The 2014 Bear Lake Half Marathon (Utah)

Well, I have successfully completed my first half marathon race. I trained pretty hard over the last 2.5 months, and it has been a really great experience. Here's the route I ran for the Bear Lake Half Marathon: http://mammothmarathons.org/maps/bear-lake-half-marathon-map.php . I'll share some pictures below.

Here is all the stuff I laid out the night before. I only slept about 4 hours, which was irritating.

Me before the race. I feel my legs look really short in this picture, kind of like the characters on Punch-Out.

It was SO COLD. I wish I had brought a jacket for the run. I think I could have worn it for most of the race. 

Here I am approaching the finish line (I am the black dot in the middle). That is my daughter cheering for me in the foreground. 

My beautiful, supportive wife Katie also cheered me on.

This guy Henry  has run over 900 marathons, which I thought was pretty cool. 

Tips For the Next Race

I learned a few things on this my first official endurance-style run:

1. Bring a jacket. It was so cold this morning that my hands went numb. This was a problem when I couldn't get burrs out of my socks because my fingers weren't working.
2. Use running socks. Apparently there are socks that prevent blisters, but I just ran in cotton socks. I didn't get any blisters, but the bottom of my feet were hurting and still feel pretty sensitive.
3. Do it again. It was a great experience, overall, and I am looking forward to my next race.

This was a great experience, really, and I plan on continuing my running. As I mentioned in a previous post, I plan to run 36 miles on my 36th birthday. (Actually, it will probably be the week after my birthday due to some scheduling issues). I am not entirely sure how I am going to do this - today's run was pretty tough, and I only have 3 months to prepare. But I am excited to keep working toward it and believe that I will get there.

Running in Logan

Yesterday I went running. It was a beautiful, cool morning, and my training schedule called for a 10 mile run, so I left early, around 7:00. This was my last long run before I run the Bear Lake Half Marathon next Saturday morning. I've been training for about 3 months and feel prepared for the race - my first half marathon.

I usually run in Ohio, and running in Utah is an entirely different experience. The mountains, altitude, and lack of humidity make for a beautiful running environment. I ran out and back on a 5 mile loop orbiting Utah State's main campus - down onto the "island" area of Logan, up to the mouth of Logan Canyon, and across the Lake Bonneville Trail. I was shocked by the beauty of the valley and its mounts and took a few photos while I ran.

A look up 400 North toward the mouth of Logan Canyon, where I was headed.

A little closer to Logan Canyon. This is "first dam" at the base of the mountain.

Looking down on "first dam" from the mountain as I ascended on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

Looking up the mountain along Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

Looking back toward USU campus. You can see it in front of the distant mountains on the right.

Sabbatical Update - First Day at CIDI

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I am spending part of my summer sabbatical in Logan, Utah as a visiting scholar at the Center for Innovative Design and Instruction. Today was my first day, so I thought I would share some pictures if where I will be and talk about what I will be doing.

This is the Distance Education building on Utah State's Main Campus in Logan, Utah. I'll spend a great deal of my time here as I work with administrators on analyzing the need for a new teaching center at USU.

I'll be spending much of my time working at the Distance Education building on USU's main campus.I am working with administrators in the Provost's office and will be working to analyze the needs of the university related to teaching effectiveness and teaching excellence. I've only got a general idea of what we will do, but at this point it looks like I will be doing a performance analysis of some kind and plan to follow the general phases of the 2012 ISPI HPT Model.

I'll be in an office in the Distance Education building. Here is the view from my office. I hope I can spend plenty of time in those mountains with my family while I am here.

Me at USU's Old Main building. My daughter took the photo at an angle for effect. I like it.

The Old Main Hill with Old Main in the background. It is a lovely campus.

Sabbatical Road Trip!

As I mentioned in a previous post, we have been traveling to Utah for my work during my sabbatical. I am going to serve as a visiting scholar at at Utah State University's Center for Innovative Design and Instruction. We traveled along I-70 and crossed several states in the process. Here are a few photos from the trip.

Here I am with my lovely wife and daughter en route to Logan, Utah.

We drove our Kia Soul and loaded our belongings on the top of the vehicle using a Roofbag.  Things went great until we hit a rainstorm and the straps that held it down allowed water to flow into the car. I was totally soaked as we traveled down the freeway. It was pretty hilarious.

Our great friend Lynn McDowell, my wife Katie, my daughter CK, and me at the LDS Church Visitor's Center in Independence Missouri.

My family and I are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we decided to stop in Independence, Missouri at the LDS Church's Visitor's Center, there. The location has some historical and future significance for the church, and it was fun to learn some of the history.

The temple of the Community of Christ Church in Independence, Missouri.

An awesome bridge that we crossed. I think it was in St. Louis, though I can't say for certain.

Katie talking with the police about the old guy who drove off the road.

When we were driving through Kansas, there was an older gentleman who was weaving his car into and out of several lanes. We eventually passed him, and as we did we looked back and saw him drive his car into the median. He bumped his way along there for a while and then came to a stop. He started to drive again, so I got out of the car and yelled at him to pull over. He promptly flipped me off and continued down the freeway. By this time, several cars were following him and had called the police. We followed him until he was pulled over, and Katie went and told the officers what we had seen. A pretty exciting diversion from the monotony of a long drive. :)

Future Drive
So far, we have traveled across the United States using I-80 and I-70. I think this next trip back to Ohio we will travel using I-90. It will be a bit of a detour, but it will be pretty fun to see new places and things. I really enjoyed going through some new states on the way to Utah, and I look forward to seeing more!