Ramblings

It's been awhile since I blogged about anything worth writing about. It is not that a lot has not happened, it is just things have become a blur. Life is so short and every moment so precious, that it becomes harder and harder to be able to do everything you want to do. This means that some pruning of things in my life needs to take place to make sure that the priority things get taken care of. TV is probably the biggest time waster there is. As I was walking by a TV on at the gym today, it said that the average American spends 34 hours a week watching TV. How sad. I know there are several other things that are time wasters, but I know TV is one of the biggest. But, that is enough of that for know as that will be a future blog. So what has been going on?
For the 5th year in a row, I ran the Route 66 Marathon here in Tulsa. With weather conditions here in Oklahoma, you never now what it going to be like. It ended up being muggy and very windy. Hurricane force is how one person described it. Not exactly, but strong enough to slow all the times down. The course was also changed once again this year. I think it is the 4th change in 5 years. I am not for sure why. At least this year they went to corral starts and that allowed me to get out early from the slower runners.

I really like how the new course winds through downtown and gives people an opportunity to see the sites of Tulsa. The actual worst part for me is on Riverside to where it is flat and boring. The problem this year was you hit Riverside going south directly into the wind at about mile 14.5 and had about 6 miles of strong winds. That really took the wind out of my sails or put it in. Pun intended.

I had went through the half at 1:31 and felt pretty good, minus the buckets of sweat pouring off of me because of the humidity. I had wanted to run at least a 3:05, but once I turned on Riverside, my chances started to drop. I tried ducking down behind some of the half marathoners until the turn around, but close to 41st, you are on your own. My splits started dropping down to 7:40 miles and slower at that point. At the turnaround, it was all hang on and just finish. The wind had really beat me up. I held it all together and pulled in a 3:14. Good enough for 18th overall and 2nd in my age group.
Wyatt ran the 5K that was held in conjunction with the Marathon. He managed a 2nd place in his age group. It was a good day at the races for the Dorothy family.
I was on vacation this last week and took the boys ice skating at the BOK Center before it closed for the season. Will had played ice hockey for 3 years and was not impressed with the condition of the ice. I guess they don't know how to use a Zamboni.
This was Wyatt's first time skating and he did really good. He only fell twice. He decided that was enough for the day as we had a race that night. Almost every year we do the Race into the New Year on Riverside. It is a great race put by Runnersworld running store. The best running store in Tulsa and one that I am honored to run for. The concept is to start running in one year and finish in the next. Unless you are Kyle King and run a sub 15 and finish in the same year.

I wanted to race it hard as I had been running good and thought that a sub 19 may be in the cards, but with the wind and the lack of being able to see, it didn't happen. The temps were around 20 degrees and the wind chill was in the low teens. Not bad for Illinois weather, but brutal for Oklahoma weather. At exactly 11:45 the gun sounded and we were off. I let the young guys go ahead and stayed at a steady pace with some of the lead women who were complaining that they could not see the road. Duh, it is almost midnight.

We start on the Westside trail, go up a little incline, head East across the Arkansas river bridge and head south to about 17th Street, turnaround and head home. I was running decent and from what I could tell, I hit the first mile in 6:09 and was feeling OK. On mile 2 is where we headed back into the wind and our times slowed again. Going across the bridge I think I hit the 4K mark at 15:33 and knew that sub 19 was gone. I ended up running on the Westside trail again while the fireworks were going off, so I knew I was still doing good. I ended up crossing the line in 19:26 by my Garmin. Good enough for 11th overall and first in my age group. Not bad for their being about 600 runners and the poor running conditions. I still believe that sub 19 is there for this Spring.
After resting up on Saturday and just riding the bike on the trainer for an hour, we headed to Turkey Mountain after church on Sunday and I went Mountain biking while the rest of the clan hiked and ran. I have had a love and hate relationship with Mountain biking, but yesterday was good day and it may be something to explore in the spring. I did a little over 10 miles in 1:16 and did not crash once.

Today was a 4X4 minutes interval workout on the treadmill at 6:03 with 3 minutes rest in between. Now it is time chill a little before going back to work. Have a great day!

Scott Jurek Interview

Cool Video of Scott Jurek.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Son

My beautiful wife sent me this e-mail today and I wanted to share it. This was the most beautiful thing I have ever read. Happy Birthday Seth. Mommy & Daddy sorely miss you.

"I remember what today is. Today is a very special day. On this day 14 years ago a beautiful baby boy was born. He would have been a wonderful addition to a growing family. A parents second son, a younger brother to an older brother, a future older brother to a younger sister and a younger brother, another grandson to grandparents, a second nephew to an aunt and uncle, another cousin to cousins……as I pause to remember the moment I held him and thought how much he looked like my grandfather with his long fingers and the details of his face…..I miss him more than words can say….what would he have been like? What would he be doing today? Would he be more like his mother or his father or somewhere in between? How much more busy and fun and tiring and exciting our lives would be today if he were still here. I thank God, my heavenly father who is full of mercy and grace and love for us, for letting me be completely assured and at peace with the fact that Seth Elijah Dorothy is with Him and he is complete and whole, lacking nothing, nothing missing and nothing broken in his life and he is waiting to see us when we are satisfied that we have finished our race and we commit our spirit into our fathers hands."

Scenes From the Trail

One of the good things about going back home is that I get to run some great trails at Spring Lake.
Spring Lake is not a huge lake, but it does sport some really great trails that, I dare say, have steeper hills than Turkey Mountain in Tulsa. I know, heresy!
We start at the Marina and the trails then split up into several different off-shoots. For my adventure, I hit the longer Fox trail.
The trails are marked really well, due to the local Mountain Bikers. You can tell that they have spent a lot of time and effort on the trails.
Not too long into the trail, you hit a nice creek, or crick from my part of the woods.
The stream flows south from the spillway off the dam.
Standing on the bridge, I looked down and there was dead doe. She had been shot from a tree stand as she had been hit up close to her spine and came out her gut. She must have fallen over in the stream and never been found. Amazing, since no hunting is allowed out there, but I know how that works.
Plank bridge very reminiscent of the trails in Huntsville, Texas state park.
Beautiful time of the year to be in the woods.
If you look close at this, the Mountain Bikers had piled branches up and packed them with dirt to create ramps.
Looks like good bird cover.
Julie coming out of the trail. Before we started she said that the trails were probably pretty easy compared to Turkey Mountain. She regretted those words.
After a hard day in the woods, nothing can top it off better than an ice cream sandwich bigger than your head from Dairy Queen. That is one thing about Tulsa that I don't like, no DQ's, other than the small ones in the mall. They are everywhere back home.

Overall it was a good trip back home to see family and take some time away from the rat race. We really enjoyed the serenity of being back home, but it was also nice to be back in Tulsa.

Marathon Runner vs Fiat Panda on London Marathon Course

Can a Marathon Runner beat a 4WD Fiat Panda on the London Marathon Course during rush hour traffic? Watch the videos and find out.





Happy Thanksgiving!

Long Overdue Reports

I am really, really, really behind in my blogging duties. A lot of things have happened since I last posted in early October. I have just been so busy with life, that I have not had time to post. The last time I had posted I was just a few weeks back into my running schedule. I spent most of the summer training on the bike and had done very little running. A lot of this was due to the heat and I do not do very well in training without a goal in mind and I did not have goal races lined up. With the staggering summer heat here in Oklahoma, I decided to just do a lot of riding. I still ran a couple days a week and at least once in awhile, I did a brick off the bike, but my heart was just not into it. Slowly, but surely, that has turned around.
The next race that I did was the Tulsa Zoo Run. Wyatt did the 5K and I did the 10K. If Wyatt does not look happy, it is because he is not. He is mad at me for making him do a little warm up before the race. Sorry, need to get the blood flowing.

The Zoo Run is one of my favorite races in Tulsa as it is at Mohawk Park, which is flat, and we end up in the Zoo and can walk around the Zoo and check out everything for free. This is was only my 3rd week back running and the race did not go as planned. I maintained a steady 40 minute 10K pace, but towards the end, my fitness level, or the lack of it, showed up and I dropped off in the end. I still managed a 40:25, but it was not near where I wanted to be.
Here is the start of the 5K.
Here I am coming across the finish line. The one good thing about this race is that I beat John Stukey. You can see him in the photo behind me. He must have been injured as he is a lot better runner than that.
Next up was the Route 66 Half Marathon. I definitely was not up to the full Marathon, but thought I had a good chance at doing well in the half. I like the longer distances better and thought I would give it a go. This was a first year race and was happening on 10.10.10. How cool is that. Plus, I had the added benefit of running on old sections of Route 66. This was a point to point race and the half started in Baxter Springs, KS and ended up in Joplin, MO. The full Marathon started in Commerce, OK and went through Baxter Springs, KS and then on to Joplin. What a neat concept for a race.

The weather for the day turned out pretty nice for the half, but it would have been warm for the full. The one bad thing about the race is that there is very little shade and it can warm up quickly. There was about 800 runners in the half and after the the gun was fired we were off. I wanted to maintain a 6:40 pace as I thought that was achievable with my current fitness level. I ended up being able to cruise through consistently at about 6:39 pace and felt decent. We ended up going through a few smaller towns and the crowd support was phenomenal. I think most of the people in the small towns came out and cheered or handed out drinks.

The course itself was pretty hilly and from about a little past mile 5, we had at least a half mile uphill section. My pace slowed a little, but I still maintained a 6:45 pace. We entered Galena at about mile 9 and I was starting to feel it. I popped a GU and the crowd support really helped pick up my spirits, let alone seeing Tow-mater on the edge of town. Have no idea what I am talking about, check out the movie Cars.

After Galena, we got on an old stretch of Route 66 and started heading towards Joplin. This last section of the course was full of rolling hills and really pushed you to your limits. I was wondering at this point, when I was going to be in Missouri? Once I hit the main 4 lane heading back to Joplin, there was a little sign along the road that said Missouri. From there, it was about 3 miles to go. I just tried to maintain my pace, but it was slowing to about 7 minute miles because of the hills. I caught an 18 year old kid with about a mile to go and tried to put some distance between us. My experience has always been that you may pass them initially, but once they see the finish line, that youthfulness kicks in and they sprint past you at the finish.

We turned to the left down about a half mile flat road and it was time to kick it in. I dropped my speed down to about 6:10 and was able to finish up in 1:28. First Master and 8th overall. Not too bad for a race with about 800 people.
Here I am getting my nice trophy for the first Master. I was really impressed by the this race and the friendliness of all the people. This was a major undertaking on their part to do a point to point race through 3 states and they pulled it off. The people were so friendly and glad to have you there. Even at the hotel, they prepared food for the race participants. I will have this race on sights again next year as they were able to do a big time race and keep the small town feel.
Three weeks later was the Tulsa Run. I end up doing up this race every year as my employer is one of the two main sponsors and we get in for free. This race I had an additional 3 weeks of training and felt good going into the race. My goal was get under the 60 minute mark and get one of the coveted Hillcrest cups, but the Denver hill at 13K, always looms in the background.

The weather was really cool and turned out be a great day for a run. I had qualified to be up front with the Elite start at the Zoo Run, plus I have the privilege of running on Brian & Kathy Hoover's Runnersworld race team, and they usually grant me an elite start through the team.

Julie had originally signed up for the 15K, but backed down to the 5K at the last minute. She can do so much more if she would just stick with it and keep focused. I really wish she had someone her speed to train with and keep her motivated. She could do great.

After the 5K'ers took off, it was time to line up. Since this race offers cash, several out of state runners come in to try and grab some training money. This usually gives me a chance to say that I have ran with the Kenyans, but usually entails me just lining up with them and watching them fade off into the distance. They are so fast, it boggles the mind.

At 9 AM, the gun sounded and we were off. I was trying to stay around 6:25 and hopefully bring it in at under 1 hour. The first 6K of the course is very hilly and it is easy to overextend yourself and not save enough for the end. I kept everything even throughout this section and was even about 6 seconds under my goal. The next section up to about 13K is flat on Riverside. This is usually where I have faded off in the past and I wanted to make sure and maintain a steady pace. Once we headed south on Riverside, we were in the wind. Everyone was trying to duck down behind other runners, but it didn't make a difference as the wind hit you no matter where you were at. We turned around at about 41st St and headed back to downtown at the BOK center. I was still maintaining a good pace and went through the 10K at right at 40 minutes. I kept it going until I hit the 13K mark on Denver and lost about 20 seconds on the hill. After the big initial incline, it still has smaller rollers and it is hard to get it back going again. Once everything leveled out and I was able to start getting a good rhythm going again, it was too late. I could still see the clock under 60 minutes, but watched it fade away in the distance as I crossed the line in 1:00:21. Oh, so close.
Here is Julie finishing up her 5K run. I wish I could have seen her come in and cheered for her.
Here I am getting my cool award for 5th place in my age group. They gave us a cool print of the race that some artist had drawn. I really like getting something unique from a race as I like the medals and cups, but they are getting old.

Yesterday, I ran the Route 66 Marathon on a humid, windy day. I had a great race, but I will do a race report on it tomorrow.