft, while New York gets in because…well…it’s New York? I would like to see a way for smaller point-to-point races appeal their way in or get voted in by something more democratic.
• Getting rid of the “B” standard: good. I hold to my original position. I don’t think anyone should have to pay their own way to Trials, or that runners should be treated differently because of their qualifying time. Just pick one standard, and go with it. If you make it, great, if not, tough.
• Lowering the standard to 2:19: good. I hold to my original position that this will be a good thing for American running…with an asterisk. If we can qualify 200 people in 1984, we should be able to do the same in 2012. And most arguments stating, “so and so wouldn’t have qualified with this standard, and that would have ruined their careers” are garbage. For instance, Jason Lehmkuhle (of 2008) and Brian Sell (of 2004) would have qualified with their half marathon times. The most famous dark horse, Trent Briney, would have been within seconds of qualifying in 2004 with his half marathon time. However, after reading a lot of these counter arguments, I do have some concerns.
  • Runners need a reachable “carrot” hanging in front of them to keep motivated. The USATF just took away many peoples’ carrot and moved it far out of current reach. This would be a major blow to the motivation of many. I could go on a tangent about the “quitter mentality”, but in truth people need sets of intermediate goals to step to in order to establish themselves and move o