The Battle of my Buldge!

Several years ago I started running to lose weight. At the time I was 255 pounds. I worked hard losing 60 pounds and achieved the weight of 195. After reaching that, I was able to maintain for quite awhile. A series of setbacks happened and I gained 25 pounds. I am now working again to get back to 195 or even lower. Today I checked and I weigh 212! Wish me luck!

Butch Cassidy 10k

I ran the Butch Cassidy 10k in Springdale,Ut this morning. it was cold, snowing, blowing and muddy...but I loved every minute of it! My daughter in law Stephanie, ran the 5k and is 6 months pregnant! I was proud of her! I missed my goal of running it under an hour by 1:30. Given the conditions, I'll take it! Thanks to my wife Tracy for being there. Also my son Dane who had been training to run, but broke his leg a few weeks ago playing softball. They made great cheerleaders!

Red Rock Zion in the books

My son Dane and I ran with a 12 person team called "The Fit, The Fat and The Elderly"  for the Red Rock Relay this past weekend.  It was a difficult relay but we made it through.  My legs totalled 21+ miles.  The total mileage for the relay was 187 miles.  Dane's legs were just over 19 miles.  Our team finished in the middle of the pack.  It took us nearly35 hours to complete.  We had fun during the down time and I really enjoyed the quality time spent with my son.  Thanks Dane!

First Triathlon Attempt

I participated in my first Triathlon this past weekend.  It was The Lunatic Triathlon in Price, Utah that I spoke of in an earlier post.  I got ready for it by swimming for an hour three days a week, running two and mixing the bike in sporadically. 

The race consisted of a 5k run, 9 mile bike ride and 300 meter swim.  I finished in 1:11 (One hour, eleven minutes.)  I felt great during and after the race.  I am going to work towards racing in a longer one in the future.  For a starter, this one was great!

I rode the bike portion on my old, heavy, Diamondback, mountain bike.  I did buy some "slick" tires for it, but in comparison to the road bikes I saw, it was real heavy.  May have to look at buying a lighter road bike if I am going to continue the triathlons.

RRR In the books!

Red Rock Relay in Moab was spectacular.  Even though I spent most of my childhood years in the area, I saw scenery I had never seen before.  It was a great day for running.  My first leg was in the Castle Valley area...a gradual, uphill, 3 mile run.  The weather at that point was a tolerable 60+ degrees.  ( The cooler the better as far as I'm concerned!)  The views were spectacular!  I couldn't take pics while running and all I had was my phone, but I did post a pic on my Facebook page if you are interested.  My second leg was an 8 mile, "melter!"  By the time I started my second leg, the sun was out and burning hot.  It was 80+ degrees by that point and was a total test of my mettle.  I made it but not without the help of some nice ladies who took pity on me and stopped every few miles to offer me the cooling comfort of sponges dipped in ice cold water.  They kept me going...I wish I could remember what team they were from but they definately won the sportsmanship award in my book!

Humbled

I have been so humbled these past few months.  It only took me two weeks to return to work after the surgery in October.   But it has taken me months to get to the point where I could run every day without pain.  Finally this last month or so I have been able to get back into the swing of things.  My dad, one of the only people who follows this BLOG, reminded me that I hadn't been very diligent in maintaining it.  So.....

I am participating in the RED ROCK RELAY in Moab this weekend.  It is a 70 plus mile race with a team of 6 runners.  It will be my first true test since the Cedar Mountain Half Marathon last September.

In June I am running a "sprint" triathalon in Price Utah.  As the name suggests it is a shorter version of a regular tri.  This one is a 300 yard swim, 20 mile (i think) bike ride and a 5k run.  Plenty long for this rookie!  I
t is called the Lunatic Triathalon because it starts at 10:00 PM.  Get it?  Luna...tic?  Should be fun.  Been swimming biking and running in preparation.