Jose's Flat Foot Blues

Well after a long absence from the blog I have decided to post again.  I ran the Del Sol relay with a few people from the blog (Walter & Misty and Scott and Kelli) this past weekend.  Our friend Lamont from my ward was also part of the team.  We were van 2 of the Redmond Racers team.  Redmond is a company in Heber that sponsored van 1.  The overall team had differing skill levels and the race was a fun experience for all.

It was great for me to hit my goal of 8:30 pace for all 17.4 miles of my legs.  My first leg was 5.5 miles and I did it in 8:35 pace (lots of uphill).  My second leg was 8.8 miles and I did it in 8:27 pace.  This one was interesting.  It also had a lot of uphill but it was in the middle of the night, which I think somehow helped my pace.  My last leg was an easy 2.9 miles and I did it in 7:52 pace.  I know some of these paces look painfully slow to some of you but for me it felt like I was flying, so I am very happy with my performance.  I am also optimistic that if I keep up the training I will be able to break the 4hr mark in Ogden in May (my ultimate goal for the first half of the year).

The best part of the race, however, was watching Walter tear up the trail.  I had never seen anyone running long distance that fast and it was definitely a treat to see people's faces when he would pass them.  Good job Walter!

The hours in the van were made easy by the quality of the company.  Thanks to all my team members hopefully we can repeat it some day.

Ran five on the treadmill at 7.1 mph.  Too windy to run outside (hey, I'm feeling wimpy today).  Still stiff from Ragnar but very happy to have run the miles.  I am planning on doing 20 on Saturday, probably on the Lehi trail.  I will put in about seven more miles between now and then.