Rossisms

Results from the Pinedale 10k on Saturday

2011-09-26T10:04:00.001-06:00

Jadon ROSS

Pinedale 10k

09/24/11

Racer Number:	230
Gender:	M
Age:	28
Representing:	KEMMERER WY

Chip Time Information
Actual Start Time:	09:29:17.086
Stop Time:	10:16:10.274
Chip Time:	00:44:33.0

Gun Time Information
Assigned Start Time:	09:31:37.200
Stop Time:	10:16:10.274
Gun Time:	00:44:33.0

Final Time: 00:44:33.0

Race Distance: 10K

Overall Placing
Place:	7
Time Back:	00:07:53.700

Gender Placing
Place:	6
Time Back:	00:07:53.700

Division Placing
Men 10K Place:	6
Time Back:	00:07:53.700

Masters Journal

2011-09-17T19:35:00.002-06:00

For those of you who might be interested, I have started my Masters this fall. One of my requirements is to keep a journal, so I chose an online one (blog). The web address is:

http://jadonsmastersjournal.blogspot.com/

Audrey's Altra Video

2011-08-30T09:31:00.002-06:00

Machine Gun Preacher Trailer

2011-08-29T10:30:00.002-06:00

Run With The Horses 10k Race Report

2011-08-23T17:58:00.000-06:00

Audrey and I ran the Run With The Horses 10k last Saturday, a week after my ultramarathon. The race was in Green River - only about an hour from our home town, and the price was right for the 10k at least, $15.00. The half marathon and marathon were another story though price wise - $70.00 for the half and at least $90.00 for the full. Way to overpriced if you ask me!
Anyway, on to the run itself. All three races started at the same time, 6:30 a.m., so you really didn't know who you were actually racing against. There was maybe 75 total people there for all three races. We toed the start line and took off. There were about 4 to 5 people in front of us and we were holding a pretty steady pace.
The entire first half of the race is uphill, and on this morning into the wind. We grinded away the first three miles passing a couple of people who took off too fast.
When we hit the turnaround point there were only 2 people in front of us. This was the best part of the race because we got to bomb back down for the last three miles with the wind at our backs. It was really fun to be running with Audrey after last weekend running alone for so long in the mountains. And the fact that the race was over in 45 minutes was really nice too.
Well, the two guys in front of us held on to their positions and we held on to ours. Audrey was 3rd place overall and first female (by 6 minutes!!!) and I came in 4th overall and 3rd male. As soon as we crossed the finish line they handed us our finisher medals and then our awards for coming in in the top 3 (a metal horse looking thing with two hooks) which was funny because you usually get top awards after everyone has come in. But it meant that we could leave earlier!
All in all this was a fun race and it felt good to run the whole way rather than hike for hours... My legs were a little bit stiff, but I had worked most of the soreness out by the middle of week. Always fun to go to a race and win. Proud of my trophy wife!!!

Race Results:

name	bib	age	time	place
Jerrid Washburn	472	34	39:53:00	1
Cameron Ross	459	18	44:03:00	2
Audrey Ross	470	28	45:14:00	3
Jadon Ross	471	28	45:16:00	4

El Vaquero Loco Race Report

2011-08-18T22:26:00.001-06:00

I've had a few days to think about my first ultra experience, and since this was my first one, I figure that I'll write a pretty long report about it. I'm guessing that I won't finish this all in one sitting because 1. I'm not that patient, and 2. I don't have a big enough chunk of time.

Audrey and I headed up to Afton, Wyoming on Friday afternoon. We checked into our motel, the Lazy B, which was a decent motel. After we put our stuff away we went for a little swim and then relaxed by the pool. Then we walked around their downtown, got some supper - I had a foot long grilled chicken on wheat from Subway. This was also my pre-race meal before the Utah Valley Marathon and it worked out pretty well.

I tried to go to bed early, but it really didn't work out so well. Probably fell asleep by 11:30 and woke up at 4:00 a.m.

When I got up, I took a hot shower, made some coffee and ate my breakfast of cereal and a banana. The bus that took the 50k runners up to the start left from Star Valley High School at 5:00 a.m. and Audrey took me at about 4:45 a.m. We said goodbye and she headed back to the motel, but she was going to meet me at the halfway point, so I would see her again in about 4 hours. - Break from report #1.

On the bus ride up to the starting line it was pitch black outside and I thought maybe I should have brought my headlamp. It ended up being light enough by the start that I didn't so I was glad of that. Our kind Bus driver lady asked, "Soooo, what are you all doing today?" She was a driver for the school and apparently the race director didn't exactly tell her what was going on. One guy piped up and said, "We are going to run about 30 miles up in the mountains." Her first response was that we were all crazy, and then she said, "Are any of you packin'?" To which one guy replied, "You mean packin' heat?" Bus driver lady, "Yeah, it's mountain lion territory up there."

Always a pleasant thing to hear when you are going to be running. After that nobody really talked much until we got to the start. We unloaded off the bus and on our way out Bus driver lady says, "Well good, I'm not so worried now that their are some locals up here." As if mountain lions will stay away if the "locals" are around.

I found the portapotties, made a quick pit stop, and then stood around trying not to freeze until we started. With about 5 minutes to go I took off my coat, put it in my drop bag, and made sure I had everything I needed for the first out and back. The course had to change this year because of snow and run off damage to another entry point. So the course became a double out and back, meaning that you run out 7.5 miles turn around to the start, and then go do it all over again.

When I was thinking about it, I didn't think that would be mentally tough, but as the race went on it made it really hard to keep going.

The race director gave us the go ahead and we started off. I settled into a very reserved pace and slowly made my way past a few people. The group spread out pretty quickly and after the first couple miles I found myself behind a guy who was from Jackson Hole, WY. I told him I was from Kemmerer, and he asked what I did for a living, so I got to tell him that I was a Pastor.

We chatted for a few more minutes until he moved off to the side of the trail to let me by. The first aid station was 5.5 miles from the start line which sat at 7,000 ft. elevation. The first aid station roughly sat about 8,800 I think, if I remember right from my Garmin. The first few miles of the course ran kind of a long a river with trees to provide shade, and then it opened up into this huge meadow. The wildflowers were about waist high and it was gorgeous in the early morning light.

Mountains rose up on either side of the meadow and I kept running the parts of the trail that were flat or downhill and walking the uphills. I passed a couple of people through this meadow area, and there were also 4 stream crossings in this section of the race. Since it was a double out and back it meant that I crossed them 4 times = 16 crossings. My shoes were soaked after mile 4.

Once you get through the meadow you make a pretty hefty climb to the first aid station. At this point I saw a guy who was decked out in Pearl Izumi (a running brand) clothing and shoes. I asked him if he was sponsored by them not knowing if they sponsored middle of the pack racers or not. I knew that they had some elite runners that they sponsored. He said no, but that he was the National Director for Sponsorship for this company. He oversaw the 7 elite athletes that they sponsored. I thought that was pretty cool, and I wanted his job.

I came upon the first aid station, which had to be packed in by horses, feeling really good. They had a ton of food setting out on this massive fallen down tree. M & M's, Twizzlers, Pretzels, Bananas, PB & J, Jelly Beans, some Honey Stinger gels, and other stuff that I don't remember because I didn't eat it. I really like Peanut M & M's while running, at least I found that out on this race anyway.

I refilled my waterbottle, grabbed some food and kept hiking on up the trail. It was a pretty steady climb from here up to the highest elevation point of 10,000 ft. - Break #2.

From here there were a couple of big drops. The first one had a pretty large snow field that we had to traverse around. By this point it felt good to be running pretty fast after hiking uphill so much. I almost ate it once going down the first steep descent, but managed to hold it together. At the bottom of the first one there was a small lake which we skirted around the left side of, and then headed back up and down into a longer descent where the turn around point was.

I reached the turn around point - roughly 7.5 miles - in 2 hours. Ate some more food, filled my waterbottle, and headed back up the 2 steep bowls that we just descended. I did some scrambling back up with the loose rocks and all, but eventually made it back to the top and headed down. The great part about this was that it was basically all runnable back to the start line.

From here until the next aid station I ran with a guy named Brendan who flies wingsuits I found out. We were bombing downhill enjoying the chance to go down instead of up. The trail was pretty rocky, so you had to watch your footing pretty closely or else you were a gonner.

This portion of the race wasn't bad. I felt pretty good and knowing that I was heading back to the start line felt good even though it only meant that I was halfway done. Nothing really spectacular happened from mile 10-16, just ran along. Oh, I guess all the 25k runners were coming from the start line. So I had to pass all of them on the trail - both of us trying to get to one side so we could keep going. And another one I just remembered, I wasn't paying attention, tripped on a rock and face planted right in the middle of the trail. It totally knocked the wind out of me, but that was the only damage.

At the start line/halfway point I came down to see Audrey waiting for me. What a wonderful sight that was! She was cheering me on and asking me what I needed and getting me all set to go back out. I took off the stocking hat I was wearing and changed into a ballcap knowing it was going to get hot. I also took 2 waterbottles with me instead of one knowing that I was going to consume more fluid because of the hot weather.

Looking back now I wish that Audrey and I could have seen the future/planned better. She could have ran the whole second half with me - pretty sure I would have finished with her pushing me on. But we didn't. I was feeling okay at this point - not bad enough to quit and not good enough to be completely optimistic about my next out and back. Audrey ran about a half mile with me until the trail took a steep upward track. We said goodbye, kissed each other, and I told her I'd see her in roughly 4 hours. 4 hours! Ahhhh! I didn't really know what I was getting myself into.

On the second out and back I listened to my ipod the entire time. In my head I was starting to get tired of being out there, basically all alone, and just hiking. The meadow that was so gorgeous in the morning now turned to a hot, muggy, horse fly infested nightmare. I was so sick of that meadow by the end of the race. Also, at this point I started to develop some serious pain in the back of my left knee along with some deep dull pain in my feet. I hiked along and ran when I could up to the first aid station again - roughly mile 21.

I wasn't doing so hot. I stopped there for a while, ate some food, sat on the fallen tree and decided I would try and keep going.

There is a book that came out this spring by ultraunner Bryon Powell called Relentless Forward Progress. I haven't read the book - maybe I should since I didn't finish my first ultramarathon - but the title became my mantra as I plodded up this mountain for the 2nd time in one day.

For some reason I thought that I had grabbed a couple of extra gels at the last aid station only to find out that in my exercised induced brain retardation I didn't. I ran out of food and water about mile 23. I was still about a quarter of a mile and 400 ft. of elevation gain from the top. I really couldn't see how I was going to make the drop down those two steep descents to the turn around and then make it back out. I started feeling really sick and a little bit lightheaded as well.

I sat down in some shade and tried to deduce what I should do. The entire race was already taking waaaay longer that I had anticipated - probably overzealous for my first one. I even asked a guy who was coming down how far it was to the top (stupid because I had already been there once, and I already knew how far it was, maybe I was just looking for some sympathy or someone to talk to?) anyway, he looked at me funny and said, not real far.

Well, I finally decided to head back down and not make it to the turn around point. In my head I knew I made the right decision - my knee was hurting pretty badly and I didn't want to be stuck out there and have to get taken in on horseback. I worked my way back down to the aid station carefully, not wanting to trip and fall. Stopped there for a while to eat some more and refill my bottles. - Break #3.

I slowly took off from the aid station with 5.5 miles to go until I was finished. Which meant I had to head back into the meadow of death. With about 4 miles to go I had a horrible cramp that started on the inside of my left knee and ran all the way up my leg. There was nothing that I could do to make it go away. I tried walking, I tried stopping, I tried stretching it. Nothing worked, and then as soon as it came on it went away. Glad that it did too, because there was no way I was going to finish with that much pain going on. On my way back down the guy from Jackson that I met earlier was on his way up, and he yelled, "Lookin' good Reverend!" It made me laugh on a few different levels - 1. I was not looking good. and 2. He called me Reverend. I don't think anyone else has ever called me that before.

The last two miles were probably the hardest of the entire race. Mentally I was so ready to be finished and physically the back of my left knee was throbbing with each step, my feet were killing me, and I was slowly running out of water.

I felt like I was just surviving at this point. With about a mile and half to go I came up on two 25k runners who were going pretty slowly. They asked if I wanted to go around them, and I said, "No, I'm doing fine right behind you, I'm just surviving at this point." They were nice enough to ask if I needed anything and I had run out of water, so they offered me some of theirs. I stayed behind them until the finish.

Audrey was there to greet me. It was so good to see her! I hurt everywhere and was happy to be finished. I hobbled over to the finisher's table and had to tell them that I didn't make it to the turn around and technically DNF'd (Did Not Finish).

Even though I didn't complete the entire race I still ran farther than I ever have before, 29.25 miles, I still was out in the mountains for almost 8 hours, and I pushed myself harder than I had before. I had some mixed emotions because I didn't finish, but what I did far outweighs the fact that I didn't finish.

After I reported my DNF Audrey and I sat in the river for a while, it was freezing! Then I went to get a hamburger and some cola. I also got my picture taken with Karl Meltzer. He's an ultrarunner who has won more 100 mile races than anyone else in the U.S. It was pretty cool to see him.

So, that's my race report. It was a pretty wild ride. As of right now, I feel pretty good. I've gone out for a couple of runs this week, but I can tell that my body is still recovering. Audrey and I are running a 10k on Saturday in Green River, so I'm hoping that I'm completely ready to go by then. That's all for now!

El Vaquero Loco Pictures

2011-08-14T20:03:00.005-06:00

El Vaquero Loco 50k

Gearing Up For My First Ultramarathon

2011-08-06T19:42:00.000-06:00

In the words of someone famous, "On to the next one". If you read my last blog post about the Burn Your Lungs Run, you know that it is now over and I finally feel free to pursue the next thing on my calendar. Which happens to be a vacation to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with Audrey's sister Amy and her family.

At the end of the vacation week, I will be doing my first ultra marathon. For you newbies out there, an ultra marathon is any distance over 26.2 miles (the official distance of every marathon). The lucky race that just so happens to be my first is called, "El Vaquero Loco" (not in Espanol - "The Crazy Cowboy"), and it is held in the Salt River Mountain Range in northern Lincoln County, Wyoming about 2 hours from home.

From what I can tell this will be a tough mountain race. It boasts over 9,000 ft. of elevation gain for the 50k (31 miles) and lots of single track trails past high alpine lakes, with the race starting around 7,000 ft. and getting up to 10,000. It's an out and back course. This year is a little bit different because of all the snow and late summer rain the road into the original starting point (Cottonwood Lake) is washed out. So, I along with all the other 50k runners will start at Intermittent Spring and run the course backwards.

I have been training for this race in Brooks Cascadia 6's that I purchased back in March. I haven't really fell in love with these shoes like I wanted to. They have hurt my feet in different places, and feel really heavy after running about 6 miles in them. On Friday, Audrey and I went down to Salt Lake Running Co. and I picked up a pair of Pearl Izumi Peak II's.

I actually have already ran a race in these shoes. The Park City Mini Trail Series 5k. Click here for my race report. I liked them then, and liked them again in the store. I will be trying them for the first time tomorrow, only 6 days before my ultra. I will decide if I am going to wear the Peak II's or my Cascadia's for the race probably on Saturday morning. Right now I am leaning towards the Peak's and hopefully putting my Cascadia's in a drop bag somewhere along the course if I get blisters from the newness. We'll see. I'm just ready to run in the mountains.

The 2011 Burn Your Lungs Run Is Officially Over!

2011-08-06T16:07:00.000-06:00

I have successfully completed directing my 2nd race ever. On Saturday, July 31, the 2nd Annual Burn Your Lungs Run was held at the South Lincoln Training and Events Center. Since this is my personal blog, I will tell about my day for the race, and give some behind the scenes looks into what it takes to direct a race.

Quick recap of the week: Tuesday night - Volunteer Meeting, Thursday morning - Ran Half Marathon Course marking it with spray paint, Thursday evening - Stuffed Race Bags, Friday morning - Ran 5k Course marking it with spray paint, Friday evening - Registration and Packet Pickup at the Triangle.

My Saturday started around 4:30 a.m. Showered, had breakfast, and rounded up everything at the house that I needed to take down to the race start. At 6:00 a.m. I met Nelson at the Church to load up all the tables, chairs, and trash cans for the aid stations. 6:15 a.m. I was as the Events Center unloading the rest of the Race Bags and other stuff out of the Tahoe. Lincoln County Search and Rescue came to help out and I directed them to fill up all the coolers with ice and then take them out to all the aid stations.

About 6:30 a.m. all of my other volunteers showed up, huge thanks to them! We had all the race bags, shirts, registration forms, and everything else all ready to go. The timing system we used this year was technically for Cross Country Meets, but it worked good to have it all on the computer. Only 2 problems with it. 1 - I had to have a different computer for each race (for the built in timer) since all three races started at different times. and 2 - The timer froze up after an hour of use. Good thing I planned for something like that to happen and brought back up stop watches for each race.

7:00 a.m. we had people start showing up to get their bags and register. We set up a small tent and table by the start/finish line for the computers. I was also directing other volunteers out to their aid stations with food and GU's. That hour flew by in a hurry making sure everything was in place and answering lots of questions about the course, etc...

At 8:00 a.m. the half marathoners took off. I felt a little bit of relief here. Then I started gathering the 10k runners to the line. Gave them their instructions and sent them off. Next, the 5k'ers. This is was the largest group by far - upwards of 90 runners. Once they all left, I felt really good.

From there it was making sure the timing systems were working, that we had volunteers in place for the bib numbers, stickers, and water bottles. I took some pictures as the finishers were coming in. Once the races were over it was time to move everyone inside for the awards and our small little raffle. Hopefully next year we can have a bunch of stuff to raffle off, but I think everyone got some good free stuff in their race bags.

After all the awards and everyone left it was clean up time. Had some great helpers there too!

Overall I feel like it was a very successful event, and looking forward to next year!

Carte Blanche Book Review

2011-08-01T12:27:00.000-06:00

I just finished up reading the new James Bond novel by Jeffery Deaver. I have loved watching the James Bond movies since I was a kid, but this is the first book that I have read. It was a good read, and followed in the James Bond theme of things. Which, I am glad that the author didn't go changing a lot of what makes James Bond, James Bond.
One of the things that can happen with a novel as opposed to a movie is there can be more internal thought and feelings produced by the characters. I liked that aspect of this book, because with the Bond movies you don't really get a look into what Bond is thinking or feeling. The book had a good plot and a few good twists to keep you guessing as to what is really going on.
Overall, I enjoyed it, and can't wait until they make the next Bond movie out of it.

Update for the week

2011-07-22T18:41:00.000-06:00

Since it is Friday evening I guess I'll give you an update for the week.

I am running my first Ultra Marathon on August 13th in the mountains outside of Afton, Wyoming. It is 31 miles with lots of climbing and descending. So in preparation for this upcoming race my training goal for the week was to run a total of 40 miles with one long run on Friday. And I did it!
Monday - 5 Miles
Tuesday - 5 Miles
Wednesday - 6 Miles in the a.m. and 2.5 miles in the p.m.
Thursday - 2 Miles
Friday - 19.5 Miles
My run today was all done on trails around Kemmerer. I linked up a bunch of different trails that Audrey and I have ran on to complete that distance. It felt pretty good to do it and especially to be done with it. I'm hoping that it translates into doing well in the race.

The shirts for the Burn Your Lungs Run got ordered this week.
I did some premarital counseling
Got my hair cut
We sold our white car!
Biked Maya & Mountie for exercise
Planned out Sunday
Worked on stuff for the BYLR on July 30 - Got a great ad in the paper
Had a date with Audrey

So there you have it.... my week not in a nut shell, but in a blog post.

Friends Of Animals 5k-9 Fun Run Race Report

2011-07-17T21:46:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we ran in the FOA 5k-9 Fun Run in Park City Utah. The run was part of the "Bark In The Park" event. One of the reasons that we decided to run this race was because you could run with your dog. Audrey has been wanting to run a race with Maya for a long time, and we thought it would be hilarious to be a part of.

They had the runners with no dogs start first, and then the runners with dogs start 15-30 seconds afterwards. I opted to not run with Mountie because in dog years he is equivalent to an old man, and he can only last about 1 mile at a good pace. So I took off with the non-dog runners. I settled into third place at a pretty decent pace, not really wanting to kill myself early on because 1st and 2nd place were still within distance of catching and passing.

I was gaining ground on the 2nd place runner and passed him in a rural area of the course where the road was doing some winding. I was probably about 50 yards behind first place with about a mile and a quarter to go. Plenty of time to catch him. But as soon as I passed the guy who was in 2nd I noticed his shadow and his arm was waving up and down. So I looked up and off to the right where it looked like he was pointing and there was an arrow telling us to turn. 1st place missed the turn so he was disqualified. I left the guy who was now in 2nd behind and basically died the last 1/2 mile into the finish, but finished 1st place overall!! In 19:13 no less! A new personal record for the 5k!

After about a minute Audrey and Maya came flying across the finish line, which was a total surprise because I thought they would be farther back. 1st Female overall (she even beat the girls who were running without a dog and they got a head start) 1st place overall runner with a dog, and a PR for her too. 20:12!

Once we got a drink and got Maya a drink we let Mountie out of the car and explored the other 100 dogs that were at the park. We hung around till we got our awards: $50.00 each to JANS Sporting Goods Store, $25.00 each to the Tanger Outlet Mall, and a huge winner's medal.

After that we went and ate lunch, then spent some of our winnings! We each got a pair of sandals at JANS, and then I got 3 pairs of socks and Audrey got a TRI suit at the Pearl Izumi store at Tanger.

All in all a great day!!!

My race results - the guy in front of me was the one who got DQ'd

Audrey's Results

Audrey and Maya after winning their race!

Giving Maya a little love for running so well!

My winning bib number!

Cooling off after the race for Maya - Cooling off after sitting in the hot Tahoe for Mountie.

They had booths with free stuff for dogs

Posing with the pups

Here we are!

Claiming my first place prize

Bling Bling

Audrey & Maya getting their prize

Winners!

Our new Sanuk Sandals - amazingly comfortable

Our Pearl Izumi loot.

Audrey's new TRI suit

The Hunger Games Book Review

2011-07-14T09:19:00.000-06:00

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a young adult novel, geared more towards high school and college age students, but I had heard that the storyline was a pretty good one and that it was a good book... So, I checked it out. And I was pleasantly surprised. The Hunger Games is the first book in a trilogy, and all the books are currently published, so you can go straight from one to the next without having to wait a long time.
A quick bare bones premise of the book is that every year the people in charge at the "Capitol" require 2 teenagers from each of the 12 districts to participate in what is called the Hunger Games. This tournament was born out of a rebellion that was squashed when the 12 districts tried to overthrow the "Capitol". And in retaliation the "Capitol" reminds all 12 districts who is in charge through the games. The 24 teenagers get thrown into an area of land and the last one standing wins. They have to fight, outwit, and stay alive.
The story follows one main character Katniss Everdeen and her journey through all that happens with the games.
It is a quick read, I finished it in about a week. A good book if you are looking for something easy and entertaining.

Wild Iris 21k Trail Run In Lander, WY

2011-07-13T00:32:00.000-06:00

The Wild Iris 21k Trail Run was part of the International Climber's Festival held in Lander, WY during the 2nd week of July. The race is held in the foothills of the Wind River Mountains, and it was one of our favorite races from last year. This year didn't disappoint either. The trip started Friday morning when Audrey and I loaded up the Tahoe and took off for Lander. We shopped at an entirely gluten free store in Riverton for Audrey, picked up our race bags, walked around downtown, checked into a cheap motel, got some sleep, and headed up to the Wild Iris area outside of Lander.
The race started at 7:00 a.m. with only a handful of runners (maybe 30 max). We took off and just cruised along not really pushing hard, but just enjoying the beauty of it all. After about 7 or 8 miles Audrey wasn't feeling too hot, a little bit of sickness or flu or hitting the dreaded "wall". So we power hiked, jogged our way back to the finish, which is no small task since the last half of the race is all uphill. I'm talking 2,000 ft. of elevation uphill.
So we finished, had a great time in beautiful country, headed back and showered, ate at Gannett Grill (I got the Bansai Burger - grilled pineapple on it), enjoyed some good conversation over lunch, then headed back to Kemmerer to get ready for Sunday.
All in all it was a good trip!
Pictures will be posted soon!

Linda K. Woody Memorial 5k Race Report

2011-07-05T15:04:00.000-06:00

July 4th started off with driving to Mountain View, Wyoming to participate in the Linda K. Woody Memorial 5k Fun Run. We found out about this race last week, and since it was close to us decided to give it a shot. The weather was overcast and cool - just about perfect to run in. The race started at 8:00 a.m. and we rolled into the parking lot about 7:30 a.m. Enough time to get our bib numbers, put on our shoes, go to the bathroom, and head to the start line.
There was probably only about 50 or so other runners so we figured we had a good shot at being towards the top. They director yelled, "Go!", and we were off. At a 5k everyone takes off way faster than they should, including me... I guess I get caught up in it all too. But Audrey starts more conservatively, so I hung with her and didn't wear myself out in the first 1/2 mile. There were about 8 people in front of us that we started to pick off methodically. We passed 4 of them and the ones ahead of us (Cross Country High School Boys) had about 30 seconds on us.
At this point I thought I might be able to catch them, so I sped up some and stayed about 30 seconds ahead of Audrey the entire rest of the race. Needless to say this is how it ended. I was 5th overall; 2nd in my age division from 18-30, and Audrey was first female overall! and 6th overall total.
I finished in 20:09 and Audrey came in roughly at 20:30. After the race was over we grabbed postcards that I made up for the Burn Your Lungs Run and put them on all the cars that were parked there. Hopefully some of those people will come up and run in our race!
Where we really did good was with the awards. Since Audrey was 1st place she won a new pair of sunglasses; a $100 gift card to Amazon; a hydration pack; and a medal. And for my 2nd place Age Division I won a medal; a small cooler; and waterproof backpacking sacks.
Totally worth the drive! And we made it home by 10:15 a.m.
If you follow the link below it will take you to my Garmin Stats on the race. Time/Elevation/Splits/Etc...
Linda K. Woody Memorial 5k by roscol24 at Garmin Connect - Details

Audrey claiming her 1st place female prize.

Showing off her winnings!

Bling.

Rambler Trail Run - Pictures

2011-06-29T09:58:00.000-06:00

Park City Mini Trail Series Race Report

2011-06-26T19:46:00.001-06:00

On Saturday Audrey and I ran in the Park City Mini Trail Series 5k put on by R-U-N? Events. They do 3 different trail races during the summer; a 5k, 10k, and 15k. Last summer we did the 15k, and Audrey was one of the female winners which won her a free entry into this year's 5k. So we decided we better run it since it was free for Audrey.

The race started at 8:00 a.m. and we showed up around 7:00 a.m. to get our bib numbers and everything else squared away. One of the cool things was that Pearl Izumi was allowing runners to demo their new trail shoe; the Peak II. So, I figured I would run the race in them!

5k's are over so fast that you don't really have time to conjure up a race plan. You just go out hard and basically kill yourself until it's over. At least that's what I did with this race anyway. The lead group of guys was about 30-50 yards ahead of me after about a mile when my shoe came untied (stupid new shoes!), so I did a quick stop and retied it, leaving me no chance to catch them, but I was sitting with a good cushion behind me so no one passed me.

The rest of the race went well. I finished 8th overall and 2nd in my Age Division. Audrey came in pretty stinkin close behind me and she was the first female to cross the finish line which netted her a $50.00 gift certificate to Salt Lake Running Co.

And my 2nd place Age Division netted me a sweet water bottle....

We also got a couple of post race massages for free.

Ross completes national personal trainer certifcation (The Other Ross That Is!)

2011-06-24T19:41:00.000-06:00

Modified: Thursday, Jun 23rd, 2011
BY: Nancy Banister, Gazette Reporter

By Nancy Banister

Gazette Reporter

It took more than 14 months of studying and testing, but local marathon runner, Audrey Ross is now a certified personal trainer. She grew up in Rock Springs and has a Bachelor’s of Art degree in youth ministry from Barclay College.

“I knew I wanted to go back to school in health and fitness,” Ross said. “I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go.”

According to Ross, the Obama administration was giving financial incentives to women wanting a higher education. “That is how we were able to afford it.”

Ross had to decide where to study and daily travel to Utah wasn’t high on her list, especially during the winter months.

“I took the online course for my certification from Penn-Foster,” Ross said. “I always had a professor to talk to and ask any question any hour of the day.”

“The hardest part of the certification program was my Anatomy and Physiology class, but the nutrition class was a breeze,” she said.

Ross graduated with a 97 percent and received her certificate June 6.

Her certification encompasses all aspects of fitness, including nutrition. The Penn Foster program is affiliated with the National Council on Strength and Fitness. The certificate from NCSF will give her the ability to practice in different states

To keep her certification with NCSF, Ross will have to re-certify every three years, but Ross doesn’t want to stop there.

“I hope to continue in my education and learn more,” she said.

She looks to further her education with more certificates like National Exercise and Sports Trainer Association, the American Fitness Association of America and AFPA.

“The more education I get the better I can serve my clients,” Ross said.

She wants to see more people learn about improving their health, not only exercise, but also nutrition.

“One thing I have learned through my studies is that I have been running the wrong way,” Ross said.

Ross has been a distance runner for a long time and has suffered from IT Band Syndrome. She has realized that the problem, the painful tightening of a “band” across the knee, was caused by how she ran.

“Once I started training myself to run correctly, I don’t have the knee problems as before,” Ross said.

She also knows that clients are more successful when exercising outside the home. She would prefer a different place, or even outside, for her clients to keep a regular fitness schedule. Ross has worked very hard for over a year to receive this certification and has decided to take the summer off, but she has a few clients.

“I am not sure what I want to do yet, but I am praying about it,” she said.

She would like to incorporate her knowledge of health and fitness with a ministry.

“There is such a need in the ministry for being aware of your health,” Ross said.

According to Ross, many ministers have stress and heart problems and the proper diet and exercise can help.She knows that having too many clients will prevent her from one of her personal goals, to run in the Boston Marathon. She will work with the personal goals of each client.

“I want my clients to understand the importance of the right kind of exercise and how what you eat is a large part of a healthy lifestyle,” Ross said.

Until the time is right for her to start her business, whether she works independently or with a group, look for Ross along the road as she trains for the next qualifying marathon.

Never Quite Reaching Where I Want To Be

2011-06-24T09:39:00.000-06:00

Somewhere along the pathway of life as of late I either took on too much, or life just decided to throw a lot my way. I feel like I haven't been able to catch up with everything that I need to or want to get done. I have a list of everything that needs to be done and it seems like when I cross one off the list three more magically appear at the bottom. It's like the snake in some movie I watched where you cut it in half to kill it, but instead you now have two snakes instead of one. Then you try and kill those two by chopping them in half, and BANG, now you have four.
But I am going to keep slogging through it all, not necessarily knowing that I will catch up, but hoping that I will at some point soon. In the meantime here are a few things that have happened, and a few others that are on the horizon of life.

1. We decided to give Mountie a little shave since it has finally decided to become summer here in Wyoming. We took the haircutting buzzer we have and went to town. He looks a little bit funny, but he is way cooler!
2. Audrey and I are doing a 5k trail run on Saturday in Park City, UT.
3. I am officiating my second wedding of the summer on July 2nd, at the Fossil Island Golf Course in Kemmerer.
4. I just finished up reading and writing a critique for "A Handbook on Domestic Violence for Wyoming Faith Leaders". This handbook is yet to be published, and I had the opportunity to go through and suggest changes that needed to be made. It will be published in September by the Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
5. I'm in the middle of reading "King's Cross" by Timothy Keller. It is incredibly good, and very thought provoking which takes me more time to get through. You should read it.

I guess I can cross blogging off my list now, but I'm afraid if I do, three new things will appear!

Short Trail Run With Maya

2011-06-15T07:47:00.000-06:00

Today Audrey and I decided to take Maya with us on our 3 mile still recovering from race weekend trail run. We took a bet on if one of our favorite single track trails was dry and it was. I think this was the first time that we had taken Maya out on a single track. She ended up doing great, mostly in part due to the fact that she couldn't really run anywhere else besides the trail, which is nice if you are the one holding the leash.
But, the best part of the run was when we came across a ground squirrel... Maya has been known to catch a few mice and other rodents in the past, and it brings her joy to catch these little varmints. So, when we caught this ground squirrel off guard I knew that since I was holding the leash I was going to have to help give Maya a chance at this thing.
We dodged, weaved, went forward, backward sideways, up, down, and all over before Maya finally caught it. I'm sure it looked hilarious. Audrey had fun watching. Maya, the proud hunter, pranced around in circles for a while with her catch, head raised high, joyous in the fact that she succeeded.
It was pretty funny.

Utah Valley Marathon Report

2011-06-12T19:56:00.000-06:00

Let's get the most important part of this blog out of the way first. I set a personal record of 3:35:37! I beat my other PR by 17 minutes. So I am pretty pumped to write this report because of that. Quick recap of the weekend - Audrey and I left Friday morning for Provo, UT - Made it to the Race Expo in the afternoon - Got our Bibs & SWAG Bags and checked out the booths at the Expo - Checked into our motel - Drove our morning route to make sure we knew where the buses were going to pick us up - Walked around the Mall for a little bit - Picked up my Subway supper - Set out all our gear for the morning - Went to bed.

Saturday morning started at 2:45 a.m. when the first of our three alarms went off. We have missed a race once because our alarm clock died; won't happen again. Audrey and I started getting everything ready; shower, breakfast, race clothes, warm clothes to wear to the start, etc... The one thing about this race that was different than all of our other races was that we were running two different distances in different starting places. Audrey had to drop me off at my bus pickup at 3:45 a.m. so I could be bused the 26.2 miles up Provo Canyon to the start. Then she had to drive to the half marathon pickup for her. She went for the half because she didn't have enough time this Spring to do the training she needed for the full. You'll have to check out her blog http://www.audreyross.blogspot.com/ to hear about her race.

I loaded onto my bus around 4:00 a.m., headed to the back, and sat down. After about 10 minutes the bus filled and we headed up the canyon. I sat next to a high school kid from Cleveland, Ohio who was running his 2nd marathon and his parents were there with him. The ride took about 45 minutes, and they dropped us off at this little side road in Wallsburg, Utah. It was dark and cold, and I still had an hour and fifteen minutes to wait until the start. Luckily I had an over sized XXL coat that I was going to get rid of at the race start to keep warm. They had fire rings set up in different places, but breathing in all the smoke wasn't very beneficial. And then people started burning their clothes because there was no more wood. I steered clear of those.

Finally it was time for the race to start. The canon went off, I threw off my coat and headed into the moving pack of runners. The first couple of miles go through the small town of Wallsburg, and I was just trying to get feeling to come back into my feet and legs after being out in the cold for so long just sitting and waiting.
I warmed up after about 3 or 4 miles and was moving along a decent pace, not wanting to get drawn in by others who were going faster, still wanting to remain pretty comfortable.
The mountains were amazing to look at while running, and a couple of horses along the course made me laugh because they were running around all excited. I think because they saw 1,500 other people running they thought they should too.
I decided to carry my own water bottle for the entire course. The Camelbak Pro Chill.

It worked out great to be able to drink whenever I wanted and not wait for the Aid Stations. I think I refilled my bottle 4 or 5 times throughout the entire race, twice with Powerade. I also carried 4 energy gels and 4 electrolyte tablets and used them all. I even got 2 more gels and 2 half bananas from other Aid Stations and ate those too. I never felt hungry and I really didn't want to run out of energy.
From mile 7-9 there are a couple of good uphills, but the rest of the course was pretty much down the canyon. I felt pretty good up to the halfway point; 13.1 miles. I was wearing my Saucony Kinvaras which don't have a lot of support on the upper, and the longest run I had done in them up to the marathon was 10 miles. So my feet started to ache some then.
From there until about mile 22 I tried to focus on listening to my music, keeping a steady pace, watching other people, looking at the scenery; just about everything to keep on going.
At mile 22 I experienced a little bit of crampage and had to stop a couple of times for a quick stretch to hopefully loosen up the muscles that were causing me massive amounts of pain. I kept going and they actually subsided a little bit, and by that I mean enough for me to not have to stop and walk.
The last 3 miles I took it one mile at a time and was gutting it out. I knew that I could still finish under 3 hours and 40 minutes if I ran 10 minute miles at that point, and I knew I could at least do that.
Within the last half mile I realized that if I pushed a little harder I could possibly finish in 3:35, so I picked up the pace some and came across the line in 3 hours 35 minutes and 37 seconds.

I got my finisher medal and started hobbling around knowing that it was going to take a while for my legs to stop cramping. Audrey found me and took this wonderful picture. I was in some definite pain at this point. It's kind of amazing how your body feels okay while you are running that far and then when you stop it hurts so much worse.
I got some water and sat for a while, stretched some, walked around a little, got my results, and then ate 2 pieces of pizza and an ice cream bar, and then headed for the motel to shower. Overall, I really enjoyed the race because 1. the weather was just about perfect 2. I set a new record and ran really well 3. I got to do something that I love. Things I would have changed 1. The early bus ride and waiting for over an hour 2. Not being with Audrey.
Here are some other pictures:

Mile Marker 21 on the pavement

My results in my age division

The back of the shirts

Mass of people coming down the canyon

Iron and Wine Video

2011-06-06T19:35:00.002-06:00

Audrey's Birthday Weekend

2011-06-06T18:28:00.000-06:00

Don't have tons of time, but wanted to post a little about Audrey's birthday weekend. We went down to Salt Lake City on Friday because one of the big items on the birthday list was the Iron & Wine Concert on Friday night. We got in line for the concert around 6:00 p.m. when the doors opened, and after about 20 minutes made our way inside. The venue was really cool with a pretty big stage, standing room in front of the stage, and then they had a balcony that wrapped around the top that was open air.
We headed for the balcony because we saw that there were some cushioned benches that we could sit on. The concert itself was amazing. The opening band was "The Head and The Heart" from Seattle Washington. They were really surprisingly good. Usually you just want the opening bands to finish so you can get to the main act, but not this time. I will be buying their cd for sure.
After about a 45 minute set it was time for Iron & Wine. One of the coolest parts was that he (the lead singer & main man) had 10 other people on stage for his band. A barry sax, trumpet, normal sax, drums, another guy who played some drums and other instruments, another guitarist, bass guitar, and two back up singers. And they did work! They played for 2 hours, and did some amazing jamming in the middle of different songs. It was really awesome to watch and listen to.
After the concert we crashed at our motel. The next morning we went for a short run, breakfast at Jamba Juice and coffee at Starbucks, hang out time, showered and cleaned up, lunch at Sage's Cafe, then to the Gateway Mall, then got some groceries, and headed home. It was a fun trip & birthday! At least it was for me anyway and it wasn't even my birthday!
I'll post pictures when blogger decides to let me.

Memorial Day 5k Fun Run in Park City

2011-06-05T21:45:00.000-06:00

Audrey and I signed up for another race on Memorial Day, so that made 2 races in 3 days; which is pretty fun. The only bad news was that we woke up on Monday morning to 30 degree weather and snow flurries. The trip down to Park City was a little more eventful than I would have wished trying to navigate on the snowy roads. I thought winter was supposed to be over by the end of May?

We ended up making fine, just in time for the race. Because of the nasty weather there weren't as many runners there as they were hoping for. Audrey and I lined up at the start line and she said, "I think we can win this one." So when the director said go we took off. There was only 1 high school aged boy in front of us, and after about a mile he slowed down and we cruised on by. The race course was on part paved trail and part hard packed rock trail, with two loops. After we had finished up the second loop and were headed back towards the finish I knew that there was no way anyone was going to catch us. So we just eased on into the finish, crossing the line together in first place.

It was a lot of fun. I also won a Rossignol dress shirt and hat at the raffle afterwards too. Here are some pictures of race day.

Western States Movie

2011-06-01T21:43:00.000-06:00

Draper Trail Challenge

2011-06-01T21:40:00.000-06:00

On the Saturday of the Memorial Day Weekend, Audrey and I traveled down to Draper Utah to run in a trail race. The Draper Trail Challenge had a choice of a 4 mile, 6.3 mile, 10 mile, or 15 mile option. It is my goal to run a 50 mile race this September; the Grand Teton 50 Mile Race. So I chose the 15 mile race to start some of my training towards the 50 miler this fall. Audrey chose the 6.3 mile race because she has been coming back from a small but nagging injury, not letting her get in all the miles that she would like.
All the races started together so you really didn't have any idea who was running what race until much later on. But the good thing was that Audrey and I got to run together for the first 4 miles or so. The course was really really pretty and also really tough. Lots of up and down. 3,000 ft of total elevation gain and loss throughout the entire 15 mile race. I know by some ultra standards that's not much, but it was enough for me.
The weather started to warm up, and I think eventually it got to around 60 degrees. I felt pretty decent the entire run. At about the 11 mile mark there were 4 of us all kind of running together. I was made a few calculated moves on some hills and passed everyone hoping to put some distance between me and them.
Unfortunately I started to hit the wall about mile 13, which was all uphill. Got passed by 2 guys, and then I just settled into a nice steady pace to finish. I rolled across the line in 2 hours and 22 minutes. I felt good about the whole day, finished 6th overall and 4th in my age division. My Brooks gave me one blister on my right big toe. After the awards (Audrey got 2nd place by the way) I put on my recovery tights, and we went to eat lunch at Chili's. I totally believe in recovery tights in helping with DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). They totally helped because we ran a race only 2 days later on Memorial Day in Park City.... but that is for another post. Here are some pictures.

Running up the trail towards the start of the race.

Felt pretty good at this point in the race.

It was a beautiful race course.

Coming into the finish.

Just a little bit farther.

I was pretty sore by this point.

As soon as I stopped running my legs started to cramp.

Scanning my bib number for my time.

Back To The Land Of Oz & Catching Up On Blogging

2011-05-29T20:21:00.000-06:00

It has been quite a while since I have had the time to blog. And since it has been so long, you will just have to get the shortened version of everything that has been happening. Hopefully life will be less busy so that I can actually write about it.
Audrey and I were fortunate enough to be able to take a vacation to my homeland of Kansas. One of the main purposes was to visit my new niece and nephew Malachi & Isaac. They were born prematurely and they were in the NICU for quite a while before they got to come home. They are miracle babies! And we got to hold them!
First on the agenda was visiting Haviland: my family, Audrey's family and everything in between. I surprised Audrey with a brand new road bike for her birthday since she is going to try her hand at a triathlon this summer. We had a great time in Haviland and then went to Wichita to see the babies and Patrick, Janeen, and Micah. It was so great to see these little babies that we had prayed for for so long. Before heading back to Wyoming we ran a 5k race with Patrick. The Step Up For SIDS 5k. It was a good time. Here's a couple of pictures from the trip.

IWD District Conference & Cookie Chaser 5k

2011-05-14T09:31:00.000-06:00

Life has been busy!!!! I am playing catch up on my blog posts, and because it seems like 3 months have been crammed into three weeks there is a lot that I want to post about. In my last "real" post, I was running on fumes... I was heading into Easter Sunday with no gas left in the tank; physically, emotionally, spiritually. I was done. Drained.

But Sunday went really well, and I had a couple of days to try and recuperate before the Intermountain West District Conference on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The IWD Conference was held in Sandy, UT at the Beacon Bible Church this year. They worked with the Hyatt Summerfield Suites and got us some sweet rooms at a great price.

This was the first Conference since the IWD was disenfranchised from the EFCA, so the banner that the IWD now flies under is the Evangelical Fellowship of Free Churches or the EFFC. This is a brand new endeavor, and the basics are for any Church that agrees with the Statement of Faith they can be a part of the EFFC. This bigger gathering of Churches allows for relationships and helping one another out. More can be done with a bigger group, and if you are a small Church you don't feel like you are alone.

Cal Hanson was the speaker for the Conference (The first Evangelical Free Missionary to Japan). The rest of the Conference went well. We also got to do some thrift store shopping and came away with some great deals. Let me tell you, thrift stores in Utah are the way to go to buy any type of clothing. I would have never thought that I could have found good running clothes from a thrift store, but this trip proved me extremely wrong. You just have to know where to look. Everything from Under Armour to Ambercrombie and Fitch to Patagonia to The North Face to REI. It was the motherload of Thrift Store trips!

It has become a habit or tradition or maybe just something that we always do now; is to look for races wherever we travel. So we were in Sandy UT for the Conference and decided to see if there was a race down there. So we found the Cookie Chaser 2k and 5k in Riverton, UT about 10 minutes from our hotel. PERFECT! We signed up and were ready to run on Saturday morning. We would be done with the race just in time to get back to the motel to shower and pack up our stuff and then head to the final meeting of the Conference.

During the night it snowed about 1/2 inch on the Valley floor. But the sun was coming up and no snow had stuck to the roads. Looked like it was going to be a very picturesque morning to run. By the time we ran the sun was up and the temp. was about perfect. They had the option of running both the 2k and the 5k so we opted for both; why not race twice in one day??? The 2k was first with a lot of little kids running it, so I had to dodge all of them at the start line. Audrey and I ran it together taking it fairly easily. It was over pretty quick, in about 8:05 to be exact. Audrey came in 2nd female and I was 3rd male.

The 5k had more adults and more competition. I felt that I could set a PR for my 5k, so I took off and chased down a few of the leaders. I felt pretty good the entire race, and I was pushing it pretty good. After the halfway turnaround the few of us in the lead were pretty spread out and I guess that I was already in the place that I was going to finish. I ended up finishing 3rd overall with a new PR time of 19:29. Audrey was the first female and won a 75.00 dollar gift certificate to some fancy restaurant in SLC. All in all it ended up being just about perfect and we made it back in time for the end of the conference.

"Love Wins" By Rob Bell

2011-04-27T10:46:00.000-06:00

I just finished up reading "Love Wins - A book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived" by Rob Bell. At first I wasn't going to read the book just because there has been so much controversy over the ideas that Bell has written about. But then Audrey found it at our local library (which was a complete shocker to me that they would have it), and she checked it out for me.
So I read it. I guess for me, just as any other book that I read, I take the things that I agree with and agree with them, and then the things that I don't agree with I say, "That's not true." And then continue on with life. There are parts of this book that I don't believe are truth, but there are other parts that I totally agree with, and I really like the way that Bell writes about them. He is a good author.
Maybe the real importance of books like these that question things within Christianity is that it causes you to look at your beliefs about the Bible, it makes you search out what is exactly said in the Scriptures, and it makes you stand up for what you believe in.
I'd say go ahead and read the book, because it will at least make you firm in what you do believe.

Death In His Grave by John Mark McMillan

2011-04-25T09:06:00.002-06:00

Busyness & Stress = Running Killers

2011-04-23T14:55:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure how everyone's week has gone, but as for me it has been one of the busiest and mentally exhausting weeks I've ever had. Not to mention emotional pain as well. Let me start off by letting you know that for Pastors the Easter Week is probably the busiest of the year. Sure, Christmas is a busier time than most, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Easter Week.
There are Good Friday Services, Sunrise Services, Resurrection Services; and even others in some cases; Maunday Thursday Services, Communion Services, Palm Sunday... This is just my viewpoint here, from a Pastors perspective: This is too many services. I know that they are all tradition and they all hold their important place in the Easter Week, but for me, by the time Sunday rolls around I feel more burnt out than joyous that Christ rose from the dead. (Which is an amazing event!!!)
So, not only have I been gearing up for all these different things all week, but there was a man that went to the Church that I am a Pastor of who died. I had the mixed emotions and feelings of walking with the family through this tragic event, and at the same time being honored that I would be able to bring the funeral message. All in all this has been a very exhausting week.
And I've still tried to have some semblance of my running schedule, which let me tell you hasn't worked at all. I ran 2 miles on Monday, 1.5 miles on Tuesday (I quit after this far because I could just not get my head in the right place to run), took Wednesday off, ran 2 miles on Thursday, 4 miles on Friday, and 2 miles today. Pretty pathetic compared to my normal weekly running routine.
Which leads me to my title: Busyness and Stress are running killers, not to mention killers of other things in life as well. Killers of sleep, of relationships, of eating healthy, of self care. The list could go on and on and on. I guess I'm just venting out my frustrations with it. In the words of someone wiser than me, "You must ruthlessly eliminate busyness from your life."

Slow Motion Stride @ Boston Marathon

2011-04-22T08:49:00.000-06:00

I've been working on my stride lately, and found this video pretty interesting. Watch where their feet land (underneath their center of gravity), how their feet land (on the mid-foot, not heel striking), and how the rest of their body is straight up and down, not hunched over. Pretty good form for distance running.

Garage Sale

2011-04-16T19:44:00.000-06:00

Audrey and I decided it was time to get rid of some of our "stuff". And according to Dave Ramsey having an Emergency Fund is the first thing you do to have Financial Peace. So, we teamed up with another family in town to have a garage sale. You would think that April 15th would be late enough in the year that the weather would be fairly decent.
Not herererer in Kemmerererer. The temps weren't too bad, 30's and 40's, but it was the constant 30 mph wind that made things really seem cold. I guess this is normal Spring weather because we had a pretty decent turnout and we did make some money. I am pretty exhausted though. I think the thought after every garage sale is, "Is it really worth it?"
I'm not sure how to answer that question, but we do have "free" money that we wouldn't have otherwise.

Took A Little Trip And Took A Little Run

2011-04-12T10:01:00.000-06:00

This past weekend Audrey and I got to take a mini-vacation down into Southern Utah, and more specifically Moab. We left Kemmerer on Thursday morning in 30 degree weather and snow, and made it down to Moab around 2:00 p.m. where it was a little overcast and 60 degrees. We stayed at the Riverside Oasis Campground in one of their cabin rentals. When I made the reservation I really didn't have a whole lot of an idea of how big they were, I just knew they were really cheap, and that worked for me!

The "Saloon" Cabin

And instead of saying that it was really small, we will refer to it as "cozy". Once we unpacked our belongings and made the "cozy" little shack feel like home, we headed into downtown Moab to walk around and check out all the shops. Since we were driving all day it felt good to get outside and move around.

Walking along Main Street

Bucking Bronco!

The Bucking Bronco was also a little "cozy".

Friday was a nice relaxing day. Had breakfast at our little nook, and made coffee with our French Press (which by the way if you don't have one of these, you need to buy one right now). We decided to drive around a little bit and then maybe do a little rock climbing as well. Nothing too serious because one of the other reasons we were in Moab was for a race. Which I will get to a little later.

Park in Moab.

On the climb.

Looking back down.

Headed down.

The tahoe!

Almost there.

After we did some climbing and walking around we headed over to Moab Coffee Roasters for a little coffee. It was a very interesting coffee shop that was combined with a middle eastern clothing store, but the coffee was really good. We both got Americanos. They also had Gelato which looked too good to pass up, and we were on vacation after all. It was so relaxing to sit and talk and drink coffee and not really have to be anywhere else.

The Grasshopper was really good!

Coffee faces?

We were supposed to run the Moab Marathon on Saturday, but it was supposed to be 25 degrees and snowing at the top, not real well organized, extremely windy with gusts up to 40 mph, and we had to check out of our "cozy" cabin by 11:00 a.m. So I knew that there was a trail race on the same day, we called the director to make sure they were doing "day of" race registration and he said yes.
The race is called the Amasa Back Trail Run which is ran on the Amasa Back Trail. Pretty straight forward. The race started at 8:00 a.m. and was nestled in a canyon along the Colorado River. So the wind was not bad and the temps were higher because we were at a lower elevation than the start of the marathon.
The course was amazing! Running along slick rock and technical single track trails. The first 4 miles were all going up and the last two went down bombing along the Colorado River. At the very end of the race we had to cross a river that had risen up pretty high, it was almost chest deep in one place!

"Financial Peace Revisited" By Dave Ramsey

2011-04-05T18:16:00.000-06:00

I just finished "Financial Peace Revisited" By Dave Ramsey. Audrey and I are enrolled in the "Financial Peace University" Class that we as a Church have offered to our community, and one of the assignments in the class is to read the book.
We meet every Tuesday night, watch an hour long DVD presentation by Dave Ramsey, and then we split off into small groups and talk about how things are going for each one of us. It has been pretty good so far, and we have a lot of people from the community in the class, I think around 25 family units at least.
The book builds on the principles that Dave lays out during the DVD sessions, and technically we are supposed to skip around to different chapters in the book depending on what DVD session we are on, but I am to much of an a to b, b to c, c to d, person to do that. When I pick up a book, I'm going to read it cover to cover.
I even do this with magazines, to my wife's amazement who looks at all the pictures first then goes back to read the articles that interest her. I have to move through the magazine from the front to the back, keeping my place so I can pick up where I left off.
So, back to the book. Ramsey is a pretty good author and throws enough stories, personal and from people who call in on his radio show, to keep things interesting. The first thought that came to my mind when I decided to read the book was, "Honestly, how is this going to keep me interested?" But, it did for the most part. There were a few areas that didn't apply so I skimmed over them pretty quick.
If you are in a place financially where you don't think you can get out, then you need to read this book and find a Financial Peace University Class where you live, or if you want a better handle on your finances then I would suggest doing the same. The principles and ideas are right on point. The only hard part is implementing them into your life.
So far things have gone pretty well. I think that's because we have the accountability of all the other people in the class. If I was trying to do this on my own, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't last. Also, if I had just picked up the book without all the other information in the class I doubt that I would be in as good a place as I am right now with it all.
So if you want a challenge to change the way you handle your money and live your life, then I would say read the book. If you are not ready to change how you spend money then you would be wasting your time if you read it.

Friday, Funday, Runday - To Me They're All The Same Day!

2011-04-02T09:41:00.000-06:00

Here in good 'ol Wyoming we still have snow on the ground. The high temps are in the mid 40's, and it feels like the Cowboy State might actually be waking up from winter. Which means: 1. More races are coming. 2. I get to wear shorts. 3. It's time for a new pair of running shoes. And on that last note Audrey and I made a trip down to our favorite running store, Wasatch Running Center, in Sandy, Utah.

This trip was not just for running shoes. We decided to add as many things as we could into the short time we had for the day (Audrey had to be back in time to work out with two of her Personal Training clients -which I am super proud of her. God has truly gifted her with this talent and career.) So we also went grocery shopping and stopped by Eleanor's Gluten Free Bakery to stock up.

Alrighty, back to the events of the day. It started off at Wasatch Running Center where we tried on at least 5 different pairs of shoes. My choice came between two pairs of Sauconys. The Kinvara and the Ride 3.

Saucony Kinvara

Ride 3

I finally decided on the Kinvara. On Saucony's website they say, "Neutral running shoe that allows your foot to run uninhibited, Lightweight, flexible, Minimal midsole construction with protection from the pavement, and Weight: 7.7 oz.

When I tried on the Kinvara the first thing that I noticed was how comfortable they felt. The upper is almost nothing. Very very thin and lightweight, and the cushioning on the bottom of the shoe felt really good. That might have been the deciding factor of purchasing them over the Ride 3.
Audrey ended up getting the Asics Landreth 6's. A great looking shoe that I think will be great for her. After figuring out the shoes we also decided to get the Pro-Tec Roller Massage. This little baby brings the pain when you have sore muscles. Different from the foam roller, the Roller Massage allows you to pinpoint smaller muscles and really dig into them. Such as your achilles. It also has a rubberized end allowing for trigger point therapy on different areas.

After Wasatch Running Center, we stopped in at Eleanor's, grabbed a quick bite to eat, changed into our running clothes, put on our new shoes and headed out into the 70 degree weather that was amazing!!! It felt like Summer. It was such a glorious run. The mountains in the background with snow still on them, blue sky, sunshine. Basically perfect. The new shoes did great on the first run for both Audrey and I. And considering we are running in the Moab Marathon this coming Saturday (April 9) the shoes being great is a good sign.
After the run it was time for the groceries. We are enrolled in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University Class, and since April 1 is the beginning of a new month we are trying out a new revised budget. So everything is already laid out for the entire month. It is kind of freeing knowing where our money will go and that we have everything already set in place. So the groceries were right on target.
As to the title of my post you can see how it was a Friday, Funday, and a Runday. Maybe this should be a weekly occurance????

Antelope Island Buffalo Run 25k 2011 Photos

2011-03-28T17:41:00.000-06:00

The KU Basketball Fan Prayer

2011-03-25T09:50:00.000-06:00

Our Father, who art in Lawrence, Hallowed be thy Game.Thy Tourney come, thy Championship will be done, in Houston as it is in Allen Field House. Give us this day, our deserved victory And forgive us our turnovers, as we forgave Roy, who double-crossed against us. Lead us Not into Defeat,but Deliver us from the East Coast Bias. For Kansas is the Basketball Kingdom,& the Tradition,& the Glory, forever & ever. Amen.

Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk
KU!

A Conglomeration Of Happenings

2011-03-25T02:11:00.000-06:00

It has been a while since I have blogged about life. And I guess I have been not really wanting to write anything because it seemed like there was nothing exciting going on. But my reason for having this blog isn't to just write about exciting things in life. So here goes with a smattering of things from the past week or so.

I'll start with today since it is the most fresh in my mind. I did something that was a first for me today. I attended a webinar. You know, a seminar that is held on the web, a webinar. When I first told Audrey about it she laughed and said, "They really call them that?" I said, "Yes, they sound very sophisticated, and only sophisticated people are asked to join them." Anyway the really cool webinar was hosted by the Rocky Mountain District (RMD) of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) and I participated on my Acer Laptop (ALP) while I was in my Church Office (CO). Catching a drift of acronyms? (CADOA?) The topic was reaching out and meeting needs in your community. There is a program called Blessings in a Backpack, and the idea behind it is to provide food for the weekends for kids who aren't able to get it at home. On Friday afternoons all the kids who are in the program receive a backpack full of enough food for the weekend. Pretty cool idea if you ask me. And only $80 bucks per kid for a school year's worth of food. This definitely is a possibility for our Church.

I am ready to race this weekend. It has been kind of a weird week for running. I haven't ran near as much as I would have liked to, but I guess that happens sometimes. One of the great things is that Audrey and I run basically all of our races together and we train together as well. And then on the other hand if something happens to one of us, such as an injury, then we join them in their healing process. That being said, Audrey has sustained some foot pain for the past week, so it has hindered our training. We even swam on Tuesday, and if you don't know how much I am NOT a swimmer you can read about it here. I also took today off from any sort of exercise, I felt sluggish and worn out. But that doesn't make sense to me now because it's 2 a.m. and I have a serious case of insomnia. Which NEVER HAPPENS TO ME! So I'm pretty baffled by that.

I am also looking forward to wearing my new trail shoes (Brooks Cascadia 6) farther than 4 miles. Since it is still half snow/half slush, all wet and muddy here in Wyoming I haven't had the chance to take them out very much. My only worry is that I don't get blisters. Antelope Island has quite a bit of sand in some parts of the trail, and if you get a bunch down in your shoes you either stop and dump it all out or you have about 15 different hot spots from all the tiny pebbles.

In Church we are going through a sermon series on Habakkuk. If you haven't read it, you should, and if you have you should read it again. It's a pretty good one. On one hand you can totally relate, because Habakkuk is questioning God with circumstances in his life that don't make sense. But then you get to chapter 3, which we will be studying this Sunday, and doing what Habakkuk does makes it really hard. He says that he is going to rejoice even when he doesn't have anything to rejoice about. He is going to rejoice even when things in his life are going horribly. This is not an easy task. Because when things are bad we want to be down, depressed, angry, and hurt. We don't want to have understanding, or to be rejoicing, looking at the bigger picture of life.

So there you have it. The uneventful things of this week. Oh, I finished our taxes today. Cleaned out our dog kennel, which hadn't been cleaned all winter - let me tell you, two dogs go to the bathroom a lot during the winter. I'm currently reading Dave Ramsey's book Financial Peace Revisited. That's it.

Win A Sony Walkman @ 26.2 Quest

2011-03-23T07:53:00.000-06:00

Enter to win a sony walkman from 26.2 Quest. He's giving away 2 of them!

Go and check it out. 26.2 Quest

"The Sentry" by Robert Crais

2011-03-19T17:45:00.000-06:00

Mark your calendars. Another book in a week. These book blog posts are more for me to keep track of what I've read more than anything else. But I'll write up a little review. This is a story about an ex-police officer turned military free-lancer. He gets involved with a few shady characters on a chance happening, and throughout the entire story has to follow the trails to figure out what exactly is going on. Part crime solving detective novel. It's a pretty decent book. I guess good enough to keep my interest going to finish it so quickly. But not the best book I've ever read.

"The Fall" By Guillermo Del Toro And Chuck Hogan

2011-03-14T14:57:00.000-06:00

Like I said in my earlier book review a couple of weeks ago, that once I get on a roll I can crank through books pretty quick. This one took me about a week to finish. I'm not sure if I am anticipating all the reading that I am going to have to be doing for my Masters that is going to start this fall or not. I guess I am either getting good practice in or I am figuring that I won't have time to read anything else once I start.
On to the book!
This is the 2nd installment in a trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I stumbled across the first book last year in the library and decided to give it a try. It was good enough for me to want to read the 2nd one, which I stumbled across again at the library. These kinds of books are purely for entertaining reading only. I really don't know if you can pull anything worthwhile out of them, but sometimes its good to have a book that you can just get lost in and not have to think too much about.
"The Fall" continues on with the story of how the entire world is getting "infected" by a strain of vampires (completely science fictionish) and the few people who are trying to save the world from this mass destruction. The common theme of a catastrophe and the survivors trying to figure out a way to stay alive. It is well written with good characters and plot theme. And made a nice addition to the first book. I'm not sure when the third one is supposed to come out, but chances are if my luck remains that I will stumble across it at the library as well.

11.5 Mile Saturday Run

2011-03-14T14:40:00.000-06:00

I had a pretty productive Saturday. In the morning myself and a few others ran a booth for the "Burn Your Lungs Run" that I am directing again for July 30, 2011. We had laptops set up for people to register on the spot, and if they registered that day they received a free training plan courtesy of "The Audrey Ross Way". It was a great time to interact with everyone and let them know about our upcoming race!
Then in the afternoon I set out for my long run of the week. I have been trying to increase my weekly mileage over the past month or so, and so far it has been happening. Not necessarily the easiest thing to accomplish in February and March with winter still trying to keep it's hold on Wyoming. But Saturday was one of the warmest days that we have had yet, and I was priviledged enough to only wear a beanie, gloves, shorts, and a long sleeve. Not quite summer yet, but way better than the 3-4 layers that I have been wearing to run outside.
I decided to run out HWY 233 - Which is our tentative course for the BYLR (Burn Your Lungs Run). Did I mention we are having a 5k, 10k, and half marathon? And that you can walk or run any distance? Really, everyone should come and do our race! Anyway, back to my run. It went great, got in 11.5 miles and was wonderful to run outside. I even saw a mama moose and her baby crossing over the frozen Hams Fork River. Luckily I was far enough way that she decided I wasn't a threat, I probably didn't look to menacing either with my white legs flashing. I need the sun!
So here's my stats from my Garmin 305, which I love, and love being able to wear it outside!

Don Miller - A Million Miles In A Thousand Years

2011-03-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

What story are you telling? from Rhetorik Creative on Vimeo.

Gearing Up For The Antelope Island Buffalo Run 25k

2011-03-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Audrey & I are looking forward to our next race, The Antelope Island Buffalo Run.We did the 25k last year, and it was our first real "trail" race. I kind of surprised Audrey with it, and she didn't really know what she was in for. She hated me for a while during the run, even contemplating just sitting down on the edge of the trail, but she cowgirled up and finished strong. Directly after the race was over she said, "I'm never doing that run again!" I didn't say anything at the time, I have learned when to keep my mouth shut, and after we had some lunch she came around and said, "I think I could beat my time next year."
So we are signed up again! 1,900 ft. of elevation gain over 15.5 miles, single track trail, buffalo to watch out for, views of the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Mountain Range. You couldn't ask for much more. I'm am looking forward to the race this year, and since I am planning on running an ultra this year on trails, this will be a kind of starting point in that journey.

Map Of The 25k Course

25k Elevation Profile

I will be taking my camera with me this year and plan on posting quite a few pictures on my race report. As you can see from the elevation profile mile 7-9 is killer! I really had a blast at this race last year, and I hope the weather is good.
I was out doing my run yesterday, more of a fun run than serious training once I saw a snow machine path heading up Oyster Ridge. I guessed that it would be packed enough for me to run on, since everywhere else up there was covered in at least 6 ft. of snow. And I guessed right. I headed up and ran into 5 mule deer, plenty of snow, and sunshine. I figured it would be a good little piece of uphill training for Antelope Island. Basically straight up till I turned around and then straight back down. I only postholed a couple of times, and it was a blast running back down.

For a 3.5 mile run from the front door of my house and 500 ft. of elevation gain in the middle of winter with 6 ft. of snow all around, I'd say not a bad little run. Hopefully I can get out there a couple of more times with a little longer trip up before Antelope Island.

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

2011-03-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

I'm a pretty avid reader, and it seems like once I get on a roll I can go through quite a few books in a relatively short period of time. Especially if they are books that grab my attention. I just finished Cormac McCarthy's book, "The Road" and considering my last post was a book review and it was just about a week ago I'd say I made it through this one pretty fast. I think I actually started it last Friday.
McCarthy has a distinct way that he writes, kind of disjointed. I have also read "No Country For Old Men" which I think is a better book than "The Road". But that's not what this post is about. "The Road" is about a father and son who are living in the post-apocalyptic future. Their entire world is cold, burned, and ashen. It is the story of their survival. They have to search for food, shelter, and safety. Always on the lookout for bandits and thieves. It brings up questions about life, God, morals, and it explores the relationship between the father and the son in the middle of all these horrible things that they have to go through. That is probably the best part about the book.
It was a pretty easy read, entertaining, but not the best book I've read. Probably somewhere in the middle.

"Coming Back Stronger - Unleashing The Hidden Power Of Adversity"

2011-03-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

I just finished up reading "Coming Back Stronger" by Drew Brees, Quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. The book is about his life story, and how he came back from shoulder surgery to win the Super Bowl. The book is published by Tyndale Publishers a well known Christian book publishing company. And I was unaware until I read the book that Brees is a Christian.
The book itself is written fairly well with quite a few insights into Brees' personal life and the thoughts and emotions that he went through during the whole process. From the devastating thought that he might never be able to play again to working through all the struggles only to come out on the other side not only a better player but a better person.
I think people can resonate with a story like this because we all go through adversity and struggles in our lives. Sometimes on a daily basis. We love to hear the stories of how people have overcome obstacles to be better afterward. And this applies to every area of life. We have struggles with friendships, with spouses, with jobs, with finances, with children, with God... you name it and there probably has been a time where there was a struggle.
Being a runner I like to illustrate it to every other aspect of life, one because I am very passionate about running, and two I think you can illustrate just about anything with running. For example, think about how good of a runner you would be if you never had to struggle through anything. If you never had an injury that you had to rehabilitate, or you never had to push yourself past where you thought you could go with a long run, or you never struggled to get through your speed work and your lungs are burning like crazy. You would be a terrible runner, actually you wouldn't even be a runner at all. You have to purposefully put struggles and obstacles in your way to be a better runner.
God uses the struggles in our life to form and shape us into the best person that we can be. One struggle might teach us grace, another struggle forgiveness, a certain trial might lead to humbleness. Sometimes when we are broken is when the real transformation can take shape.

Another Chance To Win Cool Stuff From 26.2 Quest

2011-02-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here is another opportunity to win some sweet gear from 26.2 Quest.
A free pair of Ryders Sunglasses!
Head over to 26.2 by clicking here

I won't wish you good luck because I hope to win!

Trip To KS

2011-02-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Audrey and I returned home from our trip to Kansas on Wednesday. It was a great trip and so good to see my family and be there to help. My wonderful sister is pregnant with twins and is doing an amazing job at having to be in the hospital so they can continue to monitor them. We are praying for two safely delivered babies everyday!
This trip was just what I needed. It had been a long time since I had been able to see my family, and there is just something about being with them that makes everything seem okay. It was also a great chance to run in some 50 degree weather, as opposed to the below freezing temps that we have been having in Kemmerer. And to run with no snow. I got in a couple of good runs outside. One was even in a t-shirt and shorts. It felt amazing, but only made me want Summer to get here quicker.
I also got to go on a 7 miler early morning run with my good friend Adam. It was a great run on clear paved bike paths around Sedgewick County Park. Good conversations always happen with Adam and running. We were college roommates and Adam would always want to stay up late and talk. I just fell asleep on him.
We also got to use a newer YMCA while we were in Wichita. It was nice to always know that a treadmill or whatever you needed would always be available, but after a while I was ready to get back to our little Rec. Center where I know everything and everybody.
All in all it was a great trip and made the month of February seem to fly by! Which is always a bonus. Spring might be coming soon?

Brooks Cascadia 6 First Impressions

2011-02-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

I got the opportunity to run in my new Brooks Cascadia 6's yesterday. Granted that it was just through town, but the roads were snow packed and a little slick in spots. We just got about 4-5 in. of fresh new powdery snow that was blown into large drifts with 30 mph winds. I had already ran 4 miles that morning at our Rec. Center on the treadmill. Which is getting pretty old right now (I'm trying to break up the monotony by listening to books on my iPod).

Our two dogs, Maya & Mountie, needed some exercise in the afternoon though, so I decided to give them a little two mile jaunt and try out my new shoes at the same time.

Maya & Mountie posing nicely for treats.

At first the shoes felt a little stiff, but as I kept running they felt better and better. I didn't feel like I was running on slick snow either, the tread worked great and I never felt out of control at any point during the run. I was pretty pleased with them and I can't wait until I get to wear them out on some trails. Which could be a while considering it snowed here in June last year. Audrey and I are getting to take a trip to Wichita, KS this weekend to visit family, and from the looks of it the weather should be warmer there than here. Maybe I can find a good trail to run them on down there. Also looking forward to visiting GoRun Wichita, a new running store to the area.

Road ID

2011-02-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

I just purchased a Road ID and I received it in the mail this week. Road ID is one of the sponsors for the upcoming race that I am directing, the "Burn Your Lungs Run". I was never really interested in purchasing a Road ID for myself, but I received a gift card for one and decided that I had better use it.
The idea behind the product is to have emergency contacts and medical information on you at all times (especially running, biking, etc...) so that if an accident occurs to where you may not be able to speak, people can see who you are, who to contact, and any other info. that might be valuable and life saving.
I have come close to traffic a few times while out running. There have been a few cars or should I say pickup trucks that have intentionally swerved at me while I was road running (and one guy who tried to spit on me, he missed by the way), but I have never really felt like I was in real danger of an accident. Probably the one time that I was the most concerned was when I was trail running. I know it's hard to imagine being concerned for your life when you are trail running, especially since we don't have bears in Southwest Wyoming. But we do have antelope hunters who are from out of state. I saw a group of hunters and was pretty sure their scopes were on me. Thank God that they saw that I was not an antelope (I can't run that fast).
All that being said, my views on Road ID has changed just since I got one. I think that its a great idea, and I am totally stoked to wear mine all the time. Not only is it a great piece of equipment and possibly life saving, I think it looks really cool too. And anything that I can wear that is associated with running, I'm all about it.
If you are a runner, or you are outdoors a lot or doing endurance activities I would say get one of these bad boys. It makes sense to buy one and wear one before you have an accident. Like preventative medicine. The next time you see me, I will be wearing my Road ID.

GU Giveaway over @ 26.2 Quest

2011-02-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

Everyone loves free stuff, so here's your chance to win some!

Click HERE for the giveaway!

Barclay College Masters Program

2011-02-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

It is official. I have been accepted into the Masters Program at Barclay College. I am scheduled to start online classes in the fall of 2011. When I graduate I will have a "Master Of Arts In Transformational Leadership".

It is a 2 year course with 1 week of on site intensive class time once per semester and the rest is done online. There are parts of entering into this endeavor that are a little overwhelming and a little frightening as well. But I know that God has led me into it, and He is continuing to open the doors for me to pursue this next step in my education. I am excited about being pushed out of my comfort zone, and also being pushed into accomplishing things that I would not have done on my own. We definitely need outside sources to help spur us along sometimes.

Hale Freezes Over 10k Race Report & Birthday Weekend

2011-02-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

Well I finally have some time to give a race report from last weekend. Feels like a long time ago, so I'll do my best to recapture it all! Saturday morning for part of my birthday extravaganza Audrey and I headed down to Orem, UT for the "Hale Freezes Over" 10k Road Race. We ran this race last year and had a good time, so we figured we'd do it again.
We left Kemmerer around 6 a.m. and had great roads going down. We made it down with plenty of time to spare to get our bib numbers, change, and warm up. The weather was beautiful and I ran in shorts and my Sporthill top. The only bad part was the air quality. An inversion had settled into the valley trapping all of the smog and carbon dioxide.
Audrey and I hung together for about the first 2-3 miles averaging right under a 7 minute pace. I felt good and went ahead a little bit. The course was the same as last year and had one big hill around mile 5 that was a little rough - I think the only point in the race where I got passed by someone that I didn't pass back. For the last mile or so we ran along a major highway on the side street. Not great for views and inspiration, but it was really nice to be running outside after feeling strapped to the treadmill for a couple of weeks.
The mountains around Orem do make up for all the traffic though. They are majestic. I passed one other guy in the last mile and was right on the heels of 2 more, but they kept up a good pace. I finished in 41:34 - 8th male overall and 1st in my age division. Click below for the results.
RESULTS
The race was sponsored by the Hale Theatre in Orem. After the race was over they had pizza, drinks, and other food in the basement of their building. They were also providing free massages to all the racers, and free live music in the upstairs portion. The 10k awards were presented fairly quickly after the race. Audrey got 2nd female overall and won $35.00 in cash, season tickets to the Theatre, and a sweet medal. For getting first in my age division I got a small medal and a $5.00 card to Jamba Juice (woohoo-sarcasm).
Once the awards were over we headed to 26.2 Running Company in Provo. I won a $25.00 gift card to their store during a giveaway they did on Facebook. So I bought a new Asics beanie for the rest of the winter. From there we headed to Elanor's Gluten Free Bakery and Restaurant for lunch. It was really really good. Their entire family is allergic to gluten so they decided to open up a restaurant for others like them. Audrey has been experimenting with this and it has really been helping her.
After lunch we went to Wasatch Running Company so that I could buy a new pair of trail shoes. Since I am planning on running at least 1 ultra this summer I am going to need them. I settled on the Brooks Cascadia 6. I'll write a report about them later once I have ran some in them. They weren't yet in stock since they just came out, so they shipped them to me and I got them in the mail last night. They are amazing!
So all in all it was a great race and a great day. Here are some pictures.

The Long Run Book Review

2011-01-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished up "The Long Run" by Matt Long. This is the story of an endurance athlete and FDNY Firefighter who got hit by a bus. The book chronicles his amazing recovery, the very emotional feelings that he went through, and his triumphant return of running the New York Marathon, and then finishing an Ironman Triathlon. He should have died from all the injuries that he sustained in the accident, but he worked through all of those things and ended up doing something after his accident that most people don't ever do with a completely 100% healthy body. It is a great story and at the same time tragic. The suffering and trials that we face are overwhelming sometimes, but the ability to overcome those is even more astounding than the horrible things that can happen to us. The fact that God has given us a soul that longs to overcome the fallenness of the world is an incredible thing. We are clearly created for another place, a place that even if we aren't concious of it drives us to amazing feats.

Hale Freezes Over 10k & Birthday Celebration This Weekend!

2011-01-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

I get to run a race as part of my birthday celebration! Audrey and I are heading to Orem, UT on Saturday to take part in our 2nd running of the "Hale Freezes Over" 10k. We ran this race last year, and we had a lot of fun doing it. The race is the first item on the agenda for my birthday day. We are also going to go to a running store and I'm going to get a new pair of trail running shoes. My very first pair actually. I plan on running quite a few trail races this Spring, Summer, and Fall. Even a few ultras hopefully. I've got a few shoes that I'm looking at getting Brooks Cascadia, New Balance MT101, are a couple. It's going to be a fun day, the weather is mostly sunny and a high of 43 degrees! Should make for perfect race weather.

Birthday Run

2011-01-27T08:01:00.002-07:00

I ran 9 miles this morning. The morning of my 28th birthday. All before 7 a.m. and all on a treadmill.

My 1st Professional Massage

2011-01-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to an early birthday present from my wife I received my very first professional massage yesterday. It was perfectly timed too. I subbed at the Middle School in the morning, and I was completely ready to be done dealing with hormonal students. Audrey has received a massage from the woman who did mine, so she gave me the heads up on what to do when I got there.
If you have never had a massage it can be a little bit nerve racking when you first walk into the room because you get down to your unders. But you are under a blanket the entire time and as soon as the massage starts you completely forget about everything else and enter into this parallel universe where you are not yet asleep but you are not awake either.
Since I've been running inside more I noticed that my feet were hurting quite a bit and my hips have had some soreness in them. So those were the 2 areas that I said were the worst. The massage was an hour long and it went by so fast. When I turned over on my back she could instanly tell why my hips had been hurting. My right side was about 1/2 an inch higher than my left. All the muscles were tightening up on that side pulling it higher. So she went to work on loosening those (which was painful by the way) but when she was done my hips were aligned evenly again and I could totally feel it.
Today though my lower back is sore from all the manuevering she had to do. I'm hoping that when I go for my run today I can tell the difference in my stride. For a while I felt like my left foot just wasn't really coming down in the right place.
Anyway, go out and get a massage, say it's for your birthday.

Pinedale Indoor Triathlon Report

2011-01-24T14:21:00.004-07:00

Well, it appears that I do know what I'm talking about. The swim portion of the Triathlon was a total bomb! I got beat by a man in his late 60's possibly 70's. But we will get to that humiliating portion of the report later.
Audrey and I left for Pinedale around 10:30 a.m. planning to stop at the health foods store and the Wind River Brewing Company, a great place to get some food and a cool atmosphere. The Triathlon started at 12:00 with different groups beginning at half hour intervals. Our start time wasn't scheduled until 2:30.
The roads were great and we arrived in plenty of time to get everything done before we checked in. The Pinedale Aquatic Center sponsored the Triathlon. They have a very nice facility. In our 2:30 group there were 7 people participating at the same time. The swim portion was first and I knew that I wasn't going to fair very well. We had 15 minutes to swim as many laps as possible. The horn blew and everyone took off, and I tried to keep up for about the 1st half of a lap and quickly realized that wasn't going to work. The rest of the time I spent switching from breast stroke, doggy paddle, backstroke, you name it I tried it. I am not a swimmer. I finished 8 laps in the 15 minutes. One guy finished 32 laps in the same time period. He is a fish.
I was glad that the swim portion was over, now I had to try and make up a little ground on the bike and the run. We had to be transported to another facility to use the bikes (I think they should move the bikes so you do all the events in one area). The bikes were supposed to be calibrated at the same resistance, but they weren't and the odometers were off, not giving an accurate reading of how far everyone went. That was a little bit frustrating. The bike part went decent; not that exciting to sit on a stationary bike and pedal as hard as you can for 20 minutes.
Finally we got to the run. I pretty much knew that there was no way I could make up enough ground that I lost on my swim, so my goal was to run the farthest out of anyone for the whole day. We ran inside on a track that is basically like the one at the Kemmerer Rec. Center. For my description of the Kemmerer Track and it being crowded link back to this blog post. Back to the race: The track is 1/15 of a mile, meaning you have to run 15 laps to equal a mile. We had a 15 minute time limit for this section as well.
I took off at a pretty fast pace and started lapping people after about the first 2 laps and that continued the entire time. There was one other guy there who I thought might be my competition, and he ran in an earlier heat. So I was cruising around by myself. Audrey was doing great as well, staying pretty close behind me. At one point I couldn't see her and thought that something happened, like she hurt her knee or something running on the curved track. When the end gun went off I had run 35 laps total - over 2.25 miles and I accomplished my goal of winning that portion. No one ran as far as I did.
Overall Audrey got 3rd in the 20-29 division - the swim really was the killer part. And I have no idea where I placed. But it was a lot of fun. Gave us a reason to get out of town on a Saturday and it was a great workout. We also got to talk to a few other people about the "Burn Your Lungs Run" on July 30th in Kemmerer.
Here are the official results with explanations as to how the points were given out. They didn't record the bike section of the race becuase the odometers were messed up.
http://www.pinedaleaquatic.com/thepac/Home_files/2011%20TRIATHLON%20RESULTS.pdf

Pinedale Indoor Triathlon

2011-01-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in the Pinedale Indoor Triathlon tomorrow. It should be interesting to see how it goes. There are around 30 people doing the individual portion and a number of others who are doing either the relay or a pair team. Each segment (swimming, biking, running) is split up into time segments. So you go as fast and as hard as you can for that amount of time and when it is all over they add up your total distance to see who wins.

The part that has me the most concerned is the swim. I'm not a great swimmer, and since it is the first event I really don't want to get exhausted from it for the bike and especially the run. So I plan on taking my time on the swim and not killing myself. Then trying to make up time on the bike & run. We'll see how well my plan holds up against the rest of the competition.

Race Report of Park City 5k Snow Stomp

2011-01-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

Official Jadon Ross Report of the Park City 5k Snow Stomp:
I've been in the process of reporting on this race for the past few days and it seems like every time I sit down to finish something else comes up. But not today!
This was the first race for Audrey and I for the 2011 season and we were so ready to go. The night before Audrey ended up talking to some of our friends here in Kemmerer at the Rec. Center, Tim & Sandy (also runners), and said we were running a race the next morning. Well, as it turns out they decided to register and run the race too! Not much is better than running a race and having friends do it with you. So we met up the next morning and headed to Park City, UT, about an hour and a half from Kemmerer. We arrived in plenty of time and got registered and warmed up.
The race had two divisions: snowshoe or running shoe. We chose running shoe since we have never ran in snowshoes. Turned out to be a good idea. I would say there were probably about 100 people participating. The course started out on the Rail Trail, a good packed trail that was pretty easy to run on. It was an out and back with a section that went to single track off in some deep snow. This part of the course was supposed to be the "snowshoe" section, giving the advantage to those who had on snowshoes so they didn't sink knee deep into the snow with every step.
When they marked the course they went over this section with snowshoes so there was one skinny path where if you stayed on top of it you wouldn't crash through. Audrey and I started the race towards the front and after only a couple of minutes we were in 3rd and 4th place with only 2 guys in front of us with snowshoes. We kept a pretty good pace going for the first mile and we passed both guys before the 1.5 mile turnaround. After the turnaround was where the course veered up and into the single track. I went first and Audrey followed. I moved pretty good through the stuff, every once in a while halfway losing my balance and then losing half of my leg in a pile of snow. If you weren't paying attention you could easily misstep and be off the section that was packed down.
Being in first place overall I didn't want to look back through this section of the course, but as it came to an end and spit us back out onto the well groomed Rail Trail I turned around just to see where everyone was. Audrey was still in 2nd and she was a little ways behind me and that's all I cared about. I cruised into the finish with a time of 26:20, first place overall, and Audrey came in behind me in 2nd place with a time of 26:49. Here's a link to the official race results. RESULTS
Not a bad race day for the Ross's. We got medals for our placements. Tim and Sandy also placed in their age divisions; 1st for Tim and 3rd for Sandy. Pretty good for them too considering they ran 11 miles the day before! After we received our awards we headed over to Red Rock Brewing Co. for a celebratory lunch. A perfect ending to a great race!
Below are some pictures from the day in no particular order.

Audrey leading the pack.

Posing before the race start.

Our friends Tim and Sandy who decided last minute to run the race!

Looking back from the starting line.

We ran along the Rail Trail in Park City, UT.

The winning bib number!

Self portrait while running, not always the easiest thing to do.

It was a beautiful day to run: 40 degrees and sunshine.

Audrey receiving her 1st place female award

Audrey got 1st overall female and Sandy placed 3rd in her age division!

Me getting my 1st place medal.

The race was organized by Sports-Am, and their sweet red van.

Tim won 1st place in his age division!

1st place overall!

Telling the race director about how deep the snow was if you got off the track.

Park City, UT

First Race of 2011

2011-01-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

Audrey and I are doing our first official race of the 2011 season this Saturday in Park City, UT. It's a short race (5k) but it's still a race!!! I am excited just to get to go out and compete. It has been quite a while since we've done our last "real" race. The race has 2 categories: snowshoe or regular shoe. We chose the regular shoe since we've yet to run in snowshoes, and we heard from a chiropractor that snowshoes can wreak havoc on your hips since your stride has to be wider apart.
The race starts at 10:00 a.m. which is nice. More time to drive down there and more time for the temps to rise. The weather report right now shows a high of 31 degrees on Saturday for Park City. That's about a 20-30 degree difference from what it has been here in Kemmerer lately. The venue for the race is the Prospector Square Lodge & Conference Center. It looks pretty nice!

Don't Expand Your Influence, Deepen It

2011-01-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

I "stole" this from Don Miller. His blog is www.donmilleris.com

A long, long time ago I ran a very small publishing company here in Oregon. Part of my job was to create a database and sales system to chart our orders. I noticed that, while we had about a thousand customers, only a hundred or so of them were supporting our business. Initially, I wanted to expand the business, to grow our customer base even larger. We spent thousands of dollars in this attempt, visiting trade shows and printing expensive catalogs. But sooner or later I realized it wasn’t working. I mean we did see an increase in business, but it brought in about as much profit as our marketing efforts cost. So I changed our strategy.
We began to focus on the one-hundred customers who were already faithful and familiar with our products. I created a monthly newsletter that I printed right off my desktop and sent it to these hundred customers each month. I also made a call list and called as many as twenty or thirty, personally, every month. And I noticed our business increased, while our overhead stayed the same. These customers gave us more prominent positions in their catalogs and in their stores.
I’d say this general principal applies to much more than business. Perhaps those deep relationships you long for are all around you, they’ve just not been deepened yet. Perhaps the fulfilling, romantic amazement you’ve been reading romance novels to experience could actually come from that guy snoring in bed next to you each night.
This year, try focussing on what is already around you, try cultivating the seeds that have been planted, or the plants that are just producing a little bit of fruit. My guess is this will be easier than going out into the rocks to chip away at a brand new garden.

Christmas Came Late This Year

2011-01-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

I got one of my Christmas presents in the mail just the other day. A new pair of recovery tights from a company called SLS3. I did quite a bit of research into what I wanted, and these were the ones with the best reviews and a decent price. Since the science behind recovery tights deals with compression I wanted to make sure that I was getting my money's worth.

The SLS3 Recovery Tights have graduated compression with it being tighter around the ankles and then working it's way up to not as snug. This is to allow the blood in your legs to be pushed along back up towards your heart so that recovery speeds up. Allowing you to run better and sooner after a hard workout.

I ran 4 miles in the morning. Got the tights in the mail around noon, tried them on for a couple of hours, and went back to the Rec. Center in the evening to do some weight training and a Cardio Spin Class (Cycling). My legs felt good during the spin class, better than they have before after I have already done one workout. I also put them on for a couple hours in the evening when I got home before I went to bed. I haven't had the soreness and general tiredness in my legs since I've worn them.

I am looking forward to wearing them on a regular basis after I've done my workouts to see how they keep working.

Rec. Is Crowded We Should Go

2011-01-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

This winter one of Audrey's goals is to run outside as much as possible. Since running around our Rec. Center track (14 laps = 1 mile) can beat up ankles, knees, joints, hips, etc... pretty badly, and running on the 2 treadmills that are about 3 feet away from the white wall just doesn't make for that exciting of a workout. So we have been venturing out into the cold Wyoming mornings in the pre-dawn hours (average of 5 to -20 degrees).
Needless to say this has gotten a little bit tiresome, and when schedules change or other things occur that are out of our control we visit the Rec. Center to get our workout in. Now, most of the time the Rec. Center isn't too busy. Between 4:00-7:00 p.m. I would say is the busiest time normally and you can usually use the piece of equipment that you want. But this is not the case come January in Kemmerer.
It seems like everyone makes the same New Year's Resolution. "I'm going to go to the Rec. Center and workout!" The other night we were there and I was running on the track. Occasionally there are a few walkers, and by few I mean 2 and by occasionally I mean once a week, when I run up there. On this night you would have thought that the Rec. Center Track was the hottest spot to be in Kemmerer.
It felt like every lap I made there would be two more people waiting to start walking on the track. And walk they did, very widely, and didn't especially want to move for someone who was lapping them twice for every lap they made. That makes for a lot of "Excuse me's" while you are trying to run, and trying to make yourself as skinny as possible to squeeze up next to the wall so you don't have to slow down too much.
At one point during my run there were at least 15 other people on the track. Remember 14 laps = 1 mile, and the track is basically three people wide. It felt like I was running through a L.A. traffic jam, only it was a human jam. I even had to run in the middle of these three ladies because they wouldn't move over. That's a fun experience...
Well that's my rant and rave over people and their New Year's Resolutions. Good thing that I won't have to worry about most of those people come February.

Just Bragging...

2011-01-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to my wife. I realized that I have written posts on just about everything else in life, and I have left out one of the most important things in my life, Audrey Joy Ross. So I'm going to take a little time and brag on her, just to let everyone out there know how amazing she really is.

First on the list is that Audrey is hilarious. Some of the things that she comes up with catch me so off guard that I am laughing for a long time after she says it. I think one of the funniest things that she does is when she makes analogies. Just the other day she said that our dog's breath smelled like a concession stand. I thought it was pretty funny.

Second on the list is that Audrey has deep convictions. When there is something that she either believes in or she thinks is important it is rooted in her core. She doesn't just haphazardly come by her convictions either. They are born out of her life experience and they hold such deep meaning that it sometimes astounds me. There are times when I wonder if I could ever be as passionate about anything as she is about her core values.

Third on the list is that Audrey is an athlete. Let me show you a little picture montage to prove my point.

Enough said on that point.
Fourth on the list is that Audrey is famous in her own right...
Check out these links:
http://www.theaudreyrossway.blogspot.com/
http://www.kemmerergazette.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=2074
Fifth on the list and definitely not last, but all that I have time for right now is that Audrey is a wonderful wife who takes incredible care of her husband. She is a personal trainer and has helped people realize that their healthy lifestyle goals are totally within reach (with her help of course!). She is beautiful. She has wonderful blue eyes that pierce in a good way (unless you are on her badside of course!).
So cheers to you Audrey, I'm so glad that we have been married for 5 years and I look forward to running numerous more with you. Best running partner ever (she got me started running).

The Locals

2011-01-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

Just took these today, right outside our living room window.

Defended My Title

2011-01-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

The 2nd Annual Kemmerer Winter Triathlon took place on Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. The temperatures started out that morning at -17 degrees, but by the time the Triathlon started it had warmed up to a whopping -10 degrees. The Triathlon was sponsored by the Kemmerer Main Street Program. Their goals include helping the downtown area of Kemmerer prosper.

Needless to say there weren't very many particpants just because of the frigid weather. There was one team that signed up and 4 individuals. The course was a 1.25 mile cross country ski around the golf course, a 2.5 mile modified bike route do to excessive amounts of snow and drifting that left us riding on the road, and a modified running route that was a little over 1.5 miles finishing at the main street area of Kemmerer.

During the cross country section I only had a few mishaps... The first one being that my boot came disconnected from my ski, so I had to stop and put it back on, and the second one was that towards the end I got my skis crossed and had to stop and untangle them before moving on.

The bike ride portion was by far the coldest. My lungs were starting to burn at this point and I had a chest cold that I had been trying to fight off for the past few days which didn't help at all. I was in third place when the bike section was over. The runner from the team and one other individual were ahead of me. I rode my bike into the transition area and launched it into the snow, threw off my helmet, and took off running to catch the only guy who was ahead of me that counted.

I got first place last year, and I wasn't about to let my title get snatched away from me. When I first started running it felt like my feet were blocks of cement that I was just pounding away on, but after a few minutes they started to warm up.
As it turns out I ended up passing the guy who was in front of me and cruised in to first place for the individuals. So I did defend my title for the 2nd year in a row. If the race gets any bigger though I'm guessing that I won't come in first.

heading to the race... 4 layers on top & 2 layers on the bottom.

Angels and Antelope, By Randy Mijares

2010-12-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

Just finished up another book. Got this one from my great sister and bro-in-law, Janeen & Patrick for Christmas. The book is titled "Angels and Antelope" and is written by a Wichitan (Someone who lives in Wichita, KS) and is also co-owner of a new running store there, that just so happens to be very close to where Janeen and Patrick live. Very convenient for them, since our closest running store is about 2 1/2 hours away.

The gist of the story is about a cross-country race and the girls team that is running in it. They are all around the ages of 10-12. The author does a very good job of describing different emotions, thoughts, and actions that all occur during running. It is a fast read, and if you are a runner you will be able to relate on many of the things the book opens up, and if you are not a runner it will give you a glimpse into what goes on inside someone's head while they are running.

Thanks for the gift J & P!

Just When You Think Everything Is Going Your Way

2010-12-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

Ever have one of those days when it just feels like something good isn't going to happen? Yet, you try and talk yourself into believing that everything is going to be okay. Well, I had one of those days on Monday. We were planning to go to Pinedale, WY to go cross country skiing and meet up with Audrey's family that's here for Christmas Break. It didn't turn out as grand as it sounded before we left. Let me break down for you the list of things that happened.
1st thing that went wrong - The roads were completely covered in ice, very slow going. Not fun driving in when you have totaled 2 vehicles from the very same driving conditions.
2nd thing that went wrong - When we got to Pinedale we stopped at a gas station where I promptly locked the keys in the car. Luckily there was a guy in line who overheard me asking about a locksmith. He called up his buddy, and they got the door open after only about 30 minutes.
3rd thing that went wrong - Audrey got car sick.
Basically it was a drag of a day, and I'm so glad to be back home and a few days removed from all of that frustration.

Course For Kemmerer Winter Triathlon

2010-12-28T10:45:00.001-07:00

Lance Armstrong's Book "It's Not About The Bike"

2010-12-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Just finished Lance Armstrong's Book about his battle with cancer. It was a good read, and I always enjoy stories about real life situations that people go through, especially with sports or outdoors. This book also gives a good perspective on what it is like to go through chemo and the whole cancer situation. Just within the past 2 years I have known 3 people who have been diagnosed with cancer, and one of them passed away this summer in which I officiated their funeral. If you know anyone with cancer or have been affected by this disease in anyway I would say read this account.

The Runner In Winter

2010-12-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

A Social Network Christmas

2010-12-21T15:30:00.002-07:00

The video that I'm going to play for our Christmas Eve Service this Friday evening.

Snow

2010-12-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not really a big fan of snow. When it snows I have to shovel (already did that 3 times today), I have to drive very slowly (drove 40 mph to Evanston yesterday), I have to make a path in our yard to get to the leashes for the dogs, I have to start up my vehicle about 30 minutes before I want to go anywhere, and it makes me want to stay indoors all winter long.
But there are times when I don't mind the snow. Once I am out in it I kind of enjoy it. Audrey and I did a 2 mile warm-up run this morning at 7:15 a.m. 10 degrees and snow falling straight down. It was actually kind of pretty, and nice to be running outside as opposed to inside on a treadmill.
Supposedly we are supposed to get 12 inches in the next 2 days. We shall see if that truly happens. And I guess I'll have to live with snow for at least the next 3 months. So here's to getting out in it...

Upcoming 2011 Races (Tentative)

2010-12-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

2011 Race Schedule (Tentative)

January 8 - Park City UT, Snowshoe 5k
January 15 - Ogden UT, Stair Stampede
January 22 - Pinedale WY, Indoor Triathlon
January 29 - Midway UT, Bigfoot Snowshoe Race
February 5 - South Jordan UT, Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon
February 12 - Ivins UT, Sweetheart Half Marathon or (Kansas City KS, Psycho Wyco Trail Run)
March 19 - Saratoga Springs UT, Shamrock Half Marathon
March 26 - Antelope Island UT, Buffalo Run 25k Trail Run
April 2 - Salt Lake City UT, 10 Mile Run
April 9 - Moab UT, Marathon
April 23 - Thanksgiving Point UT, Half Marathon
May 7 - Provo UT, Half Marathon
May 21 - Riverton UT, Sapper Joe 50k
June 11 - Provo UT, Utah Valley Marathon (Boston Qualifier)
June 18 - Sheridan WY, Big Horn Mountain 50 Mile/50k/30k
June 25 - Logan UT, Logan Peak Trail Run 28 Miles or (Jackson Hole WY, Half Marathon)
July 2 - Smithfield UT, Freedom Run 15k
July 4 - Lander WY, Half Marathon
July 9 - Park City UT, Trail 10k or (Farmington UT, Half Marathon)
July 16 - Ogden UT, NUTS Trail Half Marathon
July 23 - Provo UT, Provo 10k
July 30 - Kemmerer WY, Burn Your Lungs Run Half Marathon/10k/5k
August 6 - Park City UT, Jupiter Peak Steeplechase (Part of the Triple Trail Challenge)
August 13 - Afton WY, El Vaquero Loco 50k/25k
August 20 - Park City UT, Park City Marathon (Part of the Triple Trail Challenge)
August 27 - Jackson Hole WY, Rendezvous Mountain Climb or (Logan UT, Top Of Utah Half)
September 3 - Alta WY, Grand Teton 50 Mile/26.2 Mile/10k
September 10 - Park City UT, Mid-Mountain Marathon (Part of the Triple Trail Challenge)
September 17 - Logan UT, Top Of Utah Marathon or (Provo UT, Save Your Skin 10k)
September 24 - Pinedale WY, Pinedale Half Marathon
October 1 - St. George UT, St. George Marathon or (Ogden UT, Wolf Mountain 20k)
October 8 - Salt Lake City UT, Wasatch Woman 10k (Audrey Only)
October 14 - Faust UT, Pony Express 50 Miles (Possibility)
October 15 - Antelope Island UT, Mountain View Trail Half Marathon
October 22 - Ogden UT, Ogden Valley 50 Miles
October 29 - Provo UT, Halloween Half Marathon or (Ogden UT, Up N' Over 10k)

The Days Go By

2010-12-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Audrey and I went to Rock Springs. We had a few things on the agenda, but the biggest one was getting new tires for our Tahoe. Let me tell you, tires are expensive! They better last a long time... But we needed to get them considering our other ones were basically bald, which doesn't bode well for Wyoming Winters. We were sliding all over the place just trying to get out of our driveway. I guess you have to beef up quite a few things when you are living in a mountainous region.

Maya is healing from her dog fight the other day, and Mountie is the same as always. Here are a few updated pictures of them.

His eyes look crazy because they were "red-eyed".

You can see the bite mark right below her eye. From this angle it's kind of hard to see.

The sun finally came out today. We have been having some pretty gray days lately, so it was really nice to see it come up over Oyster Ridge this morning. The next few pictures are the view out of our front window. Pretty spectacular. God's Creation is a beautiful thing. Looks like a great morning to run outside!

Lately Happenings

2010-12-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

This week has been kind of a crazy one. 1st on the list is that one morning Maya got off of her leash, chased down our neighbor's dog and commenced getting into a dog fight. She came out on the losing end with a pretty good cut on the side of her face, and a hitch in her giddy up. I had to run up the driveway and pull them away from each other, while the owner of the other dog screamed like crazy.
2nd, we started a marathon training program this week. Audrey is wanting to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and for her age division that means finishing a marathon in 3 hours and 40 minutes, 13 minutes faster than our previous PR (Personal Record). We have some of our races already planned out for 2011, and the two marathons that Audrey is going to do are possibly the Moab Marathon in April as a warm up for the qualifying marathon which is the Utah Valley Marathon and that will be on June 11. So back to the original story, we have upped our mileage quite a bit this week compared to what we have been doing, and incorporating in different distances, speeds, etc...
3rd, we got some really great coffee from our friends the Wergins. They used to live in Winter Park, CO and they know the owner of Rocky Mountain Roastery. They went back for Thanksgiving and picked us up some of the coffee that this guy hand roasts. It is amazing. And I am actually drinking a cup right now.

Proverbs

2010-11-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

10:12 - Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

10:17 - He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.

10:29 - The way of the Lord is a refuge for the righteous, but it is ruin of those who do evil.

11:2 - When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

12:16 - A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

12:25 - An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.

13:3 - He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.

13:20 - He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

14:16 - A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.

Thanksgiving & Anniversary Weekend!!!

2010-11-29T14:08:00.001-07:00

This blog is going to be a long one, so hang on for the ride. Audrey and I were able to get away this past weekend to celebrate our 5th year wedding anniversary, and here is the story. We left Kemmerer at 5:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning heading for Bountiful, UT to run in a 10k Turkey Trot. It was put on by the South Davis Recreation Center and they also had a 5k race and a 1k race for kids. In the 10k alone there were 200 participants.
We had some snow that had fallen pretty heavily on Tuesday evening, and I was hoping that the roads would be cleared by Thursday morning. They were halfway cleared in Wyoming, but as soon as we hit the Utah border they were perfectly clear and dry. They use a salt mixture in Utah and Wyoming only uses sand. Needless to say it took us a little longer than expected to get to the race.

But we made it in time because we left so early. When we started the race the temperatures were hovering somewhere between 10-20 degrees. We took off at a pretty good pace and maintained it throughout the entire run. The worst part was the cold, and the best part was the views of the mountains that we had. They looked amazing with all the snow on them!

One section of the Wasatch Mountains, looking out of our hotel room window.

Audrey and I finished the race together in 29th and 30th place out of 200 or so runners. Click on the link for the official results. http://www.milliseconds.com/participants/final_list/overall/143679 They had Starbucks coffee and some bagels at the finish. Here are some pictures from after the race.

The finisher's medal from the Turkey Trot 10k.

Thumbs up for a fun race!

Warming back up in the Rec. Center after the race.

It was nice to be able to stretch and eat a little something inside.

Audrey after the race.

All smiles for a run on Thanksgiving day!


A fellow runner was nice enough to take a picture of us together.

We took advantage of the locker rooms at the Rec. Center and got showered up before we headed to our Thanksgiving lunch. We went to Einstein Bros. Bagels. This has become on of our new favorite places to eat out. They have amazing sandwiches, soup, bagels, desserts, and gourmet coffee. The atmosphere is really laid back too. So we got our lunch and enjoyed talking about the race.

Our great Thanksgiving lunch!

You should eat here if you never have, they have a wonderful selection and great food!

Coffee always helps to warm up after running in 10 degree weather.

Just enjoying my lunch company!

Thanksgiving night we decided to go and see a movie since it had been a long time since we had been to a theater, let alone a really nice one. The movie theater in Kemmerer just isn't that nice! It was a lot of fun to sit in nice comfy chairs and be out on a date with my wife. A great way to end a wonderful day.

Thanksgiving night we went out on a date to a movie!

We hadn't been to a theater in a long time.

Friday morning we decided to get up early and go for a short little run before we headed out to go shopping on Black Friday and on our Anniversary day. We took off from our motel, which was located kind of on the edge of town, so there were really no sidewalks anywhere, and the wind was starting to pick up, so we cut our run a little short and headed back for nice hot showers and breakfast before we faced the madness of all the sale day crowds.


This is what you look like when you run outside at 6:00 a.m. in the winter.

Our first stop was Striders Running Store. They had a few items on sale, but nothing that I felt like I had to have. We got a few small things there - socks & gels.

Our next stop was Ross (fitting I know). Audrey found some really good deals on some clothes and a new yoga mat. They have been offering Yoga classes at our Rec. Center in Kemmerer on Monday and Wednesday nights and we have been going. Audrey has gone for quite a while, and I've gone twice now. It is really good for flexibility and lots of running magazines are saying that it is really good cross training.

After Ross we went to Salt Lake Running Company.

They were having a great deal on select shoes, and Audrey and I both found a pair of Newton Running Shoes in our sizes. These are a different type of running shoe because they have 4 lugs on the ball of the foot that elevates the front of your foot. The idea behind them is that when you run you want to land on the ball of your foot instead of on your heel. There are a lot of people who run who land on their heel and this leads to numerous injuries. So with this distinct design it helps runners to have better form, to have less injuries, and to be able to run faster without as much energy.

My new Newton Running Shoes. On sale for $44.00 compared to $175.00.

That was a lot of fun to find them in our right sizes. Saturday we had a slow morning, gathered up our stuff, checked out of our motel, went for a short run at Kay's Creek Parkway (a paved trail we found that runs along a river) to try out our new shoes (they worked great by the way), ate lunch at Mimi's Cafe, got groceries, and headed home. It was a fantastic anniversary!

Upcoming Anniversary

2010-11-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Audrey and I will be celebrating our 5th year wedding anniversary this coming Friday! We are totally looking forward to being able to spend a couple of days away, and I'm praying that the weather gets better and stays that way so our traveling won't be an issue.
We are going to run a 10k on Thanksgiving morning and spend the rest of the weekend enjoying the city.
So here's to marriage!

Substitute

2010-11-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

I subbed for the 5th grade class today at Kemmerer Middle School. Everything went relatively smooth with all the kids. I had one class that was getting out of hand and I said, "The next person who says anything without it being productive or asking me a question gets their name written on the board!" And as soon as I was done this kid mouths off about something, so I went directly over to the whiteboard with my marker and wrote his name down. Then I turned around and another kid had his had raised and he asks me, "What did I do?" Turns out that I didn't exactly know all of their names and totally wrote down the wrong one. Then once I got the right name I spelled it a different way, and by the end of the entire thing everyone including me was snickering because I was totally portraying the tough guy routine and it half back fired. But they were quiet the rest of the time.
I also felt pretty decent today considering my massive sickness attack of the past three days. I ran 2 miles at the Rec. Center after school. It felt good to finally move after not being able to for so long, but I could tell that I was dead tired. It felt like I was dragging my legs along the ground.

Sickness

2010-11-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been sick since Sunday afternoon, and am only now feeling half way decent. I think I got a horrible case of the flu. It was no fun at all. Sunday night was one of the longest nights of my life. I couldn't get comfortable anywhere and moved from the bed to the couch all night long. And I was awakened every two hours by my stomach wanting to get rid of whatever was in there. Needless to say it was bad.
But hopefully the worst is over.
Now on to some good news. On Saturday Audrey and I got to take a date day.

We went to Starbucks and sat in there for a good 3 hours just being together. It was so nice to have good coffee and no time frame whatsoever. When we were getting ready to leave one of the baristas said, "You guys really made yourselves comfortable here!" I guess that's when you know that you have made another place feel like home.

We also bought a french press while we were there. We have been talking about buying one for a long time, and we finally just went for it. Totally worth it! We used it on Sunday morning and the coffee was amazing! So much better than just having a normal cup out of a coffee maker.
Maybe we had such a great day on Saturday that I got sick on Sunday to make up for it!

My Life On The Run by Bart Yasso

2010-11-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading "My Life On The Run" by Bart Yasso. I really enjoyed reading this book. He writes from a very humble and down to earth perspective about his life, and how running changed everything for him. He was an alcoholic from the age of 14-18 or 20 and then he started running and it changed his life. He eventually got a job at Runner's World, a leading magazine for running, and has traveled across the globe running and doing a job that he never even dreamed of. The book is full of great stories and great lessons learned.

First Dam Run 2010

2010-11-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday Audrey and I ran in a race in Logan, UT called the First Dam Run. The race route was an out and back that took runners past the "First Dam" on the river that flows down Logan Canyon, hence the name of the race.
The race didn't start until 10:00 a.m. which was nice for us since we had to drive 2 hours to get there. Our friends Barry and Janice and their son Benjamin went with us to cheer us on and we all had to stock up on groceries afterward at SAM'S Club and Wal-Mart.
We ran in the 10k race (6.2 Miles) and there were 91 other runners doing that race. It was cloudy and overcast at the start and a little chilly, but once we started running it warmed up pretty quick. We took off at a pretty fast pace, and there were probably only 10-12 people ahead of us. We maintained a good pace throughout the entire race and methodically passed people. The course was fairly flat and the views were awesome. The mountains on one side, the river, the fall leaves, it was gorgeous.
Once we hit the 1 mile mark and there weren't any other women remotely close to us I knew that Audrey was going to win first place female. Coming into the turnaround point there was a really strong wind coming down through the canyon, but once we turned around it was really nice because it pushed us from the back. The next closest girl was about 1 minute behind us.
I pulled ahead of Audrey a little bit towards the end and I finished in 42 minutes 39 seconds, and Audrey finished in 42:43.
Here's the link for the official results:
http://www.milliseconds.com/participants/final_list/overall/143635
After the race they did awards and Audrey won a trophy for being first place (a piece of driftwood that had come over First Dam) and I won a ribbon for first place in my age division of 20-29.

More Halloween Half Pictures

2010-11-04T08:49:00.000-06:00

The Runner's Guide To The Meaning Of Life

2010-11-04T08:46:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading this book in 3 days. It is a very quick read, but it has a lot of good stuff in there. If running interests you in any way or you are a runner you will enjoy this book. It takes things from running and applies them to your everyday life. I love the fact that there are timeless truths that resonate across so many activities of life. Let's you know that everything is created by God and is spiritual and sacred, and that our lives (body-physical // soul-spiritual) are all connected.

Great Horned Owls & Rock Climbing

2010-11-03T18:15:00.001-06:00

I went for a run this morning and halfway through I came back to the house to take Mountie with me. Audrey and Maya were already doing their own run (Maya can run 4 miles, Mountie can make it 2 if he tries really hard). But on our way back to the house I noticed two Great Horned Owls sitting on a telephone line next to our house.

I walked closer over to where they were and then they got spooked and one flew right over my head. It was a pretty cool sight to see, especially since they didn't dive bomb me or anything. I love the way that God has created nature and animals. It is definitely one of the easiest places that I see God. It was a beautiful morning to run too; the temperature was about 30 degrees and the moon was only a sliver, but it was so clear out that you could see the rest of the moon that wasn't lit up.
Audrey's family came to visit us this afternoon. We all went rock climbing at the Rec. Center in town. It was a lot of fun, and great to do something active together. It was also fun to watch everyone do well and go past what they thought they might be able to accomplish.

Devotions

2010-11-02T07:20:00.000-06:00

We now have a Classical Christian Academy in Kemmerer that is for K-12 grades. It is called Veritas Classical Christian Academy and they are doing a great job in their first year of trying to get a school off the ground. One of the things that they have asked area Pastors to do is give devotions to the students each morning. So we take turns bringing a devotion to them.

My morning is this morning.

Halloween Half Marathon

2010-10-31T19:33:00.000-06:00

This Saturday Audrey and I ran in the Halloween Half Marathon in Provo, UT about 3 hours from Kemmerer. The course boasts 2,000 ft. of elevation loss over the 13.1 miles. We went down on Friday to pick up our race packet information. We got what we needed and went to our motel and went to bed early because we had to be on a bus by 6:45 a.m. the next morning. I didn't sleep very good; I never do anymore besides in my own bed.
We woke up at 5:00 and got ready. The temperature was supposed to be around 34 degrees when the race started at 9:00 a.m. They had to bus 2,500 people up to the start of the race which was located at Sundance Ski Resort. We made it to the starting area around 7:15 a.m. They had 2 large tents set up with propane heaters so everyone could stay warm until the race started. While people were waiting they had costume contests.
For this race they had pacers (people who hold a sign on the end of a stick announcing when they will be finishing the race). So if you wanted to finish in say 1 hour and 30 minutes you would find the pacer with that time on their flag. The last half marathon that Audrey and I ran we finished in 1:35:45, so our goal was to finish in under 1 hour and 30 minutes.
We made our way to the start line finally after waiting for what seemed like forever. The first 4-5 miles were incredibly steep. We even had a few switchbacks that we had to go down. We started out pretty fast and kept a good strong pace going. The actual course itself is really pretty as it starts up in the mountains and then runs down a canyon along a river. There is even a waterfall that comes down off one side of the canyon (Bridal Veil Falls).
We only slowed down in a few spots during the whole race, and we ended up finishing in 1 hour and 28 minutes. We beat our goal time by 2 minutes and improved our PR (Personal Record) for the Half Marathon distance by over 7 minutes. Our average mile splits were 6 minutes and 43 seconds. When we looked at the results Audrey had gotten 2nd in her age division and I had gotten 10th. We were 75th and 76th overall out of 2,500 people.

To see the results click here: http://milliseconds.com/races/detail/1387

It was a fun race, and the weather ended up being perfect warming up to around 60 degrees when the race was over. Here are some pictures from the race.

Burn Your Lungs Is On Facebook!

2010-10-22T13:27:00.003-06:00

The Weekend

2010-10-18T08:01:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning I got up at 4:45 a.m., loaded up the Tahoe, filled my Thermos with coffee, and set off driving North of Kemmerer around 40 miles to Commissary Ridge. It was still dark when I arrived to my destination, but after getting all of my gear ready the hint of morning was enough light to see by. I put on my pack and slid 5 Hornady 150 Grain 30-06 Bullets into my Savage rifle. I was going elk hunting.

The area where I was hunting was a walk-in area only. I climbed up the side of the ridge for about a mile and half to the end of a two track road. Off to the left is a great clearing where a friend has set up a tree stand. I perched myself in the stand for about 2 hours and saw only mule deer, squirrels, and birds. It was perfectly still and quiet and you could hear every little sound. The squirrels digging around in the dried up leaves, the swish of the birds' wings as they flew overhead, the sound of gunshots that were not mine.

My view to the left of the tree stand

And my view to the right, perched right above a nice game trail.

It was early and cold.

After sitting for a couple of hours I decided to get down and walk around some. I ended up stumbling across a trail that led all the way to the top of the ridge, roughly 3 miles up with about 1,000 ft. of elevation gain. I hiked all the way to the top just to see what was there, and the ridges only keep going and going, up and down, up and down.

Last little rise to reach the top.

Little Bear Creek Trail is the one I was on.

View from the top.

I hiked all the way back down to where I parked, ate my lunch and headed home. I didn't see any elk that day, but I sure had a great time being out in the mountains with a gorgeous fall sunny day.

On Sunday I baptized a boy who is 12 yrs. old outside in our local children's fishing pond. Needless to say the water was freezing and it might have been one of the quickest baptisms ever. And then Sunday evening we had a game night at the Church. It was fun to just hang out and laugh together. We played "What's Yours Like?" A game kind of like 20 questions. It was a pretty good weekend all in all.

The Week Of October 10-16

2010-10-14T08:15:00.000-06:00

The weather is starting to cool off a bit here, 30's at night 60's in the day, still tons of sunshine and moderately warm in the afternoons. I'm thinking that we will get our first snow here pretty quickly. It usually snows before Halloween.

Elk hunting season starts this Friday. I plan on going out on Saturday to see if I can get one. I am praying that I'm better off this year than I was my first go round. I sighted in my 30-06 on Monday evening. Was within about 1 inch of the Bulls-eye at 100 yards. I'm looking forward to getting up into the mountains and hopefully at least seeing some this year. I've got a couple different places to try this year as opposed to having really no idea where to go last year.

I just finished this book, Personal Record: A Love Affair With Running. It was a good read, pretty quick to get through. Rachel Toor, the author recounts how she became a runner, and the things that just become normal to all of us who are runners out there, that other people might look at as crazy. She's a good storyteller and has quite a few funny things that she points out in the book.

Running Wordle

2010-10-11T15:48:00.001-06:00

Took A Little Trip

2010-10-11T11:29:00.000-06:00

This past weekend Audrey and I took a little trip down to Salt Lake City. There were a few reasons why we went. 1. Audrey was running in a race for the 3rd year in a row called "Wasatch Woman". 2. We both needed new running shoes. 3. We also needed new dress clothes.
So we headed out Friday morning and encountered our first snow of the season around Evanston, WY. There was snow on the higher elevations, and as we were driving up over one of the passes we got a little on us as well. But we made it through fine.

Our first stop in SLC was Wasatch Running Center. This is a great specialty running store that we have come to love. We also became members on this trip (which also saved us some money!). Audrey and I both got fitted for new shoes. This is a process that goes by having one shoe on the right foot and a different shoe on the left foot. You take a little jog around the store, tell them which one feels better, and then they replace the other one with a different shoe and you do it all over again until you find the best pair.

The shoe that I purchased was the Mizuno Wave Rider 13. Then we went to Deseret Industries & Ross and got some great deals on clothes, and then picked up Audrey's Packet for the race. It was a good Friday.
Saturday we got up early. Audrey had to be at the race start by 7:45 a.m. and I wanted to go for a run before with my new shoes. So I took off from our motel room at 5:30 a.m. for a 4 mile run. The shoes felt great, but I was ongaurd the entire run because our motel wasn't in the best location. Didn't want to get jumped.
We made it to Thanksgiving Point (the race location) in good time. There were roughly 1,800 women who registered for the 10k & 5k. That is a lot of women in one place. The 10k started at 8:30 a.m. and Audrey was in the front. She took off at a good pace and there was only 1 girl in front of her the entire race. Which they didn't mark very well and the first 50 women ran an extra mile. So Audrey came in 2nd place after running 7.3 miles instead of 6.2. She won $125 gift certificate to Salt Lake Running Company. So it was a great Saturday too!

Pinedale Half Marathon 2010

2010-10-07T18:30:00.001-06:00

I was 9th overall in the men's division.

You can see Audrey's name in 2nd place.

Audrey and I ran the Pinedale Half Marathon for the 3rd year in a row on Sept. 25, 2010. This has become one of our favorite races to do in WY. They put on a good race with great free stuff and the course is beautiful, next to the Wind River Mountains (One of my favorite places on Earth). We have always had a great time in the past, and we were looking forward to another good run this year. Little did we know how great it was going to be.
The weather was perfect, and we took off at a pretty good pace with the front runners of the pack. After about 2 miles I looked at Audrey and told her that she could place for sure within the top 3 females. We have started carrying our own CamelBak Podium Chill water bottles, so I carried hers for her, so it didn't slow her down. When we hit the halfway turn around point there were 2 girls in front of Audrey. We pushed it hard coming back in and caught the second place girl. So Audrey finished in 2nd place and we both smashed our old records at the Half Marathon. Our previous fastest time was 1 hour 42 minutes, and we finished this one in 1 hour 35 minutes.
We got free massages after wards, and a free lunch. It was a great day to run.

Here's a link to the 2009 Pinedale Blog that I posted last year... notice the time difference in one year.
http://jadonross.blogspot.com/2009/09/pinedale-half-marathon-2009-pictures.html

Welcome Back

2010-10-06T09:53:00.000-06:00

I'm going to start blogging again.

So here goes.....

Thanksgiving // 4 Year Anniversary

2009-11-30T11:09:00.003-07:00

This year our 4 yr. Anniversary landed on Thanksgiving Day, so we decided to celebrate by ourselves in Salt Lake City. We ran a 4 mile Turkey Trot on Thursday Morning, and here are my results:

Congratulations on finishing the Earn Your Turkey Run Walk 2009 on November 26, 2009. For your records, the weather that day was mid 30's but sunny..
There were 35 finishers in the Male 25 to 29 age group and 569 finishers in the race.
Your overall finish place was 103 and your age group finish place was 5. Your overall finish percentile was 18 while your age group percentile was 14. Your time of 29:08.5 gave you a 7:17 pace per mile.

Then we had a great lunch at Mimi's Cafe. And it was a good thing we had reservations because the place was packed. After that we went to a park and Audrey tried out her new roller blades that we bought the day before for $4.00. Yep 4 bucks at a thrift store, basically brand new. Took some pictures and here they are:

After that we went to the Gateway Mall and watched "New Moon". It was pretty good, then back to our motel for a relaxing evening because we got up at like 5 a.m. for the race. It was a great day!

Simple Math

2009-11-12T16:09:00.002-07:00

Busyness in life increases

Liesure in life decreases

Hence, I'm falling behind on my blogging goal

So, not everyday, but pretty good for november

2009-11-08T15:07:00.002-07:00

I have slacked on my goal, but my blogging has become way more frequent than before. And one thing that was pretty cool this weekend was that I ran 2 miles in these shoes.I was inspired to do this by the book that I just finished, "Born To Run". In the book the author talks about how modern shoes have cushioned our feet so much that we get injuries from them, and if we didn't wear shoes then our arches and feet would be stronger allowing for better posture and faster running. So Audrey and I were going to take a little run, so I figured why not? I knew that I wasn't going to go barefoot, so I did the next best thing. And you know what? It didn't hurt at all. I could actually feel the muscles in my ankles and my feet adjusting and actually working while I ran. It was pretty cool to try and experience. I might have to continue on in experimenting with this and see if I can run barefoot or how far I could go in sandals.