Utah Valley Marathon

Let it never be said that I've never missed an opportunity to subject myself to abuse and suffering. Go ahead and throw ridicule in there too. Go ahead and lay it on.

And, so it is that I've just gone and registered for the 1st Utah Valley Marathon. It'd be easier and cheaper if I just laid down in the road and let someone run over me, don't you think? Less than two weeks to go and I've ran nothing more than 13.1 miles in one run at all during 2008!

Allergy season is upon us. I mean me.

Why else would I be up at 2 a.m.? And you know what really ticks me off? The fact that my allergy medication that I've taken for years was

1. Taken off the shelves--it had to be picked up from behind the pharmacy counter
2. The formula was changed so it could go back on the shelves, and
3. The price more than doubled from the one source who kept the original formula

I understood the need to take it off the shelves and limit the quantity a person could buy what with the meth problem being such a huge issue. It was rather inconvenient, but at least I could get the stuff. But then when everybody changed the formula so that they could put their product back out on the shelves... What good did that do me? Absolutely none. The new formula doesn't do diddly for my symptoms! And the new formula costs more. Still, Walgreens sells the original formula from behind the pharmacists counter. I have to submit to a frisking, get questioned by a former FBI agent, and pay a lot more each time I need some; but at least I have access.

Tonight is just awful. I woke up from a near dead-sleep cause I couldn't breath I was so congested. I love spring, but the crap in the air bites!

I went for a run today...

I went for a run this morning. Jerry sent around an e-mail yesterday inviting some of us to tag along with him as he ran from his place up Grove Creek Canyon. It was about 8.5 miles total up and back. It was cold! You can check it out here: Grove Creek run. The last 1/2 mile before we turned around at the top, the trail was covered with snow so the going was pretty slow through that section. One thing's for certain: I'm in trouble come the Squaw Peak 50!

2:23 a.m.

2:23 a.m. and I'm here at my computer desk. Nothing good can ever come from sitting in front of a computer at 2:23 a.m. and yet here I am. Getting up in the morning is going to be bugger! What am I going to do with myself? Probably nothing.

I've lost my navy blue shorts. Anybody seen 'em? If you have, please let me know. They're my favorite shorts.

Here's something I did this week--twice. I downloaded complete CD's rather than buying the hard copy. I usually like to buy the hard copy so that I have all the liner notes and all the goodies that occasionally accompany it. Well, a lot of 80's music isn't being put on CD's any more and if it is it's expensive. So I downloaded two CD's and burned my own copy and created my own covers using original cover art.

CD #1 was Bangin' from The Outfield. I have it on cassette, but the cassette is broken and therefore useless.

The second was Don't Stop from Billy Idol. This was actually a 4 song EP--his first solo release. There was an interview he did with VJ Martha Quinn from MTV back in the day that was part of it originally, but wasn't available to download. No biggie. I have actually never owned a copy of this until now. Go figure.

Anyways, it's now 2:36 a.m. Work is going to be a bear now that I've wasted half of my night away. I really need to go to bed.

Smile and say "Cheese!"

Insight Paper

I've got a research paper I need to write on some aspects of parenting that I'd like to change in myself or that I'd like to keep. My resources are supposed to be from reputable parenting journals and books--no online stuff. I've got til next Monday night to do it. I can write the paper without any problem. Finding and documenting valid sources may be a problem. I think I'm going to be spending a bunch of extra time at the school library this week.

My Canyonlands Experience

Canyonlands Half Marathon: March 08, 2005

Having finished the race earlier in the day, and being rather hungry, I was willing to pull out the credit card to pay for a nice, sit-down-and-be-waited-on lunch. But nooooo. The boy wanted Subway!

I had planned on coming down to this race alone, but Corbin has a way of playing things his way--and despite dismal grades and a poor attitude, he did what he needed to do to get his mother's blessing and my permission. And so it was that the boy and I went to Moab for the Canyonlands Half Marathon.

I'm amazed at the size of this race! Between the half and the 5-mile, there were an advertised 4800 participants! 2899 finished the half and 931 finished the 5-mile race. There's just under 1000 DNS's and DNF's in there as I figure it. Still, that's a whole lot of people!

I managed to find a seat on the first bus up and a straight, unimpeded shot to a potty at the start. And then it was 2 hours of waiting and I was ill-prepared for the cold.

Thursday afternoon I checked the forecast for Moab and learned of an expected high 20's/low 30's for the overnight low Friday night. I ended up getting a tent spot and became fearful of a repeat of 2002, my first Canyonlands experience--we spent half the night in the laundry room at the campground trying to stay warm. This time around I decided I'd run over to Cabela's and pick up a Mr. Heater Portable Buddy to stay warm. It's supposed to be safe to use them inside a tent so long as the tent is well ventilated. Uh-huh. Sure. It works nicely out on the picnic table though! After about 20 minutes Friday night, in a well ventilated tent, both Corbin and I began feeling a bit ill so we turned Mr. Heater off and climbed into our sleeping bags a bit earlier than planned. Way earlier than planned.

Anyways, back at the top, I'm 13.1 miles from being done and 2 hours from getting started and I'm freezing! It was considerably warmer in 2003, the last time I was here. I should have listened better to the advice that was proffered here. By the time the darn race got started my legs felt rather fatigued! I don't know if it was from shivering for 2 hours or possibly the effects of 20 minutes of exposure to carbon monoxide in my tent the night previous. Either way I didn't think it was a good way to start the day.

The last time I was here, in 2003, the pee-patrol was out in force patrolling the hillsides. This year, I don't know that I saw anyone being called off the hill for an improper urination. There were plenty of POP's at the drop-off area and more still at the start. The start was about a 1/2 mile walk from the drop-off zone and we got called up to the start with an hour to go. Most everybody procrastinated the walk up, but when everybody got there it was standing room only.

The first year I ran this I had a migraine the night before and had unknowingly chased my Excedrin with some non-potable water. I woke race morning with a really queasy stomach and ended up walking much of the second half. An ugly race. This year I was feeling the effects of CO exposure or shivering induced fatigue in the moments before the start--I didn't' quite know what to expect of myself. I was hoping for 1:40-ish.

The race began and we were off. Yeah, I went out too fast. I wanted to average between 8 and 8:15 minute miles for the first couple of miles, but with the first 3 effectively being well under 8, I pulled back on the reigns, but it may have been to late--the fatigue became a major issue the last 4 miles. I finished with a 1:50:10 chip time. It was a course PR for me but not one I'm particularly happy or satisfied with.

The course, of course, was beautiful. The towering red-rock cliffs above us and the Colorado River running along our right makes for a run that is hard to beat.

To the land of Moab

Corbin and I are getting ready to make the drive to Moab, UT for the Canyonlands Half Marathon.

We're camping in a tent at the KOA.

Bacon and eggs

I had bacon and eggs for dinner tonight.

The house smells of bacon.

Mmmmm, bacon...

Petty, Vain, Insatiable, or what?

When I run a race, I like to have photographic evidence of the fact. I don't know why but I do. I've got pictures for just about every marathon I've ever run. I enjoy going back through them and seeing how I've changed over the years. So, when photo's are taken and advertised, I will generally purchase one. What really irks me is when said advertising means nothing

Case in point: The Salt Lake City Marathon in 2005. Pictures were taken and provided by a certain sports photography company. Very few pictures were presented but there was a note indicating that there were more that would become available at a later time. Those pictures (which most likely included mine) never became available. 2007 rolls around and that same sports photography company is doing the pics for a different race. Post race there's a note on the web site indicating some software difficulties but that the photo's will be posted soon. Well, the sports photo company is seemingly no longer in business. Good riddance. If you can't deliver, get out!