Roxy training diary month 45
February 2007

Feb 24.  Today I ran my second-ever 10K, and laid down a PR of 58:51.8.  The official results have me at 131/167 among all men and 16/18 among men 45-49.  I had hoped to finish in the top half of my age group, but I moved from next-to-last up to second-to-last. 

My last 10K was exactly a year ago, and I was 21/22 in my age group. That was my previous PR of 1:02, so I beat that by maybe four minutes, which was pretty good considering this course.

I had been running the course as part of my marathon training, so I knew what to expect.  Plus, I had prepared an iPod playlist that gave me cues to the different parts of the course and kept my pace where I wanted it to be. 

There are two killer hills in the first half of the course.  One is about a 200 ft vertical rise and the other is about 300 ft.  For those, I had some music with a strong beat.  Webb Wilder's "Tough It Out" was especially helpful on the second, longer, bigger hill. 

Then, at the top of the course, it turned into a fast downhill 5K with just a moderate hill near the end.  I had planned to hear "Estoy Aquí" at the top of the hill, and in the event, I was a little past that when it came on. 

There was some Backstreet Boys for the back part of the course, and the bitter (but rockin') "Sold Me Down the River" for that last damn hill.  I had "Right Here, Right Now" playing as I crossed the finish.

All in all, things worked out pretty well despite the rough hills and cold conditions (it was maybe 20°F at the race start, with a bit of a bitter breeze). 

One guy was wiped out at the end of the race, and was on his hands and knees, summoning Ralph.  EMTs were called.  We donated the emergency blanket from our car, first to cover him up, then to use as a head rest.  Rosemary was not keen on having it covered in barf.  He seemed okay by the time we left.  I gave a brief report to John, the race organizer.  John has a dry sense of humor.  His response: "Well, he didn't leave anything out on the course today."  True dat.

We've been really short on snow this year, but lately, there has been a snowy weather pattern.  Annie went out to explore her yard yesterday morning and got covered in snow.

Snowback Annie

Feb 20.  The RoxyLog will follow Craig Ferguson's cue.

" 'For me, comedy should have a certain amount of joy in it,' Ferguson said. 'It should be about attacking the powerful — the politicians, the Trumps, the blowhards — going after them. We shouldn't be attacking the vulnerable.' "

Feb 19.  The big news from this weekend's agility trial was that Dylan finished his Excellent Jumpers with Weaves (AXJ) title.

I entered Roxy in Open for the first time in a year.  She received her Novice titles in early January 2006, and I tried her in Open for a couple of trials, but she was having stress problems with the trials.  Until we got those worked out, it was easier to run her in Novice B.  She seems to be doing better with the stress issues, so I decided to enter her in Open this weekend.  She didn't qualify, or even come close, but I am happier with how we are running together.

We came really close to getting a leg in the new Gamblers-type game called FAST.  She got one leg last month, but missed both times this weekend.  Dylan got his first FAST leg in addition to his AXJ title, so it was a good weekend for him.

We got to try out the new shoes I special-ordered from Nike, in purple (of course), with Roxy's name on them.

Rosemary, Dylan and Judge Kathy

Annie Says, "What?!?"

Dylan Celebrates with Sardines

Dylan's Excellent Jumpers Course

Roxy and Her Shoes

Dylan's Swag

"No one asked if I wanted my view blocked!"

Dylan and Jim Get Ready to Run

Feb 16.  Every week of my training plan, I have a long run.  Normally, it's set up for Saturday, but since we have an agility trial this weekend, I have shifted my schedule up a day. 

Today's run was 10 miles, the longest I've run in training so far.  I finished it in 100 min, which is right at 10 min/mile.  Not bad, considering those nasty hills at the beginning of the course.

Next week is a "stepback" week, so I'll not have to run so far.  At the end of the week, on Saturday, I have the second race in the Winter Racing Circuit, a 10K.  I don't run many of those, so my last one was a year ago and I have a PR of 1:02.  I'm hoping to better that, in spite of the hills on this course.  So for today's training, I ran the 10K course plus four more miles for a total of 10 miles.  My time over the 10K course was just under an hour, so I think I can better my PR if my legs and lungs hold out.

Dylan Finds Bananas A-Peeling

You're Gonna Make Me

Run Up That Hill?!?

Number 173

Feb 10.  Today was the first race in the Winter Racing Circuit put on by Striders, a local running shop.

A lot has changed in a year.  When I ran the same series a year ago, this was only my second 5K; now I've run lots.  Last year, it was a couple of weeks earlier, and it was frigid, maybe 10-15°F (-11°C).  This year, we had light rain in the morning and it was maybe 40°F (4°C).  That's how I was able to wear shorts.

Rosemary came along this year as well, as an unofficial participant.  She ran a bit and walked the rest of the course.   I decided to take Roxy out, since she had been coming along with me on my training runs.

We started at the Dee Events Center, about 1/4 mile south of our house.  It was about 1/2 mile into the race when Roxy started really dragging.  It was still pretty crowded at that point, and I thought she was apprehensive about all the other people around.  It wasn't that.

She needed to go to the bathroom.

Luckily, I had baggies with me for just that purpose.  It was a two-bagger.

Now a couple of pounds lighter, we found a dumpster in a bank parking lot and got rid of the baggies.  From there, it was a pretty steep hill up to the halfway point on the course.  I had been running the course for training (albeit backwards), so I knew to hold back a bit and then let 'er rip on the second half, which was mostly downhill.

All in all, we had a pretty good race.  Even with the comfort stop, Roxy set a Personal Record of 32:07.6.  That was only good for 170/187 men and 19/20 men 45-49, but those rest stops play heck with your times.  I dropped Roxy off in her crate and jogged back to find Rosemary; we walked the last 1K or so together, then I peeled off to take my training run.

I owed my marathon training plan a total of 9 miles today.  I did the 5K plus the extra loop to walk with Rosemary plus 6 miles more, for a total of 10 miles today.  That puts me at 21 miles for the week.

Roxy was coated with road grime when Rosemary took her home, so Rosemary ended up with the thankless job of bathing the dog while I finished up with my run.

In the afternoon, we went to see the Women's Basketball team defeat Portland State.  Meanwhile, Idaho State beat Northern Arizona, so that puts us solidly in second place in the conference.  We're hoping the women can beat league-leading Montana Thursday night, but it's an away game and they're an almost-ranked team, so it'll be tough.

Feb 5.  We just finished entertaining our houseguests, the Coxes from Mississippi.  Erin, their oldest daughter, was our first "real" agility student and she continues to do well at the sport with her dog Galadriel. 

Saturday we went up to Soldier Hollow for Nordic skiing, and Sunday Erin and I went to Snowbasin for Alpine skiing while Bob continued his Nordic Trek.  Conditions were better than I expected; even though the snowpack has been terrible this year (about half-normal for this time of year), the weather cooperated and we had springlike conditions. 

It was my first time with cross-country skiing over groomed trails and being out all day, and I found that my running and exercise really helped me to feel comfortable out on the trails.  I still need to work on my technique, though, and maybe one day I will master "skating".

We certainly enjoyed getting to see Erin and Bob again, and hope that we can find something for Erin to do here over the summer so she can come stay with us and pretend to be our daughter.  If we had been guaranteed a kid this great, we might have had one.

My next race is Feb 10, near our house.  I've been keeping up with my training plan, but Saturday will be the longest training run yet, at 9 miles.  Pretty soon my training runs will be longer than a half-marathon, and I'll be breaking new ground, distance-wise.  I hope I can convince my muscles and liver to store glycogen better.  I am getting stronger at running hills, but I still have a long way to go.

Soldier Hollow

Dylan Looks Like He Is Electrified

Annie Wants To Go