3rd Annual Richey Boy Camp out

Despite rain and slightly cooler temperatures, we still embarked on the Annual Richey Camp out. This year we got out a week later than usual due to the busy times, though we've had such a cool and wet spring that it still felt "early."

We left Ogden and drove up to Causey per normal and enjoyed a good rain filled canoe ride across to the back side for some camping. It's funny, that once we had camp set up and were ready to start cooking, the rain stopped and we had a couple of hours without rain. Anyway, it wasn't coming down that hard and made for a memorable experience.

As the kids grow, along with their appetite and our need for firewood, we almost didn't fit everything in the canoe. Next year, we'll need to get a bigger canoe, or take two trips to get it all in! Joseph was a much better help this year than last and I didn't feel like I was doing all the work.

This year, I tried to take a few steps back in the planning and activities, to let the boys become more involved. I tried to be more of an observer while they decided what we should do and when we should do it. We did some of the same things as in years past but some new stuff.

Dinner was the usual, hot dogs and potato chips. Dessert; s'mores. And plenty of candy. Because of the rain, we ended up spending a little more time in the tent playing cards, telling stories and jokes. It was fun to watch these three boys gel a little more together in this setting. The fighting and totem poling that was obvious at the outset eventually fell away and the three were much more "equals."

As soon as there was a hint of darkness, I tried the "did you hear that?" routine. It had the desired effect as all three boys lost their jovial nature and looks of concern immediately swept across their faces. I then reassured them that we were ok, but the pleadings of "scary stories" immediately departed for the night. We went on playing cards until it was by flashlight only and soon we would be drifting off to sleep.

Morning came with some sun and some more rain. I got up, leaving the boys to sleep and quickly got a fire started and began preparations for breakfast. Not wanting to wait for the boys to get the day started, I quickly mixed up the pancake batter and was soon cooking "homemade" buttermilk pancakes. I contend that there isn't anything better than buttermilk pancakes in a setting like that. 45 minutes away from the van via canoe, and the fresh mountain air, heavy with moisture from the storms. The sweet sound of birds chirping along with the wonderful smell of campfire. Eventually the smell of pancakes with maple syrup got the boys wondering if I was going to eat the entire lot. Soon I was joined by Andrew and Matthew. Joseph was the last to emerge and having elevated blood sugar, chose to go with the pop-tart rather than the healthier pancake option. (I still don't understand that one).

After breakfast, more rain, so we returned to the tent to lazily watch the morning wear on. At one point a couple of canoes came by, to which the boys excitedly greeted them. As I muttered under my breath that they were being obnoxious, I hear Andrew yell down to the canoes, "WE'RE OBNOXIOUS!!!"

With a break in the storm, we broke camp and decided to head back to Ogden. We gathered everything up as quickly as 3 young boys and a father can do, cleaned the camp, hauled everything down to the canoe and set off for home.

We faced a heavy headwind on our way back to the van. Again, I was grateful to a stronger 11 year old boy who's efforts didn't go unnoticed. We were still packed in pretty tight despite not having any firewood to haul out, plus only a small amount of food left.

Once we got back to Ogden, I was a little saddened to see a friend of Joseph come and invite him to go swimming. Not so much because by letting him go I would be left to put everything away, but I could see this comradeship between the boys dissolve, and all of a sudden there were little brothers and older brothers again, instead of just brothers.

All in all, I believe it was a successful trip and should embed itself as a good memory in the boy's minds.

Ogden Marathon

What a race! This marathon was by far my best race at this distance. It was sort of a bitter/sweet experience. As I cut 26 minutes of my previous time, (how can you argue with that?) yet I fell just shy of the sub 4 hour mark I was shooting for.

This year the Ogden Marathon celebrated it's 10th year of the annual "spring run off." I was excited to participate in the full marathon distance this year as opposed to the 1/2 that I did last year.

After taking some time off from the Top of Utah marathon for recovery from my IT Band injury, I was surprised to see that I put on as much weight as I did. I began training again just after the first of the year at about 210 lbs. I couldn't believe that I had "enjoyed" the holidays that much! Anyway, as I began training it felt as if I were running with a very heavy back pack. It took a couple months of better diet and increased mileage before I started to see the weight really start to fall off... isn't it always that way? Anyway, by mid February I was below 200 and by marathon day I weighed in at 186 pounds.

I did a couple of things different this time around, and it really paid off. First, I researched some different training programs and found that the Hal Higdon program really seemed to make a lot of sense to me. I liked that he gave day by day advise on what to do, in addition added other useful information as it pertained to the training program. I followed his Intermediate I program as closely as I could and calculated that I ran about 529 miles in preparation for the big race. What appealed to me most about his training, was that his style was to teach your body to conserve energy and run for longer periods of time, it was much less about pace training as he only had me run a pace workout once every week, and sometimes every other week. This I believe was key in eliminating/reducing injury. The most difficult weeks by far were weeks 10 and 11. I discovered that my body, at least at this time can't handle much more than 40 - 43 miles per week.

The second thing I did different was I used a massage therapist during the training routine. This was especially helpful after some of the long weeks. I found myself feeling like injury was avoided because those muscles were worked out ahead of time. A friend of mine suggested going every 6 to 8 weeks during intensive running to help the muscles recover. I highly recommend finding a therapist that works for you. Mine does a fantastic job and she doesn't charge an arm and a leg either.

By the time race day came around, I felt better than I ever have before. I weighed less than the previous two marathons, I didn't have any nagging injuries, and my outlook to the race was much more positive. My goal, as stated before was to come in under 4 hours. I didn't really fall behind the pace until about mile 21, and at that point it was still manageable, but by mile 25 I knew the sub 4 hour goals was beyond my reach. At the half-way mark I felt so good, and Shanda commented that my form and everything looked like I'd just started running!

The first several miles of the race were a blur. I was lost in the scenery of the South Fork Canyon. Running along a loud river with the sweet smell of mountain air, it's really hard to call what we were doing exercise. Running the long straight away and then around the dam really passed quite quickly. I found a few runners that looked strong and appeared to be working toward the same goal as myself and kept pace clear up to about the top of Ogden Canyon. In fact, while in the canyon I could see their backs until about mile 23.

As I emerged from Ogden Canyon, I still felt pretty good about my pace and was excited to see that I could make my goal of under 4 hours. As I hit the next mile marker I calculated in my head that I would need to do an 8:30 mile the next two to guarantee it. As it turns out, if I could have stayed around 8:50ish I'd still have been close. Anyway, I felt confident as I had run that path so many times before in my training that I could achieve that kind of time. As I approached the next mile marker, 24 I looked down at my watch and thought I saw 9:30! Again, as I reviewed the times it turns out it was 9:14... strange. Regardless, I felt having pushed that hard and being that far back, I knew I wouldn't make the time. The next two miles 10:18 and 10:26. I really did hit the wall at that point, though I didn't stop running. This was also different from before, as I walked several times in Logan and Salt Lake. The only time I stopped running was at the water/power-aide stations and there I walked only long enough to get the fluids down and then I was back off and running again.

Turning on to Grant Avenue, with the finish line in sight, I dug deep and pushed myself to run as fast as I could... (still not very fast). It was all I had left in the tank to close it out, and I did it! My wife and parents said I looked great coming down the stretch. Once I crossed the line I couldn't believe the rush of nausea that came over me! For the next two hours I battled the urge to throw-up. It was difficult to eat anything and the weight of the medal hanging around my neck made me feel like I was on the verge of passing out.

Final time... 4 hours 3 minutes 24 seconds.

What a difference between marathons! I felt I had prepared before, but definitely not as much as this time. In addition, no pain medication was taken during the race. Zero IT Band pain, and no other nagging pains during the race.