A Saturday in the Cache Valley

In our down weekend between visits, vacations, marathons, and our trip home to Kentucky / Ohio, we were graced with a beautiful weekend in the Cache Valley…so took full advantage of it.

Saturday morning, I got back to running the trails for the first time since the fall.  My legs were still tender from the marathon so my pace was slow, but I was excited about being back on the trails so had to hold myself back from running for too long (to prolong recovery).

Back at home, Susan was just getting up so we made a quick turnaround and drove to the American West Heritage Center for baby animal days!

Bonus!: Susan with our Baby Animal – Halfway through the pregnancy bump.

Historic Farm w/ mountain backdrop (top left), baby ducks (top right), peafowl on a hill (bottom left), chicken coop (bottom right)

Jeff and bunny pounding it (top left), Susan stealing ducklings (top right), horse talk (bottom left), tiny goats! (bottom right)

After talking to the animals, we stopped by The Crepery (it was Susan’s first time) for lunch and I got a chance to try the syphon coffee…it was good, but I didn’t notice any flavor differences making it worth the trouble.

Back at the apartment, Susan took it easy while Derby and I suited up and prepared to walk up a mountain.  We hiked for about 2.7 miles in total with 1700 feet elevation gain in the first half (it was an out and back).  The mountain was steeper than I remembered so we didn’t make it to the peak, but still got some great views of the valley on a sunny day.

Derby ready to hike (top left), our starting view of the valley (top right), heading up (bottom left), looking across Green Canyon (bottom right)

Our turnaround view (top left), a Wellsvilles backdrop (top right), soaring over the valley (bottom left), and it’s been a tough winter (bottom right)

Early in the evening I recharged my batteries poolside while Derby crashed in the apartment (he’s out of shape).  Then Susan and I went out for a hibachi dinner at Kabuki before calling it a day.

Since Sunday was also great weather, I got up for a long bike ride to Hardware Ranch, but with it being spring the elk were all gone.  We head into another work week (finals week for Utah State) with only a few more days on the countdown before a week back home seeing family and friends.

Salt Lake City Marathon Race Report

Starting around the holidays, I launched into a marathon training program with a higher mileage approach than the ones I’ve done previously.  My goal was to qualify for the 2014 Boston Marathon at the 2013 Salt Lake City Marathon.  Well, my race was this past weekend and the following is the race report.

Super-short executive summary: I got a new PR, but did not BQ.

The Salt Lake City Marathon is part of a group of events that includes a half marathon, a full marathon, a 5k and a bike ride.  About 7000 people participate in one event or the other, but only around 900 were signed up for the full marathon.  I had expected the marathon to be fairly small (as compared to the Rock n’ Roll series for example), but 900 participants was even smaller than I imagined.  At least we had the 5000 or so half runners to keep us company for the first 8 miles (and the last 2).

Being in Utah, the marathon was held on a Saturday.  Susan, Derby, and I drove the hour and a half from Logan to SLC after she got off work on Friday to get to packet pickup.  It was seeing the long line waiting for half marathon shirts while I walked right up and grabbed my marathon shirt where I realized not many people would be with me for the full distance race.  At least being in the minority made packet pick-up quick and easy (not including the long walk to get there).

Checked in, we drove to the University of Utah campus area to scout out the race start and drove along the first few miles.  I had not had a chance to run on any portions of the course, so wanted to do some driving reconnaissance to feel a little more comfortable come race morning.  After covering the first 5 miles or so, we moved on to grab dinner at Chipotle (carb loading!) before heading to the hotel near downtown for the night.

Early Saturday morning, I was up and checking the weather forecast.  The prediction was a 40% chance for scattered showers through noon (I’d be done racing around 10:15am) with clearing in the afternoon.  This was a much rosier forecast than I had been looking at throughout the week.  It was only a few minutes later when I took Derby out to the bathroom that I realized the forecast was wrong.  It was very wet out and still drizzling…at least the 40 degree temps weren’t too uncomfortable.

Before heading to the tram station I got my racing outfit on and threw on the stylish “slim-fit” trash bag for pre-race warmth. 

Since the race was a point to point race, I rode public transport (the TRAX light rail) to the start line along with most of the other participants.  We packed our tram as much as possible and started climbing toward campus.  One stop before our destination everyone standing on the train had to file out to make room for a bomb sniffing dog to give us a quick run through…a new addition coming out of the Boston tragedy just 5 days earlier.  I thought it seemed excessive (along with the other additional security) for a race of this size, but I give kudos to the race director for going the extra mile to give the participants peace of mind.

At the start line, I had no bag to check, so only needed to make my last second “pit stop” and to warm-up.  I hit the port-o-potties before the rush and realized it was too early to start the warm-up routine.  I found cover under a tent and curled up in my trash bag to stay warm in the meantime.  With about 15 minutes to go before the start, I shed the bag, warmed up, and found my place near the 3:05 pacer in the starting chute.  It was time to run.

Just before the gun we had a moment of silence for Boston and then crossed the starting line to “Sweet Caroline.”  Many of the participants had shirts on recognizing Boston and they were handing out bracelets near the start.  I had blue and yellow ribbons pinned to my number. 

The first 5 miles were mostly downhill.  To keep my pace in check I ran with the pacer (who also went out a little too fast, but was working on controlling it) for this section.  It was nice to have the early company and we ticked off the miles at a good pace (around 6:50/mile) that felt easy. 

At mile 5, we were in Sugar Hill Park where Susan was posted.  I saw her coming out of an out and back section and gave a wave before heading out of the park and continuing south.  There were some false flats exiting the park and I didn’t feel comfortable keeping the uphill pace with the group, so fell back to my own pace while keeping them just ahead of me. 

Entering Sugar Hill Park with the Pace Group

Early Race – Feeling Good

We continued this way for the next mostly straight and flat few miles.  Around mile 8 we lost the half marathoners and suddenly the roads were much emptier.  The pace group had added to their lead over me and I realized that sub 7 minute pace was not going to be reasonable for me anymore.  Still I was feeling comfortable and just ticked off the miles.

Between miles 10 and 12, the roads became more rolling and trended uphill as we headed a little eastward toward the mountains (on Foothill Rd. no less).  My average pace fell below 7’s here and at times I felt like I was pushing harder than I wanted this early in the race.  It was also around this time it started a more consistent rain which had me thoroughly soaked.

I hit the half marker at 1:32:30 or so and knew sub 3:05 (and Boston) was probably off the table, but I focused on staying steady and pushing an even pace for a new PR.  To be honest I hadn’t checked to see that the BQ times had dropped from 3:10 to 3:05 for 2014 entry, so was unaware of this until after the race…but more on that later.

Miles 13 to 19 were pretty uneventful.  Flat roads, few spectators, very wet.  Somewhere around mile 17 I put in my headphones and turned on the iPod.  It took a few minutes for the water-logged earpieces to dry enough for the music to be audible.  During this time I also got frustrated with the lack of dexterity in my hands (to turn the iPod on) so finally ditched my gloves.

Between miles 19 and 20 I nearly ran off course, missing an out and back, and my right quad started to ache with every impact.  I wasn’t hitting a wall, but my motivation was low.  However, at mile 20 I reached the point where I could start looking forward to the finish, so onward I went.

The finishing miles were a struggle.  Both my quads were feeling the impact now; I may have exposed them to too much “crashing” in the early downhill sections.  I also was stiffening up and my strides were shortening with every mile, slowing me down.  I passed the time by doing math to see where I was in relation to the 3:10:59 time I thought was the BQ mark.  I realized after the race if I knew I was already out of contention I probably would have eased up and potentially missed a PR. 

Somewhere in the last mile I saw Susan again.  I had been looking for her along the roads for a while so it was a welcome sight.  Just past her I entered Liberty Park with the finish and navigated toward the finish line. I made a feeble attempt at a kick because I was confused about my time since some of the late race mile markers were off.  Crossing the line, the clock above me read something around 3:10:30. 

Down the Homestretch

As soon as I came to a stop, everything seized up and I got a rush of light-headedness that quickly dissipated.  However, my legs would not function properly for the remainder of the day.  I felt like Barney in “How I Met Your Mother.”

The official time was 3:10:21 and I’m satisfied with it.  I think a dry course would have been a little faster, but I don’t think I had 3:05 speed in me.  The training prepared me for the mileage, but less so for the pace.  Either way, another successful marathon is in the books…now to switch to Ironman training.

An April Getaway to the City by the Bay

Only a few days after the visit of my parents, Susan and I were off to San Francisco to meet up with Susan’s sister, her mom, and her youngest niece.  Her sister was in the Bay area for a conference the following week and that was all the impetus we needed to plan a weekend getaway to meet them and check out San Fran together.

Early Friday morning, Susan and I left for Salt Lake and flew to San Francisco, arriving just before 10am.  Once Susan’s family arrived about an hour and a half later, we had the rental car ready to go and made our way downtown to the Fisherman’s Wharf area to our hotel.  We arrived at the Holiday Inn to realize that we were actually in separate hotels (Holiday Inn and HI Express…oops).  Luckily they were right next door to one another so no big deal.  Once that was sorted, Susan and I had a pier to get to for a ferry departure to Alcatraz.

Wasting no time, we caught the 1pm ferry to Alcatraz Island and completed the audio tour.  Otherwise, we mainly wandered the island enjoying the view and the weather and not partaking in any of the other major exhibits before catching the ferry back to SF proper.

Alcatraz island from the ferry   &   Sign at Alcatraz

A cell at Alcatraz   &   Al Capone’s niece signing her book

In front of our ferry

With the early morning buzz of activity, it was time for Susan to relax and catch up with her family.  I took the opportunity to get in a quick afternoon run where I headed west along the wharf area, past Fort Mason and into the Marina District.  There was a food truck gathering at Fort Mason and the parks were packed with people out enjoying perfect Friday afternoon weather. 

Cleaned up and back at the hotel, it was off to dinner at Leopold’s in the Russian Hill area.  This Austrian/German restaurant was excellent and had a great atmosphere (think of a more subdued and authentic Hofbrahaus experience).  The three ladies enjoyed snitzel and I had the pan-fried trout which was much better than the version I had in Brno over the summer…mainly since they filleted it properly and wrapped it in bacon.  Our drive home took us near the top of Lombard St. so we took the opportunity to wind our way down and back to the hotel for the night.

Saturday brought a leisurely morning and breakfast at the hotel before driving to Chinatown for a City Guides walking tour.  The tour started at Portsmouth Square Plaza, which was heavily trafficked by the local population who gathered there for the playground, reading newspapers, Tai Chi classes, and tile and card games among other activities.  As the guide began the tour, we started to wonder if we’d make it through the whole thing.  He spoke quietly and was hard to hear over the background noise and also tended to ramble at times.  Luckily, we didn’t ditch the tour before leaving the park since it picked up once we got on the move.  Highlights of the tour were the back-alleys, the architecture, the fortune cookie factory, and the small markets.  About 2 hours after we started, the tour ended near Old St. Mary’s church and we returned to the car with some shopping en route.

 
Some highlights of the tour

Group shot after the tour

Locals at the square

Back near the wharf area, it was lunchtime so we split up and got ourselves fed.  Susan and I opted for The Codmother, a food cart with an outdoor seating area.  The fish and chips for Susan and the fish tacos and garlic fries for me were both excellent, and the lady I assumed to be the Codmother herself was quite a character and seemed to love her job.

Post-lunch it was time for a break before heading out in the evening for a drive northwest and over the Golden Gate Bridge.  We continued north and into Muir Woods National Monument to walk amongst the Redwoods.  Little Eva was put to sleep by the drive, so Susan’s mom stayed with her in the car while the rest of us wandered a portion of the scenic trail (and got free admission via my Annual Parks Pass!). 

  
Driving across the bridge   &   Tree pose with the trees

Hugging a Redwood

As we made our way back toward the city for the evening, we pulled off at the Marin Headlands and took in the south-facing views of the Golden Gate Bridge with the city skyline as a backdrop…very impressive views.

Saturday night, we dined in Ghirardelli Square at the Pub.  The food was good, pretty much standard pub fare, but after dinner we indulged in Ghirardelli ice cream which was the highlight.  With full bellies we returned to the hotel for the night.

Sunday morning I got up early for a run where I made my way first out to Pier 39 to say good morning to the sea lions and then continued south along the shoreline, under the Bay Bridge, and down to AT&T Park before retracing my route back to the hotel.  After cleaning up and grabbing a snack, it was time to check out.  Miraculously, we fit the luggage and baby gear into the Camry a 2nd time before heading over to Hyde St to catch a trolley, which we rode to its terminus on Market St then waited in line to ride it back.  On the return route we got premier seating in the open-air front area.

Back at the car we were westward bound to dine at the Cliff House Bistro.  While waiting for our table Susan and I wandered a little on the Land’s End trails before succumbing to the chilly wind and heading back for shelter.  Brunch/lunch was excellent with highlights for me being the eggs San Francisco and the popovers.

Leaving the Cliff House brought us to about the end of our time in the bay area.  We needed to drop off Susan’s family at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay where her sister had some afternoon conference obligations, so we took a scenic route down the coast and hung-out a little bit while they got settled at the hotel.  Then Susan and I departed for the airport so we could hurry up and wait for our delayed flight home.  Finally, at around 12:45am Mountain Time, we pulled back into our apartment in Logan.

Next weekend I have the Salt Lake Marathon looming and we’re only a couple weeks away from a visit back to the Midwest.

A Birthday Weekend Visit

The doldrums of late winter and early spring are behind us.  Susan and I have hit a few weeks of high activity that will take us into mid-May, starting with my birthday and a visit from my parents a couple weekends ago.  On the agenda for the next few weekends are a trip to San Francisco, the Salt Lake City Marathon, and a trip back to the Midwest that includes the Kentucky Derby, a family wedding, and Dr. Susan’s graduation.  We also get to know more about our baby in a week.  But first, let’s look back a little…

My 28th birthday (I have to double-check my actual age) came and went.  It was a Wednesday, so it was a pretty typical middle of the week day.  However, I did get some cards throughout the week and got some style upgrades (clothes) from Susan so it was a good day. 

On Friday, my parents came into town for a visit.  We haven’t seen any family since January so they were the first to get to see Susan’s bump in person.  When they arrived in the afternoon, Susan was still working so I took them around to do some garden shopping for our porch.  My mom helped me pick out some decorative flowers and I also grabbed fresh herbs for the mini-greenhouse.  Friday night we just relaxed and caught up while also gearing up for the upcoming release of the new Arrested Development season by watching old episodes.  We capped off the evening with a trip to Zeppe’s for a Gelata.

Bump update

Saturday arrived early as I got everyone up pre-dawn so I could drag them down to Ogden for me to run a half-marathon tune-up race.  The Strider’s Winter Running Series half-marathon was actually in the mountain town of Eden and covers the first half of the Ogden Marathon in May (which I will not be running).  My SLC Marathon training schedule needed me to do a 10k race on Saturday, but 13.1 miles was the shortest I could find that wasn’t sold out.  Somewhat unintentionally, I ran the first 10k of this race like it was a standalone race, and then suffered through the rest to finish just under 1:30.  At the finish I grabbed a couple yogurt and granola cups (nice finish food!) and jumped in the car so we could bee-line to Salt Lake.  Derby had an appointment to catch!

The plan was to bring Derby down to the race with us so we could send him to daycare while we toured around Salt Lake City.  However, since the pup would be visiting a new place he had to pass a temperament test (i.e. play nice with others) before we could leave him, and this had to be done before 11am.  While Derby aced his test, I sought out a fitness center (Planet Fitness) where I was robbed of $20 in exchange for using their old, cramped showers.  At least it got the job done.

All business matters out of the way, we reconvened for lunch where we hit up the Red Iguana for delicious Mexican.  Refueled, we navigated away from Temple Square since it was General Conference in the LDS world and went toward University of Utah’s campus and to the Red Butte Garden.  They were having an orchid show which we checked out before meandering through the rest of the manicured gardens.  Small flowers were in early bloom along with herbs and the gardens also provided some nice panoramas of the rest of the city in the valley below.

  

Leaving the gardens, we considered hitting the Natural History Museum next door, but with my tired legs and Susan’s pregnancy fatigue we weren’t sure we could handle walking through an entire museum.  Instead we decided to brave the crowds and headed into the greater Temple region of downtown Salt Lake to check out the City Creek Center.  This is the newest indoor / outdoor shopping center and has been receiving a lot of praise for its design.  For being a high-end mall, it was indeed impressive including features like a retractable glass roof, fountains, a large outdoor fireplace, and a “creek” that runs the length of the promenade.  We were there for a couple hours while Susan and my mom did some dress shopping and I was entertained without spending more than a minute or two in an actual store.  After the shopping trip, we were beat so grabbed the dog and returned to Logan for another night relaxing at the apartment.

City Creek with Temple Square in the background

Sunday we awoke to chilly temps, low clouds and light rain…lovely.  My parents and I still trooped out for a morning run so we could earn our brunch at Angie’s.  Once done eating with the locals the weather was still gross, but we had planned to see some of Logan canyon and didn’t have a lot of other options on a Sunday in Utah.  We decided to drive through the canyon to Bear Lake to see if the weather was better on the other side of the mountains (it wasn’t).  It was actually much worse just before we got to Bear Lake when we hit the high altitudes and the snow.  As we came over the top to descend to the lake (where you are normally rewarded with a stunning panoramic view) we just saw low clouds.  Where was the Jimmy Dean sun when you needed him?

Making lemonade, we continued into town and descended to the point where the lake came into view.  By the time we got shore side, it was actually sunny, but too cold to get out for a hike.  Instead we drove north along the shore until we passed into Idaho before turning back and returning home.  Sunday evening we took the parents out to our favorite Chinese place, The Black Pearl to show off their Lo Mein.

Monday was the last full day of their visit and I had to work in the morning to not burn through all my vacation time.  At lunch time (in Utah), I called it a day and we ventured out to the Crepery for coffee and crepes.  Then since the weather was still depressing, we opted for indoor activities and visited the USU Art Museum.  It was small, but more than I expected from a University art museum.  We especially enjoyed trying to interpret the more abstract works.

Monday evening, we capped off the visit with yoga class (all four of us) followed by dinner at BW3’s which was crowded for a basketball game of some sort.  Tuesday morning, they took off for the airport completing their last visit to us while we are Utah residents.  I’m looking forward to seeing them (and the rest of the family) again in just a few weeks.

Spring Break Weekend in Park City

The evenings are growing longer and the Cache Valley is thawing out after a tough winter. I’m hesitant to claim victory over the cold weather quite yet, but the conditions have gotten much nicer in the past few weeks…I have even been able to ride my bike outside (once).

Thawing of Cache Valley

With spring in a college town comes spring break, and with spring break and a wife that works for the University comes vacation time. Unfortunately I did not receive time off work, but that didn’t keep Susan and me from taking a short weekend getaway down to Park City. The ski season is still on in Utah until April and we have not taken full advantage of our proximity to the mountains. This weekend would provide the opportunity to hit up the ski resorts while still in season before we move back to the Midwest. A co-worker of Susan (and friend of ours) splits her time between Park City and Logan and is plugged in to the tourism industry via her husband. She helped us plan our trip and was able to hook us up for the weekend with hotels, ski passes, ski gear and be my mountain escort on my day of skiing. We were very thankful for all of it.

Saturday morning we made our way down to Park City from Logan, only a 2 hour drive (a mere stone’s throw in the West) and arrived in town just before lunch time. We parked off Main Street, the historic and shopping hub of the city, and then walked to the lower end of main doing some light shopping along the way. I restocked on Mountain Town olive oil and balsamic vinegar (Delicious!) before we stopped for lunch at The Bridge. This was a small café that sits next to the Town Lift for the Park City Ski Resort (the resort that is pretty much right in town). The name the Bridge is in reference to the snow covered bridge that the skiers come across at the base of the runs to get to the Town Lift. The weather was around 50 and sunny and sitting outside next to the building we were protected from the chilly wind. It was nice to enjoy lunch in the sunshine with skiers coming and going around us.

Down Main Street – Park City

After lunch we worked our way back up main pretty much to the top of the commercial district before heading back to the car. We explored the areas above town (away from the highway) via car and got some good views of the city from above before making our way back to the main thoroughfare to check into our hotel. For Susan it was nap time, but I wasn’t ready to get out of the sun so I went for a walk to check out some of the bike trails and neighborhoods that surround the city. I sort of lost track of time / distance while taking in the scenery and ended up walking over 3 miles before getting back to the room.

Once Susan was ready to get going again, we drove down toward the interstate to some of the shopping developments and outlet malls down that way. An afternoon ice cream stop soothed Susan’s chocolate craving, which was the highlight of the venture. As the sun started to go down, it started to cool off significantly and so we moved back toward the hotel before stopping for dinner at Squatter’s Roadhouse, a brew pub for one of the main Utah breweries. It was crowded and didn’t have much of a waiting area so we chilled in the car until our table was ready. The food was standard pub fare…nothing spectacular, but tasty. We left satisfied and with a refilled growler for me, so no complaints. Since we had driven up to town in the morning and toured most of the day we were pretty beat and called it an early evening after dinner.

Sunday morning I arose before dawn to a completely different climate than the previous day. There was a light covering of snow down already and it was windy and cloudy out. It was just the type of weather that makes it difficult to convince yourself to run in. However, I ventured out anyways, but cut my run short after meandering around different parts of Park City and the outlying neighborhoods. I wanted to save some leg energy for the slopes.

Susan and I leisurely got packed and checked out of the hotel before meeting up with Trish, her aforementioned co-worker, in the parking lot of the Canyons Resort. She let me borrow skis and poles so all I had to rent were boots and a helmet (at her “family” discount) and was set to ski. Then we grabbed a non-skier lift ticket for Susan so she could ride to the Red Pine Lodge in mid-mountain and we could have easier access to her when it came time to take breaks.

Let’s Go Skiing

From there, I just basically followed Trish as she navigated us around the south side of the resort, stopping to wait for me (I’m slow) periodically. We stuck mostly to medium (blue) runs and skied in the vicinity of the Colony, the upscale housing community with ski in/out access to the Canyons. One of the longest runs we took was nearly 3 miles…these were no Perfect North slopes. After covering nearly 10 miles according to Trish’s ski iPhone app, we got back to the lodge for a snack break with Susan.

Back on the slopes, we headed to the North side but only skied a couple more runs before calling it a day. Susan and I wanted to get on the road to have plenty of time to get settled back in (and pick up Derby) Sunday evening so we weren’t planning on staying out too much longer. What hastened the end of the ski day was a tumble I took on the first run back out that spooked me a little and got my hands wet…speeding up their numbing. With the marathon I’m training for in the back of my mind the fall got me thinking about possible injury and I just couldn’t get back into the groove of skiing after it. The north side was much more exposed to the elements (it was windy with gusts up to 40+ mph) and was far icier than the slopes we skied in the morning so they weren’t as pleasant anyways.

Heading Back Down the Mountain

By mid-afternoon we were back at the car and driving back to Logan with clearing skies. The next event we are looking forward to (other than more thawing hopefully) is a visit from my parents just after my birthday.