Sione and The Biggest Loser

Sione from the Biggest Loser ran Pat's Run. I didn't see him, maybe because I couldn't catch up to him. He beat me by 5:26. Damn, he's fast.

Jeff out in Maryland was thinking of me. I got these in the mail. He knows I'm a Reds fan. Thanks, Jeff. And GOOD LUCK to Jeff, Dan, Karen, Taryn and Katie who are running the AOR Relay.

Pat's Run

The first of two Pat's Runs take place at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. The school that Pat Tillman played his collegiate football. Next week there will be another Pat's Run in San Jose, Pat's hometown.
This was the fifth annual run that started soon after Pat Tillman, an American hero, died in Afghanistan fighting for America. Just in case you may not know, Pat played professional football for the Arizona Cardinals. When he was offered a new contract, he passed and joined the military. Today we celebrate Pat Tillman and raised funds for his foundation.

The race featured 20,000+ runners and walkers running from the parking lot of ASU's Sun Devil Stadium north across the Mill Avenue bridge and through Papago Park along Curry Road. As you head south down Scottsdale Road you loop around the athletic fields and up into Sun Devil Stadium. It's 4.2 miles and you finish high fiving ASU football players on the 42 yard line. Yes, you get to finish on the field and you're not rushed off. You can stretch on the grass after your run. Plenty of seating in the stands to watch your fellow runners come in.

Why 42? It was Pat Tillman's number when he was a defensive hero for the Sun Devils. This race is unique, in that 70% of the participants wear the technical shirt you get with your registration. Families will also love the play area for kids and the festival where you can get something to eat, drink or even a message.

Look to your right around the half way point and you'll see the stadium. The finish line looms big just a few miles away.

Football fields are marked every 10 yards, but at ASU, the 42 yard line is also marked so that we can always remember Pat Tillman. If you'd like to learn more about Pat click on his name.

As for my race? I planned to run 9 minute miles, or closed to it. Finish under 40 minutes and stop for just a few pics. My splits came in at 9.08, 9.33, 9.33 and 10.41. Not sure what happened at the end. But, I finished with a 9.11 for the last .2 miles entering the stadium. Final time: 40.09. It was a crowded race, but not so much to slow me down. I did a little weaving, but I was able to run the tangents without much interference. After the race, I went back to the stadium entrance and ran back in to take some pictures. Here's where you can find more pictures.

Race stats and map

Sumo Are You at 100 Days running yet?

test run

You might recall back in January I ran for 26 straight days. It was a test to see how my body and specifically my legs would hold up to daily running. Every day was at least one mile and I covered 103 miles. An average of 3.96 miles a day.

On day 27 I could have run on. I could have kept the streak going for a much longer time. I decided to stop, because my legs always felt tired. No injuries, just tired. Some run were fine, but some I didn't enjoy as much. I even ran the Rock N Roll Half Marathon on day 23 and did it in 2:25. A PR at the time. I was real happy about that race.

So, I asked myself if a running streak was in sync with my ultimate running goal. That goal, is to be running for the rest of my life. To be a 70 year old runner, an 80 year old runner and hopefully, a 100 year old runner. Can I run every day for the next 18,980 days? Or if I ran every other day is 9,490 days more realistic?

I think I can better reach my goals with an every other day (EOD) running approach. But, is EOD enough running to get better and fitter?

So, for the past 11 weeks I've done the EOD approach. 171 miles in 37 runs. A run every 2.08 days. Two half marathons of 2:25 (not a PR) and 2:19 (a big PR). 4.62 miles on average. My legs have never felt better.

Time for a new test.

Now, I am going to run EOD, 5 miles or more each time. On the off days I'm going to walk 3-5 miles at a slow pace. Maybe 18-20 minutes a mile. Plus, any walking I do normally in the day. I did 3.52 miles last night. I walked to the mall and in the mall. I only stopped once, no shopping. The mall is less than a mile from my home, so it was interesting to walk over there. My garmin even worked inside the building. Who knew? I enjoyed the walk.
The Reason.

They say you burn the same number of calories if you walk a mile or run a mile. No matter the speed. I could use the extra 300-500 calorie burn and walking won't (I hoping) tire my legs. I'll get an extra 1100 calorie burn from the walking. About 2100 calorie burn from the running each week for a total of 3200 calories. Almost a pound.

So, until the end of April I will be doing the Run/Walk test to see if I can keep fresh legs and burn enough calories to shed some pounds. I guess I'll have to avoid the mall too. The food court and Aunt Annie's Pretzels are way too tempting.

Sabino Canyon Sunset Run

You don't see this kind of view at the start of most races. At the Sabino Canyon Sunset Run you get this view and many more that are better. I ran the 2009 version of the race as my first hill dominant run. I say hill dominant because the first 3.7 miles are mostly all uphill. You turn around at the top and return the same way to the finish.

Sabino Canyon is just to the northeast of downtown Tucson in the Coronado National Forest. You might have taken the tram into the canyon as a tourist. You defiantly want to do the run. I drove 2 hours each way for just the run and it was well worth it.

Being in the national forest system, you have to pay $5 to park inside the gates. Here's a hint. There's a small parking lot outside that's free. Then you just walk an extra 100 yards and you'll be at the visitor center/ tram station/ race start.

It's all on asphalt road, two lanes wide with seven bridges that the runners cross over twice. Once going up and once coming down. There's a dip in the road for each bridge. Here's a hint. When the Sabino Creek is flowing strong, the water will flow over the bridges. So, on race day that means you're running in water to cross the creek. Deep enough to get your feet wet. See the pictures from the 2008 race.

You'll start out in daylight around 2735' elevation. At the turn around you will have risen about 600 feet to 3375. Half of it in the last mile. But, then you'll get to head back down the canyon. Then you get to fly. I ran down 10 minutes faster than my ascent.

The picture above shows you the last mile. The runner is returning, but above him you might be able to see the road and some runners heading for the turn. In many ways this feels like a trail run, without the trail. No rocks or roots to watch for.

But, hurry down the mountain. Because darkness approaches after about 45 minutes of running. Robert Seamon, of Tucson finished in 40:45 to win overall first and Paula Morrison, of Tucson was first female overall with a time of 48:15. Half the runners finished in under 1 hour 6 minutes. The last group finished in 2 hours and in the dark.

You could say my race was a series of ups and downs. Yeah, pun intended. I had early splits of low 12 minutes per mile. I walked some of the way. Mile five was the first full down hill mile. I did that in 8:06. Miles five and six literally flew by. But, as if by design the race director had one more hill for the runners to climb right before mile 7 ended. Pictured below. By the time I got there, all I could see was the silhouette of the runners as they reached the top.

At the top you could see a single light, about a half mile down the road. That's the finish. You can't see runners in front or behind you. Just the single light. If you can finish this race in under an hour, it won't be an issue. But, for the back half of the field, we ran in the dark. Plus, you get signs like this:

Now that will get you moving.

The Southern Arizona Roadrunners put on this race and do a great job. We had entertainment before the awards ceremony with a cowboy doing gun and rope tricks. The parents loved it, almost as much as the kids.

The awards for 1, 2 and 3rd places were these great framed photos. I had to get back to Chandler, so I couldn't stay for the awards ceremony. I'm sure it was a fun time.

SAR also does a good job at having people around to answer your questions. Here's Dave Hill with a great t shirt on. He's in front of the Performance Footwear sign. A great sponsor of races throughout Arizona.

Then of course, there's the eats. Peanut butter sandwiches, orange slices, bananas were the fare. A bit light compared to what there sister club, Arizona Road Racers, up in Phoenix does. But, it was fine. Heck, maybe all the fast runners got the good stuff.

The volunteers where friendly like always. The weather was perfect. All in all, it was a great day for a run.



Pat's Running Splits

Course Map and Elevation

Sabino Canyon Sunset Run Finisher List
See other AZ race reports at Arizona Foot Races.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Tonight I ran my "Raiders of the Lost Ark" run. 6 miles heading north of my home and running through the neighborhood of Circle G Ranches. I was working on keeping my pace as close to 10 minutes per mile, as I could. The first two miles came in at 10:14 and 10:32. I walked a bit to eat half a GU. I wanted to see if that would kick in and let me get to the 10 mpm goal. The 3rd and 4th miles came in at 11:42 and 11:52. Not, so good.

Then I had the rest of the GU and miles 5 and 6 were at 10:55 and 10:42. A bit better. But, all in all a good run that Harrison Ford would be proud of.

Now, why do I call it the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" run? Because I run past this home (click on it last, it may not let you come back)and it's the home of this guy. It's for sale, so if you're interested let me know.

My Run - click on the map and change it to satelitte photo to see if you can find the home. Hint, it's near the 2 mile mark.

2000 Miles

Google it. Reaching 2000 miles is a big deal. In a car.

Or on foot. Somewhere on Lisbon Drive in Chandler, AZ I reached 2000 miles for my running career.
My first mile was back on August 2, 2006. I did 2 miles. That's 65 miles a month for 31 months.

Jerome Hill Climb

What are you doing on September 6th? I suggest you visit the mining town of Jerome in the mountains of Arizona. Then with 200 of your closest friends you can run 4.6 miles up the mountain to a finish line and food. In 2008, Zachary Thomas did it in a course record of 29:14. Some take an hour and a half.

The first photo is from the one mile mark looking back at the start. If you look closely at the second photo, you'll see a line of runners proceeding up the dirt trail. The third photo is right before the finish line.

Jerome is called the 'Most Vertical City in America' and now you can see why.

Now, this 2009 will be my first year running this race and I was wondering how you get back down. I looked in the race photos and I don't see the bus. But, I do see other photos of people heading down this road on foot. Maybe the bus is around the corner. Or maybe you'll have to run the 4.6 miles back down the trail as a cool down.

If you like these photos, check out Megan's website. She's a pro that takes pics at many of the ARR races. What's more amazing than the lack of a bus, is that she'll sell you the pictures dirt cheap. So cheap, you'll even want to buy pictures of strangers.

2008 Jerome Hill Climb Pictures

2008 Jerome Hill Climb Results.

Races Added to My Schedule

I just renewed my membership to the Arizona Road Racers. ARR is the running club for the greater Phoenix area. I am a member of SAR - Southern Arizona Roadrunners too. They are out of Tucson, an hour 20 minutes south of my home.

I joined as a Benefactor. It's three times the cost of a normal membership. But, I get to run in 10 races for free. The Christiansen Trail Run, The Desert Classic 2 miler, All five of the Summer Series races, The Jerome Hill Climb, The South Mountain Classic 5k and the Mazatzals (mad as hell) Trail Run in Sunflower, AZ.
Here's the races I'm adding:

Papago Park 5k on May 23.
Reach 11 Park 5k on June 14.
Rio Vista Four on the Fourth on July 4.
Kiwanis Park 5k on July 18.
South Mountain 5k on August 9. (those are the summer series races)

Jerome Hill Climb. Here's what ARR says about it:

"Join the ARR for the 39th Annual Jerome Hill Climb. This unique event is a 4.6 mile uphill run on paved and dirt roads that begins at the Jerome Historical Museum and passes through historic downtown Jerome before finishing on a nearby mountain top."

Here's a view of Jerome, "America's Most Vertical City". Yeah, we start near the bottom and finish way up high.

16 of 48 Books read

Remember I am reading 48 books this year before my 48th birthday. This is book 16.

16. Rabbit Redux by John Updike

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
The second book in the rabbit series and probably the last one I read. Updike's books are kind of depressing.

In the first book, Rabbit, Run you read as the main character Rabbit, deals with his faultering marriage and dead end life. So, he runs. In this book it's his wifes turn to run.

I had heard that John Updike was a world class author and he recently passed away, so I wanted to read some of his works. I've read two, so now I'm done.

Does he venture into other subjects? Maybe I just need to get away from the rabbit series.


View all my reviews.

Time for some Dirty Six!

How about this for a race? I'm thinking about signing up and it's close to home.

My Bounty

Katie sent me my prizes for winning the Biggest Loser Fantasy League and for the Half Marathon Challenge. My wife collects disney pins on the small quilt she made, so I added the two pins to it. You can click on the photo to see the pins closer.

And I also got some spices and seasoning from Maryland.

Thanks Katie!

St. Pat's One Miler

It was the annual St. Patrick's 8k (4.8 miles) and 1 mile races in Kiwanis Park. I've always wanted to do a one mile race and I figured this was my time. I tapered for three days. My legs were tired and I planned to take two days off, but it turned into three. Over 200 runners lined up for the longer race and 39 of us lined up across the street for the mile. It was about half kids and half adults. I figured I could finish in the top 4 or 5. Usually there's some fast kids and one or two fast adults.

Luckily, today there was only one fast kid. I got to be the fast adult. Before the start of the race, one dad was giving instructions to two young men next to me. Finally, the one kid looked at me and said, "I'll just follow him." That was the nine year old that lead the whole race. I was right behind and had to give him directions to turn right, go under the bridge, keep the lake on your left and finally to turn right again. Yeah, I was tempted to have him run around the lake again.

The finish is up a hill and then a sharp right turn into the picnic area. I tried to kick it, but my tank was empty and his wasn't. His buddy, the 7 year old was right on my tail the whole way. We finished one, two, three.
An 8:10 mile is my best. I think I did an 8:20 first mile at the Goodyear 5k. After the race I got to talk with the kids. For polite and nice. I let him know I didn't let him win. If I could have passed him, I would have. My garmin battery was low, so I didn't get to see my pace during the race. I just tried to keep up with the fast kid.
After our race, I got to watch the longer race. It's entirely inside the park. Around the lake, on the canal and some park road. It was nice that they went one way and the milers went the other.

I stuck around and helped with the kiddie dash. The 7 year old that finished third in the mile, won his age group in the KD. The 9 year old finished 4th. Plenty of fruit, cookies and water for the runners. They even had some green beer. They gave out awards to the top three in all age groups for the long run and medals to the top male and female in the mile. I did win my AG (three old guys), but no medal for second place overall.

Arizona Foot Races

I am now putting my race reports on Arizona Foot Races. It's a blog that lists all Arizona races from Lake Powell to the Mexican border with race reports from lots of different runners. It's new and you can put your race reports there too. That is, if you run any Arizona races.

I started this blog and April is the first month. But, I'm posting older race reports. So, if you have any race reports, let me know. I can copy and paste them from your blog to AFR.

Check it out, I think it'll be pretty cool.

Tired Legs

My son had to go to downtown Chandler for a Japanese Swordsmenship class. It was his first time driving down there, so I told him I would go with him and run home. I don't get to do too many runs that aren't a loop, so this would be fun.

Except, after running two races over the weekend and running yesterday and again tonight I had tired legs. Four runs in five days was a bit much. Yesterday I ran 3.4 miles in 40.06 (11:36 pace). I got to run the Indian Bend Wash, almost got run over by some SF Giant minor leaguers in a van(they were in uniform) and almost hit by a golf ball as I ran past the golf course. The top map is of that run.

Tonights run was 4.3 miles in 50.57 (11:41 pace). I started my run right where the Ostrich Festival finish line was. The hardest part of the run was going past all the great smelling restaurants. In and Out Burger was unbelievable. I almost stopped.

So, what's unusual about the bicycle below? You can click on the photo to enlarge.

Chip 292

Dane Patterson's (The Biggest Loser) chip ran again this past saturday. I guessed it would be worn in the 10k and the runner would finish in 58:25.

Nick guessed it would be the 5k with a time of 24:17.
John guessed it would be the 5k with a time of 27:43.

And the winner is:

87 292 Karen Winar 58 30/51 4/6 F 58:38
(Litchfield Park 10k)

Karen was just 13 seconds slower than I predicted.

Sunrise at Old Tucson

This was a doubleheader weekend. Yesterday was the Ostrich Festival 5k and today was a 3.8 miler at a movie studio. Old Tucson Studios is know for being a filming site for many a John Wayne movie, as well as, many other westerns.

Here's just a few movies made there.
1940: Arizona
1945: The Bells of St. Mary's
1957: 3:10 to Yuma
1957: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1958: The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
1959: Rio Bravo
1965: The Great Sioux Massacre
1966: El Dorado
1967: Hombre
1970: Rio Lobo
1972: The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
1974: The Trial of Billy Jack
1976: The Outlaw Josey Wales
1981: The Cannonball Run
1986: ¡Three Amigos!
1990: Young Guns II
1993: Geronimo: An American Legend
1993: Nemesis
1993: Tombstone
1994: Lightning Jack
1995: Hard Bounty
1995: The Quick and the Dead
2005: Seven Mummies
2007: Legend of Pearl Hart

It was almost a 2 hour drive for me. My kids and wife passed at the chance to get up at 4 am. The question was, would I be dead by the time I got to Tucson?

I ran again in "A Shirt That Races".

Look familiar? This is one of the sets that we ran past. My legs felt great and I was ready to run, but not as fast as yesterday. One, it's my first trail race with a lot of single track. Two, I brought my camera. The race director, who was pretty funny told us it was around 3.9 miles, unless you get lost. This race had lots of turns, as you can see on the map. One loop around the studio streets, then out into the desert, past the start line with a final loop around town. He warned us about rattlesnakes. He said, "the first runner scares the snake, the snake scares the second runner and the third runner gets bit. So make sure you're the fourth runner." Or something to that effect.

I was running and taking pictures and ran mile splits of around 11 minutes each for the first three. The final .8 was in town and I had already taken pictures there, so I ran my fastest. a 9:48 mile split. I finished in 41:27 and was happy with that.

This was put on by the Southern Arizona Roadrunners (which I am now a member) and they had a great awards ceremony. Lots of door prizes for adults and kids, AG awards and the Old Tucson Sheriff added some levity. We had a trail breakfast (scrambled egg burritos).

Here we are running the streets and below is Horse Poop Alley. Yeah, it's where they dump the waste and we got to run right thru it.

Old Tucson Studios is in the Saguaro National Forest. SA-war-o. And it is a forest, as you can see. The drive is majestic.

Now, it's time to send "A Shirt That Races" to another state. Our goal is to have a different runner in all 50 states and Canada run in this shirt. I'll write on the shirt about the two AZ races, wash it (promise) and then mail it to . . . you?

If you want to participate, let Nikemom know when and she'll put you on the calendar.

2009 Ostrich Festival 5k

Today was the debut of the men's version of "A Shirt That Races". I set my alarm for 6 am and woke up at 6:30 wondering why the alarm didn't go off. I was ok, since this year's Ostrich Festival 5k was being run on the parade route in downtown Chandler for the first time. Just a few minutes from home. I got to packet picket up an hour before race time. Picked up my race tee, which is just the festival tee. But, still good looking and went back to my car to stay warm.

There I am in "A Shirt That Races" with bib #149. It's a small race with less than 200 runners. About 50 degrees and sunny. There was a delay of almost 1/2 hour because the barricade guys slept in.

Runners started warming up. This guy wasn't going 15 mph, but I thought it was a funny picture anyway. I started out fast. My plan was to stay around a 9:09 mile.* Three of those plus a fast sprint at the end will give me a PR of around 28:10. My first mile was in 8:45. I thought I was moving pretty good, but there were still plenty of people gliding past me. This course is made for PRs. It's flat and straight. It all takes place on Arizona Avenue with just two turn arounds. Mile two was done in 9:36. I did walk for a drink and to down half a candy bar (much more enjoyable than a GU).

Mile three was the most fun. In the finish line picture below you'll see a little kid sitting on the curb. He ran the race. Maybe 10 years old. He cruises past me, looks up, smiles and says hi. I catch up to him, thinking that he's running a 1 mile fun run and it happens to be on the same course. So, I ask. Nope, he's running the whole 5k and it doesn't look like it's fazing him one bit.

Yeah, that little kid on the left. Maybe, he's 7 or 8. So we get to the 2.6 mile turn around and theirs a cop directing traffic. I tell the kid to give the cop a high five and he does. As he does I take the turn and say, "see ya kid, I'm in front". As the kid sprints past me, he says, "Oh no your not".

We spend the last bit of the race running side by side and I give him some race advice about conserving energy and saving it for the sprint to win at the end. We match stride for stride and then I tell him at the light I'm going to start my sprint. 100 yards to go and we both kick it up a notch. I did mile three in 9:51, but now the kid and I are under a 7 minute pace. I had some gas in the tank, he was running on fumes. I could have taken the kid, honest. Of course, he probably told his dad he didn't want to beat the old man too bad, so he coasted. But, I like my story better. We both finished around 28:52. The kid won by a nose.

I stop my garmin, give the kid a fist bump and realize that I missed my PR by 3 seconds. Three Seconds! That's ok. I enjoyed racing with the kid, much more than any PR. There's always tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow. I hope I have the horsepower for race #2 this weekend. Yeah, I'm taking "A Shirt That Races" down to Tucson for a special race.

*9:09 pace per mile would give me a 2 hour HM or a 4 hour marathon. That's why my blog is named after my goal pace. I'm a long way from my goal.