A Tale of Two 10Ks

I had planned to blog last week all about Halloween weekend, and the glorious (and not so glorious) events that transpired surrounding that holiday, but then The Wife blogged about it, and in such a complete and stylish fashion, it seemed like it would be kind of redundant for those of you who read both of our blogs.  So, instead I just decided to link to her post for some of the details.  Look here for information on Julie's lovely sister visiting and our fast-food experience that brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "In-N-Out Burger," and in general, look here for more delightful posts featuring the Most Amazing Cake Ever and sundry amusing things.  I will say briefly: on Halloween night, we went to a party thrown by a mission friend and his wife, and it was fun and we brought leftover Most Amazing Cake Ever and watched Sleepy Hollow and of course came dressed, surprise surprise, like this (we didn't have much time to follow through on The Wife's exciting new costume ideas...  next year!):

So, now, for the real substance of this post.

While Marci was here visiting, we ran the Highway to Hale race, sponsored by the Hale Center Theater in Orem.  We did the 5K at this race last year, and it was pretty fun, but this year we decided to do the 10K.  We just thought it would be nice to see the other course they offer (and thereby avoid the horrid hill that is the last mile of the 5K course).  So on Friday, after our day-long nightmarish bout with food poisoning, we went to bed, hoping that we would feel better by morning.  And we did!  So we had as much breakfast and water as seemed wise and made it through the race.  It wasn't our best race ever, having eaten very little the day before, and as we were still more or less recovering.  I even walked a handful of times, which is something I never do in a race (my pride wanted to shout "I had food poisoning yesterday!" as people ran past me).  I probably pushed myself a little too hard when it came to running, which caused me to have more walking periods, but I go into this race mode where it's hard for me to run slower than I would like/can, especially when my little GPS watch is telling me my pace.  So I felt a little breathless and low on energy at times, but we had a good time, and we prevailed!  We reclaimed our stomachs and finished the race.  I still placed third in my age group, 17th overall, and had a pretty decent time (44:38, 7:29/mile, though it was just under an actual 10K at about 6 miles even), so I wasn't too disappointed.  (Julie, meanwhile, had a great run at a nice, steady pace.)  We decided to forego the suggestion to run in costumes since it was a longer race, though I decided to wear all black and be a running ninja.  We were SO happy to be feeling better, seriously, we were just glad to finish and be well and hungry again.

They just gave medals to the first place in each age group.  I was actually third but the top 2 were overall winners, so I won first by default.  I'll take it!

 

The next week, after we said a sad goodbye Marci and had Halloween, we had another race, this time the annual First Dam Run in Logan.  We decided to do the 10K again, which we have done previously on this race.  (I think I at least also wanted to redeem myself from the previous week's race...  I mean, I know we were on the other side of a pretty bad illness, but still.)  It's a nice, scenic course, and it's usually nice weather for a long, later-morning run.  On Friday night, we picked up Mom, Amber and Cami and headed up to Grandma's house.  There was a huge rain/snowstorm the whole way up, but we made it all right (though in a longer time than it would normally have taken).  We had a little visit with Grandma and then had a good rest before the 10:00 am start time, which I love.  It was a beautiful, snowy morning, cold but not frigid, and clear and crisp, which I thought was great running weather.  All the ladies decided to do the 10K too, so after gathering everything up (including my iPod, which I forgot at the house, and HAD to rush back to get, only to make it back with moments to spare before the race started), off we went.  It was a much nicer experience than the week before, though I'm a little perplexed that my times for both were pretty similar...  (44:11, 14th overall, 1st in age group, 7:07/mile, though this one was closer to a full 6.2 miles, maybe even a little over, so that could account for the similarities in time)  But Julie cut five minutes off her time from the week before!  Nice work, lovah!

Go me!

Go Cami!

Go Mom!

Go Wife!  You look so tiny in the distance!  You're almost there!

(I ran back to find Julie but by the time I doubled around and cut some corners she was far ahead of me and I couldn't catch up with her by the finish.)

Go Amber!  And random stranger!

Go Grandma!

Waiting for the awards.  It was pretty cold after all.

Woot!  I wasn't expecting that.

Go Team!

 

So there you go.  Two weeks, two 10Ks.  We are just hardcore that way.  I'm so glad I have a wife who likes to run!  It's a fun hobby that we can do together.  We've been joking lately that if ever anyone were to write a musical about my life, there would be a big belty showstopping ballad entitled "Not Without My Morning Run."  I can already hear it!  Now THAT'S something I want on my running playlist.  And now we can sleep in tomorrow and maybe just take a relaxing regular Saturday morning run.  It's so nice to have cooler running weather.  At least for now.  *cold*  We'll be saying hello again to the treadmills before long.



And just like that, three blogposts in one week.  We shall see what other blog-worthy wonders November will bring!

80Y 5K

A few weeks ago several dozen family met up at Logan for an epic surprise party for my Grandma Julie's 80th birthday.  She's an avid runner, has run almost 150 marathons in her adult life, and continues to run 5Ks and 10Ks regularly.  We will often go up to stay with her for the weekend and run a race, or she'll sometimes come down and join us for a local race.  My sisters had a brilliant idea to organize a fun, casual family 5K in her honor and for all of us to just show up and spring it on her.  Elise designed a great t-shirt, and Amber had them printed for everyone who participated.  Mom and Dad went up the night before and actually ran a morning race that had already been planned, and then on their way home they came across all of us in matching shirts and race number bibs, all ready to celebrate.  Grandma was beside herself with delight, and I was really amazed that the surprise was never spoiled.  (Mom had a hard time "lying" to her mother for so long.)

Waiting for the birthday girl.

While we were there we decided we had to have a good jumping photo shoot.  The first one is a classic Britney/Elise shot.  It's some kind of amazing or something.

We're all in this together!

I know this one is almost the same, but just LOOK at Penny!!!

Nice Ben, way to ruin the effect.

As a race, it was pretty casual, everyone went their own pace, some walked and pushed strollers, some of the kids rode scooters or bikes, and the 5K distance was approximate.  The course started at an elementary school near Grandma's house, then went to a local park and back.  It ended a little before 3.1 miles, so I went a little farther to Grandma's house (which ended up being a little longer than 3.1) and then back to the school.  My total approximate distance was 4 miles (~36:12).  Incidentally, I started to notice this sort of swelling in one of my knees after running for a couple days before and then right after this race, which kind of concerned me...  Turns out some thorough stretching and giving it a weekend off seemed to have done the trick.  When everyone made it back to the park, there was an abundance of great post-race treats for all to enjoy and everyone was a winner, though Grandma was the real champion of the day.  What an inspiration!

Here's Elise's great t-shirt design.  The main graphic was on front, and the bottom tagline was printed along the bottom left of the shirt.

This is just the Graham side, there were several more of Grandma's other kids and grandkids represented.  A great turnout!

Thanks for organizing a great race, everyone!  There was an awesome turnout and we all had a great time.  And thanks for having a birthday so we could throw you a surprise party, Grandma!  We love you so!  See you at the next race, if not hopefully sooner.

Shamrock Shuffle 2011

And just a few weeks after our most recent race, we had another one!  Last Saturday, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Brenda, Jake (his first!), Julie and I ran the Shamrock Shuffle 5K in Smithfield, just north of Logan.  We were sorry Amber and Cami weren't able to join us as planned.  This one has a sort of significance for me and Julie, since we ran it together two years ago when we were still dating long-distance, the day after she flew into town, so this is our third year running it.  It's a very inexpensive race (of course even cheaper if you wear green!--Who cares if they don't match?), but we always have a good time doing it.  The course is great, fairly level after the first quarter mile or so, and since it's basically a big square loop around field lands, you can see the finish line pretty much the entire time (which can be a good thing OR a bad thing).  It was also MUCH less cold than either of the previous years.

Here you can see I have captured Julie actually setting foot across the finish line.

 

 

I placed 2nd in my age group (looking forward to a time coming very shortly when I'll suddenly be the youngest in a new division...) at 21:26, and Mom, Dad and Grandma also placed.

I opted to show this picture rather than the one Julie took of me walking away from her when I was scratching my bum.  Don't you like my man-capris?

Julie was THIS CLOSE to the top ten in her age group!  I thought this was a great accomplishment worth sharing.

Then, in an unprecedented feat, every single one of us won something in the raffle.  Every single one!  It was so amazing I even had to reiterate and bold that sentence.  So, between us all, we had a few passes to the local bowling alley and roller skating rink, root beer with a t-shirt to the local gym attached, Sprite with two festive green mugs and a butterfly kite.  It was epic, I tell you.

 

A fun time was had by all.  We had a delicious dinner the night before, courtesy of Grandma and Mom, and it's always great to visit Grandma.   Hopefully next year those interested will be able to join in the fun!

Dam!

(Any excuse to use a euphemism, right?)

A couple weeks ago on Friday night Julie and I loaded up the car with sticky rice and running clothes and headed up to Logan with Elise and Jeff. We met Dad there and after an evening of delicious dinner and homemade apple pie, we rested in preparation for the annual First Dam Run the next day. Jonny and Julia found their way up that morning (seriously, I am ALL about races starting at 10 am... You should consider starting a little later, other 5Ks, and yes, I'm looking at you, Alpine Days...). It wasn't even that terribly cold, I was perfectly comfortable in shorts. Julie suggested quite ambitiously several weeks before that we would try for the 10K this year, and I was definitely up for that, so we spent a few days a week running together training for that. Most of us did the 5K this year, including Jonny, Grandma, and for his first ever, Jeff, and they all did great (Jonny placed third and Jeff placed in the top ten too, and in such a big age group!). Julie and I were absolutely satisfied to have even survived the 10K, which course incidentally actually does go up to the so-named first dam. I had two goals regarding my time for this race: 1) Do 8-minute miles, which was my more realistic ambition, since I had never done a race this long before, and 2) Do the race in under 45 minutes, which is still more than twice my best 5K time. Imagine my surprise, then, when I ran toward that finish line just as the timer passed 44:00! Even better than I had hoped (which makes for a pretty ambitious goal for the next one, I guess...). I placed 2nd in my age group, which is a big deal to me since me placing at all is an unprecedented event, and took 12th place in men, and 17th overall. I admit I was about to die, and also that I was quite frustrated that when I paused my iPod Shuffle at the start of the race to hear the instructions, it never played again for one step of the race (after a while I just gave up on it, even though it sometimes responds after a little rest... it's pretty temperamental these days). Julie came really close to her goal too, so we felt really accomplished after, and really earned that late afternoon nap we took. You did great, sweetheart! A 5K will seem like nothing for us now! Elise, Julia and Dad were excellent athletic supporters, as always.

Recouping

Jeff, Elise, Jonny and Julia headed home after an excellent lunch courtesy of Grandma. Julie, Dad and I stayed one more night, spending time at the house, taking Grandma to see a trippy movie and having leftovers of soup and pie. As always, thanks to Grandma for her hospitality and excellent company.

Julie and Julia having a delightful tea party

Final time: 44:08.4
Miles run: 6.2
Minutes per mile: Approximately 7:06
Number of buckets sweat: 42
Number of songs that played before iPod was unresponsive: 2.4

She's so cute.