Wasatch Back

I know I am super slow getting this post up but I was waiting on pictures for a few days. Here's the rundown: it was awesome!

This year I was in van 2 so no 4:30 am meeting times to get to the start of the race. Our van rocked 100% this year. Of course this year we ran with gear again and we stepped it up a notch too. Jim, our CEO, ran in a pair of skis. Literally had skis on his feet while running! It was awesome.

Since we were running with gear we were the last of teams to come through the first exchange (we had four teams from work). We knew we needed to make up time so we motored the best we could.

My first leg looked like this:



Yes it was only 3.1 miles, but it was uphill the whole way, it was like 4:30 in the afternoon, it was blazing hot (at the time it was the hottest day of the year on record, close to 100 I think) and I ran in this:



Yup, I ran in a tent. It was a one man tent to Jamon rigged up with sticks and duct tape so it would hold it shape while I ran. Running it looked like this:



It was pretty hot. One good thing was the tent was almost solid mesh so a little breeze would blow through it. On one corner as I was coming around I got hit with a short headwind and it blew the tent like a sail. I did manage to put down something like 8:30 miles running uphill in a tent. It was awesome.

Our second legs were night legs. Coming into third exchange we were now in third place but were a long ways behind the other teams. Our team put the hammer down and ran a set of killer legs. We were starting around 10 pm so the sun had gone down and the temperatures were nice and cool. Highlights were Cathy put down her 7 mile leg with sub-7 minute miles. Jamon put down his 6+ mile leg with sub-7 minute miles. They were booking. I started my leg about 2:00 am. I had 5.5 miles of general flatness heading into Rockport that looked like this:



It was about 40 degrees and it felt great! I was a little chilled starting out but that lasted about 2 minutes. I was running in a backpack. Starting out I could see two people a ways ahead of me and my goal was to run fast and pass them. I got the first guy after about 3 miles and it took me close to 5 to get the second guy. Side benefit of passing two other people. One guy ran with a red bike blinkie on his back for better visibility. The crappy thing was the one mile left markers had red blinkies on them so I kept thinking he was the one mile left marker. I realized I was getting closer to him and had to pass him just because. As I came around the final corner there was probably 300 yards or so to the exchange and the place was lit up with generator lights and cop car lights. I put the hammer down and ran as fast as I could. I came flying into the exchange and the next runner wasn't there. Apparently they overslept. My van-mates had called them at the start of my leg and let them know I'd be about 45 minutes. Yup, they went back to sleep. After giving it my all and after running my entire leg in about 7:45 minute miles I had to run more. I ran a little over a mile more before my van caught up and Jamon got out to give me a break. 30 seconds later the other van showed up. Oh well, it was still fun.

We got a couple hours worth of sleep before our next exchange. When we woke up we were about 30 minutes behind our first team. We figured we wouldn't be able to make up the difference but still ran our hearts out. As we came into the start of the second to last leg we were about 8 minutes behind the first team and about 2 minutes behind the second team! Ben rocked the second to last leg and coming into my leg we were two minutes up on both teams. My last leg was at about 10:45 am and it was just starting to get hot. It looked a little something like this:



I knew I had no chance of keeping us in the lead. After the previous two runs and about an hour of sleep I knew I'd be running about 8 minute miles and guy I'd be running against would be putting down about 6:30 minute miles. I held him off for about the first mile or so. I completed my run wearing a backpack and a helmet with cardboard goat horns taped to it.

We finished in second place, about 5 minutes behind the first team, and about 5 minutes ahead of the team that were 30 minutes behind at the start of the day. I don't have any pictures from the night leg or from my last leg.

It was an awesome time this year and I'll definitely sign up again next year. I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Woah, It's My Birthday

It's true, today is my birthday. I'm a big, fat 27 years old today. Today was pretty killer. I woke up and went to work. After work I met Jessica, Penelope, and Adam at the Korean restaurant E Jo for dinner.

Yes I am talking on the phone in the picture. My dad had called to say happy birthday.

It was awesome. We downed some sushi, Korean bbq, and some soup. Adam asked the waitress what they do in Korea for when it's somebody's birthday "like that guy right there". She said when get over 20 they don't really do anything. When she brought out our Vegas roll it came like this except the liquid in the martini glass was on fire:



After dinner we came back to our apartment for cake and ice cream with my mom and brother. Jessica made me a killer birthday cake that was delicious.



It was an awesome day. Thank Adam for the first two pictures and thanks to Jessica for all the awesome stuff you did!

WBR here I come....

The Wasatch Back Relay starts tomorrow morning! Wahoo! This year I am the last runner in the second van so I'll be running all the legs previous to the ones I ran last year (well except the first leg since that actually starts the race).

The good news is tomorrow and Saturday are supposed to be hottest days of the year so far so there'll be plenty of sweat to go around for everyone. Be prepared to see some shenanigans similar to what we did last year in the gear department. I'll post the full gamit of pictures after I get them all.

Good times lay ahead...

Happy Father's Day!

It's been awhile since my last post. I'm not really a slacker, we were in Colorado all last week. I'll have a post about our trip in the next few days.

So Jessica thought that Father's Day was next Sunday and hadn't bought the present she was planning on getting me for this past Sunday so today she picked it up and had it waiting for me when got home from work. What did she get me? The Poang chair from Ikea!

I've wanted one of these chairs since the first time I saw one about 6 years ago. She got it for me for a combined Father's Day and birthday present. I was completely surprised and blown away that she got it for me. We had talked previously about getting one but decided to wait.

My favorite part was Penelope helped me put it together. She grabbed one of the little hex wrenches that came with all the bolts and went around to all of the bolts "tightening" them as we went. She was adorable. Jessica made some quick work with the camera and got these great shots:




The chair is wicked comfortable! I absolutely love it. Let me know if you want to come over and take it for a test drive.

Food Co-op II

We got our food co-op order and I must say it was a big success. This month we paid about $26 and here is everything we got:



In the order we got:

• 2 lbs chicken thighs


• 2 lbs pork spare ribs


• 2 top sirloin steaks


• 1 lb ground beef


• 5 lb bag of potatoes


• 1 bag of rice (about a pound)


• 1 bag mini carrots


• 3 Fuji apples


• 3 pears


• 4 Navel oranges


• 1 bunch of broccoli


• 1 bunch of green onions


• 1 head of Romaine lettuce


• 1 loaf of Stone Ground's Wheat Bread


• 1 loaf of Stone Ground's Sourdough Bread


• 1 box of Organic, Fair-Trade Rooibos Herbal Red Tea

I was amazed by how much food there actually was in the order. We will definitely be participating in the co-op again next month too.

The Community Food Co-op of Utah is set up so anyone can participate. There are no restrictions on who can participate, there aren't any hurdles. You can order as many shares as you'd like and you'll get what you pay for. The more people that participate the better prices they can negotiate and the more food we'll get each month. While we don't necessary 'have' to participate I am more than happy to do so. I like to know that because I am participating each month there is at least one person, one family, who is in need that will benefit by the increased participation. I do also enjoy saving money on food. I would encourage everyone to participate in your local food co-op as well. You'll most likely save money and support your local economy.