Salt Lake City Marathon

On April 19, 2014 I ran my second marathon. This was suppose to be a training run in anticipation for a Boston qualifying time at the Ogden marathon. The goal was to run the first 16-20 miles at my marathon pace. This pace is a 7:15 pace. The rest of the race would be at a conservative pace and the goal was to finish in 3:30 to 3:45.
The fueling plan was to take a gel very three miles. I would also take water and powerade at aid stations.  I cannot remember the meal the night before. I so know that I was good the two days before and carbo loaded fairly well. I woke up and immediately had a peanut butter and honey sandwich. I also had an emergen-c packet and my vitamin. As I walked out the door I also consumed a banana. I felt good with the fueling to this point. I was worried that I only had three gels. Studying the race guide and map I was unsure of where if any gel stops they would have. I finished off the pre race fueling with a 5 hour energy about 20 minutes before the start.
I carpooled to the start line with Dave Earnshaw and one of his friends. I was concerned trying to find parking close to the finish line and riding tracks to the start. This would also mean that we would have two cars in Salt Lake since Julie and the girls were coming to see me finish. By carpooling we were dropped off at the start line.
After being dropped off I headed to the potties and start the pre race ritual. After the potties it was off to get ready to race. I dropped off my bag and headed to the start. The good thing about this race was that they had flags telling the pace so you could line up accordingly. They started at 6.00 minutes and went every minute back. The start was wide and I had no problem working my way to the 7.00 mile area. Slowly the corals started filling up. 7:00 am came and went and we did not start. Tracks was dropping off several hundred people so we waited so all runners could be there for the start.
I was a little nervous but full of confidence. I was confident I could hit my pace and run a good race. I was using a pace band created for the elevation of this coarse. With the star spangled sung and excitement in the air we were off.
The start funneled and tightened quickly which was not much of a problem since I was near the front. The first five miles I knew the coarse as I had run portions in other half marathons.  There were some up and downs in elevation.  At mile 3 there was an odd loop through a parking lot heading down city creek canyon. I took my first gel and cruised through the aid station. At this point I was running with some junior high students. It was fun to keep pace with them and to watch them work together as a team. We would see-saw for about five miles. At the mile 6 station I stopped for a porta potty. I was not worried about the lose of time as I hit my paces good except for some sub 7 minute miles coming down into the canyon. I still felt good and strong.
The next three miles were rolling hills. I was surprised at how many people came out to watch. Not much else they could do since the entire road was closed and they were home bound until after the race. It was just after mile nine that the half marathon and the marathon coarse separated. It was an awesome feeling being one of only a handful of runners turning left while the masses headed straight for the half coarse. It was here I slowed a little as the hills started wearing on me. I still was keeping within my goals. My fueling plan around mile 13 went down hill and I never recovered. Running through sugar house park was bit fun or exciting as I hoped. The mental wall was hitting and my goals were slipping. When I hit mile 13 my watch read 1:34. I knew the first half was all at goal pace. This would also be one of my top 3 half marathon times. This excitement running would be ruined when results were posted. They had me at the half at 1:37. The coarse and my gps were not jiving together. My watched was about .25 mile early. This time would still be a top 5 half marathon time.  The extra time banked early on helped when I slowed later on.
My legs at this point had a enough of the elevation. If I did not do something I would be in trouble. The goal now was to hit the next five miles at under a 8.00 minute pace. Goal was accomplished, just barely.
Something happened after mile 13 that has never happened before. My sports induced asthma kicked in. By mile 18 it was hot and I had bouts of dizziness and by mile 20 I had nausea. All these things were firsts. As I approached mile 20 I was done. I had hit my goals. I knew going forth was only going to hurt my efforts for Ogden. Only problem was I had no phone to call Julie. My pride was also not going to allow me to ask an aid station volunteer for a phone to call Julie. The only goal now was to finish.
New goals were now in place for the last 6 miles. I would walk at every mile marker and I would walk through all aid stations. With a new game plan I trudged on. Every hill was a killer. I was feeling worse as the race went on. The mental aspect was almost worse than the physical. With about three miles to go my watch was way off. It was now off by almost .45 a mile. Having your watch go off that early was defeating. At this point I wanted desperately wanted to be done and take a nap. As I came through the finish shoot I could hear Julie yelling and encouraging me. The numbers read 3:43. My goal was still meet in regards to finishing.
As I grabbed my medal I exited I found a patch of grass and feel in heap. I lay there for sometime until Julie and Carly found me. I still just wanted to sleep. After laying in a heap for sometime the medical team came over to check on me. I headed to the medical tent to be checked out. They wanted to make sure my vitals were ok. After warming up and having some powerade I was cleared. Everything checked out. Now to go home and take a nap.
The Salt Lake marathon was tough. There were lots of hills. I did not take into account the difficulty of the coarse when I laid out my plan for this race. I still was able to hit many goals. The biggest take away is I toughed it out and still finished. This May not have been the wisest thing to do.
Time: 3:43:17
Overall: 114
Age: 90
Division: 15

St. George Half marathon

In January I headed down to St. George to complete my first marathon of the year. This would be the start to my training for the Ogden Marathon in May. I was going to go down without the family. Julie and the girls were unable to travel with me. I put out some feelers on Facebook to see if anyone wanted to carpool down with me. A fellow from Logan named Adrian Toledo wanted to join me. His friend Joe also came with us. Adrian is a pacer for the American race pacers. He is very knowledgeable in the field of running. I was able to get great advice as i set in motion to complete the Ogden marathon five months away.
I contacted my cousin Josh and his wife Cindy to inquire about spending the evening with their family. Josh and Cindy have a beautiful family and welcomed me and gave me the spare guest suite to stay in. I am very appreciative of them allowing to spend the evening with them.
The first thing we did as we entered St. George was to go to packet pick up and get our bibs for the race the next morning. I was able to meet more of the pacer team. After packet pick up we headed out for dinner where more of the pacer team welcomed me into the group and more advice was handed out.
The time arrived for the race. The start of the race was chilly at the 8 am start time. I was hoping for better temps but it still was warmer than it was up north as the week before i completed a 10k with temps around 6 degrees. So life was still good. I wanted to come in about 1 hour and 45 minutes to 1 hour and 50 minutes. I placed myself near the end of the line. i wanted to make sure that I did not start out to fast. I also did not want to fumble the phone and drop it at the start. The gun sounded and we were off. I felt really good and was passing people as I had not placed myself very well according to my goals.The uphills started about mile three and the next set of hills at mile 6 or so. The cold temps were beneficial as I did not need to stop at the aid stations. At mile seven was a long downhill. Prior to this I was slowing down and the mileage was getting to me. As I ran the downhill I found my second wind and at that point I was confident I would make my time goal and a new personal best.
At about the 9 mile mark i got up to the 1 hour and 40 minute pacers. I passed them and still felt great. I now was hoping to put several minutes between me and the pacers.
Around the 12 mile marker I started to slow a bit and runners were starting to pass me. I did everything I could to push on and finish. The goal was to not let the pacer group catch me. At mile 13 I saw the finish arch and made my sprint to the finish. The timer was reading 1:39:? what the crap I actually did it. I also new my time would be better as it took several minutes to reach the start line. I had done it, new personal best at 1:37:?
As I crossed the finish line there was an emptiness as no one was there to meet me. I knew no one and my new friends were minutes behind me. This feeling brought to mind the feeling I would have if I made it to heaven and my family was unable to be there with me. I now have a resolve to teach my girls and guide them on their path. I do not want that feeling ever again.
Running has brought joy and continues to teach me new life lessons

2013 Running Goals

Following are the goals I set for myself for 2013 in regards to my running

1. Complete 12 half marathons

2. Complete 3 Ragnar relays

3. Complete 2 marathons

Running has taken over

As many of you are aware in July of 2012 Julie and I took up running. Today I would like to share my experience of running. Since I had today off I thought that it would be a good idea to run in the afternoon since most of my runs are in the dark of the morning. I waited until about 3pm to get ready and head out the door. The sun had been shining or hiding behind clouds all day. I had received many weather warnings of snow coming into the area. Well at 3:30pm when I headed out the door that is when the rain decided it was going to make its appearance. Knowing full well if I waited I would not get my run in for the day. It was only 5 miles so I mustered all my courage and headed out the door. Part of my run takes me past an elementary school. This is the same school Carly is attending preschool. School was getting out and you could see the excitement and wonder in the eyes of the children. With the events of the past weekend my thoughts during most of my run was on my two little girls and the joy and frustration that they bring into my life.
I can tell you that I much rather run in the rain or rain snow mixture or even snow, as I had all three during my run today. The weather today was much more enjoyable than running in the wind that has been a perpetual nuisance for the last month during my runs.
Today was also the first time in two months I did not have any pain in my knee as I ran. Sweet monkeys am I excited. The I-Band injury has been a pain and almost halted me in the middle of a half marathon.
Things are looking good as I build mileage to start training for my marathon in May.

Emilee Starts 1st Grade

Emilee is now in 1st grade up at Sam Morgan in Kaysville. Emilee loves having 3 recesses and eating school lunch.  Carly was not very happy to say goodbye to her big sister.  I'm so excited for all Emilee will get to learn this year. Today she had her first assembly Col Gail Halvorsen came he helped with the Berlin Candy Dropin WWII, she had a great time learning history then going and having a helicoptor drop candy.

Outnumbered

The other day Emilee discovered the power in numbers. She told me that I was no longer in charge of the remote because there are more girls than boys. The girls are in charge because there is only one boy. Emilee then turned to Carly and told her that she no longer needed to listen to daddy because he is a boy and there are more girls so mommy is in charge.
I think I cried a little inside. This definitely could had been a very funny moment instead I was hurt. This still does not change my mind, No more children. What happens if there is another girl then it would be 3 to 1. I can't take that chance. I am already outnumbered and the scary thing is they know it.

Christmas Letter 2011

Dear Family and Friends,
Where does the time go, I can't believe Christmas is only 3 days away. We have had many blessings and many challenges through out the year.
We started the year by having our basement flood 3 different times, which started our basement remodel a little early. We were so blessed for family and friends who helped clean, store our belongings and helped with the demo. We have doubled the living space and have an almost finished basement. The basement was completely redone except for the bathroom. Maybe next year we will get some furniture for the family room and the office. The girls love their new playroom.
In August Julie was able to travel to Canada for her Granny's Funeral. It was a sad moment but a blessing to see family and remember wonderful memories from her life.
Emilee and Carly continue to grow too quickly, but bring so much drama into our lives. Emilee started kindergarten at Sam Morgan Elementary. She loves her teacher and new friends plus is excited to learn new things.
Carly is always on the go and just wants to do what her big sister is doing. She loves going to daycare and nursery to play with friends. We are working with a speech therapist to help Carly who at 2 can only say a few words. The one word she knows very well and uses in thousands of times a day is NO.
As we look back through the year we have been truly blessed by many friends and family. As we look forward to the new year were excited for the adventures we will have.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Love Doug, Julie, Emilee, and Carly