Results of Pocatello to Syracuse Ride - 162 miles in 9:28

Cathi dropped me off at Grandma and Grandpa's house last night. We visited for a couple hours and I went to bed. The night's sleep was great, but it seemed like it went too fast. I got up had a bowl of cereal and left @ 6:15am. I was frustrated with how I couldn't really see the road too good even though I had a bright headlight. I missed one turn and had to backtrack a little. The temperature was warmer than I thought so about 30 minutes into the ride I stripped off all my long black pepper under clothes and wrapped them up nicely around my frame.

I was surprised how hilly it was. It was tough. I was able to build up my average speed to 17.2 mph at one point and it went back down at several points but I ended up at 17.1 mph.

When I arrived at Preston I stopped at several places to take pictures of Napolean Dynamite places. I included those in the video below. Had lunch at Logan's Heroes at the south end of Main Street. Had a very tasty sandwich. Had a stomach ache for about a half hour after that cause it was a big sandwich. Felt better though and started heading up the monster hill going to Brigham City. When I got to the top I was happy knowing that the rest of the ride was totally down hill. I got some serious speed the rest of the way and was able to take my average speed from 16.4 to 17.1 by the time I got home.

Cathi and the kids had set up a couple posters and were jumping up and down yelling "Yah Dad!" and stuff. It was nice to see them waiting for me in the front and happy to see me finish. I was able to really book it once I got to Roy. I had an accommodating tailwind from that point on. Was going over 23 mph down Gordon. Nice finish! Click the image below for a video.
From Biking

Results of Gridley Half-Century and Century Ride

We started the race at 9:20 this morning. The temperature was good. I had packed three Powerbars, two Buzz Bites and a 16 oz Powerade. Mom, Dad and Cathi decided to just stay together for moral support on the ride. I immediately went ahead and wanted to get a good pace going. Cathi enjoyed the visiting and the moderate pace right from the beginning.

When I got to the pay station at the causeway, I had a pleasant surprise. It's "free park day"! Perfect timing! The ride on the causeway was nice and the smell of salt was pretty intense in a couple of spots. When I got on the island heading towards the Ranch it was very hilly. Much more than I had anticipated from the elevation graph on the map.


When I got to around Mile 30 I saw Dad, Mom and Cathi. I continued on home. When I got home my GPS registered 49.7 so I went around the block once. I filled up my water bottle, got another Powerade and continued on for one more lap. I saw Mom, Cathi and Dad at their Mile 30. Mom was struggling up the last long hill. Poor woman.

I continued on to the Ranch. At my 80 I noticed I was only going 15 mph on flat. My front tire seemed wobbly. So I stopped and sure enough it was dead flat. I'm SO glad I bought a CO2 cartridge last week! I sat by the side of the road and repaired the front tire. It took me about 20 minutes to finish and get back riding again. In a way it really increased my confidence knowing that when I get a flat that I'm prepared and fully capable of fixing it and moving on. Hope I don't have to do that next week, but if I do, I'm ready.

I was running out of water and it was very hot so I stopped at the Visitors Center on the way home and refilled my water bottle. By the time I got to mile 90 I was out of energy so I ate my last Powerbar. I had to gag down the first two, but the third one hit the spot! It got me through to the finish. So now I have a new personal record for the longest ride - 100 miles. But this record will only last a week as I'm going for 157 next Saturday!

I did it in 5:25 (18.4 mph). The first half was slightly faster. Got slower near the end and I was riding on a flat for a while I think.

Cathi, Mom and Dad did the half-century ride in 4:45. Good job Cathi, Mom and Dad on a difficult ride! Next time we'll do a completely flat ride.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO CLIPS AND PICTURES OF THE RIDE.

Fantastic ride!

Yesterday I stopped at Big 5 and got some Pepper Skins. If I'm going to ride in to work for a few more weeks I need to be prepared for some cooler weather. I'm especially worried about the early morning on the Pocatello ride. Well that purchase I made was so worth it! The temperature was perfect the whole way! It protected me when it was cold, and when the sun came up, I didn't overheat. It was well worth the price for these.

I also picked up several boxes of Chocolate Powerbars yesterday. I also took one with me this morning to try it out. I started eating one about one hour into the ride. It was tasty and I could tell it was packed with energy. Usually those powerbars are nasty! But this was good.

The ride to work was great! I had a tailwind until I got to 500 South in Bountiful. I took the Legacy Bike trail. When I got to 500 South then I started getting a headwind which progressed until it was impacting my performance. I had a 19.9 mph average built up when I got to that point, then it went down to the point to where I got down to 18.4 when I got to work. Here are the stats:

Distance: 31.6
Time: 1:43
Average Speed: 18.41 mph
Max Speed: 25.5 mph

Sure glad I took yesterday off. I feel so good! I also got some new cargo pants for storing here at work. They are 34's and guess what! They're still a little big. I could easily fit into 32 pants now. Unbelievable. I feel a little girly being so skinny now. But thanks to my years of lifting instead of actually being skinny and girly, I'm looking more "V-Shaped" according to Cathi.

Biceps and Abs

Been a long time since I've been in the weightroom.

Seated Preacher Curls: 4 x 15 @ 75
superset with
Crunches: 2 x 50
alt with
Air Bike: 2 x 50

Alternating Dumbell Curls: 4 x 20 @ 25
superset with
Captain's Chair: 4 x 15

Close grip, palms in pullups: 1 x (5,6,7,8)
superset with
Four beat flutter kick: 3 x 25

I was really surprised on the pullups. I haven't been able to do that many since Deseret Gym. Guess it pays to be lighter.

Good workout.

Getting Numb

Didn't bike as planned last Saturday. We were very much pressed for time, plus it was raining and the roads were slick. Had a fun time at the cabin and being with the family.

This morning I got up an hour before the alarm went off and decided to get a head start on this morning's ride. Had a bowl of cereal and the weather guy said it was cold outside. I went out for a second to see cause it was just fine inside. Man was it freezing so I went upstairs and got on a sweatshirt and jogging pants. By the time I got Mitchell's house in South Kaysville I was getting warm so I stripped off the outer layer and hid them in the bushes by their mailbox. I will pick them up on the way home.

The rest of the way was cool, but not unpleasantly so until I got to Warm Springs Road in NSL. My hands and feet were numb. There wasn't much of a wind, but enough to really chill my fingers and toes. When the sun came up it didn't seem to make things warmer in fact it seemed colder. I'm getting nervous about next weekend's ride from Pocatello. It's gonna be cold! Here are this morning's stats:

Distance: 31.6 miles
Time: 1:45
Average Speed: 18.06 mph
Max Speed: 24.5 mph

The ride home was very pleasant temperature wise. Here are the stats:

Distance: 31.6 miles
Time: 1:45
Average Speed: 18.06 mph

63.2 miles total today. Not too shabby. Will bike to work again on Thursday. No more going two days in a row. Need to let my body recover a little. I can push it, but then my training suffers at the end of the week. Moderation dang it!

Cathi's Top Of Utah Marathon - 3:54:30

Cathi here - We just got back from the weekend at the cabin. I ran the Top of Utah Marathon on Saturday morning. Here are my results. We went up Friday evening and stayed up at the cabin with my running friend, Tiffany Gallup and her husband Gerry. We had hoped that we could get Tiffany qualified for Boston in this race. This was my first race 6 years ago and I cried at the end. The last 4-6 miles in this race are not fun!

Gordon stayed with the kids and Gerry also helped out as they cheered for me at several points throughout the race. Jacob joined me at mile 21 and ran with me clear to the finish. My mom also cheered for me at one point at mile 20 and then at the finish. I didn't beat my last time from the Pocatello which qualified me for Boston. I walked several times the last 6 miles. If it weren't for Jacob I wouldn't have even been under 4:00. I loved getting high fives from the kids that was a pick me upper. Here is some video of the points Gordon and the kids met me.



My friend Tiffany didn't quite make it under the qualifying time for Boston, but she is hoping to make it down to St. George for one last attempt.

Fatigued, but gotta push through.

This is the last day I'm riding in to work. Thursday and Friday I'm taking a break from biking since I'm doing a pretty decent ride on Saturday. Still fatigued from yesterday, but gotta push through and just do it. Weighed in yesterday at 187.4. New record. Motivating to keep going lower.

Found a new and improved route. MapMyRide.com doesn't have the Legacy Highway/Bike Trail on the satellite images. Looks like the satellite pictures need to be retaken since so much has changed since then. Here are the stats:

Distance: 31.4
Time: 1:47
Average Speed: 17.6
Max Speed: 23.9

Had a pretty good headwind for a while.

On the way home though I had an awesome tailwind the whole time except when I was going east or west and then it was to the side. Took a buzz bite cause I only had a bowl of oatmeal and two peaches all day.

Distance: 31.6
Time: 1:26
Average Speed: 22.0 mph

Legacy Bike Trail - legal this time

I'm disappointed that I have to go nearly 15 miles before getting to the start of the Legacy bike trail up by the Davis Justice Center in Farmington. I wish it extended further into Kaysville and Layton.

This morning I took the trail as far south as I could go down to where 215 and Legacy meet. Problem is you come to a complete dead end with no sign or warning. I turned around and went back about 3/4 mile to the I-215 and Redwood junction and took Redwood Road down to 400 S and then went east in to work. Had a bit of a headwind for a while. Still faster than normal coming in to work:

Distance: 33.6 miles
Time: 1:51
Average Speed: 18.16
Max Speed: 27.6 mph

The bike home I took Beck street down to the Construction Company/Topless Dancer intersection. Turned left and went north on Warm Springs Road which turns and hooks into Redwood. Went north on Redwood just past the I-215 junction and then hooked into the Legacy Bike Trail from there. It was a good ride. Here are the stats:

Distance 31.4 miles
Time: 1:45
Average Speed: 18.12 mph
Max Speed: 30.0 mph

Rowing

At lunch today I rowed 5000 M. I did it three seconds slower than my personal record. I did it in 20:12. It sure gets my heart rate up! Sweating good.

Did some core work for 10 minutes afterwards, then three sets of 30lb alternating DB curls.

A little sore from Saturday, but not nearly as bad as I was after the Pocatello 5K. Go figure.

Back at it tomorrow. Plan on swimming with Cathi real early and then biking in to work and back home. Need to get more yardage in to be prepared for the ride on Oct 4th. I was most pleased with my bike results at Saturday's triathlon.

Cathi's Ogden Triathlon

Cathi here. I liked the Ogden Triathlon more then the Echo Triathlon. It was prettier. The swim was mostly done on my back this time. I did backstroke for 95% of it. I would do about 100 strokes and then turn on my stomach to see where I was going, scope forward, and do breaststroke for a couple of stokes. Then back to my back. It seemed that the entire swim was with women in white swim caps all around me. We were running into each other left and right for most of the race, although it was much thicker for the first half. We were swimming in a counter clockwise triangle. It was very choppy water. Man! After we had passed the first big orange buoy in the water and were headed for the second, I thought the buoy in the middle was the one I turned around for. It was not and I had to keep on going. I liked how in this race they split up the competition into different colored swim caps. I was in the white cap category. It was easy to know when to start and which group you were in. Gordon was in the red swim cap category and he says he was the first red cap out of the water-pretty impressive. The swim was pretty good but tiring. 1000 yards. Maybe about 19 minutes.

One mistake I made on the transition was that I left the goggles around my neck and as I was leaving with my bike I noticed that my goggles were still on. I had to take my helmet off and take the goggles off because I knew they would bug me on the bike. Ooops. A guy from some Ogden newspaper was standing there asking people questions and he said to me, "With your slow and easy pace, you're sure to win" (ha ha ha). I laughed and kept on going.

The bike is never my favorite part. I don't know if it's because there are about 100 bikers that pass me like I'm standing still or what. I don't have a road bike and Gordon thinks that makes a huge difference. So many racers in a triathlon seem to be heavy duty bikers (fanatics) with the whole tight outfit, etc. I am just a chubby girl in my biker shorts (that don't look very good on me). So the whole bike is a little intimidating in the first place.

An interesting thing happened on the bike this time. I was riding close to the white line. We were riding around the Pineview Dam which is very pretty. I was cruising along at what must have been around 15 mph (Wow, that's fast, right??) All of a sudden I feel a big hit on my left leg. Someone ran into me on their bike. I cried out because it mostly shocked me. The guy that hit me fell off his bike and laid on the ground. I stopped and watched him for a minute, quite a bit up ahead. As he was getting up I kept on going. A guy that biked past me then said, "Don't worry, that was all him." I was wondering if the guy that got on his bike from the accident was going to cuss me out when he got near me again, but he never did. I was wondering if he was thinking, "Why do total amateurs do races like this?" So I finished up the bike at less then an hour for 15 miles. I was glad to be onto my specialty.

The run was very hilly and the second half was on a trail. The trail was very narrow so anytime you wanted to pass someone, you had to say, "On your left". Unlike on the bike I do the majority of the passing on the run. I probably passed about 15 people on the run. I felt good about it. There was one guy in front of me on the run who was wearing long black/white striped socks who was a teenager. The guy behind me nicknamed him "socks" and would say, "Let's go socks. Let's finish hard" (because our pace depended on him because we didn't want to pass). I don't like when on a run it's out and back and you can see near the finish as you are running out and wish you could just jump the fence or whatever and hop to the finish, and pretend like you did the whole thing. Oh well. I did 4 miles in about 35 minutes.

I was near dead by the end. I was so glad to be finished. I don't know if I will ever love triathlons. I like marathons better for some reason. For some reason it's a better sense of accomplishment. Gordon wants to increase to Olympic distance next year but I don't know if I'm "on board" for that. Overall a good race for me. Here are my timed results.

When I got past the finish line I forgot to stop my watch, but when I looked at it after about 30 seconds it said 2:00:05. So I just did it under 2 hours. The official results showed quite a bit faster. Gordon said it's messed up.

I passed a girl in a shirt that read "All you have to give is all you've got". That pretty much sums up the race for me.

Ogden Valley Triathlon Results

Well - the long awaited day has come. Eric came over to our house with Stacey and tried putting his bike on my bike rack, but it wouldn't fit with the other bike's handlebars taking up so much room so we drove up separate. He went up Ogden Canyon and I went up through Mountain Green. He beat us up there by probably 10 minutes. Oh well, nice experiment.

When we got there they had the buoys setup and I was like "There is no way that is 1000 M." Eric was like "It is, it just looks close together cause we're so far back." I was still doubtful. When it was about 45 minutes to start time, a boat went around and moved each of the three to probably double the distance apart. Eric was gone to the bathroom and when he came back, he said "Holy Crap!" I laughed. 1000 M is a long way.

This race was setup with alot of heats. It was supposed to be timed out so that the age group male and females compete against each other with the difference in heat start times. Sounds like a good idea. When my heat started I was on the front line and timed with my watch just as the gun went off for my heat. I was dealing with alot of splashing but quickly took the lead for my heat. By the time I broke away I was running into white capped ladies from the heat ahead of me. I came upon a woman who must have been treading water as I clothes lined her with my left arm. I stopped to look to make sure she was OK and say sorry. But then I went back on. I was passing people from the previous heat and coming into people from two heads ahead. I definitely was the first one out of the water in my heat. They had all the heats separated by cap color and I was the first red cap out of the water.

I didn't have any cramping issues with all the potassium pills I've been taking, the banana's and the salt pretzel's I've been loading up on! When I got out of the water I saw Cathi struggling to get off her wetsuit. I tapped her on the head and said, "Good job Cathi!" and ran to the transition area to take my wetsuit off.

When I got there the suit came off fast and I was able to start my bike part pretty quickly. I wasn't very fast getting my shoes on. I probably was about 15 seconds slower than I could have been had I been smarter.

Now the biking portion is where I'm just a little better than average, but that's it. When I got the point where I could mount my bike I stopped and a lady next to me tried mounting on her bike, but she went too fast and slipped and fell. She was OK, but made me glad I wasn't going too fast. During the ride I had gatorade splashing out of my aerodrink bottle all over me and my bike. Duane Ralphs told me about that mistake, but I guess I didn't listen well enough cause man that was a bad move! I passed probably 25 women on the bike portion, but I got passed by probably 15 guys so there was no way I was gonna place in my division. My average speed according to my GPS was about 21 miles per hour. I didn't have it on when I started so I didn't get an accurate start reading, but got the gyst. I'll have to rely on milliseconds to report my times.

When I started the run I popped a Buzz bite in my mouth. I already took one about 15 minutes before the swim and thought a second one would be good since I already spent alot of energy. But after 10 minutes I couldn't take the flavor anymore. Don't get me wrong, they're yummy, but when running and you're thirsty, they're just too rich. I spit the rest of it out. They had water stations every mile. When I got to mile 1 I took water and ran and drank at the same time. When I got mile two, I wanted two drinks so I walked so I could down the first cup, get another and then move on. But at mile two we started our way back and it was on a hiking trail that was only about 24 inches wide in some areas, which winded around and up and down hills. It was a nightmare. I was passed by around 30 people on the run, but I passed 3 unfortunate souls. I got killed on the run! But I ran the whole time except for the half way point where I walked for about 15 seconds.

I was very happy with my performance. My times aren't anywhere near where I wanted, but this is my first Sprint(PLUS) tri. The distance on this tri was:

Swim - 1000 Meters (1094 yards)
Bike - 15.3431 Miles
Run - 4 Miles (Which I think is low. If you look at the map, it doesn't follow the trail exactly. But its pretty close) They should have had someone run it with a GPS to make sure.

My goals/actual were:
Swim - Goal = 14:00. Actual = 15:39.08 (1:26/100 yard average)
Bike - Goal = 47:00. Actual = 43:38 (21.09 mph average!)
Run - Goal = 33:00. Actual = 37:41 Boo! Hiss!
Transition 1 - Goal = < 3:00. Actual = 2:30.5 Yes!
Transition 2 - Goal = < 1:45. Actual = 1:45.5 Whoah close!
Overall - Goal = 1:38:45. Actual = 1:41:14.49

I did the best I could given the route that I faced. The run was way hillier than I thought and the bike wasn't exactly flat. My goal on the swim with 14:00 obviously not very realistic for me. That would have been 1:19/100 yards average and that is booking for open water.

I'll have Cathi report her results separately here. Overall the event was very well organized, the booths were awesome, the shirt was average and the watering stations were the perfect distance apart and well staffed. Excellent job overall, except for a couple things on the timing which was done by milliseconds.com, but that's another post.

Here are my official results. But I'm not sure how accurate it is due to the timing problems I noted.

Fastest Ride home so far

It was pretty windy outside and cloudy. The perfect thing was the wind was going directly north and it was probably a 15-20 mph wind. I made it home in record time of 1:20. Here are the stats:

Distance: 30.5 miles
Time: 1:20

Fantastic ride. I loved going fast! I almost got in a wreck though. I was going down 400 west and some guy in the right lane merged over to the shoulder with me just to the right of him. Fortunately I sensed the motion and put on my breaks before getting pushed over into the curb. I was going 28 mph or so at the time so I would have had my skin all over the road had I not been able to slow down in time. The guy noticed his mistake after the fact and put he hand up as if to apologize. Lucky I didn't die.

Early morning ride

Last night I attached the bright LED light to the front of my bike for this morning's ride. I got up at 4:50 and left at 5:15am. I rode to SDRC where I swam 4500 yards and then rode the rest of the way to work. I was amazed how comfortable it was riding in the dark. I was familiar enough with the route and the potholes to avoid plus the tailwind I was having made me get an 18.7 mph average in the dark which is great I think.

Once I left SDRC for work though there was much more traffic and the tailwind switched to a pretty good headwind. My average dipped down to 18.0 mph by the time I got to work. Here are the stats:

Distance: 33.0 miles
Time: 1:50
Average:18.0
Max Speed: 27.4 mph

Will be biking home tonight and then back in again tomorrow morning. After that I'm tapering for this Saturday's race.

Pocatello to Syracuse Ride

Planning on riding from Pocatello to Syracuse on October 4th. Here is the plan:

0515 - arise (Shower, breakfast, prepare drinks/bike)
0545 - depart Pocatello
0803 - sun rises (@34 miles (Arimo)- assuming only 15 mph avg in dark, 17.5 mph average daylight)
0840 - Downey (45 miles)
1030 - Arrive in Preston ( 74 miles)
1200 - Arrive in Logan (100 miles) STOP FOR LUNCH at park @ 900 N 100 W.
1230 - Leave for home
1430 - Brigham City (125 miles) (Assuming Logan Pass avg is 12.5 mph, 17.5mph avg the rest of the way)
1530 - Slaterville (142 miles)
1630 - Home (157 miles)

Here is the planned route:


Here is the elevation with a few points along the way. Click on it for a larger view. I'm willing to do this ride alone, but would prefer to have one or two other people as company and for rotating the lead.

New Record - Longest Bike ride so far - 80 miles

This morning was the Gridley 16 mile Race. We met out at Saltair out near Tooele and biked 8 miles east towards Salt Lake and then back.

There were 6 participants: Eric, Mom, Dad, Cathi and Isaac (riding tandem), and myself. Eric and I started out together and rotated taking the lead every 2 miles. When we turned around Eric said to rotate every mile. He started the first mile of the 2nd half, where after one mile back I took the lead again. When he was supposed to take over I looked behind me and he was about 20 yards back. I wasn't about to slow down so I just kept the same pace. I was able to maintain a 22-23 mph pace when I was in front.

When I got back I looked down and the stats were:

Distance: 16 Miles
Time: 43:20
Average Speed: 22.0 mph

I was pleased with that time. I was expected around 50 minutes. I went back a couple of times to support Dad in his finish, and then Cathi and Mom. When the race was over I had put in about 22 miles. I took this picture.

I was feeling like I need more so I biked home from there. I wanted to beat my PR of 70 miles in one day and get in 80 miles today so when I got home I still had 10 miles so I went out to Clearfield and back. When I got back it was 80 miles even. Here are the total stats including the race:

Distance: 80 miles
Time: 4:16
Average speed: 18.7

I was feeling tired at the end but not so much that I collapsed. I think 100 would be tough. Need to build up even more stamina for this Fall's Pocatello - Syracuse Ride!

Quasimodo missed the mark again!

This morning I skipped swimming since Cathi went running with Natalie. I slept in too much, was grumpy with Jacob. He made three quasadillas late last night and only ate 1/2. My biggest pet peeve is WASTE. I hate it. I can't even make ends meet and we're wasting food! Left at 8:00 for riding in to work which is way too late. I'm gonna have to stay late to make up for it and take the train home.

Wasn't able to convince the legs to really push it today either! I'm so mad. I'm gonna have to rest the legs until Saturday. I'm less sore, but still not 100% on power. I got about 18 miles or so into this morning's ride, I was heading west on Pages lane. I just crossed the railroad tracks when bam! A wasp hit me right in the face. Just above my glasses. It got stuck in my eyebrow for a split second and then that's all it took to get stung. My face burned and I had a hand on my forehead and coasted the rest of the way down pages lane. I stopped at the end of the road and realized I just had to keep going.

By the time I got to North Salt Lake I couldn't open my right eye very easily. I had to bug my eyes out to see and I could feel that my right eyebrow was touching my glasses. I knew I had swollen up pretty bad.

By the time I got to work I knew I was looking like Quasimodo. Didn't hurt much, but just swollen. Not a good ride. Stuck at lots of lights, legs were useless and my face looked like I ran into a brick wall. At least I didn't crash.

Here's the stats:
Distance: 30.7
Time: 1:47
Average speed: 17.2

Missed the mark again!
At least I look worse than Hitch did. I was wondering why in the movie he was drinking Nyquil. Cause it has antihistamine in it. Which is something I wish I had right now.

Dead tired

The bike ride home was fine until I got to West Farmington and then I completely ran out of gas. I had to stop for a minute to regather some energy cause I was barely puttin' on 16 mph.

When I turned the corner in South Layton at the bottom of 22nd West some guy passed me. I turned it on a little and drafted until we got to Gentile where he turned left and I continued on. Here are the stats:

Distance: 30.5 miles
Time: 1:45
Average Speed:17.43 mph

Not good. Minimum desired avg is 18.0.

Commuted

Today's ride didn't feel like a workout in the sense that I went a pace I was happy with. Packed in the laptop along with a 3 pound Cylinder of Oatmeal. Plus it was in a dufflebag which wasn't well secured. Not a fun ride:

Distance 25.1 miles
Time: 1:35
Average Speed: 15.85 mph SLOW!!!

Annoyed with how slow it went. Felt like an old fart. My legs are thrashed!

Long ride after the storm

This morning was rainy and stormy. It cleared around 3pm and by 5pm it was perfect outside. Great day for a ride. I rode to my parents house in Salt Lake and back:

Distance: 63.5
Time: 3:28
Max Speed 29.8 mph

My legs are probably the sorest they've ever been thanks to last Saturday's 5K. It doesn't affect my biking very much, but probably doesn't help much with the healing.

Just can't sit still

Even though my legs are super stiff and I'm tired, I can't just let a good Saturday evening go wasted. I went on a ride starting at 6:30. I should have left earlier, but I was lazy and it affected the mileage I wanted to do. But it wasn't bad:

28.6 miles
1:26
19.7 mph average

Pretty good headwind going south, but coming back north it was great.

"Run the Gap" - 2008 Pocatello Marathon 3:45:49

Today was my 11th marathon. It was in Pocatello. I ran this marathon a few years ago and did terrible. So I wondered how this one would go. I ate a buzz bite from mile 17 to 20 and that helped me get over that hump. When I would hit a certain mile marker I would look at my watch and think, "I could make Boston if I hurry."

When I turned the last corner I saw what I thought was the finish line. I found out when I got there that it was just an advertisement for the marathon and not the finish line. Just around a bend I could see about 1/4 mile further was the real finish line. I started walking for about one second, and then thought to myself, I can do this, I'm going to finish strong so I immediately started to run again. About 200 yards before the finish Gordon saw me and ran towards me and ran with me through to the finish.

I qualified for Boston! I never thought I would do it. My time was 3:45:49. I was very happy! We checked the computer display at the end that showed the results and I took 2nd in my division (F 35-39). We went back to Grandma and Grandpa's to shower and get Jonas. Then came back for the awards ceremony. Here is some video and a picture:

Here is a link to the official results.

New PR in the 5K - 22:59

Today I did the Pocatello 5K. Cathi did the Marathon. We spent the night last night at Grandma and Grandpa Richins. We went up to Becky and Kyle's where they had a nice pasta dinner prepared for us. It was so good. I was so full I bet I weighted nearly 200 when I went to bed. Last night at 10:30pm Cathi said, "Gordon! I forgot to bring a sports bra!" So we went out to Fred Meyer and picked one up, just before they closed. That would be like leaving my shoes at home.

We woke up at 5am and I drove Cathi over to the Bus stop where they drove her up the canyon in Inkom. I went back home got another hour or so of sleep, had some breakfast and then drove over to Ross park. Then took a bus to the 5K starting line.

When I started, I put a buzz bite in my mouth and it lasted through the whole race. At the end I had to spit out what was left cause my mouth was so dry and I was getting sick of the taste of it.

I started near the front and stayed near the front the whole time. I ran the whole time. Didn't walk, even to drink. I gulped the water as I jogged. I got gatorade all over me. There was a pretty good tailwind so that was helping me too.

I took the GPS, but never really referred to it. So next time I'm not taking it. I referred to my watch instead at the mile markers. The finish was the same finish as the 10K, the Half Marathon, and the Marathon. I finished with a time of 22:59. That is almost a whole minute faster than my previous time.

I took 4th in the 35-59 M category which really surprised me. I took 14th out of 65. I'm really stoked that I did so well. There was a guy who was ahead of me who would run/walk. He would run about 100 yards ahead of me and then walk until I got about 10 yards up to him and then he'd run again. When we got within 300 yards of the finish line. His run had progressively gotten slower to the point where I caught him on the last 200 yards of his run and was able to increase the distance between me and him. I sprinted the last 100 yards to the end. It felt so good to finish really strong like that.

Here is a link to the official results.

First time biking with no tunes

I packed my MP3 and put it in my back pocket of my jersey but forgot to put the ear pieces in. Thing is, I didn't even miss it. I was able to concentrate on my breathing as I exhaled in cadence with my pedaling. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

I also couldn't find my GPS so I have no idea what my max speed is. But I did time the overall trip which I know is 30.5 miles. Stats:

Distance: 30.5 miles
Time: 1:40
Average Speed: 18.3 mph

Rowing 5000 M

At lunch I went downstairs again and rowed 5000 M. With this only being my second try, I was able to easily beat my PR of 5000M in 20:51. I got 20:09.

Had to get a drink about 4 times during that 20:09 so I had to push it so I wouldn't mess up my time. That's where one of those hats that has the drink on top with the straw coming down would come in handy. As long as it had cool water, and not beer of course. Then I did 10 minutes of abs.

Nice workout. I should check my heart rate, I'm sure its high.

Saturday evening ride

Left at 5:30 to go to SDRC to swim. I left later than I wanted to. When I arrived there was a sign on the door saying the pool would close at 6:45. I got there at 6:25pm. I wasn't about to use up a punch pass for 15 minutes. I was very upset. I was looking forward to a good swim before heading back. My GPS also ran out of batteries so I had to stop at a gas station and pay the crazy prices for some good AA batteries.

I called Eric to see if he wanted to go on a ride. He said yes, so I went further south west to his house. When I got there I was impressed with his bike. Very nice. We biked back north. This is the first time I've ridden with anyone since getting into it. I was surprised at how much a difference drafting makes. When he passed me up for taking the lead, he sure takes it fast.

The rest of the ride home went well. Not a bad workout:

Distance: 46.1 miles
Time: 2:27
Average Speed: 18.8 mph
Max Speed: 28.8 mph

Biking to Surf N' Swim then to work

Woke up at 5:45 and biked over to Layton Surf N' Swim and swam 2 miles, then rode on to work. Last night I had some serious stomach cramping, and said a prayer that I'd be better in the morning enough to ride in to work. Well it was only a .5 on the pain scale. Barely even noticeable so that was great!

Here are the stats:
Distance: 31.4 miles
Moving Time: 1:46
Average Speed: 17.7 mph
Max Speed: 28.9 mph

Felt a little fatigued so I took a buzz bite in Farmington to give me some energy for the rest of the ride which helped. This morning I noticed that my quads sure look bad. They aren't very well defined, or flappy, just blah. Need to work on those.

Good ride although not very fast.
----------------------------------------------------------
At lunch I ran to the bank (1.20 miles) then when I got back I peeked in the Treadmill Room in the basement. I noticed they have a rowing machine!!! I got on and rowed for 20:51 for 5000 M. Man was I sweating. Great workout.
----------------------------------------------------------
The ride home was much tougher and slower. I had a headwind to deal with for the first portion. Biking home with the laptop on my bike sure is a pain. Not a fun ride but no stomach cramps, so that's good. Here are the lame stats:

Distance: 29.8 miles
Moving Time: 1:55
Average Speed: 15.6 mph
Max Speed: 27.5 mph

Voodoo or Some micro-organism?

The last couple days I've had some pretty intense stomach cramps. Yesterday I went to be at 8:30pm. I was so tired, I just fell asleep on the bed without really getting ready for bed. That isn't like me.

This morning I got up and started riding to work. I had a pretty good pace. My average was at 19.9 mph when I hit 10 mile mark down in Farmington. Then I started getting some intense stomach cramps. I was thinking why I was having troubles. I remember drinking probably one cup of Deer Creek Water at last Saturday's Race. Could I have picked up a micro-organism, or is somebody poking their mini-Gords voodoo doll?

I turned around at the Davis County Jail and started heading home, thinking I would take a PTO day today, and go see the doctor. The pain was pretty intense.

Then I stopped and called Cathi. The conversation pretty much went like this. So I decided to just take the FrontRunner from Farmington in to work an just deal with it at work.

Thing that bugs me is the cramps went nearly completely away and I started feeling better. I only biked:

15.0 miles total
51:26
17.5 mph average (I had 19.9 mph average when I started getting the cramps)

I don't know which is worse, the pain in my gut, or the guilt from feeling like such a pussy! Hopefully I'm feeling better this evening and I can bike home fully.

----------------------------------
The bike ride home went so well! Except for the fact that I fell when at an intersection in Farmington. I tried shifting down last minute and then unclipped, but leaned to the wrong side, and down I went. Kind of embarrassing. No damage to body or bike. No major stomach cramps, although still minor tension:

Distance: 31.7 miles
Moving Time: 1:41
Average Speed: 18.7 mph
Max Speed: 30.4 mph

Excellent ride!

Man I'm weak!

Did some bench:

Flat Bench: 6 x 12 @ 135
Decline Bench: 6 x 12 @ 135
Incline DB Press: 6 x 12 @ 30

Had some pain in my right shoulder. Did some sets fast, some pretty slow. Disappointed with how tough it was. 135 used to be so easy it was funny. Not so anymore. I've leaned up quite a bit, but lost alot of muscle too. Sad thing is, I still need 15 more pounds before I'll be happy.

Legacy Highway Trail

This afternoon I rode down to the Davis County Jail in Farmington and noticed the bike trail was open, but only after going 100 yards I saw that it was still not open. It was dirt road for about 200 yards, and then pavement. So I kept going. I ended up going all the way to North Salt Lake on the path. Then took Redwood from 215 down to Mom and Dad's house. I got some cool water refills and then took off south
again to North Temple and then out to 2200 West and back North on 2200 W.

Got back on to the bike trail which went back to packed dirt trail for like 3 miles! Went clear up to 500 S in Bountiful on dirt! It was bad. When I got to Mom and Dad's house my average was like 20 something, but then it went way down on that dirt trail. My GPS also turned off on a big bump once on the ride. On the entire
ride I did about 3 miles on dirt. I'm excited for when that trail is open completely. It will be much better than needling through Davis County on piece of crap roads.

Here are the stats:

Distance: 60.0 Miles
Max Speed: 31.6 mph
Moving Time: 3:12
Average Speed: 18.6 mph

Great ride except for the dirt trail part.

Pictures from this years first Gridley 7 mile bike race

Mom just sent me the pictures from her camera. The race was clear back on May 31st.

Horse turds

Today there was more than the usual horse turd on the road in West Bountiful along 1100 W. Gotta love cowboys who leave there droppings everywhere. Get a bike man! No bike is gonna poo on the road.

Here are the stats for the morning's ride in to work. Negligible wind today:

Distance: 30.7 miles
Moving Time: 1:39
Max Speed: 29.1 mph
Moving Average: 18.4 mph

Good ride. Left at 6:30 am and got in at 08/08/08 at 08:08:08.

Need to leave early this afternoon to go on the Father and Son campout.

It's a long time coming

Finally I catch a break! This evening on the way home from Salt Lake, I had a tailwind of 10-15 mph coming from the south for most of the way. I didn't feel any wind at all and I was able to maintain a record breaking 21.0 mph the whole way.

The bummer about the ride is that my GPS is starting to act up. Whenever I hit a pretty good bump (trust me I avoid them when I can) or go over railroad tracks, it fizzles out and turns off. Then it takes another full minute or so to turn on and reconnect with the satellites. It happened three times on the ride and it's getting really annoying. I bought an extended warranty on it so I'm gonna look into getting it replaced if I can. But here are the stats:

Distance: 30.7 miles
Max Speed: 30.4 mph
Moving Time: 1:27
Average Speed: 21.05 mph

Best ride to/from work so far!

Racquetball in the butt

Last night I rode to Lagoon from work. The kids had fun and stayed together. Here are the stats of my ride:

Total distance: 16.8 miles
Moving Time: 55:25
Average Speed: 18.2 mph
Max Speed: 29.8 mph


This morning I snoozed past the alarm a little too much. Didn't get to SDRC till 6:20 and didn't play till 6:30. Eric and Dan were battling it out. Dad showed up and I played him three games. He won two and I won three. I spotted him 7-6-7. Looks like that is about the right range right now.

Then we played doubles. Dan and I against Eric and Dad. Dan and I won. Dad hit me pretty good right in the butt. One of these days I'm gonna have to spread my cheeks to get the ball out.

1:30 of play. Put the bike on the back of my car for riding home tonight.

Biking from Farmington

Today Austin, Jacob and Lucy are going to Lagoon and I'm picking them up late after work, so I drove to Farmington and parked my car near Lagoon and rode in to work from there on the bike:

Distance 16.8 Miles
Time: 57:00 minutes
Average speed: 17.68 mph

Nice ride in. No wind, but ever mindful of how poorly paved Woods Cross is. I'm so looking forward to when Legacy is done. I've noticed the bike path they have isn't very straight, but at least its smooth!

At lunch I ran to the bank (1.2 mile round trip) and then did Elliptical trainer for 20 minutes, and then did abs and biceps for 20 minutes.

Oh my back

My chest is a little sore from yesterday's workout. Today I stepped up the sets just a bit and did back:

Deadlifts: 15 x 135, 7 x 185 (Was going for eight, but got a sharp pain in lower back and stopped at 7)
Crunches: 3 x 50
DB Rows: 3 x 12 @ 35
Seated Close Grip Cable Pulls: 3 x 12 @ 100
superset with: Seated Cable Goodmornings: 3 x 8 @ 100

Didn't break a sweat, just trying to make the body remember that I'm not a total wuss and turned into an aerobic ken doll.

Remember me?

Man! It has been a long time since I've stepped into the weight room. Today I thought I would remind my muscles (at least my upper body) that they still have a purpose.

Flat Bench: 3 x 25 @ 135
Incline DB Press: 3 x 15 @ 35
Decline DB Press: 3 x 15 @ 50

Only spent 25 minutes in the weight room, but should be enough to wake those pecs up. Remember me?

Packing the laptop in

Since I had the laptop at home this weekend I had to pack it in this morning along with some other junk and man! 20 pounds on your back sure makes a difference! I was much slower today:

31.7 Miles
Moving Time: 1:50
Average Speed: 17.3 mph
Max Speed: 25.9 mph

I rode to Mom's house and took my car from there. I did that to avoid the hills up on the east side again. A little longer, but worth it to avoid the hills and the crazy angled railroad tracks in Woods Cross.

Biking home from Rose Park

Austin wanted to spend Saturday night at Grandma and Grandpa's house and spend the entire weekend and all day Monday. I drove him down at 6:30 and then rode my bike back home. It was a fast paced ride. Much easier taking the west side rather than the east side up by the mountains and avoiding all the hills and crazy traffic.

Stats: 31.3 miles
Moving Time: 1:37
Average Speed: 19.3 mph
Max Speed: 30.7 mph

I really enjoyed that ride!

Worst headwind ever

This morning I woke up early and biked over to Layton Surf N' Swim and played racquetball for two hours. I won two cutthroat matches and lost a couple of doubles matches.

Then I biked to work. I was already tired and I had a vicious headwind starting at Centerville. I couldn't get out of the inside front gear. The wind must have been around 12 mph or so. It was bad. US Flags were fully extended my direction.

Then to top it off some trucker on 300 W was in the right lane at a red light. He wasn't signaled and I moved up along side him. The lights were all red in all directions and I was wondering what the matter was. Then he starts honking. I look over and he is hand motioning to me that he wants to turn. I couldn't believe he couldn't just wait a couple more seconds. I moved forward a little bit thinking the light was going to turn any second. It did, but I was annoyed that he couldn't have just been courteous and waited. If he had signaled that he was turning in the first place I wouldn't have moved up in front of him.

Worst ride ever!


30.3 miles, 1:58 total time, 15.3mph average

Blah

I feel like I just got of a hot tub. Not sick, not lazy, just relaxed, just blah. Almost feel like I'm having an out of body experience or something. My brain and body are in a state of stupor. I started out at SDRC playing Dad. We played three games.

I started out giving him a lead of 10 points, he won. Then lead of 9, he won, lead of 8, he won again. His serves are getting better, he's getting faster, and making less bonehead mistakes.

Then Dan came. We played cut-throat. I won, and then Tom showed up. Dad and I played doubles against Dan and Tom. Dad and I won surprisingly. Dad had a few ace serves and we got lucky. Dad had to go so Dan, Tom and I played cutthroat. Tom won both of them. At this point is where my stupor state started. I was tired, but not so tired that I couldn't perform, just not as crisp mentally as I wanted. Tom was the guy who was consistently taking me out.

Total play time: 2:10

5 Mile Hike with the scouts

Today I only had about 1000 calories of energy intake. Took the train today so I biked home from the Layton Station. Got home quickly got some toast and then biked over to the church where I started the boys on this 5 mile hike. I forgot to take some water. I was wearing Levis and man was I tired at the end!

Felt like that hike was harder than biking home from Tomax.

Fresca Diet

So I decided this last weekend that I would start something that might be rash, but hopefully effective. I'm going to be sipping on Fresca throughout the day to keep myself hydrated and my stomach full. It's much tastier than water, refreshing and zero calories. I bought 12 x 2 liter bottles of the stuff and hope that it lasts a couple of weeks. I weighed in this morning exactly at 200.0 pounds and hope to be 195 by next Monday morning.

This morning I went in to LSaS (Layton Surf n' Swim) and played racquetball with Dan and Shawn. We played two cut-throat games. In the first game, Shawn called a short on Dan which was very close and Dan was in obvious disagreement with the call, but like a gentleman replayed it. The very next play Shawn hit the ball about a foot from Dan's head and hit him right in the ear with the ball. It was a hard hit and would have floored some guys. Dan took it well, but I immediately felt a disturbance in the force. The dark side was emanating from his being. However, the dark side fueled his anger and energy and he came back from 4 up to 15 for the win.

The next game Shawn barely squeaked by to win with Dan and myself both at 14.

Dan took off to get in early for a new hire. I played two games with Shawn and won both of them. My right tricep was strained from the first game today when I served extra hard. I was tired, but was able to make some decent shots to win by a huge margin on the second game.

1:45 total time played. Good games.

At lunch I did 45 minutes Elliptical Trainer, 10 minutes of Abs, then 80 pushups straight.

Water, Water Everywhere, but Not a Drop to Drink

This morning I took the scouts to Clearfield Aquatic Center to pass of the first and second class swimming requirements. I did 500 yards in laps and stopped cause they were done and started playing games. Sure reminded me of the lifeguarding days. Seems like its natural to break alot of rules. But we only got yelled at once.

In the afternoon we borrowed Steve Roberts kayak and went to Willard Bay. We set up on the beach after walking a couple hundred yards and down a steep rocky hill. Lots of stuff we took including a sun tent and camp chairs. Cathi started with the kayak and was gone for over an hour. She was so far away I couldn't even see her anymore. I wished I had my binoculars. When she got back I was ready to try it. She admitted that she wouldn't be able to be my boat backup at the Deer Creek race. She said she couldn't go more than 30 stroked before her arms were tired and that the whole time she had to take a bunch of breaks because it was hard on her arms.

When I went I was gone for 1:10 and only took about 1 minute break when I got close to where some birds went under the water. I was hoping they would come up right next to me, but they aren't dumb. I almost made it all the way across, but I promised Cathi I wouldn't be more than an hour.

When I turned around I was about 15 minutes from the other side. The thing was I was so thirsty. The sun was beating down and I didn't have any water. I kept thinking like those who might be in the ocean, "Water, Water Everywhere, but Not a Drop to Drink". Willard Bay water is gross! I wasn't about to swim in it. I got up to my knees and started seeing stuff that doesn't look it should be in the water. Probably all in my head, but the seaweed was bad too so I just kayaked today. Probably about 4 miles total.

The kids got real dirty and had a fun time on the beach burying each other and swimming. It was a great day!

Early morning racquetball

Since taking yesterday off from racquetball, Dad was disappointed and setup something last minute between himself, Eric and I. We met at SDRC at 6am and played till 8:15.

We played lots of cutthroat in which Eric won every time. When Dad took off Eric and I played three singles matches. He killed me on the first, squeaked by on the second and I slipped in the last win.

I was very tired this morning. I thought yesterday's nap got me caught up, but I'm not so sure. Sweat like a pig though and got a great workout.

Pioneer Day bike ride

This morning I got up at 2:00 am to get Cathi off to her Marathon and went to work super early. I got off at 8:45 to meet Cathi at the finish line. She came to the finish line within a minute of her PR, so she did awesome! I was so proud of her!

Went home and fell asleep I was so tired! When I woke up I had dinner and took off at 7:15 for bike ride around Syracuse -> Roy and back. Here are the stats:

26.6 miles, 1:22, 19.4 mph average

Hit a couple of dead ends and had to slow down to do a U turn, but other than that and about a half dozen stop lights, I was able to maintain a fairly good pace. I hit a good hill heading into Roy, but the rest of the time was going flat, or slightly down.

It was a very good ride!

Deseret News Marathon

Posted by Cathi:

It was a great race today!

I loved the early start time of 5:30. This was the first race I've done that started before 7:00 AM which I thought was bold of the race organizers. It was a very smart move. It didn't get too hot.

The course has been changed since I did it last. It used to go up the big Hogle Zoo hill, which was a low-light in my life. The course was much bette

Overall this was a very well-run, well volunteered, terrific race. I got within one minute of my best time ever. My time was 3:51:04.

I just hope I can get Sarah Arnett to do it with me next time.

Thanks to all and I hope to do it again another year.

First ride since I tuned the derailer

I tuned the derailer yesterday evening and thought I messed it up pretty bad, but after a bit of tweaking the screws I got it so that it will shift on me when appropriate. I didn't have any "slips" like I did last time I road so I'm happy.

This morning I swam 3200 yards and then road in to work. Had a pretty good headwind for most of the ride in.

I plan on riding home late this evening just before the sun goes down. Riding home is longer since I ride from Layton Surf N Swim in the morning and then ride home in the evening. It's 5 miles longer going home. Here's the stats, and also the plan for tonight, which I will update with actual stats once I get back to the computer tomorrow:

To SLC: 25.2 miles, 1:28 Elapsed, 17.1 mph avg
To Syracuse: 30.6 miles, 1:41 Elapsed, 18.2 mph avg

The ride home felt fast. The slowest point is going up the frontage road in NSL where the construction trucks are, and then going up the bike trail in NSL leading up to Hwy 89. Other than that, worked hard in high gears.

Fast paced racquetball

This morning I got up early and played racquetball at Layton Surf N' Swim. I started out playing Shawn Bell and won the first game. Then Lemar came and we played cutthroat. Lemar is a hustler and was able to chase down alot of the short shorts. But I won the first game. The second game everyone was 14 and Lemar got the win. Then Shawn and I played three more games. He won one and I won two.

Had a great lower body workout today.

2 hours total.

Riding to Farmington Station

Biked with Cathi down to the middle of Angel Street from our house. We slept in this morning and didn't get to the pool, but she went without me while I diverged to go to work. I was so late, I ended up catching FrontRunner in Farmington rather than ride in the whole way.

Total Distance 13.5
Time Spent: 55 minutes
Average Speed: 14.9 mph

Biking to Lagoon

Today I drove in to work today and left this afternoon to meet Cathi and the kids at Lagoon.

Total Distance 17.5 miles
Time: 1:04
Average Speed: 16.4 mph

Had a headwind to deal with, but wasn't dead by the time I got there. Lagoon throughout the day took alot of energy. I tried the Xango energy sample I got at the triathlon and it was OK. Then I tried the Raspberry flavored energy gel and that was gross!

Did Hi-Striker at the end of the day. I did 6 hits and the best was 98 and the lowest 87.

Buzz Bites

In the past when I have an event that requires some quick energy that enhances my performance in a swim or long distance bike ride I took a 200 mg tablet of caffeine. The problem with that was that it would sometimes lift me up too much.

I found a better solution. Buzz Bites is a chocolate energy chew that contains only half of a caffeine pill. It contains 100 mg of caffeine. It tastes like a dark chocolate tootsie roll. It was delicious and gave me the proper amount of lift I needed. The caffeine pill is too expensive and doesn't contain any vitamins which Buzz Bites offers. Buzz Bites is now on my inventory checklist for important races, or long distance rides.

Just don't think of them as candy as I think they could become addictive, just like any caffeinated product. It's definitely for special performance enhancement scenarios. Check out their website for more information and for ordering!

Soothe Those Aching Joints

There’s more than a grain of truth in the saying that we realize the value of something only when we no longer have it, a truth that hits home hard when the flexibility and agility of youth slowly but steadily gives way to the creaks and groans associated with the onset of age and the passing of years. Arthritis and other related joint pains are a scourge for people who have reached a certain age or who are unlucky enough to be beset by geriatric problems even in the throes of youth.

The knees, shoulders, wrists, fingers, and elbows are the most susceptible to attacks of rheumatism and arthritis, both diseases which make movement intensely painful and also cause stiffness. Some people are plagued by osteoporosis, a disease which weakens the bones and causes cartilage damage as we grow older. Joint injuries also take longer to heal under such conditions.

While a healthy diet filled with nutrition and regular exercise help keep joint pains at bay, sometimes even the best of prevention methods fails, and nature takes its course. Under such circumstances, there are ways to help alleviate the pain, both with and without medication.

• Exercise helps relieve joint pains and prevents them from reoccurring. Consult your physician to see if strengthening or stretching exercises will help your situation best. Start slowly and get into your routine gradually. While you may feel pain initially, if you stay the course, you will realize the benefits in the form of painless joints. Warming up before and down after your exercise routine is extremely important to avoid injuries and strain to your joints. Take care not to overdo any activity.


• Drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen do help in short term pain relief, but consult your doctor before taking any medication to avoid side effects.


• Baths and soaks in warm water help soothe aching joints as do warm compresses.


• Avoid alcohol, foods with additives and preservatives like monosodium glutamate, dairy products, vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes, red meat like beef, pork and lamb, foods high in sugar content and vegetable oils.


• Acupuncture or other alternative treatments do help for some people.


• Swimming in warm water is an effective exercise to keep away the pains.


• Herbal teas, concoctions and brews have a soothing effect and act as pain relievers.


• Take care not to keep your joints in one position for long periods of time. If you’re taking a long road trip, stop often and get out and walk. Do not sit for prolonged periods of time in front of the television. Walk from time to time to the kitchen to get a drink of water.


• Do not work continuously; give yourself adequate rest periods in between bouts of activity.

Always consult your doctor before you undertake any exercise routine or take any medication.

By-line:

This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of online nursing degree. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com

Evening ride

After helping Cathi prepare for her singing time tomorrow I needed a break so I went on a ride just as the sun was going down:

Moving Time: 43:35
Distance: 13.5 miles
Avg Speed: 18.3 mph

I ran into a couple of dirt road sections. I also came to one gravel trail at the top of an incline and didn't see it coming so I had to break real quick. I tried shifting down quickly, but ended up getting my chain all wrapped up and had to turn my bike upside down to untangle it.

Temperature was nice and was able to get in a decent ride in less than an hour.

Xango Echo Triathlon

Distance/Times: Swim 750 M, Bike 20K (12.4 miles), Run 5K (3.1 miles)
Cathi - Total: 1:42:10.95, Swim: 15:41, Bike: 54:26, Run: 26:09
Gords - Just the swim (Relay): 11:28

Details:
Roceil watched the kids for us so Cathi and I could check in the Best Western in Coalville, UT. We went over and got Cathi's packet and did the triathlon walk through. The guide told us of the transition and paths to take which made our experience more comfortable. It was very well organized and laid out. There were lots of signs to make the participants morons if they messed up. And if they still couldn't see the big signs there were lots of volunteers to point the proper direction.

In the morning we got up at 4:45 am and got ready to ride over. We biked over from the hotel which was probably only 2 miles. It was very cold and when we got there the rest of Team Tomax arrived within 30 minutes and we got our packet, timing chip and visited until our start time at 7:50 (for Cathi) and 8:00 (for me).

When I got in the water I noticed that it was hardly muddy and that the water wasn't that cold. They started us and I swam quite easily to the first marker which was easy to see. I rotated my head out of the water every 6 strokes or so and I was usually right on course, so no major lopsidedness going on. When I rounded the first corner I was what I felt like first place for my wave. I was now hitting women who were from the wave before mine. I even ran right into a very slow moving woman and instead of climbing over here, I stopped cold and went around her. I said "Sorry" and started my forward movement back up.

When I rounded the second marker I headed for the get out point. It was right in line with the sun so I couldn't see the marker or the beach at all, just a huge sun. I was noticing the direction of the other swimmers when breathing to the side and saw that they were going parallel to me so I just went with that hoping that it was the right way and that the whole other group was going the right way. That was a good strategy even though I was paranoid that everyone else was doing the same thing and going the wrong way.

But not before long I could see the shadow of trees which meant I was nearing the finish. I was too far to the right as I started running into reeds so I veered left and swam another 25 yards or so before hitting the bottom and running out. I heard the beep as I crossed the sensor pad with my left ankle's timing chip. As I ran up the slope on the green turf I saw Cathi and said "Good Job Cathi!" I found my shoes and hurried to slip them on and run to the transition area which was about 200 yards. I think I was the first team relay swimmer out of the water. Jason was pleased and hurried to get the timing chip on and took off. My time in the swim was 11:28. I was aiming for 11:30 so I met my goal. I was disappointed that I did the relay. I had plenty of energy left and wished I could have done the bike and run.

I saw Cathi start her bike portion and waited for Jason to arrive so Heather could go. I didn't use my stop watch at all so I didn't know how we were doing during the race.

I saw Heather start off and then as she finished. I then saw Cathi finish.
Team Tomax came in first place in the coed sprint relay division. We did it. Great job team. And great job Cathi!


Here are the results of the Coed Division:


Here is the overall results page.

70 Mile Ride from Cabin to Home

I planned on riding home from the cabin so I woke this morning and ate some breakfast and left at 6:30 or so. The first 9 miles down the canyon was fun and easy. I rode down through Logan easily and made it several miles South of Logan on Highway 89. I started up the hill at around mile 20 and it was a slow incline up. I climbed over 1000 ft, but once I got to the top the ride down was awesome! I maxed out east of Mantua going 47.9 mph.


I turned on the old road taking me past Maddox in Perry and headed south from there. Stopped for a bathroom break in Slaterville and further on my GPS complained of running out of batteries so I stopped again for replacements. At this point it was about 10:30 and it was starting to get hot. The rest of the trip was fairly flat, but it was getting tiring as the heat was getting intense. I went through 4 x 16 oz gaterades and about 20 oz of water.

When I got home I washed my bike down real good and waited for Cathi to bring the kids from the cabin in the van. This was a great ride and only about a mile of road where the shoulder was less than desirable.

Ride from Murdock Chevrolet in Woods Cross

Played 1:15 of racquetball at Layton Surf N' Swim with Lavar, Wendell, Shawn and Keith. I played well even though I lost a couple matches. I could have done better, but I played hard.

Then took the van to the Murdock Chevrolet dealership in Woods Cross, then rode to work.

16.5 mile round trip.

Ride to Mt. Harrison in Albion

I read about this ride from mapmyride.com

We went up to Albion park to campout at the Anderson reunion. I went to bed and planned on going up to Mt. Harrison early on Saturday morning. It took me 3 hours to get up there, and 40 minutes to get back. It was a 34 miles exactly for the round trip. Here is video of the trip:


This was the most fun bike ride I've ever had! It was so fun. I am looking forward to doing it again next year. This was a challenge that has given a sense of ownership. It's difficult to explain. But I feel like I have a connection with that place now that I've conquered it. Yesterday I was feeling a little depressed because I missed the place and wished I could do it again.

Robby Boyd said he would go with me next year. I'm planning on it for sure.

Good ride in to work and back again

This morning after my swim with Cathi, I rode in to work. It was a good ride. Not stuck at every light which seems to be the case alot. Was able to maintain a 18.3 mph average which includes a few lights and stopping at Vosen's bakery for some bread. Here are the stats:

Distance: 25.0 miles
Max Speed: 32.1 mph
Moving Time: 1:21
Moving Avg: 18.3 mph

Things were slow at work so I decided to leave just a little early and head home on the bike. Here are the stats:

Distance: 30.5 (Its longer since I'm going all the way home rather than to Layton Surf N Swim)
Max Speed: 30.8
Moving Time: 1:45
Moving Avg: 17.4

Great racquetball day

Started out playing singles with Shawn and was up 14 to 9, but he came back to win! Then played cutthroat with Shawn and Lori and won twice. Then played cutthroat with Shawn and Wendell and I won both again. I'm getting better at those "girly shots" that Eric loves. Real soft touch you know?

2 hours of hard running racquetball. Great!

Table Tennis Results

Austin took the gold medal in the 14 and under Division as well as the 17 and Under Division. Not bad considering he just turned 12. He had to play against several older players and was able to go the day undefeated.

Then we played Doubles. We beat Bryce Parkinson/Matt Pugmire team. That was tough. They had us 2-0 and we came back to win three in a row. Then we played Bruce and Dale Majors and lost all three, but they were all 2 point loss games.

Then we played Unsicker brothers who are also from Syracuse. We won 3-1. Then we played Doug Hansen and Jeff St. Clair and lost 0-3. Not bad.

Didn't have a camera, so I'm waiting to get pics from Dale on Austin on the stand with his gold medals.

On Saturday Austin and I played our Singles matches. I played Bryce Parkinson in the ladder for determining whether I would play in the A division or the Open (The highest division). I beat Matt 3-2 to make into the Open Division. This took alot of stress of of me, because in the Open, there is nothing to lose. Every player in that division is ranked higher than I am. I am the underdog so I went out playing very well. I took one game off of every single player in that division. No shut outs, except from George Majors who also took the Gold for the Open division. I lost to Carol Davis which was a disappointment. I usually beat her, but I was impatient with her chops and made risks that just didn't deliver. I did beat Doug Hansen 3-1 which was a shock. He's rated over 100 points above me.

Austin lost his ladder match to Eric Holje which put him in the B Division. He was a little disappointed with that. Personally I was relieved, because it meant that he would be in a division where he would be able to really do well. He also was in the same division as Matt Pugmire, which is the closest player to Austin ranking wise. In the Utah Open, Austin lost to Matt which was his goal. He cried that day. So I helped him get a little more motivation to beat Matt and offered him $10 if he could beat him. He was able to do it. He went undefeated in his division and beat out 8 other people to take Gold.

Here is the medal breakdown:

Gordon - 2 Gold
Cathi - 3 Silver
Austin - 3 Gold
Jacob - 1 Gold, 1 Silver

Here is the whole family after picking up the two that were left in Salt Lake with Grandma Gridley.

Jonas, Lucy and Jacob's Track results

Lucy, Jonas and Jacob all had to compete in the 10 and Under division which made it tough for Lucy and Jonas who are 7 and 6. Jacob took Silver in the 400, Gold in the 800 and tomorrow has the 1500.

Here is a fantastic video of their day.


Cathi ran one event - the 5K. She took the Silver medal. She did it in 24:14.42. That is a fantastic time!

Got bike back early

Called yesterday to see if my bike was done getting serviced and it was done one day early so I had Cathi pick it up for me and I rode in to work today after a short swim.

Here are the stats:
Distance: 25.1 Miles
Total Moving time: 1:28
Average Speed: 17.1 mph

My stupid water bottle stopper thingy that covers the humongous hole fell out several time while going over train tracks. After the third time I just left it. I'll have to figure out a new way to cover the hole without the cover falling off. I also looked down and my handlebars and aerobars were very loosely connected to the front fork and I adjusted it, but I need to borrow an allen rench today to tighten that up. It freaked me out how loose they were. Needless to say, 17.1 mph sucks. I definitely didn't really push it today. My knee is sensitive from yesterday's run and while it didn't really give me grief during the ride, I didn't want to push it. I really should be tapering, not expending alot of energy, but I haven't been on the bike in over a week thanks to it being in the shop, so I was eager.

Got antsy to ride again so I rode home rather than taking the FrontRunner. Stats:
Distance: 30.4 miles
Time: 1:47
Average speed: 17.07 mph

Carried laptop home. Made for a sore back.

Don't forget the knee brace!

Today I needed to run at lunchtime so here is the run I did:


Although I ran/walked 50% going to the turnaround point. On the way down I planned on doing 80% or so of running, but then my right knee on the outside started feeling a sharp pain. Went away when walking, but running was very painful so I walked the rest of the way back. 5.15 miles in 1:10. Not good. Next time I need to wear a brace. It was a good workout, especially going up the hill in Memory Grove.

My Goals for Ogden Valley 2008 Sprint Triathlon

Swim: 11:30 (1:32/100 yds)
Bike: 41:25 (18mph average)
Run: 30:00 (9:39 mph average)

Transition 1: Under 3:00
Transition 2: Under 1:30

Total time: 1:27:25

Getting better at Racquetball

This morning I got there at 5:45 and nobody was there yet. Shawn Bell showed up and we played a singles match. I won. Then Wendell and Lori showed up. I played Wendell and lost 15-8. Then played singles with Lori and won. Wendell had to leave so Lori, Shawn and I played cutthroat and I was ahead most of the time, and made alot of great shots and hustle moves, but Shawn came from behind and won. Lori and I were 13.

Good workout. Recorded my heart rate once at 150. Not bad.

Yesterday for Father's Day we met at Low's. I ate good but then didn't stop, so I ended up overeating quite a bit. If I had stopped after the second plate of fruit I would have felt great about it. But there was just so much stuff!

Finally a win!

Today I arrived at SDRC and the only person there was my Dad! I played him a couple games spotting him 10 points, then 11 and won both. Then Shawn showed up and we played some cutthroat. Shawn won both of them. Dad told me he order the new Ektelon Copper which is the same racquet that Shawn has. So Shawn let him play with it today.

After the two cutthroat games, Dad had to leave so I played two singles matches with Shawn the first one he won, and the second I won! First time I've beaten Shawn. I played much better today. I played shorter shots when up front rather than pounding the crud out of the ball. I also had alot of energy and was able to run and get around on the court very fast.

2 hours of racquetball. Good stuff.

First Week Weigh In

Here are the results for this week:

Great job everybody! Don't feel overwhelmed if you didn't get the results you were hoping for this week. It's a new week and you get to start fresh. I hope we can carry on last week's challenges of water, not eating after 8pm and an hour of exercise a day.

This week's challenges are:
1. Do some weight training each day, or pushups/situps
2. No sugared sweets

Let's have a great week. Remember exercise and diet both will get you where you want!
Click the graph to see detailed view.