This week's total: 16 Miles

With 8 miles on Monday, 3 on Wednesday, and 5 today, I've racked up 16 miles this week. Right on schedule, despite a nasty head cold. Hoorah!

Some Good News, Some Bad, and Some Yet to Come

The Good News:
I participated in and completed the Inaugural Rose Bowl Half Marathon in December 2007! This was my 8th race and my second 1/2 marathon. Though I felt that my preparation should have been more thorough, I beat my previous 1/2 marathon time by about 2 minutes, coming in at 2:32:25.7. The course was beautiful and the weather was very nice, though warmer than I had anticipated and dressed for. I'm pretty sure I'll participate again if they run it in 2008. I trained for this race with my buddy Jacob, and unfortunately missed it due to a scheduling conflict. Next time, man.

The Bad News:
This week (and for several to come, I'm sure) I mourn the passing of one of the most consistent and faithful running companions of my brief running career: my Garmin Forerunner 201 GPS training device. It seems that it got smashed in my suitcase on a recent trip to PA, and the LCD screen has been destroyed. I don't know how I'm going to train for future races, though I read recently that apparently people have been training for races for longer than GPS technology has existed, but I'm going to have to do some more research into their archaic methods. Perhaps it has something to do with planetary alignments or the tides. More on that to come...

Yet to Come:
I've begun my official training schedule for the LA Marathon, coming up on March 2. I'm posting it below for you all to follow along and keep me on task. Today was the first long run, at 8 miles, and it went pretty well, despite not having my Garmin. I'm feeling a little sore and tired, as this was my first run in about 3 weeks. Gotta get back into the swing of things as I prepare for 26.2 in just about 8 weeks...

Welcome to my Running Blog!

In an effort to motivate myself to hit the pavement, I've decided to start a running blog to post my weekly mileage, running ups and downs, and race results. I'll start out by putting up a few pictures of me from past races. I've got pictures from five of the eight races I've participated in so far, the three absent ones coincidentally being the ones where my wife was not there to take pictures. Take a guess as to who the primary archivist in the family is...


This is my first race, the Salt Lake City Marathon's 5k, in April 2005. That's me on the left, my wife, Jean, in the middle, and my buddy, Eric, on the right.


My 5th race, the Salt Lake City Marathon 5k the following June (2006). There were three other 5k's in the interim for which I sadly have no photographs.


My 6th race and 1st 10k, this was the Deseret Morning News 10k in July 2006. I was so fast the photographer (Jean) could hardly keep up with the camera... sort of...


My 7th race, the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay, in October 2006. Don't worry, this was after the race... I earned those snacks.


Finishing my 8th race, and first marathon. I still can't believe that I was smiling after 26.2 miles, but anyone who's done it can attest to the great feeling you get between completing a marathon and ten minutes later, when all the hurt catches up.

I've got a couple races lined up over the next several months, and I want to get back up to where I was when training for the marathon. I've got the Rose Bowl Half Marathon in a little over a month, and then the LA Marathon in March 2008.

Wish me luck, and keep on my case!