E. Allan Smith

I believe...

2011-03-06T18:20:00.001-08:00

The next big thing...

2011-01-19T18:51:00.000-08:00

Each year I try a new thing, or try to try a new thing at least. The last few years have included the following:

2007 Eating: Got up to 190 lbs
2008 Running: Half Marathon, Marathon
2009 Cycling: Century, Double Century
2010 Cycling: Century
2011 Duathlon: (62 mile bike followed by 13.1 mile run)

I love cycling. It's been my friend over the last two years. We've laughed together, cried together, cramped together and traveled together. One thing I've noticed however, is that I miss running. There is something satisfying about the simplicity of running. It's just you, the road.....and a freaking awesome pair of running shoes. Ever since I started cycling two years ago I've had this nagging urge to run again. When I started distance running in late 2007 I was doing it just knowing that I was going to hate every mile and that as soon as I finished the marathon I would thumb my nose at the sport and walk away. Little did I know how much I would come to love it. First it was the 5 mile runs that I enjoyed. By the time I finished the marathon and looked back over my training, I realized that I absolutely loved and looked forward to my 10 mile runs.

I've biked from coast to coast, well I've biked on both coasts anyway. I've done the Seattle to Portland on the west coast and then I did the Seagull Century this last fall in Maryland. It went right along the Atlantic ocean on the east side of Chesapeake Bay. Time trial rides out to Flaming Geyser State park in Washington were some of my favorites for improving speed. Endurance training in Pennsylvania has been picturesque. I've ridden thousands of miles through Amish country. At times I've ridden right along side Amish men both young and old, on bikes, or passing Amish horse-drawn buggies. Of course I'm riding on my multi-thousand dollar carbon fiber racing bike listening to my ipod. Other cyclist are vocally envious of my bike; but the Amish seem to see through the pretense and realize that it's just an unnecessarily expensive form of transportation. It's humbling.

When I started cycling I did a lot of reading online. I read a lot of homespun blogs very similar to the one you are reading now. I wanted to know how long a rookie should expect to be on my bike while riding over 200 miles in one day. I read a few blogs and chat strings that indicated that for your first double century, you should be happy if you averaged 16.5 mph. That means over 12.5 hours of riding. Since I wasn't great at distance running, I assumed my body wasn't meant for any endurance event. For this reason I estimated my riding time at a conservative 14 hours.

As I started riding I was averaging 16.5 mph in my first few 20 mile rides. After eight weeks of training I was holding 17.5 mph over 40 miles. After 4 months I was averaging 18.5 mph on 70 mile solo rides. 5 months in I could maintain a 21 mph average over 20 mile solo time trials. I was able to finish the STP with a 19.5 mph average. After my initial estimate of 14 hours, I started the ride with a stretch goal of finishing in under 12 hours. I was surprised when I crossed the finish line with a total ride time of 10:23.

I'm now looking to partially return to my endurance training roots by entering a Duathlon. It includes a bike portion of a Metric Century which is 100 kilometers (62 miles), followed by a half marathon, (13.1 miles). As bad as I am at running, I miss it. It hurts, but to me, it's a more satisfying experience. The race is in Pennsylvania, midway between Lancaster and Gettysburg.

If anyone wants to join me in June, you can stay at our place.

West coast adieu

2010-11-26T22:26:00.000-08:00

Well, we've moved to Pennsylvania. Breinigsville that is. Beautiful Amish country. We were at Costco the other day and there was a specific parking location just for horse and buggy's. I'm helping open a very large site for Amazon. We currently have around 3,000 employees in the building doing Santa's dirty work. Come to think of it, I haven't seen that jolly lump all year.

I started in this role on April 26th but my family didn't relocate until the beginning of July. That was a rough few months but nothing compared to my friend Dana who spend well over a year in Iraq while his family of 5 waited patiently for him stateside. My Hero!

I've done a bit of cycling including a century near Ocean City, Maryland. It was a beautiful weekend with lots of family fun although it was a bit odd to have the sun rise over the water and set over the land. New experiences every day on the east coast.

Rocky Mountain High...

2009-07-29T16:26:00.001-07:00

I'm finally going on vacation. I've been going for 7 months straight now without a break. We're loading up the van and leaving to Utah to visit family and friends. I've put my bike on the back of the van so I can get some altitude training in. One of my instructors from BYU who happens to be my same age is training for the LOTOJA. It is a 206 mile race from Logan, Utah to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It starts at 4,000 ft and has three climbs over three mountain passes over 8,000 ft. I'll be riding with him for the next few weeks and getting back into the swing of things after taking two weeks off to rest my legs after the Seattle to Portland.

My legs felt a bit tired since the STP but they've recently been feeling a bit more bouncy and I'm really wanting to get out and ride. I would have gone yesterday but it was about 96 degrees and the family was all miserable. We've been sleeping downstairs for the past few days since it's about 85 degrees upstairs. The thermostat (inside the house)read 76 at 8am this morning. It is currently 102. Next year I will have an air conditioner.

Mile 68

2009-07-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

This is about 30 seconds before a text was received stating that two members of our group had crashed and were out of the STP.

STP finish line

2009-07-16T15:30:00.001-07:00

200 miles later...

2009-07-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

Five days ago I rode my bike from Seattle, WA to Portland, OR. It was very cool. I decided to do this around Christmas giving me 6 months to train. This required that I buy a bike. January 7th I made the purchase and started my training in earnest. As my other posts show, I have been gradually improving each week/month and have really enjoyed the sport. On June 13th I rode in my first Century. (100 miles)(The Flying Wheels Summer Century) It took me 5:00:31.

As I got closer to the STP (Seattle to Portland) ride, I knew that I'd prepared myself physically but I was still concerned with my mental state. At that point I was hoping to finish in under 12 hours of riding time. 12 hours on a bike is a loooooong time and although I finished a marathon last year, I was very concerned with my ability to focus for 12 hours and not rub tires whith someone in front of me and take us both out of the race. You don't have that concern in a marathon. There's a lot more to worry about when you're going 20-25 mph while your front wheel is 6 inches behind the person in front of you.

I got to the starting line at about 4:55 am. The first wave of one-day riders left at 4:45. They don't want all 2,500 riders flooding the street all at once so they staggar starts in 10 minute increments. I noticed two guys wearing Utah State cycling jersey's and said hello. As we rolled across the starting line I found out there were six of them who were all riding together. Friends from various states who train for and then ride in big events. All of them are LDS and went to USU or BYU. I found out they were wanting to finish in a sub 11 hour time. With my initial goal being sub 12 hours I abandoned my plan and joined this group hoping that I could draft off of them and make up the extra time. At the mid-way point we had finished 100 miles in 4 hours and 50 minutes which was a good 10 minutes faster than the century I did in June. I ultimately finished in 10:23:30 of riding time. I was very surprized. At around mile 140 my right knee started to ache. I had to slow by 1-2 mph the rest of the day and was very sore for a few days. I still have a bit of pain in the knee, but I think with another week of rest, things should be back to normal.

I was directly behind 3 different people who blew tires, and I saw dozens of people on the side of the road repairing flats during the day. I was very lucky that I didn't have any mechanical issues. Two of the guys in the group I was riding with were taken out by a wild cyclist. They crashed and ended up with a bent rim bend derailer at mile 65 taking them out for the day. Including a few guys from work I connected with as well, there were 10 of us riding together. Two finished about a minute ahead of me, I was in a group of 5 who finished together, and the others didn't make it all the way to the end. Jennifer and the kids were there at the finish line with posters cheering me through my mid-life crisis. They've been very supportive of the entire training season as well. As soon as we got home Jennifer was online trying to find other rides for me to enter. There were about 150-200 who finished ahead of me, but I feel extatic about how it all went. I was not expecting to do that well at all. It's easy to see how a cycling team can work together for the benefit of the group.

I intend on doing this again next year. After my marathon last year, I expected to keep running too, but cycling is so much more fun. More expensive, but also more fun.

Improvement

2009-05-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

A few posts ago I mentioned that I had dropped my 15 mile loop time from 60 minutes to 49 minutes. About 2 weeks ago I did the same ride in just over 45 minutes. I did that loop twice today with both being around 46-47 minutes. By comparison, Lance Armstrong just did a time trial today in a stage race in New Mexico. It was 16 miles long and he got just over 34 minutes. This means I'm fast for a late 30's guy with 3 months of biking experience, but I'm a 3 year old with training wheels and an 8 foot tall orange flag when compared to Lance.

I'll just work on personal improvement. :-)

A Metric Century and Aerodynamic Legs

2009-05-01T22:30:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I did what is called a Metric Century. It was 100 Kilometers or 62 miles. It went well. The first 50 miles took me 2:47 which is pretty good for a person of my experience (3 months worth). My legs are slowly rounding into shape but that ride pushed me a step back in my training. I overdid it a little trying to maintain my pace and my left knee was a bit sore for about 10 days. Hopefully it will stay away for good.

I have finally gone completely over to the dark side by shaving my legs tonight. I'd been thinking about it for a month now, but during one impetuous moment I grabbed my wife's razor in the shower and just went to town. I've never done that before, but now those babies are as smooth as can be. A little lotion and welcome to Supple City!

I did a short ride of 15 miles yesterday, 30 miles today, and I plan on doing about 40 tomorrow. I plan on stacking rides on Friday and Saturdays from here on out to improve my legs ability to handle long rides. I'm loving my bike. Riding just feels liberating with the speed and the exertion followed by the endorphins. Good for the soul.

768 Miles Per Hour!!

2009-04-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

The speed above is that of the speed of sound. I didn't quite hit that on my ride yesterday, but I did get up to 42.5 mph. That was scary enough. I went a total of 52 miles and I could have gone for a while longer, but I felt my legs becoming sore and I didn't want to get into any over training problems. When I started my ride it was about 48 degrees. Cool, but not cold. Ten miles in I had to remove my long sleeve riding jacket. I went the rest of the way in just a riding jersey and riding shorts. It ended up about 58 degrees when I was finished three hours later. The loop I do had a few pretty wicked hills that are about a mile long and very steep. I have a compact crank set so I don't get to take advantage of a granny ring. The agony lasts for about 10-12 minutes when it usually takes me less than 3 minutes to go the same distance on a flat.

It would be nice to have 3 or 4 people to ride with but I think the drafting would make me too lazy. I'm having to do all of the pulling on my own and I think it will make me stronger once I get into some group rides. Currently I am pedaling almost constantly with no time to rest. My heart rate stays between 150-160 bpm the entire time. When I'm able to draft off of a few people that should drop by about 20 bpm.

With my marathon training, I think I had a solid program, but I think it assumed a better fitness foundation than I had when I started. I should have been running for about a year before just throwing myself into it. My body type wasn't meant for distance running so I should have given myself more lead time. Having said that, I am extremely happy I did it. It's pushed me into a better level of fitness that has continued since December of 2007.

Without doing all of that running, I would have never considered doing a 200 mile bike race when the opportunity presented itself. There are now about 5 of my friends who want to be involved as well. Lots of people are looking at expensive bikes and making their wives very uneasy.

Unlike a marathon, I think endurance riding is something anyone can do, once you get use to the saddle on your bike. ;-)

Tin-Man or Ironman?

2009-03-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

I went 40 miles on Saturday. It was pretty fun with the exception of a 30 minute segment during which it rained like a dog. I was a mess when I got home. It took me a little over 2:20:00. I went up the most wicked hill I've conquered yet. It was about 2 miles long and about as vertical as anything I'll ever want to do. After doing that hill though, it makes everything else I'm going up look like a speed bump.

Of course with a hill of that sort there is always an equivalent descent. I hit 39 mph on the way down and I'm not all that confident at high speeds yet so I was riding the brakes. I did break the speed limit in 2 or 3 locations however. The speed limit was 35 when I hit 39. I was also well over 20 mph in a few posted areas as well. I carry identification with me just in case. I bring my drivers license, my Visa, and a piece of paper that lists my name, address, my wife's name, her cell number and my blood type (in case I'm not able to tell them myself). :-)

I'm trying to convince my wife that it would be fun to go to Hawaii. For some reason she feels it would be a big chore. My 2nd great-grandfather served a mission there so besides the obvious attractions in Hawaii, I thought it would be fun to visit his old mission. I would really like to go during the first part of October. That is when they have the Ironman Triathlon. Jennifer is refusing to go, fearing that if I see it, I will be convinced I have to start training for it as well.

Would completing an Ironman be cool? Yes. The biking portion is 112 miles (a snap), the running portion is a marathon, 26.2 miles (trained for and ran one last year), the swimming portion however is over 3 miles and I am not a good swimmer. Putting all of these events back to back is another story. In order to be given the title "Ironman" you have to complete all 3 disciplines by midnight. I think that would be doable.

Swimming at 2 mph would mean 90 minutes in the water, followed by about 7 hours to complete the bike stage. Subtracting another 30 minutes for transitions, eating, and the possible flat repair, I would have about 7 hours to complete the marathon. It took me a little over 4 1/2 hours to complete my marathon last summer, so I think a brisk walk could get me over the finish line by midnight.

Don't tell Jennifer I've been breaking this down. ;-)

Improvement

2009-03-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

About 6 weeks ago I went on my first long-ish ride. It was only 15 miles, but I hadn't been over 5 yet so it was a big deal. It took me 60 minutes and I was fatigued when I was done. I did that same ride yesterday and completed it in 49 minutes. I felt much better when I was done to boot. I still need to get a new helmet. The one I have was a cheapo when I bought it about 10 years ago in a bookstore. It weighs double what a good helmet would weigh and it creates quite a racket with the airflow around the sides of my ears. It always sounds like there is a car coming up behind me even when there isn't.

I got myself a heart rate monitor so I can be warned if I'm about to have a heart attack.

Spandex and Carbon Fiber

2009-02-24T15:19:00.000-08:00

Seattle to Portland is a 3 hour trip in a car. It's going to be much longer on a bike. As some of you know, each year I pick a new "thing" to keep me physically occupied. Last year was the Ogden Marathon, this year it's the STP! The STP is a bike race that usually attracts close to 10,000 participants. About 8,500 complete the trip in two days taking a mid trip slumber overnight near Centralia. The other 1,500 attempt to make the trip in a single day. That is my white whale.

About a month ago I paid a king's ransom for an all carbon fiber bike seen here. My wife is not impressed. Since starting my training at the end of December, I have been officially labeled a disturber of the peace. (Me and Gandalf share that distinction.) A neighbor of mine who was training for a triathlon has decided to join and there are two or three others heavily considering it. Their wives are also unimpressed. I will post my training program in the next few days so you can follow along with my progress. I went about 27 miles on Saturday, and although I was a bit tired and sore on Sunday everything went well for a solo ride of that length at this stage in my training. I'm no Lance Armstrong so don't expect any world records to fall, and the only performance enhancer I am guilty of using is Gatorade.

I've been averaging between 17-20MPH on my rides, but those are only for 30-60 minutes. The entire race will be closer to 15 hours so I've got some work to do.

MWC vs. Pac 10...No Contest!!

2008-10-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

The Mountain West Conference gets no respect. For any of you familiar with the BCS and their "National Championship" shennanigans, I would like to state as a fan, that the remainder of this season is being observed under protest. It seems as if there is a bit of a ceiling when it comes to non-BCS conference schools; and why the Pac 10 is currently one of the "it" conferences I'll never know! BYU shot up to #7 in the coaches poll and has been languishing around 8 or 9 ever since. This is in spite of winning each week and having several teams ahead of them lose. This past week for instance, BYU was ranked #8, & #9 in the two main polls going into the weekend. BYU then won 21-3, and three of the top four teams lost and BYU is still ranked #8, & #9. Teams leaped ahead of BYU and others fell back, but with all of the commotion going on in the rankings, BYU has remained eerily motionless.

The only hope comes in that several teams (the Big 12 in particular), have to play against each other, so several of them will pick up a loss (or a second loss) before the end of the season. One exception to this is USC. They should not have lost to Oregon St., but with a win the following week, they bounced back up to the top 10 and their schedules shows no sign of slowing them down. Playing in a weak PAC 10 conference with only an average Cal team on the horizon, they shouldn't lose another game. Since the year began, the MWC has a 6-1 record against Pac 10 schools including a 59-0 BYU thrashing of UCLA as well as a UNLV victory over an overrated ASU team who was then ranked #15.

So do I think the MWC is that good, or is the Pac 10 that bad? It's a little of both.

The best of the best:

The class of the Pac 10 is clearly USC. Their annual oversight of a poor team (see Oregon St. '08, or Stanford '07) notwithstanding, they should never lose a game in that conference. The class of the MWC is BYU, Utah and to a lesser extent, TCU. They are currently a combined 19-1 with wins over Michigan, UCLA, and the same Oregon St. team that beat USC, with the lone loss coming against a then #1 ranked Oklahoma team.

The worst of the worst:

The bottom of the Pac 10 includes the University of Washington who is currently 0-5 still having to play USC. They have what may well be considered a lame-duck coach in Tyrone Willingham since everyone knows he can't survive this season. Keeping them company at the bottom of the heap is Washington State who has one victory in 7 tries and it came against PSU; no, not Penn State University, but Portland State University, a I-AA team. This last week WSU gave up over 60 points for the third time this season, this time to Oregon St. WSU resorted to playing a walk-on at quarterback when their third stringer went down with significant knee damage. The dregs of the MWC includes Wyoming and San Diego State who lost a tough 21-13 game at Notre Dame earlier in the season.

I've got high hopes for BYU and the rest of the MWC. The way I see it, either BYU or Utah will go to a BCS bowl while the loser of their season finale will beat up on another Pac 10 team in the Las Vegas bowl. TCU will bowl somewhere as will Air Force and possibly Colorado State. If MWC teams only had to play Pac 10 teams all season and vice versa, the Mountain West could have several undefeated teams this year. :-)

Homeownership, Pneumonia & Forest fires...

2008-09-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

I am a homeowner! Well, the bank is anyway, but I get to live there. We do have quite a bit of painting and carpeting to do, but it is nice as it is anyway. The previous owners had some interesting color choices for the front room. (purple and mint green)

I went on the annual BYU MBA rafting trip with all of the OB/HR hopefuls. It was reminiscent of vikings raiding passing boats what with all the carnage on a daily basis. I ended up with Pneumonia and a broken nose. Not bad for $235 bucks.

My wife thinks I'm competitive and I suppose I am. One student on the trip was much more competitive than I'll ever be. Five minutes into a week long rafting trip he was bleeding from both knees in a failed attempt to attack another boat. The irony in this story is that this young man happens to be my wife's first cousin! I love repeating that story to her. She's still trying to find who in her family was adopted in order to bring their families together, because she's certainly not related to him.

My broken nose was mostly my fault. It was sustained while performing the "Flying Dutchman" maneuver on the recruiter from Microsoft, Jason Carson. While pulling the unsuspecting swimmer what he thinks to be into the boat, he is unceremoniously tossed clear over the boat into the water on the other side. My injury happened when his lagging heel caught me in the face. I was swallowing blood for the next 20 minutes and am still very tender to the touch three weeks later.

As you can see from my previous blog entries, I ran a marathon just a few months ago. I've been a bit tired lately, but felt that a short, two mile run would lift my spirits. I had to stop twice during my run due to shortness of breath. This, I felt, was not normal for me so I went to the doctor. He listened to my lungs and sent me for chest x-rays and diagnosed me with Pneumonia. About halfway through my antibiotics, I'm beginning to feel that little bounce in my step again.

If you're a forest ranger the last thing you expect to see from a group of MBA's from BYU is a forest fire that was started by a smoldering cigar. This is exactly what happened the Sunday we were there. Most of us were down enjoying a lovely devotional down at the rivers side when one of the students came running down in a panic yelling that their was a forest fire about 50 yards from our campsite. We all ran up the hill back to camp and started a bucket brigade to douse the flames while the rangers were on the way.

Come to find out, the fire was started by one of our guides no less. He had been smoking a cigar and tried to extinguish it on a bone dry, dead fallen log. Yikes!

Corporate Housing

2008-07-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

For the last 6 weeks we have lived in corporate housing just outside of Seattle but things are about to change. Jennifer and I are putting the finishing touches on our financing for a house in Auburn which is about 40 minutes south of Seattle. It will be nice to get all of our stuff back which has been in storage since we moved up from Reno. I've been rotating through what was suppose to be 3 weeks worth of clothing which will ultimately be 7. Commuting on the bus is a new experience. When we move to Auburn my commute will be about 40 minutes and will include a 30 minute train ride.

Note #2, Tomorrow is Nathan's 3rd birthday. Hopefully he'll be interested in being potty trained soon.

Note #3, Jennifer wants to watch Catwoman tonight. Hmmm. Does that qualify as an action flick? I'm trying to convince myself that it is.

See me on Linkedin

2008-07-15T11:43:00.001-07:00

Finish Line with Christian...

2008-05-24T19:59:00.001-07:00

This next one is just a small thumbnail video but it shows the last 50 yards of the race. I am running with my son Christian who joined me in running up the final chute.

One Marathon Down...

2008-05-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

The day before the race Jennifer and I drove up to Ogden and met up with Joe and Brandi Heywood, our friends of about 13 years. We were much younger then and Joe had a bit more hair. Joe and I worked on the grounds construction crew together. I spent the majority of my time painting the lines on the football field and practice fields. Joe and I were putting up some railroad ties outside of the Manwaring center one day when Joe's cousin came to say hi. She introduced us to Brandi who Joe ended up marrying. 13 years later and each of us have 4 kids and we're running Marathons. After our time at Rick's, we ended up in the same Married student ward at BYU and were actually home teaching companions for a semester or two. We use to play basketball pretty regularly at the church and I don't think either one of us had any idea we'd be running Marathons a few short years later. Distance running has never been our forte.

Anyhoo, we met up with Joe and Brandi and picked up our packets. I was pleased with the shirt they gave us, but I had to return it and get a smaller size. Fully fed, and fully hydrated I weighed about 166 lbs at the starting line. At the end of the race I was about 159. We drove up the canyon to the top of the course and then slowly drove back down to get a feel for where I would spend the majority of the following day.

I slept as long as I could that night. I went to bed at 10 and woke up around 4:30. I met Joe at the shuttle around 4:55 with him in a panic. He'd been there for about 25 minutes and thought I'd slept through my alarm. No such luck. We rode in the dark with about 50 other very sleepy Marathoners up to the starting stable. They had a couple dozen barrels full of wood that they fired up to keep us warm. I had to stand in line for the port-o-potty for about 20 minutes before the race. Since Joe had run one Marathon previously, he was the cagey veteran that was giving me advice to calm my jitters. Strangely enough, I didn't really have any. When the cannon sounded Joe took off and I started the most pleasant run I'd ever had. We'll, the first 10 miles or so anyway. For the first half of the run I was having a great time. I wasn't trying to beat everybody else, I was just running along looking at the scenery, peering over the side of the road to the river below, talking to some of the early morning spectators and enjoying a beverage every mile or two.

At about mile 10 or so there was a woman sitting on the side of the road with her husband ringing a cowbell and cheering folks on. I said to her, "Do you know what this Marathon needs?" Reply, "What?" Answer, "A little more cowbell!" I don't think she got the Saturday Night Live reference, but it gave me a chuckle. There were people all up and down the course cheering us on holding up signs, ringing cowbells, giving us stuff to drink and eat, all in the middle of a beautiful canyon setting.

I felt great for quite a bit of the race. I'd say I started to struggle at about 16 miles or so. I kept running until about mile 20-21 though which is where I started the walking. I walked about 30-40% of the rest of the race due to sore and just flat out tired quads. My lungs felt fine and my calves could have gone on forever, but my quads had just lost their bounce. I finished in about 4:44. I took about 1 min to go to the bathroom at about mile 8 but I stopped my watch while I was in there. My watch showed 4:43:59 when I crossed the finish line. The computer chip on my shoe showed 4:44:59 so I guess my bathroom break was exactly one minute.

At about mile 23 one of the aid stations was handing out sliced watermelon. That was a little piece of heaven. Ice cold and tasty. When I crossed the finish line they gave me a beautiful finisher's medal. At that point I had about 6 minutes to check out of our hotel. I climbed the barricade and gingerly walked to our hotel about 2 blocks away. There was no elevator at our end of the hall so I climbed the stairs, some on my hands and knees. When I got into the room Jennifer checked out over the phone while I attempted to take off my clothes to have a quick shower. It was difficult to get off the floor.

After we got some food, my mom dropped Jennifer and I off at the airport. We flew to Seattle for 3 days of house-hunting. The ones with stairs took a bit longer to check out. Jennifer pampered me all week. She gave my quads a few much needed massages. The balls of my feet were nearly as bad, and they have hurt a little longer. The pain in my quads was gone by Tuesday morning and the Pain in my feet was gone by Wednesday.

I went on a bike ride yesterday for 4 miles. It felt good to get the blood flowing again. I've got myself on another running schedule in order to run the Teton Dam Half-Marathon in Rexburg, ID on June 14th. That gives me 4 weeks after my Marathon to prepare. This first week has been primarily rest. I'll bike some tomorrow and maybe run a slow 2 miles. The last 5 miles of the Marathon may have been difficult, but I'm willing to do it again.

I thought that I would train for and run a Marathon just so I could say I had done it and then say goodbye to running. But running is in me now. I don't know how it got there, but at this point I think it would be hard to let it go.

Body-smithing...

2008-05-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

I'm one week away from the Marathon. Last week I was very nervous, and I suppose I still am, but last week I was dreading the run. This week I'm feeling better about it and am looking forward to accomplishing something big. On April 26th, the day I turned 37 years old, I ran 20 miles. It took me 3:35:20 and I was a bit sore for the next 24 hours. I'm on the downslope with my training. My "long" run yesterday was only 8 miles. This coming week I have 3,4, & 2 before taking two days off before the race. I've taken the liberty of photographing myself in my skivvies to keep a bit of a photo log of my progress.

This is the "before" picture. This was December 22, 2007. My first 1.5 mile run was on Dec 21, 2007 and hurt like the dickens.

This was taken May 3, 2008. After about 4 1/2 months of running I'm quite a bit lighter than I use to be. I think Jennifer is the primary beneficiary of the results. ;-)

Running for my life...

2008-04-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

I'm up to about 30 miles per week now. My mileage is increasing but my pace isn't getting much better. It's mostly the last few miles that really kill me. I ran 16 miles last weekend and averaged 10 min/mile. I was averaging about 9 min/mile for about the first 10 miles and then it got a bit more tough. I think my "wall" is currently at about 13 miles. I'm going to have to push that back about 10 miles if I expect to do well on May 17th.

The Dirty Dozen...

2008-03-02T21:15:00.000-08:00

When I was in Graduate school at UNLV, I ate 12 Krispy Kreme donuts in one day. It didn't take much will-power and I felt terrible for the next few days. Yesterday I managed a dozen of a different sort. I ran for 12 miles. For someone who has never run more than two miles in a day, the distances I'm running now are getting a bit ridiculous.

It was VERY windy yesterday. I ran on a highway six miles out and six miles back. It was getting progressively more windy as I continued to run. My last six miles were into a pretty stiff headwind and during my last three miles it was blowing about 30 mph right into my face. I was leaning forward quite a bit just to keep my momentum going forward. I also pulled my shirt tight around my waist and tucked the extra material in the back of my shorts. This helped me avoid my shirt becoming a sail and blowing me backwards. I couldn't breath very well, and some might say that no one can breath very well 10 miles into a 12 mile run; but have you ever tried to breath with your head out of a moving vehicle like a dog? It is very difficult and I needed all the air I could get. When the trucks would blow past me I could barely breath for a step or two.

Hopefully the wind lightens up next weekend. I've got to go 13 miles.

Continuous Improvement (Implementing Lean)

2008-02-22T10:22:00.000-08:00

My running is going well. I'm not as blazingly fast as my friend Joe yet. Last week I did three 3 milers during the week and a 10 miler on Saturday. This week I've been in Dallas to help at one of our sites there. I've done two 3 mile runs on the hotel treadmill. I'm the scoutmaster and we're going on our winter campout tonight and tomorrow. It is a step-back week for me so my long run is only 7 miles. I may have to shorten that since I won't be getting home until about 4pm tomorrow, and I'll be very tired after sleeping in the snow.

Over the last 4 weeks my minutes/mile on my 3 mile runs has been getting progressively better. My long runs are just done at a comfortable pace so I don't kill myself or get injured but they are improving as well. It is very surprising to me how this is going.

Last 5 weeks of "Long Runs"

6 Miler: 64 min (10:40/mi)
7 Miler: 75 min (10:43/mi)
5 Miler: Can't remember
9 Miler: 87 min (9:40/mi)
10 Miler: 94 min (9:24/mi) (1st 5 miles were at a 9 minute pace, then I had to slow a bit.)
I've ordered some GU and I think that may help with the 2nd half of my long runs.

My last 4 week averages for my 3 mile runs:

9:26/mi
9:04/mi
8:42/mi
8:20/mi

It still hurts to push myself, but it's now my legs that protest rather than my lungs. My weight is much more under control at this point. In beginning this process I changed my diet. I eat a smoothie every morning made of 4 frozen strawberries, 1/2 of a frozen banana, a whole orange, 4 ice cubes and some water. It's a tasty treat. I'm also doing the Subway:Jared thing as well, except I go to Port-O-Subs which is a Nevada chain. I get a small ham, no cheese, no mayo, olive, lettuce, tomato, pickle, peppers, and avocado. I think my stomach has shrunk, because this small sandwich fills me up now.

I started at about 183 lbs. and I'm currently at about 168-9. After my 10 miler last weekend I was at 166.6 but most of that was water loss. Now that I'm 14 lbs. down from my starting weight, I'll be focusing less on the weight loss and more on my running speed.

Weights and Measures

2008-02-09T20:06:00.000-08:00

I completed my 7 miler in 1:15:06. My average per mile was 10:44. I am now two weeks removed from that run, and today my long run was 9 miles. I finished in 1:27:00, which was better than expected. That was an average of 9:40 per mile. My total time was actually 1:30:23, but I was stopped by a police officer asking if I was OK. I was running on a highway outside of Silver Springs, Nevada, and apparently not many people do. She asked when my marathon was, where, how far I'd run that day, etc. etc. as if she needed someone to talk to. I didn't stop my watch, but it was at least a few minutes before she completed her verbal field sobriety test and sent me on my way.

With a bit of input from my friend Joe, I've started to do a bit of speed training. That is, I run a few miles a week at an increased pace in order to get use to running a bit faster. As you can see from the info above, I've already taken over a minute off of each mile. The 10:44 pace would have me finish the marathon in 4:41:00. Not stellar. The 9:40 pace would have me finish in 4:13:00. A few weeks ago I did a bit of math like this and figured 4 hours was not a realistic goal. Now I feel that it is entirely achievable, although it will take some work yet.

My kids poured a bunch of water over my digital scale rendering it inoperable. I bought a new one today with all the bells and whistles. It too is digital but it has sensors and a little computer in it. It keeps track of your starting weight, goal weight, date, time, and the sensors monitor your body fat percentage. I am currently rated as "Good" for my age, but am headed toward "Excellent". :-)

Since my kids ruined the last scale I haven't been able to check my weight in about 10 days. I weighed in at 169.4, meaning I've lost 13 pounds since Christmas. I still have bits and pieces I could do without, and I think I'll start the marathon somewhere in the low 160's. Two weeks ago I put on a suit that I haven't worn in a few years and it was snug back then. Now it fits great, so my wardrobe is increasing as my size decreases.

Goal number one...check.

2008-01-25T23:04:00.000-08:00

In running a marathon I knew that things would go much easier for me physically if I would loose a couple of pounds. When I started this process I was 182.5. I have since dropped my first 10 pounds. I weighed in at 172.5 this morning which should make the strain on my knees a bit easier to handle. Pick up a 10 pound bag of sugar next time you're in the grocery store and see if you'd like to carry it for 26 miles. My drivers license lists me at 180, but in January of '07 I weighed 190. I didn't feel great and I didn't look great either.

As a testament to what improved fitness can do for you I offer the following: Near the end of my first run of 1.5 miles the outside of my right knee began to hurt. After the run the pain got progressively worse and wasn't completely gone for 2 days and after a lot of ice. After my first 3 mile run a week later, I had the same strong pain but not until about 2 miles into the run. When I ran six miles last weekend I felt the pain during the last half mile and it was gone by morning. This week I've done two 3 mile runs so far and didn't feel any pain during or after either run. In running 7 miles tomorrow, I feel that there is the possibility of minor pain after the run, but with my fitness level increasing, and my weight decreasing, it wouldn't surprise me to have no pain when I'm done.

Secondly, just prior to starting my exercising a month ago, my pulse was around 65 bpm. I just took my pulse and it was 52. That will keep the ticker working much longer.

I'm in the 2nd week of my 18 week training program (although I had to do some pre-training just to get ready for the actual training). Last Saturday I did my first long run of 6 miles. It took me 1:04:12. Not lightning, but I ran for over an hour without stopping and although I felt tired, it was very satisfying. I'm hoping to do my 7 miler in about 1:10, but won't be on as good of a road as I ran on last week so we'll see.

Some vacation...

2008-01-06T22:35:00.000-08:00

I spent the week over New Year's Day in Utah at my brother's house. I had decided before I went that I would try and work out at least twice. When we got there, the ground was a foot deep in snow and running would have been impossible. On Wed we went to my brother's athletic club and played some very light basketball, but I followed it up with 1.5 miles on the treadmill. On Thursday I used his eliptical and went for 45 minutes. I was tired but on Friday did the same thing. I got my 3 workouts in, but none of them were actually running on the street.

Most of my family was together which included 4 of us 6 kids, my parents and about 15 of the grandkids. I ate like a cow all week, but was measurably better than I would have been a year ago. I think my stomach is a bit smaller than it was a few months ago, so I get filled up quicker, and I'm making better choices about what I put on my plate.

I assumed when I got home that I would be back up to 182 lbs, but I was 180.5, and by morning was 178.5 again. It's nice to have gone that week and not to have gained any weight. I can focus on dropping some more now that I'm back in control of my own fridge again.

My 18 week training schedule actually begins in one week, so I've got 7 days to drop a couple more pounds and get my knees a bit more accustomed to running. I'm not going to make any predictions on finishing times or even completion at this point. I want to move through this as sensibly as possible and not get ahead of myself in my training; although, how a person can talk of doing a Marathon, and do one sensibly is a bit of an oxymoron.

Marathon...Are you kidding me??

2007-12-28T15:57:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I started doing push-ups and sit-ups in an attempt to get in a little bit better shape. The guy looking back at me in the mirror was becoming less and less familiar. About 2 weeks ago I got an email from Joe Heywood who has been one of my best friends for about 12 years, mentioning that he was doing a marathon. In a moment of disgust with himself last year he made the decision to run one about 3 months before the race. This year he's started much earlier so he doesn't hear anything snap in his foot during the last few miles. He made a brief comment in his email that I should join him this year. Jennifer has been screening my emails apparently and tried to erase it. What she doesn't know is that all of my email from that account is forwarded to my work email so I got it anyway. :-)

Well, I'm going to do it. It's the Ogden Marathon and it takes place on May 17th, 2008. I've made two purchases that will help me in my training. The first item is a pair of running shoes. (They looked nice in the picture so I thought they'd do just fine.) The second item is an ice pack for my knees. I don't have any bad knee problems to begin with, but I want to avoid having to limit my training due to an injury. I noticed that Joe mentioned Vaseline in one of our email strings and I'm still nervous to ask him what that's all about.

I'm about 182 lbs right now and I'd like to get down to about 170 in about 8 weeks. This will put less strain on my joints while I'm running increasing amounts of miles over the next 20 weeks. I started running about 9 days ago. Due to my current fitness level I could only run about 1.5 miles. I've done that twice, ran/walked on the treadmill in the garage for 3 miles twice, and biked for 7 miles last Saturday.

I have a schedule that I found online from Hal Higdon who is a marathon expert. http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/Mar00index.htm I'm doing the Novice I training program which is still ridiculous. The schedule is below although I will be tweaking it a bit to fit my schedule. Sunday's will be an off day for instance.

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	rest	3 m run	3 m run	3 m run	rest	6	cross
2	rest	3 m run	3 m run	3 m run	rest	7	cross
3	rest	3 m run	4 m run	3 m run	rest	5	cross
4	rest	3 m run	4 m run	3 m run	rest	9	cross
5	rest	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	rest	10	cross
6	rest	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	rest	7	cross
7	rest	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	rest	12	cross
8	rest	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	rest	13	cross
9	rest	3 m run	7 m run	4 m run	rest	10	cross
10	rest	3 m run	7 m run	4 m run	rest	15	cross
11	rest	4 m run	8 m run	4 m run	rest	16	cross
12	rest	4 m run	8 m run	5 m run	rest	12	cross
13	rest	4 m run	9 m run	5 m run	rest	18	cross
14	rest	5 m run	9 m run	5 m run	rest	14	cross
15	rest	5 m run	10 m run	5 m run	rest	20	cross
16	rest	5 m run	8 m run	4 m run	rest	12	cross
17	rest	4 m run	6 m run	3 m run	rest	8	cross
18	rest	3 m run	4 m run	2 m run	rest	rest	race

During my first two runs, I was coughing up all kinds of things. I must have been exploring previously unused portions of my lungs. We'll see if I can actually finish. Joe's goal last year was 4 hours and he got 4:03. My goal: I just want to cross the finish line with someone still behind me. That's motivating. :-)

Ho Ho Ho and stuff...

2007-12-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

Well, it worked. I got a Garmin nuvi 650 and was able to find my way to work this morning. Thanks to all those who followed up with my wife and let her know of my Christmas wish. I now have a British man telling me when to turn. :)

We got our two oldest kids electric scooters and they are now the terrors of the neighborhood. On Christmas day we sat around watching movies and eating junk. After working 70 hours a week for 2 months, it was a well needed break.

Speaking of breaks we're headed back to Utah for a week over New-Year's day. We'll get to see a fair chunk of my family and about 15 of the cousins will be in the same place at the same time.

Happy Holidays!

Little Jimmy in Nebraska...

2007-12-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

It's nearing Christmas and things are getting crazy around here. I wish people would pace themselves and buy gifts a bit earlier. It's a wild time of year when you're on the fulfillment end of things. I've been working on the floor to help out over the last few weeks. 1-2 hours a day is all, but it's good to feel that I'm doing my part. I've got wounds on my forearms from working in box SLAM. It's the area where we stuff the boxes with bubbles and run them through a taping machine. It's the final step before they're jammed onto a truck and sent to little Jimmy in Nebraska who's parents ordered him the Harry Potter box set.

We got about 1 inch of snow in Fernley today so our Scout hike of 2 miles was called off. People were calling at 7am because the weather looked "treacherous". We've also had problems with people not coming into work on time, or at all due to the weather. It's not like Provo Canyon in January by any stretch, but there are no snow plows to speak of so any type of snow removal is unreliable.

I want a navigation system for my car for Christmas. Nothing fancy, and Amazon's got one for about $150. That may seem like a random comment, but I'm hoping that someone out there will read this and let Jennifer know. I don't want to ask her or anyone else directly. It would still feel like a surprise this way. :) Her cell # is (801)-318-3462. She doesn't read my blog, so I have to rely on someone else to give her the info. This is like my "Letter to Santa" that is addressed to the North Pole. http://www.northpole.com/

Ebbsfleet United!

2007-11-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

I am now the proud owner of an English professional football club. Well, me and 20,000 of my closest friends. I joined a group who decided to pool our money and buy a controlling share of a professional football club.

We get to vote on the lineups for games and whether the coach stays or goes. Since we have a controlling share, they are required to do what we say. It's the ultimate in fantasy sports, but it costs a bit more. This is what Jennifer allowed me to buy for my birthday last year, a stake in a professional football club! What a gal!!

They are currently in 8th place out of 24 teams in the English Conference Standings and at 9 wins, 6 losses and 5 draws, they are doing pretty well. You can visit MY club's homepage at http://ebbsfleetunited.co.uk/eufc/. Enjoy!

Peak at Amazon

2007-11-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

Jennifer has been a single parent for the last couple of weeks and will continue in that role until Christmas Eve. I am currently working between 60-70 hours/week so I don't get to see the kids awake very much. My parents will be coming to visit this weekend for a few days. I have the lucky fortune of baptizing my daughter Katie who will turn 8 on Saturday December, 1.

I'm looking forward to Christmas as much as the kids are with the prospect of being home more regularly. My friend in Iraq will get to come home for a 2 week stint over Christmas and then back for another six months to go along with the year he has already spent there. He has 4 kids as well. That should be a very happy time for them.

BYU MBA's and Soldiers in Iraq

2007-10-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

I may spin back into BYU MBA information from time to time. It was a great experience and I loved my time there. After spending two years with the same bunch of people, going through academic struggles, births, marriages, and hours of foosball, you tend to create deeper relationships. I currently have a friend, Dana Tucker http://danatucker.blogspot.com/, who had to leave the program early because he was called into active duty with the Army. He is a Major and is currently running one of the Iraqi police training facilities. Several of my other friends took jobs with Microsoft in Seattle in their HR Leadership Development Program called TRAX. I am in a similar program for Amazon.com, also based in Seattle.

My program includes three, 10 month rotations. My first is in Fernley, Nevada where I work as an HR generalist in one of their largest fulfillment centers. At this time of the year and for the rest of the year, I won't be spending much time at my desk. We have about 900 full-time Amazon employees, however we are in the process of bringing on between 1400 and 1600 temporary associates in order to handle the increased volume we get between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm already feeling the effects of the increased workload. My wife and I have four children and I feel like Amazon moving toward Christmas is like my wife moving towards delivery. The building is getting more painful by the day with more arms and legs in an increasingly cramped space.

I'm the new Scoutmaster in Fernley. I am an Eagle Scout but ironically enough I hate camping. As such, I'm not surprised that this is the second time I've been punished with this calling. That being said, the boys I have are surprisingly fun. My 12 year old son Christian is among them and this will give me a good opportunity to jump start his scouting journey. I feel like my mother earned about 18 of the twenty something merit badges I was awarded, so now it is my turn to earn them as they are being awarded to my son. :-)

Career Change

2007-10-17T23:31:00.000-07:00

I guess I should give a bit more to the story. I originally went to Brigham Young University and graduated in Pre-Med in 1999 intending to become a Physical Therapist. I was accepted to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and earned my Masters in Physical Therapy in 2001.

After graduating I started work in Heppner, Oregon as the Director of a small clinic while helping the Heppner High School football team (the Mustangs) as both the trainer and a bit as the kicking coach. I worked as a PT for 3.5 years focusing mainly on sports rehab. In my first year of PT school however, I already knew that I would be getting my MBA. I began searching on BYU's MBA home-site since both my brother and my uncle had graduated from the Marriott school previously. That home page that I spent so much time on, devouring information and hoping for acceptance has now included a bit of me. In an attempt to promote the program by showing profiles of specific students, BYU chose me as their poster-boy. http://marriottschool.byu.edu/mba/ (I'm not getting any royalties)

In July of 2004 I took the GMAT as my initial step towards school and did well enough to get in. A 640 is not the greatest score a person could get, but it's certainly not the worst, and with my level of prep (next to none) I was satisfied. I also got into one of the best schools in the country, so says the Wall Street Journal. Their 2007 rankings place BYU as the #1 regional school in the country. The WSJ separates the 18 so-called "national" schools that typically draw applicants from across the country and have class sizes from 500 to over 1000 per year. Regional schools include the other three hundred and some odd schools at Universities across the country who typically have class sizes from 50 up to a few hundred.

BYU's class size is relatively small but is increasing. Class sizes have typically been in the 120's over the last few decades but with new construction thanks to a grant from the Marriott family, BYU is increasing it's class size. I was in the class of 2007 which included 118 students. The class of 2008 has just under 140 and the class of 2009 is just under 160. It is my understanding that BYU intends to increase their class size over the next 3 years up to 250 full-time students per class. In speaking with Jim Stice, BYU's MBA Director of academics, their biggest concern in expanding the class size so rapidly is the dilution of talent that typically comes with it.

Typically GMAT scores have averaged around 650ish over the last 5 years. The class of 2007's average was 660. The first year of expansion with the class of 2008 saw GMAT scores dip to an average of 648. This was a bit of a concern for the administration, but they forged ahead with their expansion plans. The class of 2009 that was just admitted averaged 661 and was a huge encouragement. The WSJ rankings over the past few years have had an effect on the quality of students who view BYU as a solid option. BYU has gone from 6th to 5th to 3rd, and finally to 1st over the past 4 years. The WSJ has just recently begun ranking B-schools and BYU has come out looking very good in these recruiter driven rankings.

In my next post, I anticipate relaying my Internship experiences. I was lucky enough to have two internships that I would have had no chance at getting had I not been at BYU.

Fernley Nevada

2007-10-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Provo, Hello Fernley!!

We moved to Fernley on August 3rd. Since I graduated on my Birthday on April 26th, and my first day wasn't with Amazon wasn't until August 13th, I decided to get another internship. I went to work for the RBL Group which is a Human Resources consulting firm. It was nice to get paid some money while the family enjoyed the beautiful view from our place on the hill.

The kids spent the summer running through the sprinklers and jumping on the trampoline. Christian finally turned 12 in June so Jennifer and I were able to go on a few unfettered dates.