Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving in Arizona with the family. We had a group of 30+ this year, so we took over the chapel and pushed 6 tables together to form one giant table.

Saturday we went geocaching in the Lost Dutchman State Park. It's a really beautiful patch of desert with nice hiking trails.

Isaac found the first one. Superstition Mountains in the background.

Bit of an uphill climb to Green Rock.

Dave & Seth 

Rest stop

Valley view: Seth and Isaac jostled for leader

Another rest stop

Aubrey was proud of being the first to find this cache

Spencer taught the younger kids a lesson about respecting our cactus friends.

Rocky Point Beach

We had another friend reunion in Rocky Point last week. Since I took a lot of photos back in April, I mostly ignored my camera this trip. I went for a walk along the beach one afternoon and shot these.

Geocaching at Riparian Preserve

Spent a day with in Mesa on my way to Rocky Point, Mexico with friends. Went out geocaching this morning with my brother David, two of his boys, my friend Lacey, and her two girls. We hiked and searched in the HUGE Riparian Preserve, an urban park in Gilbert, AZ.

Halloween Half Marathon 2011

Joined the masses in the University Mall parking lot in the dark. Thankfully they had some people there with the bibs that weren’t picked up yesterday. Officially running the Halloween Half Marathon today. Waited over an hour freezing our buns off for a bus to take us to Aspen Grove up Sundance Canyon. No lines at the port-a-potties so I made a quick stop there before we entered the heated tent. Packed to the gills with costumed bodies.

We squeezed our way in and found a small patch of grass to chill for the next hour and a bit. Chatted with runners around us. Most people had gotten past yesterday’s confusion and were ready to race. Stripped layers, sticking with shorts, long sleeve tech T and beanie. Made another pee stop in the woods, as the lines for the toilets now were outrageously long.

Race started on time in two waves. Chris and I were in the 9:00 am wave. We got close to the front to avoid the slower runners in the narrow start chute.

The Aspen Loop road is incredibly steep. I did my best to mitigate the impact on my knees while taking advantage of the downhill pace. I still got passed by the 1:30 pacer before reaching Provo Canyon though. Chris stuck with them and passed me too.

Mile 1 6:26
Mile 2 6:47
Mile 3 6:49
Mile 4 6:43
Mile 5 7:06

Being chased by a pirate

Almost immediately after the race started I realized I should have taken a second trip to the port-a-john. I fought the urge to stop until about mile 6. Lost about 3 minutes there. Curses! Never saw the 1:30 pace flag again. Felt much better after that though.

Ran hard the rest of the race, finishing at a park just outside the mouth of the canyon. Didn’t spot Chris, so I hopped in the massage line. Not the greatest massage, but any massage is better than no massage in my book.

Mile 6 10:03 (pit stop)
Mile 7 7:17
Mile 8 7:24
Mile 9 7:23
Mile 10 7:17
Mile 11 7:23
Mile 12 7:18
Mile 13 7:11
.12 Miles 6:30

I finished in 1:35:52, 172nd overall, 16th in my age group. 7:20 pace. Not great, but not terrible. Burned 1444 calories. Ate a mini Lara bar and a gel during the run. Looks like there were about 3300 finishers.

Medal

Riverton Dash After Dark 5 Miler & Oktoberfest 10K

Five mile races that take place in the evening don't come up very often, so I took the opportunity to race what is essentially an 8K. Riverton puts on very organized, professional races. I highly recommend them. The 2011 Riverton Dash After Dark followed the Jordan River Trail, with the course lit up from candles in paper bags.

This race attracted a lot of fast 35-39 year olds for some reason. 6 of the top 10 finishers were in my age group. That NEVER happens! Since the 1st and 2nd overall winners were 35-39, I ended up placing 1st in my age group--thus the medal pictured below. I finished in 38:29, 7th overall.

I wasn't so lucky in the Oktoberfest 10K the next morning, where I finished 4th in my age group. Since they only awarded top male and female overall winners, the 35-39 year old guy who took second place overall, was lumped into the age group winners, knocking me off the podium. My time was 44:14. 16th overall.

The Pink Half

I had the opportunity last weekend to pace in The Pink Half, an all female half marathon with an emphasis on breast cancer awareness. Needless to say it was a chance to run in a race I would normally be locked out of. I was the 2:30 pacer, which meant I got to take it easy and enjoy the company and views.

Chilly day in Park City with a bit of early morning rain. The gals were bundled up.

Great views

We received charms in place of medals

Happy 65th Dad

My brother and I spent the day with my dad for his 65th birthday. Part of our day involved an 18 hole game of disc golf  and geocaching in the scorching desert.

My dad caught air on this throw

David had the best arm of the day

A found cache

Arizona Camping Trip

Camping last week with my brother and 3 out of 4 of his boys. (The infant stayed home with mom) We were in the Haigler Creek area outside of Payson, AZ. Highlights included:

Lunch at McDonalds (not my pick)

Campfires (Owen pictured)

Shoveling

Hiking

Geocaching

Rope Swinging (Owen)

Seth

Me

River Crossing (Isaac in front)

Views

Picnic lunch on the way home (Seth demonstrating his middle-out sandwich eating technique)

Squirrel Chasing / Feeding (Owen)