Next marathon

The true runners are out right now trudging through the snow in preparation for their next big race. That is the case in the Johnson Family. There are a host of Johnsons that are prepping this very winter. Here is what it looks like.

Evan- Salt Lake City Marathon April 19th
Maria- Salt Lake City Half Marathon April 19th
April- Salt Lake City Half Marathon April 19th
Spencer- Salt Lake City Half Marathon April 19th/Great Potato Marathon Boise, Idaho May 16th
Leah- Salt Lake City Half Marathon April 19th
Hyrum- Salt Lake City Half Marathon April 19th
Chandler- Salt Lake City Half Marathon April 19th
Tami- 5k at Salt Lake
Abbey- 5k at Salt Lake

Yes we are awesome....we already know it!

USAF Marathon

Leah and I recently returned home from a long vacation. The first part of our vacation took us to Ohio where I ran in the Air Force Marathon. Evan me us there on Wednesday and me and him carbo loaded ourselves to death leading up to the race. The race start was amazing. The weather was perfect and we were greated with three flyovers from F-22s! It was a great course and despite having two bathroom breaks I smashed my old PR of 3:35:53.....and took it down to 3:19:45. Evan loved the race too and although he did not PR....he smashed his last marathon time by about 20 minutes.....and that was with a bad IT band!

Leah also got in on the action and ran a 5k on Friday night. She ran fast and obtained her goal.....3 months after having a baby she set her fastest time in 3 or 4 years!! GO LEAH!!

After a little bit of rest I will plan my next marathon. I haven't decided yet but I am leaning towards something in Idaho or Colorado. Hopefully the whole Johnson family will show up to the SLC Marathon....however I am not sure I will be doing the full there....I might just opt for the half.

Runners and Pooping

Anyone who has ever run a long distance can verify that every once in a while you have to go #2 and the most unfortunate thing is that most of the time there is no bathroom for miles. I have had my fare share of close calls but just last week during a 12 miler I had an incident that I am not proud of.....nonetheless I am happy to share my mishap with all of you!!

I was around mile 9 and heading back to base when I finally had to stop to let the feeling of an eminent bowel movement pass me by.....but my body decided that I waited long enough!!! To make a long story short I had to waddle to the side of the road, hide in the shadows and empty myself. Of course, I don't carry toilet paper with me...but maybe I should....anyway, I had to run a mile before I got to a bathroom and was able to clean myself up. The damage wasn't as bad as I thought so don't get too grossed out, but just know that if you have aspirations to run long distance....you will one day have your own story to tell. Evan has shared similar experiences and can vouch for my "mishap".

I hope everyone enjoyed my beautiful story....oh yeah...I took a picture of my wonderful experience!

Super Day 10k

Leah encouraged me to go out to Super Day in Cheyenne and run the 10k....the day after Jordi was born. So....after a sub-par night's sleep I drove about 2 miles to Lions Park for a 10k on Saturday morning. The weather was perfect and I arrived just in time to register. They told me I had 5 minutes which was just enough time to make a much needed trip to the restroom and pin on my number.

I got to the finish line with about a minute to spare and did a couple stretches. I was somewhat loose because I run from my car to the registration desk. I could tell by looking around that this would be a hard field to best. There were only about 50 people running but about 5 or 6 of them looked like they ran cross country for a college.....and I later found out they did. Anyway...it was a 5k and 10k field so I didn't really know who was running what.

My first mile was almost exactly what I wanted it to be...around 6:45....and mile 2 was even quicker thanks to a down hill portion. I felt fantastic in mile three as well but I slowed a bit on mile 4...and even thought for a moment that I wouldn't be able to keep under a 7 minute pace. By the time mile 5 came along I knew I would be fine.

I ran my last mile in about 6:15 and crossed the finish line at 40:24....there were a couple of portions of the race that I lost signal on my Garmin and therefore did not know how far I had left...because I felt good enough to have run a sub 40 minute 10k.

All in all I was happy....this early on in the latest marathon training session and I am already at sub 40 fitness.....I can't wait for the half marathon in August. My goal there will be sub 1:30 because I have 3 half marathon times at just over 1:30 and haven't been able to eclipse it yet.

Feel this calf

This is the first of many calf pictures that you will get to experience when checking this blog. The site is dedicated to updating all the fans of the Johnson family running experience!!