Carry That Weight

David W. posted this article about a cross-country runner named Josh Ripley on Facebook and shared it.  As I read the article, I got thinking how often I get helped by others when I get discouraged along the journey including many of you.  Thanks for the support!

Blog Award

Michelle over at Ruminations was kind enough to award me with a blog award.  If you don't follow Michelle, I would recommend you do.  She is doing well on making a lifestyle change and is losing weight the right way.  A great combination of exercise (over 1000 miles biking this year so far) and making reasonable and healthy changes in the way she eats.  Slow and steady wins the race in the long run.  Keep up the great work Michelle.

Back in Training
As I posted last week, I decided to run the Halloween Half again this year.  I started at week 4 training on a new schedule.  My running up to this week was sufficient enough for me to start where I did.  I like the new schedule if for no other reason it mixes things up a bit.  Speed work is mixed in to the middle of an easier pace. It's fun for me to run faster for short sprints and then crank it back down.  For now the length of the intervals is about right.  Saturday's long run was a bit rough however.  I have been trying to really watch  my heart rate.  I tend to push it a bit too hard and end up paying for it on race day.  I decided this time out, I would really train within the parameters that the training calls for.  The problem on Saturday was my Garmin which tracks both heart rate and distance got knocked off the charger and it didn't even last getting out of the car.  I didn't have a watch with me, so I had to guess on my heart rate by effort.  I know the distance of a 6 miler on the path I took, but it was an 8 mile run so I had to guess when to turn back.  I am not sure if I was short or long.  I also had to take off later than I usually do.  The first part of the run was a real struggle and I ended up having to choose between walking or falling over.  I chose to walk for about a half mile until I felt ok.  From there on, I was in a bit better shape and able to run the rest.

When I got  back to the car, this was on my windshield.

This is both wrong and funny in so many ways!

Hang in there and I will too.

The Price (of Great Health) is Right!

A few bits and pieces this week.

Drew Carey

Runner's World ran a great article on Drew Cary.  You might have heard his story of losing weight, but this article is the latest in his efforts to get fit.  I can relate to what he has gone through and we are close to the same age.  I hope you get some motivation and some good practical advice from it as I did.

September Challenge.  Mer at We're Losing It posted a challenge a few weeks back.  Really quite simple but effective.  I thought I ought to report on my progress since we are now more than half way through September.

• Minimum 30 minute workout (Every day I worked out was at least 30 minutes.) 
• 5-6 days a week (5 times / week is 71.4% of the time, I've exercised 86.6% of the time so far)
• Cardio or strength training (Both.  I've been mixing it up)
• Post daily about it on your blog. (Missed a couple of tweets, but for the most part logged my workouts)

Bob Harper - Totally Ripped Core.   I am a big fan of the Biggest Loser and have always wondered how I would do if Bob was my trainer.  Last year I bought several of his Inside Out DVD's and they are hard.  Just last week, I got his Totally Ripped Abs DVD and it is a killer as well (in a good way.)  If you are looking to mix things up, I would recommend his DVDs.  Most are $10 and under from Amazon, Walmart and Target. 

One last bit of news.  I have decided to run the Halloween Half again this year. 

I was not going to race anymore this year but after cutting back on my running for a couple of weeks, I am feeling ready to train again.  I have benefited a lot from training for races.  Saturday it really started bugging me so I checked where I should be in training according to a Runner's World training sheet and found I was about right on my weekly runs.  So I started on week 4 this morning.  I am going to really focus on my heart rate on this training schedule and see how it goes.  This morning went really well.

Hang in there and I will too!

Timp III

My brother Gordon and I tried to hike Mount Timpanogos about 6 weeks ago.  After 5 miles and several snowfield crossings, we turned back when one of them proved to be too much.  I didn't know if we would get another chance this year until some of the guys at work said they wanted to hike it.  I set up a date, we got about 10 people saying they wanted to go and the plan was set in place.  After all was said in done, on Friday we arrived at the trailhead with Gordon, one other guy from work, (Paul) and me.  I've described this hike several times, so I won't go into much detail here other than to point out a few things that were different about this hike and also a few pictures.

It was fun to have all three of us be matched up well in our hiking abilities.  We took turns switching off leading and it kept us on a good pace.  We hit the summit after hiking about four and a half hours.  Not bad considering the average is six to eight hours to the top.

Paul and Gordon at the place where the snowfield stopped us last time.  Just a small patch is all that is left.

Looking down at Emerald Lake which is still partially covered with ice.  It's usually snow free by the first of July.

Paul, Bruce and Gordon at the summit.

 On the way down, we met two others from work, Scott and Joe, who had a conflict in the morning.  They started hiking around noon and kept going until they met us coming down.  As you can see on the following picture, it is a beautiful trail.

Heading back down.

I felt really great on this hike.  I even packed the poles away for most of the hike on the way down.  I think my training for the half marathon on downhill routes helped.  The only thing that was painful is my trail running shoes are too small in the toes and they were a bit tender.  I need to get another pair.  Other than that, it was a great hike and I'm glad I got to do it again this year.  It also makes Gordon a member of the Three Peak Challenge club.  Great job Gordon!  Thanks to Paul for being a great hiking buddy as well!

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Another quick note.  My daughter Sarah suggested that I read "The Long Run" by Matt Long.  It is an inspiring story of a NY city fireman who had run marathons, was an Ironman finisher and is a survivor of the 9/11 attacks 10 years ago.   He was hit by and sucked under a bus, survived after receiving 69 pints of blood and over 40 surgeries.  He chronicles his recovery, his discouragement and how he overcame this and became determined to run a marathon again against all odds.  It was truly an inspiring book.  I felt it was fitting to drop this book back to the library by running the 1.2 miles down there instead of driving.  Just a small tip of the hat to Matty and his inspiring story.  I highly recommend the book.

Hang in there and I will too.  

Carry That Weight

Over the long weekend I was trying to decide what to blog about on Monday.  I had some general ideas, but I didn't realize that most of my blog this week would happen on Monday itself.  

My brother Gordon invited me to on an early hike to Silver Lake with him and one of his neighbors.  That worked out well with it being Labor Day and I was scheduled for a 3 mile run. This would give me a similar workout since the hike is about a 4.6 mile round trip. 

I haven't been to Silver Lake for quite a few years, but I remembered that both the hike and lake were pretty.  I got to my brother's house at 6:30 and we climbed into the van and off we went. 

I have mentioned before that I feel really blessed to live where I do because there is so many outdoor opportunities.  I love to hike and within a half hour or so, we can be to many wonderful trail heads.  Extend that out to a couple of hours and the options are limitless.

After last week's disaster hike, I wondered how this one would go.  I decided to go very minimal with what I took and it ended up being a good decision in more ways that one.  I didn't even take my hiking poles with me on this one.  I felt really good on the hike and I had more than enough energy and endurance for this one.  I was very encouraged.

Silver Lake

Me and my brother

Reflection of the sky.

As we were there at the lake, we were approached my a guy who had been camping overnight.  He asked if we were heading back soon.  When we said we were, he told us of another camper who had hurt his back and needed help getting back down the trail.  He said his group could help him, but they had full packs themselves and were wondering if one of us could take his pack down.  I said no problem since I didn't even have a day pack on.  Both Gordon and I both know from personal experience about back problems so we were glad to help.  We went over and helped him finish packing.  I know how hard it is to get up and down when the back hurts so we finished packing his tent up.  I put the pack on, Gordon gave me his hiking poles and we took off.  It was a little over 2 miles back, so I decided to hike as quick as I could with the pack on.  I made good time back to the van.  We prearranged a place to leave the pack.  Hopefully all went well with him getting down with the other campers.

Later that day, we had already planned as a family to go to Lisa Falls.  I haven't been there in years either.  It is up Little Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake.  The hike is short and easy and the falls are pretty as you can see.

The main falls coming down a granite face.

Not really big, but pretty.

We didn't stay long.  We made it back home in time to see "The Help."  Great movie!

Hope you had a great holiday weekend.

Hang in there and I will too!