Smithfield Health Days 5K 10K

Originally posted 5/15/2011

On Friday afternoon we drove down to Smithfield, Utah, to run in the Smithfield Health Days 5k and 10k races. This makes five years in a row for us to run this race.  This 5K was the first race I ever tried...that was back in 2007!  Wow, I can't believe I've been running for five years!!!!

I highly recommend the Smithfield Health Days races to all runners.  The races are well-organized, the course is beautiful, and it still has a small, hometown feeling to it.  Lots of the runners know each other, and even if you are an out-of-towner like me, you are welcomed warmly.  In fact, when I picked up our packets for the race the organizer recognized our names from participation in earlier years and asked if my brother-in-law was going to run.  Wow!

If you participate you are sure to find someone else there who runs like you.  There are jackrabbits that can give anyone a good bit of competition, and lots of casual runners who are there mainly for a fun outing and to be part of the event.

Here we are in our "before" photo for this year's race.  If you look in the background you'll notice that we are parked next to a cemetary...heh heh.  It's close to the park.

The 5K and the 10K races both start at Mack Park in Smithfield. The course winds its way up beautiful Smithfield canyon in an out-and-back route for the 5K, and a mostly out and back route, with a small diversion, for the 10K.  The road is closed for the race, there is plenty of police presence to keep any motorists under control, and there are lots of volunteers to keep the runners on the course and to provide support (there were at least two water stations on the 10K route this year).

Smithfield really amped up the races this year.  In addition to VERY nice running shirts like the ones they gave out last year (these are my favorite running shirts, by the way), they added chip timing.

Here's a link that will take you to a page that contains information about the event:

http://www.smithfieldrecreation.com/web/site/Races.html

The morning of the race was absolutely perfect! It was clear and calm, with temperatures creeping up on 55oF by starting time. It did feel a little chilly in the shade for the first mile or so, but after that it was great! In previous years we've had to brave frost and temps in the 30soF on race day mornings. This time, though, we ran in shorts and short-sleeved t-shirts. Yes!

This was my first outdoor run of 2011.  Until now I've put all of miles in on the treadmill. It felt good to be outside. Kat, on the other hand, has been running outside all winter long, as is her habit.

The race was scheduled to start at 7:30am, and the gun went off about 5 mins late. The 10K racers started first, and the 5K racers were released 5 minutes later.  Some of the 5K sprinters caught up to us before we reached the 5K turnaround point...but not many.

This link will take you to a map of the 10K course:

http://www.runningahead.com/maps/2c3fc2fe2bf140af8b63bbae67377732?unit=km

Kat and I ran together for the first mile or so.  My only goal for the day was to finish in under an hour. That meant I needed to maintain about a 9 min pace in order to beat that goal easily, and that's my training pace on the treadmill.  When I checked with Kat about a mile into the race she told me that we were running at an 8 min/mile pace, so I cut her loose tp run her own race, as we usually do any way, and I slowed down a bit.

Here's how we did:

Kat (10K): 52:14 mins = 8:25 min pace
Al (10K): 55:44 mins = 8:58 min pace
Grant (5K): 22:51 mins = 7:21 min pace
Matt (5K): 23:01 mins = 7:24 min pace
Emily (5K): 35:12 mins = 11:19 min pace
Olga (5K): 47:30 mins = 15:16 min pace

You can use this link to find your time if you ran in this year's Health Days runs/races:

http://strideracing.com/2011/may/healthdays10k5k.html

It was a fun day.  I didn't burn up the course by any stretch of the imagination.  I realize now that I should have taken GU with me on the run. I figured that since it was just a 6-mile race that I wouldn't need any.  I guess was wrong about that.  About the time I hit the 4.5 mile mark I sort of pooped out - my energy felt wasted.  I pressed on anyway, and once I got up on the upper road toward the end of the race I got an additional boost of energy from somewhere and was able to finish strong.

Everyone enjoyed the morning. Grant was especially pleased, and Matt was surprised to reach the turn at the 1.55 mile mark for the 5K and see Grant right there with him. Grant, however posted a slightly better finishing time. Grant loved that!

One thing that worked really well for me was my Smithfield 10K music mix. Here it is:

Uphill
1) Always Know Where You Are - BBMak (Treasure Planet Soundtrack)
2) All Again For You - We The Kings (pace)
3) Southern Cross - Crosby, Stills, and Nash (pace)
4) Stir It Up - Diana King (pace) (Cool Runnings Soundtrack)
5) Sweet Jamaica - Tony Rebel (pace) (Cool Runnings Soundtrack)
6) Caught in the Crowd - Kate Miller-Heinke
7) Cool Me Down - Neville Marcano (pace) (Cool Runnings Soundtrack)
Turn and head back downhill
8) Dolly My Baby - Super Cat (pace) (Cool Runnings Soundtrack)
9) These Are Days - 10,000 Maniacs
10) I'd Rather Be With You - Josh Radin (pace)
11) Days Are Numbers - Alan Parsons Project (pace)
The short but steep hill on the 10K where it splits off of the return route
12) Take On Me - A-Ha (pace)
13) Take It From Me - The Weepies (pace)
14) Hello Sunshine - Barlowgirl (pace)
15) Check Yes Juliet - We The Kings (pace)

Just in case you are interested, this mix lasts for just under 57 mins.

We went, we saw, we ran, and in at least one sense we conquered the canyon.

See you there next year!

On running...Part 1

I never thought that I'd end up running. When did this happen!? How did this happen!? How could this happen!? It's kind of a mystery, but, well, it happened.

(Here I am closing in on the finish line in the Rexburg Liberty 5K, July 3, 2010.)

Growing up we were always active. We played all kinds of sports, both organized and as neighborhood kids. During my HS and college my main sports were soccer, basketball, and softball, with a liberal smattering of whatever else was going on.

Over the years it got harder and harder to find 21 other people to play soccer. Then, 6-7 years ago I returned to basketball and played "noon-hoops" with fellow employees. That went well, for the most part. I got my wind back, and I was able to get up and down the court with the best of them...OK, maybe not with the best of them, but I soon learned that it was a pain when I jammed my fingers, and this happened about every time I played. Jammed fingers weren't a big deal in the old days, and my hands would usually feel better by the end of the game. Now my jammed fingers stayed sore for weeks! After my second year of playing noon hoops I couldn't wait for the summer break to give my fingers and knuckles a chance to heal. Over a month into the summer break they were still sore! That's when I gave basketball the old heave ho.

So, what about running? When did that all start?

It's all my sister-in-law, Lori's, fault! Yes, the blame has to fall someplace, and she gets it. She talked my wife into running a 1/2 marathon with her. They trained up, and in 2004 they ran a 1/2 marathon. Kat has been up and at 'em ever since, 3+ mornings a week running or riding or doing some other kind of exercise. After that it didn't take long for Kat to find and be found by a local group of women runners and bicycle enthusiasts..."The Sole Sisters."

Well, I didn't start running right away, but running had entered our home. But, if you leave the door open a crack there's no telling what will get in! Be careful! I was still playing basketball and jamming my fingers when this was all going on. Kat, in the meantime, continued to run, and in the fall of 2006 she ran her first full marathon.

Somewhere along the line I gave up jammed fingers, and pretty much stopped exercising all together. (Bad Plan.) One day I realized that I had to do SOMETHING, besides fly fishing, for exercise, and, frankly, the easiest thing to do was to step onto a treadmill in the fitness room on campus and give that a whirl. You will note that I didn't say "most enjoyable" or "most preferable", but it was "easiest." That Christmas "Santa" gave me an iPod nano, so, I plugged in, got on the treadmill...and that was the beginning of my running days.

How can you get started running when you are a non-runner? Here's what I did.

I got on the treadmill, I turned on my music, and I decided that I could run for a song and then walk for a song, and when I walked I increased the angle of the treadmill so it was still work to keep going. After a while I started running for two songs in a row, then three, until one day I decided to see if I was able to run for an extended distance...maybe a mile or two. Sometime that winter Kat and I decided that we would participate in the 2007 Smithfield, UT, Health Days 5K race. Mind you, I'd not run 3 miles all at once when we decided to do this. So, after doing my running/walking regime for a few months I decided it was time to see if I could go 3.1 miles. It wasn't easy, but I did it.

I'd never been in a race before, and my whole goal was just to run the whole way. I did it. And I finished in 25:21, placing 3rd in the 40-49 yr old age group when I was 47. I didn't run as fast as Kat, but she was pleased and surprised, and she said, "Where'd that come from!?" "You ran 8 min miles!"

I wouldn't say I was hooked, but I had run a race and saw that it could be enjoyable...at least to run and then be done.

During New Years of 2008 I resolved to run two races that year. One race would be the Smithfield Health Days 5k, and I'd figure out the other one later. I looked at races, courses, dates, etc. At first I thought I'd run either the Teton Dam 5K or 10K, but that race course goes up this hill in town that I HATE. So, I decided then that I would run the Teton Dam Half-Marathon instead, just so I wouldn't have to run that stinky hill (Millhollow Rd). Kat was shocked when I told her that I'd signed up for a 1/2 marathon! She then decided to run it wtih me. She actually pulled me through, and we finished with a respectable time of 1:58.

And I guess you can say that the rest is history. Since that first 5K race back in the spring of 2007 I've run three 5K races, two 10K races, and three 1/2 marathons.

Just in case you are interested (or incredibly bored), my races and times so far are:

2007 Smithfield Health Days 5K - 25:21.7

2008 Smithfield Health Days 5K - 23:14.6

2008 Teton Dam 1/2 marathon - 1:58:57

2009 Smithfield Health Days 10K - 51:14.6

2009 Teton Dam 1/2 marathon - 2:05:29

2010 Smithfield Health Days 10K - 51:56.0

2010 Utah Valley 1/2 marathon - 1:52:29

My latest race was yesterday, July 3, 2010. It was the Rexburg, ID, Liberty 5k, a local race that had only about 150 runners. I set of goal of finishing under 25 mins. I mean, I'd be OK with that. And if I could finish in under 24 that would be sweet! So the morning of the race came, and I ran the course, crossing the line with a time of 22:42 (7:18 min miles). Where did THAT time come from!? I won my division...that's the pay off of being older >50 and running in a small race...heh heh. Anyway, I was quite pleased.

OK, gotta run. Sigh...