Thursday, April 23, 2009

Moab Half Marathon

The Moab Half marathon was my wife Kandi's first 1/2 marathon on the farthest she had run. She did awesome at 1:50:46. It was a great day and tons of fun. She had a bunch of ladies from the neighborhood run and everyone finished well. I was just along for the ride.

A picture of the runners/finishers! Troy, Kim, Tari, Cherie, Jenni, and my wife Kandi


















Great Job!

Salt Lake Marathon April 18, 2009

A little stroll through the Salt Lake Valley. This would be my friend Scott's first marathon and I volunteered to help him make it a successful finish. And that is exactly what we did. It was a great day for a run temps in the 40's at the start and nearly 70 at the finish. We had some friends with us, Keith Jensen was back in the run for his first marathon in 10 years and Scotty K was going for the Salt Lake double, he started at the finish at 2 am and ran to the start and was looking down the barrell of 52.4 miles and yes he got it done.

A few pictures of the event.
Keith, Scott and Troy feeling real good at mile 2
Scott Kunz 50 miles into a 52.4 mile day what an animal.
Just me, rocking along at mile 25
Liberty Park mile 23
At the finish line 4:12:18 not a bad first marathon. Great Job Scott!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Finisher Video Antelope Island 50 Miler

Finisher Video at the Antelope Island Buffalo run 50 Miler

Scott and I running into the finish. My first 50 mile run.

And this video illustrates what happens if you don't make Mr Electrolyte your friend. This shouldn't be part of your race plan. Watch, enjoy, and hopefully learn from my suffering.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 Miler

Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 Miler


All I can say is "whew"! That was a long run. Here are a few shots of my first 50 mile run.














Here I am on the Elephant Head Trail section of the run about mile 10 (notice the smile).








A little farther down the trail at about mile 21 (smile fading)












No smile, but feeling real good. Pretty day, nice course. Mile 26















Time to refuel at the Aid station Mile 27.4





















Mile 40. Just moving along.















Right here at about Mile 48, the wheels are still on, and I am still pushing to be done. Mr Electrolyte and I have not been close enough friends. Not too long after this shot I blow chunks. Electrolytes are your friends. Hows that for a learning experience?

I do however finish a very well organized 50 mile run at Antelope Island smack dab in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. Great weather great people. Specail thanks to Scott Kunz for the photos and pacing. I am forever indebted to you for your patience.

It was all I expected it to be and much more. I learned a lot and look forward to my next 50.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Never, never, never give up

Here is an article that I had saved on my computer, I regret not knowing whom to give credit to. It is however not written by me and I get no credit for it nor do I want any, just spreading the good word. I am sure I came across it while surfing the web and saved it for future motivational reading. I really like the point it makes. I hope we can all follow the advice given.

Never Give Up

I have frequently read about Winston Churchill's final speech. He was in his 90's, in very poor health, and had agreed to speak to his former high school pupils. On the day, when introduced in glowing terms, Winston Churchill slowly made his way to the podium, looked at the assembly and said, "Never give up; never, never, never give up."

It's a quotation you will find in many books and often used in training manuals and by motivational speakers seeking to inspire their audience. Winston Churchill spoke from a position of age and experience. There were many times throughout the course of his long-lived life that it seemed all over for him. In 1940, in the darkest days of World War II when Britain stood alone, he became the Prime Minister. His sentiment then, and later in life, was never to give up.

It begs the question never give up on exactly what? I intuitively know he means never give up trying, but upon personal reflection it's about never giving up hope. When you buy a book on self-improvement, on well being, or on weight loss, you are not buying a solution, you are buying the hope that the changes you seek may be realized.

I recently read about an experiment where 40 mice were put in an aquarium tank with no way to climb out. After two hours, whilst they paddled on the surface, 20 were removed at random and were then put in space where they could dry off and eat. They were then tagged and returned to the aquarium and left there. It was noted that the mice that had never been taken out of the tank, drowned within a few hours, but the mice that had been given a chance to dry and eat, continued in some cases up to three days before they drowned. The conclusion was that the mice who were taken out of the tank returned to the aquarium with the hope that they could survive, the hope that they could get out again. The other mice tired and without hope or a positive expectation – gave up.

I know several high altitude mountaineers and explorers and others who have been in survival experiences. They all agree that once hope is removed, it's very easy to give up, and at that point dying becomes the likely outcome. There are books that recount people who defied the odds and survived when the situation seemed hopeless; when their companions simply gave up and quickly passed away.

How often have you told yourself, "That's not fair," and the feeling of being a victim of circumstances made you feel like giving up? Not too often, I hope. If you focus on the negative aspects of the past or the present, it's easy to imagine that nothing will change. It's also the perfect reason why you must focus on a positive future, take actions that give you the hope and belief that things are going to be great, and never, never, never give up.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Moab Red Hot 50K+



On February 14th Valentines day (yes can you believe that? Cupid was not present, he's not a runner) I got to run the Moab Red Hot 50K+. The plus is there because it is 3 miles farther than a regular 50K (31 miles) so this was a 34 mile event and it was a beauty. As you can see from the photo it was a perfect day to run. We ran Gemini Bridges road to Metal Masher trail, to Gold Bar rim trail, Golden spike to Poison Spider. Very tough trails and one of the most scenic runs I have ever had. It was a great day of running I felt good and best of all I had a great time and kept my spirits up and not once did I get down and feel emotionally drained. A lot times in long races I have gotten discouraged because of time goals or not feeling great. In this race I felt good physically and mentally. I didn't run terribly fast 7:18, but the terrain was insane, I had not trained for such craziness. There were times we were literally scrambling up nearly sheer slickrock faces, and bombing down 60 degree downhills, if there was level section, it was sand. And it was a blast. Here I am on a real nice stretch of Gold Bar rim trail.

Wasatch 100

It is final my name has been pulled from the hat and I have been selected to run in the Wasatch 100 mile endurance run. I am very excited, scared and cautious. Now pretty much all the events I am planning on doing will be in preparation for the Wasatch event. I have to prepare mentally and physically for the demand that will be put on me. I know it will be very, very hard, but I know I can get it done. My friend Scott also got in, it will be his third.