May 26
This weekend we got a lot finished. First of all we planted a few shrubs in the back yard in memory of my Father-in-law, Alan Skaar.
Saturday morning I went for a six mile run followed by a 22 mile bike ride. The run started off pretty good considering we had just run a marathon the weekend before. Trina, Mark, Kerry, Trevor and myself took off from Shoreline and headed towards Barber Park.
Our plan was to run 6 to 8 miles and at mile three it was unanimous, well except for Mark but he was feeling sorry for us so he turned around too. About 2.5 miles in we all started to feel the pain in the legs. We walked it off and mile three and started heading back. At mile 4 I got my second wind and picked up the page again. Oddly enough so did everyone else. As we were finishing off our last mile I picked up the pace again and low and behold there was Trevor kicking it into another gear. I decided to keep up with him and everyone else must have too. I finished a 7:22 mile the last mile and there was everyone else right with me. It was a great way to get the marathon cob webs out.
After the run I went over to Clocktower where Jason, Ryan, Shane and Brent were doing a 1.2 mile run. I had planned on a 30 mile ride after my run and there swim. Had I known the course they were going to ride I may have caught the next bus. They took me over the Zietgeist route and we ended at 22 miles, that of course was enough after the climbs they took me over.
May 26
Well I finished the marathon with a personal best of 3:48:23. My goal was 4 hours and my stretch goal was 3:50 so I did a lot better than I though I was going to do.
In general our group ran pretty well. Now we are training for a triathlon. My buddies Shane, Ryan and Brent are all doing the half iron man along with some other friends that did not run Ogden. Rick, Todd and Jason have been helping us with some training tips they’ve learned from previous triathlons and half iron mans.
I think I’m going to sign up for my first. This will be on July 11th in Boise. The Spud Man Triathlon.
Apr 30
Just a couple weeks of training left before the Ogden Marathon. I’ve been doing a little bit better lately and I hope that will continue through the marathon. I’ve done a couple of bricks with the bike followed by a run and I have to say that I’m really enjoying the bike riding more than I thought I would.
Ryan and I rode 20 miles and ran 4 miles in the brick that we did last night. The run was pretty good for me at around a 8 minute pace. Last Saturday we ran 10 miles and the paces on the last four miles were 8:13, 8:03, 7:45 and 7:00. I was really happy with those last two runs. I’d love to be able to keep up an 8:30 to 8:45 pace through the marathon.
Last Sunday we did a 60 mile bike ride. This was the longest ride I’d done by 25 miles. I had done 35 the Wednesday before.
16 mile run on Saturday, wish me luck.
Keep moving!
Apr 21
Saturday we had our last 20 mile run. This one was much better than the last. This is a good feeling to end on with the long runs. Just 3 more training Saturdays before the Ogden Marathon.
After Shane, Brent, Lorin and I finished running our 20 we went to watch the finish of The Race to Robie Creek. Everyone in the group that ran this year did well with Ryan leading the pack with a time of 1:43. Good thing I wasn’t doing Robie this year to beat him.
Sunday we Mountain Bike Riding on Trail #6, #5 and Shane’s Loop. Brent and Shane took us on a nice rat maze again. Most of trail 5 was torn up pretty good by motor bikes which made climbing the extremely steep hills even more difficult. I found out the cure for a hangover though, mountain biking 14 miles. Ryan, Shane, Brent and I road on Sunday.
Shane decided Monday night that we hadn’t put our legs through enough punishment so we road his favorite route on our road bikes again. We put in 25 miles which felt pretty decent considering the previous two days.
I’ve been meaning to track our training but haven’t done a very good job. Shane has been documenting things pretty well on his blog at http://shaneshalfironman.blogspot.com
Apr 06
Oh the run this weekend was painful. Last weekend I did a 12 mile hill run and decided it would be a smart idea to take a 24 mile bike ride. This is the first bike ride I’ve taken in quite some time. Needless to say I didn’t fully recover for the 20 mile run this weekend.
Along with the bike ride I decide to try a new ab workout this weekend which involved the entire core including my hip flexors. I was still feeling this on Saturday.
It started out nice, weather was great and we were running at a good pace, but by mile 11 I knew I was in trouble.
But I finished and that is the main goal of any 20 miler for me. I had to do some walking that I haven’t had to do in the last 3 20 milers but I still finished in just under 3:05, which for me isn’t too bad.
Just a few more long runs before Ogden Marathon on Saturday May 16th 2009.
Oct 12
Here are the pics from the Bizz Johnson run. Notice how well some of us fakers made it look like we were not in pain towards the end of the run.
Oct 10
I ran my first marathon, Bizz Johnson, Sunday October 7th 2007 with a finishing time of 4:09:39. If you would have asked me any time after mile 22 up until about 24 hours after the finish I would have said I ran my first and only.
We have a great group that I run with which made the 20 hours in a van for 3 days a pretty good time. Ryan, Brent, Shane, Trevor and I all ran the Bizz Marathon this year with Kevin taking 3rd at Boise’s own City of Trees marathon. Ali, Trina, Holly and Lenea, who all ran the half marathon, and Heidi were waiting to see us crying as we crossed the finish.
I really wanted to run this marathon under four hours but to be truthful I was surprised I finished under 4:30. The group and many of the runners we talked to before and after said that this was a slow run even though it is touted as the fastest marathon in the west.
This trail run was awesome. From what I saw when I looked up and actually had my eyes open it was a very beautiful trail. We crossed several bridges and went through two tunnels. I can say now that the tunnels were pretty cool but as dark as they were that’s not what I was thinking while going through them. A runner that was going through the second tunnel the same time I was stated it perfectly, “You have to be pretty trusting don’t you?”.
We had a lot of good times with Stanley, My Sharona, Rotten Egg and the Front Runners. I’ll post some pics later and write some more about the trip and the run.
Apr 20
Tomorrow is the day! This will be my second year running this race. I’ve been running with a couple of friends that I ran with, well behind, last year and a few more that we have been training with in the hills most Saturday mornings. I think that I’m ready to go, just hoping to have a good run. Last year my time was 2:17:46.
These same so called friends have talked me into running a marathon on October 7th of this year. Bizz Johnson is held at Lassen National Forest in Westwood-Susanville CA. I’m not sure what I let these guys talk me into.
http://www.robiecreek.com
http://www.bizzjohnson.com
Apr 20
Here are the links to some of our race photos. We’re not really tired, they just asked us to act like it. Makes the race look tougher and they get more publicity. :) Last I check Trina’s and Brent’s pics weren’t ready yet but this should be where they are located when they are done.
 Ali, Paul, Paul and Trina, Ryan, Trina and Brent
Apr 18
Ali and I survived Robie!!!! 2:18 and 2:58 were our times. Ali may kick my butt if I say which time is whose. :) Not too bad for a couple of first timers. Brent, Ryan and Trina finished in that order, all just over 2 hours.
Trina was my pace partner all the way to the top of the hill and then decided to ditch me. What a friend huh. I saw Brent and Ryan around mile three and then again at the finish line :(.
I think we are locked in for the race again next year. The band and barbeque at the end of the race was a blast. Ryan and I had another race to the buzz which I think Lenae acutally won. I’ll get a few photos up when we get some copies from the Lunds. Thanks for the after party Terry.
Thank you come again.
