17 miles!

There are no words to describe our 17 mile run. Oh wait. Actually there are MANY words to describe this run. By the time we got to the starting line we were seriously thinking we weren't meant to do this run.

First of all we were gearing ourselves up for a slow and easy run. Tom just got back from Hawaii and even though he still ran while on vacation, I was worried that he would be a little jet lagged from the long overnight flight home. We put off the run until Monday just so we could give him as much time as possible to recover from the vacation and flight.

We had heard from a fellow runner that a great run to do was to start at the top of 193 near mountain road. Side note: I always thought 193 was Hillfield road, but it isn't. It is actually called Bernard Fisher Hwy. Hill Field rd is a completely different road. All these years I have been calling 193 Hillfield (one word) road. Anyways....then she said to run it all the way down until you hit the bottom. She laughed and said it was a fast run because it is mostly downhill but you get your miles in. This was EXACTLY the type of run we needed at this time.

When you start running this many miles there is some serious planning involved, especially when you have kids. I made Jeremy not carpool so he could get home earlier than he normally does. I had my sister Stacey come over so she could watch my kids until Jeremy got home. I told my dad to be at my house at 2:00 so we could get started by 2:30. The day was beautiful and I was ready to go, even a little excited. That quickly disappeared.

The negative signs started rolling in...

2:00 came and went and no dad at my house. I called and he hadn't even left his house yet. Got caught up doing something for work.

Earlier that day he had gone and bought a double bottled running belt. When he showed up I quickly realized it wasn't going to work. I also realized we were running low on GU. Up to Striders we went to buy a belt and more GU. The lady behind the counter took FOREVER and we were in the store way longer than we needed to be.

Finally we were off to the starting line when of course we both needed to go to the bathroom. We made a quick stop at Chevron where for once I beat a man out of the bathroom. After what seemed like forever my dad comes out. I asked what took him so long and he said that they were out of toilet paper and he didn't know what to do. He looked over to the sink just praying it wasn't an air dryer. Luckily, and unluckily, it wasn't. It was paper. He said his butt was now raw. ewww I know. After that he was questioning if we were meant to do this run.

We got up to the starting line of our run and it takes my dad I swear 10 minutes to get his new running belt situated. When we got out of the car the nice, warm, sunny day had turned into a cold and windy one. We were, however, being looked after because we both somehow brought our running pants just in case. We changed in the car and got out ready to go.

We took off heading west on 193 making our way along the busy road. I was nervous about the traffic, especially because by the time we finally got started traffic was getting heavy. But there was no reason to worry. The road was surprisingly wide and cars didn't get near us. We did have to stop for a few stop lights which was probably a good thing cuz I used the time to stretch. We hit Clearfield (i think we were in clearfield) around mile 6 and my right knee was starting to hurt. I could not believe my luck. We still had more than 10 miles to cover and I was wondering if I was going to have to call Jeremy to come get me. I adjusted my knee brace and finally took it off altogether. Luckily the pain came and went so I was able to keep pushing on. My dad was looking great but around mile 10 we stopped talking to each other. We were in focus mode. Our pace dropped dramatically and I didn't even care. All we wanted to do was finish. We were getting close to the 14 mile mark when a second wind hit me (maybe GU really does work). My dad was excited because he was feeling better than he did when we did the 14 mile run. However, once we hit mile 15 he started losing steam. Luckily my second wind was going strong and I was able to yell, um I mean encourage him along.

FINALLY we hit the 17 mile finish line. As we hobbled into my house Jeremy took one look at us and busted up laughing. He asked if we thought this was all worth it. We literally both fell to the floor. My knees instantly seized up and it was really hard to even stand. I felt mentally and physically ok other than my knees, but it is funny how your body just knows you are done. My dad said he felt a lot better than he did after the 14-miler. You wouldn't know it by the way we were moaning on the floor.

**STATS**
Distance: 17 miles
Time: 3:00:44
Pace: 10:38/min/mile
Temperature: I think it was a windy 45 at the start
Time of day: 3:50 p.m

My dad trying to figure out his gear

Finally we are ready to hit the streets Don't I look excited!
EXHAUSTED!

Runnin' in Kona, Hawaii

Well I would have to say there is nothing like running with a great view to look at and that is exactly what my dad had this past week.

My mom, dad and other extended family members took off on a trip to Kona, Hawaii for a fun vacation. Lucky for me, I mean my dad, most of his travel companions are signed up for the Ogden half marathon so he didn't lose motivation from a week's worth of training. As a group they would get up and head outside for a run. Well geez I am sure it wasn't that hard being in Hawaii and all. But it was lucky for me that Tom kept up on his training cuz I knew we had a mighty 17 miles coming up and I didn't want to carry the big man the entire way.

Tom said the runs went really well and he felt great. Well duh! Who wouldn't when they had the ocean to stare at!

Here are a few of his stats...

**STATS**

Date: Feb 21

Distance: 6 miles
Time: 1:01
Pace: 10:09/min/mile
Temperature: warm i'm sure
Time of Day: 5:30 a.m.

Date: Feb 23

Distance: 5 miles

Time: 00:48

Pace: 9:37/min/mile

Temperature: around 75 degrees

Time of Day: 6:00 a.m.

Uncle Rick, Aunt Jodi, Dad Tom

Dad and Mom

Aunt Kathy & Aunt Jodi

More Running!

Wow! More running today. I rarely do this much running or exercising but this past week has been unusual in the fact that I have just found extra time and motivation to push myself to go out more. I wasn't even planning on going out today but my bro-in-law Mike Merrill called and said he needed an easy 6 miles and wanted to know if I wanted to run with him. Now remember, an easy 6 miles for him is a moderate-to-hard 6 miles for me. It is funny running with him because he can chit chat the entire way because of the slow pace. But for me I am running faster than normal and can't do much talking. The reason it is funny is because usually it is me talking everyone's ears off while running, but when I run with Mike I pretty much just have to concentrate. Not to mention that during the last mile he made me sprint a good distance. I hit a 7:13 pace for a bit but quickly backed off or I would have been throwing up.

The time actually shows about 3 minutes where I had to completely stop so I could take off my long-sleeved shirt. It was getting too hot. So really my time and pace was a little better than what is being shown.

**STATS**
Distance: 6.04
Time: 56:20
Pace: 9:19/min/mile
Temperature: warm
Time of Day: 2:05 p.m

Last Minute Run

OK So I know I just biked 14 miles yesterday but I was feeling a bit guilty about not getting an actual run in so I decided to hurry and go out for a quick run.

The route I had in mind was one I had attempted two previous times and had miserable results. It isn't that the route is difficult or anything, cuz it isn't. But when I think about running I come up with routes I want to "conquer" and then one day actually go out and try to do it. Like I might think "oh I am going to run the store and back" or "I want to run the city perimeter". Well this particular route was to run from my house, hop on the walking path to the north end, then take the streets back to my house. The first time I did this run I ended up with severe knee pain and ended up having to walk the last 2+ miles home, crying. The second time I tried it I was doing awesome on time and felt great but during the last 7 blocks I ended up with stomach problems and again had to walk the rest of the way home.

So today I set out for a third time to run the thing again, hopefully with no problems. My goal was to run it as fast as I could without stopping. I did pretty good but there is no way I could maintain that speed for much longer than I did. Having my pace stay in the 8s was definitely a challenge.

**STATS**
Distance: 4.54
Time: 40:19
Pace: 8:53/min/mile
Temperature: ?
Time of Day: 4:44 p.m.

Riding Instead of Running

Well I felt pretty bummed about missing that 10k this morning. Funny how I don't like running much but when you start doing it a lot you start to miss it when you don't do it.

Anyways...I decided I needed some form of exercise today. After all, I was supposed to run 6 miles. By the time Jeremy got home from work I lost all motivation to do anything but forced myself to get dressed in my workout clothes. I then gave Ava the final say in what I did. I asked her if I should go for a run or a bike ride. She chose ride. So ride is what I did.

Ever since moving to West Point where this walking path is I have wanted to conquer the entire thing. So I set out with that in mind. I figured if I was supposed to do a 6-mile run today I should at least double the mileage in a bike ride.

I did it. It was a good ride but very lonely. :( It would have been nice to have someone to pass the time with. Even my music got old. It was nice to work different muscles though.

Here's my stats. Not sure if they are good or not because I have never timed my rides before. This is just what my watch said....

**STATS**

Distance: 14.24

Time: 1:17

Pace: 11 mph

Temperature: No idea but my toes were frozen

Time of Day: 5:10 p.m.

Striders Winter Racing Circuit 10k

This morning was the Striders Winter Racing Circuit 10k. But I didn't get to do it. I was all set to do it. I was ready both mentally and physically. But it is a run I had to miss.

I was going to be doing it by myself because my mom and dad decided a trip to Hawaii would be better than running in a race. OK I don't blame them there. I loaded up all the kids and headed to my parents' house. The plan was that we would spend the night there with my sister so she could watch my kids in the morning. Jeremy had to work. Rewind to Friday morning when Ava woke up feeling fine but right before I took her to school she informed me that she didn't think she felt well enough to go to school. She had been complaining of a sore throat for a few days and on Friday she just seemed a bit slow moving. So I let her stay home from school. By the time we reached my parents' house Ava was starting to go downhill. I didn't think much of it. I just thought it was a cold or something. I left to go to the gym and after my workout my mom called me saying Ava had a fever of 103.7! By the time I got up there it was 104.1. After giving her some Tylenol we headed to the doctor where we were told it was not strep throat. We headed home where Ava crawled into bed.

This is not a running related story but I just wanted you to know why I skipped out on the 10k. I wish it was because I was headed to Hawaii like my running partner but no, instead it was because I had a sick kid to take care of.

I was ready to tackle that hill too!

Good Run Turned Bad

Wow! Have you ever had a run where it starts out fabulously and then in an instant turns incredibly bad? Well that was our run today. For my dad at least. Poor guy was doing so well and then BAM!

We wanted new scenery so we headed to the Ogden Parkway. I was worried about running this trail because when I mapped it online I could only come up with 5 miles one way so only 10 miles total. Today's run called for a mighty 14 miles. It gets harder and harder coming up with those distances and trying not to repeat too much scenery. My dad assured me we would be able to take some side trails to come up with the 14 miles. Coming up with the distance turned out to be the easy part.

Our run started off so well. My dad was excited because of how pretty the run would be. I was a little nervous because I hadn't exercised much this past week, but I felt ready. Off we went. We headed down the trail and just kept running. And running. Tom (yes, i sometimes call my dad by his first name. get over it.) was doing well. We both were. He was like a deer running. He had spring in his step and seemed to be doing really well. That was until we hit mile 10. As we headed up a steep hill around mile 10 he said he needed a little longer walk break. No problem. Then we started off again. But by mile 11 I think he hit a mini wall. He was starting to lose that spring and just seemed a bit heavy. He said he had heartburn and felt full or bloated. I thought it was from all the water he was drinking on every walk break we took. I ran ahead to try to be a pacer for him. I can't remember what mile it was but I was up ahead a bit when I turned around and couldn't see him. I stopped and waited. He came around the corner and headed towards me when he just said, "I fell." I felt SOOO bad. I wasn't there for him. Luckily he kind of laughed so I knew it must not be too bad but he did have scuff marks on his legs and arms. His marshmallow shoes didn't quite make it off the curb and he went down. He said a car pulled over and asked if he was ok. He said he must have looked like a whale trying to get up. I gotta be honest here. I am laughing as I am typing this. Oh don't get offended. My dad laughs at us all the time. But it is so funny now in my head all the things that went wrong on this run. This fall was just the beginning. And we only had like 2 miles to go!

He seemed to recover from the fall and we were back on track. Next thing I know he is fidgeting with his hat. I told him I thought he had overdressed with the long-sleeved shirt but he assured me it was fine. But something was wrong with the hat. I offered to carry it for him. Turns out there was a cardboard piece in there that he had never taken out and it was holding all the sweat to his head. He pulled it out and threw it away. A little bit later he says, "Where's my sunglasses?" Geez, I don't know. I guess they flew off when he took off his hat. I didn't see or hear anything. We didn't turn back but I know he was upset about losing them. He said the glasses wasn't the only thing he lost on that run. He was pretty sure he lost two toenails too.

I later learned what he ate for breakfast before the run. Cereal. OK That is good. Orange juice. Well that probably caused the heartburn. BACON & EGGS! What? You ate ALL that? Grease! Dad, that is what made you feel bloated and heavy. He didn't mention it but I am betting he had toast and hash browns too. He's famous for his extravagant breakfasts. Geez dad. Next time take it easy on the food.

The run wasn't the easiest for me either. I had to pee the entire time. I'm known for having to go to the bathroom more than once before a run and I just didn't get it all out. The last block was pure torture and I will proudly reveal that only a little slipped out. :) Don't read my blog if you don't want all the gruesome details. I quickly went into Rainbow Gardens where I confirmed that I truly ran with a full bladder.

At the end of the run all my dad could say was, "That run just kicked my ass!" I told him not to worry about it. Everyone has to have a few bad runs. I've cried on a few of mine.

Tom came in just a few minutes behind me but these are the stats from my watch.

**STATS**
Distance: 14.01
Time: 2:22:12
Pace: 10:09/min/mile
Temperature: 53 degrees
Time of Day: 12:01 p.m.

I wanted to show the actual running trail so here is me fake running. My dad happened to take the pic right when I did a hop with both arms forward. My family makes fun of my running form saying I have a goofy run but I don't run this goofy! My dad wanted to follow my lead and headed across the bridge and wanted me to take the picture as he crossed it. Funny thing is, we didn't even run on this bridge!

Runners literally 'warm up' for Ogden Marathon

Check out the picture below to see who was featured in the Deseret News. I will give you a hint...It was ME!

THIS ARTICLE IS FROM THE 10K I RAN IN THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY. I TOLD YOU THIS RUNNING CIRCUIT IS HARD!!!

Runners literally 'warm up' for Ogden Marathon

By Brian Nicholson
Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 5:38 p.m. MST

OGDEN — It may be a bitter, below 10 degrees outside, but the popularity of a particular marathon training series in Ogden has never been hotter.

The event is currently called the Winter Racing Circuit, a series of five races, from five to 30 kilometers, designed to help runners prepare for the Ogden Marathon in May.

Saturday will mark the first race, and the hills of Ogden will indeed be alive with activity. More than 1,000 pavement pounding feet to be exact. And of the 550 who have registered, 500 are taking on the whole series.

And hills there are. According to race director John Wojciechowski, this isn't your normal P.R. (personal record) grabbing race experience. "Many race directors look for P.R. courses. We went the opposite direction," he said. "We wanted to create a course people would remember, and in the end, it makes you a more well-rounded runner and better prepared to handle the Ogden Marathon."

Despite his best efforts to inform racers of the steep conditions, posting elevation and mileage maps, Wojciechowski was once accosted by a very irate runner at the end of a race for choosing such a difficult course. Needless to say, he didn't complete the series … at least until the following year.

His wife, Kristin, talks about numerous experiences after the marathon in May when runners thank them for providing the series because of the success they had at the marathon distance.

Not only are there brutal hills to climb, but by its very nature as a winter series, runners are threatened with unpredictable weather, bringing potentially slick conditions, low visibility, sub-freezing temperatures, and what he describes at that "holy crap" factor that could keep the weak in spirit on a well-heated treadmill.

Alternatively, for those not too interested in running to win, or sprinting the hills, there exists another motivator.

According to Shae Bitton, who has run most years since the beginning, the series offers a unique social experience because you see the same runners at each race. "The series provides a great way to meet other running groups. It's competitive, but I love the social aspects," she said.

Although she does admit it's nice to compare times from one race to the next, the real fun is getting to know other runners and sharing stories with them.

Since it's inception in 2002 as the Winter Training Series, consisting of only three races, (5k, 10k and 15k), the circuit has gone through many changes and evolved into a popular pastime for runners within and outside the Ogden area.

In 2003, a half-marathon was added and in '05, the name was changed to the Northern Utah Training Series, creating an acronym that amply describes its participants: NUTS.

The Wojciechowskis, who also own Striders Running store in Layton, bought the series in 2007, increased the race count to five and created what it is today. "The whole thing was set up to support the Ogden Marathon. Spring marathons are tough because the bulk of your training is done in the dead of winter," said John Wojciechowski. "It's a good way to get a group of people out on the icy roads."

He adds that the series, and the difficulty levels, attract people from all over the state. Prior to 2007, "(the hills) were one of Ogden's well-kept secrets. Some of the nation's best runners train on these same hills." he said.

Longtime runner Thom Khules, who has run in every series since its inception shares the sentiment by offering this advice: "If you don't start training early, all of a sudden you are doing a very tough ten-miler," he said. "It fits in with the fact that it's a training series, not your fastest races."

This year the calendar of events takes place as follows, with the first three beginning at the Dee Events Center at Weber State University, and the following two leaving from the Red Moose Lodge in Eden:

5K - Feb. 5, 8 a.m.
10K - Feb. 19, 8 a.m.
10-miler March 12, 8 a.m.
Half-Marathon April 2, 8 a.m.
30K (18.64 miles) April 23, 7:30am

Wojciechowski will quickly deflect much of the credit for the success of the series onto his sponsors, which include, among others, the Red Moose Lodge and McKay-Dee Hosptial Center's Calton Harrison Orthopedic Clinic. Oh, and don't forget Rooster's Restaurant, which, by the way, provides an unbeatable post-race breakfast following one of the races.

Regardless of who deserves credit, the Winter Racing Circuit has proven to produce fast, well-prepared marathon participants and continues to grow, despite being held in the dead of winter — where in Utah, anything can happen.


Krissy Child, left, and Amber Neilson participate in a training run to prepare for the start of the Winter Training Circuit in Ogden last month. (Brian Nicholson, Deseret News)

Runners cruise up a steep section of Skyline Drive in Ogden as they participate in the Winter Training Circuit. (Brian Nicholson, Deseret News) (That's ME and my bro-in-law, Mike Merrill)

Race director John Wojciechowski slips on a patch of ice during a training run to prepare for the start of the Winter Racing Circuit. (Brian Nicholson, Deseret News)

Striders Winter Racing Circuit 5k

This morning marked the first of 5 runs in the Striders Winter Racing Circuit. The running circuit leads you to and prepares you for the Ogden Marathon. This circuit has a reputation of being pretty brutal because most of the runs are not flat. There are very challenging hills to climb and conquer. I am actually kind of excited to be doing this circuit just so I can say I survived!

Today was the 5k run and it started at the Dee Events Center in Ogden and took you up the hill into a neighborhood and back again. I did pretty good. I think I could have pushed myself harder and finished a little quicker but I am ok with my time. My dad is nursing an injury so he was a little nervous about how he would do and wanted to take it easy a bit, but he ended up doing just fine. Hopefully neither one of us gets a major injury. I worry about that. This is a lot of work and time and energy to have an injury sideline you. That would suck!

So here's to 1 down and 4 to go until the "big one" at the end!

**STATS**
Distance: 3.1

ME

Time: 28:39

Pace: 9:13/min/mile

TOM

Time: 29:46

Pace: 9:34/min/mile

Temperature: 36 degrees

Time of Day: 8:00 a.m.

Some running friends