Salt Lake City Memories

Some pictures from last week's trip to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Mouse over pictures for description:

Day 6 - Salt Lake City

On my way home. I'm at the Cincinnati Airport waiting for my connection, which appears to have left on time and should arrive here shortly. I've done all my reading and work-related stuff, so am now sitting here bored. At least I have tons of cat and dog hair to pick off my fleece jacket. It is just full of the stuff. Well, guess I'll go wander around the terminal for another hour or so. Bye for now.

My flight left Cincinnati on time and I got home to Milwaukee at 5 pm. I read all my mail, downloaded my travel photos and did a load of wash. Then I went to Flannery's for dinner and then right to bed.

Here are the sources of all that fur I was talking about. We have the dogs--Dakota and Kula--and the cats--Sapphire, Blitzen and Carmel. Both times when I went to my room and turned on the lights, this is what greeted me. I'm still coughing up fur balls today.

Day 5 -Salt Lake City

It was a nice day. We drove 20 miles out to Park City and walked around town, did some shopping, took some pictures and stopped for a beer at a local tavern. Very nice old ski town. We then drove back towards Salt Lake City and stopped at two ski resorts. One was Brighton. The drive up there was very pretty with all the mountains and snow, much like the drive to Park City. The other was Solitude . We would have stopped in Alta and Snowbird but I had a senior moment and left my fanny pack containing my cell phone and PDA hanging on the chair back at that bar in Park City, so had to drive back to Park City to pick it up. Fortunately I bought the beer and onion ring appetizer with my credit card, so I had the phone number of the tavern we stopped at on the receipt. Sure enough, they had my stuff. Fortunately we were relatively close by. I also had both devices locked, so no one could have used them with out punching in a PIN number. We got back to Salt Lake City at 4:30 pm. I played Gin with my niece while my brother put up the Christmas tree and his wife made dinner. I've basically been doing stuff I never do at home-even though it's just staying at someone else's house. I leave for Milwaukee tomorrow morning at 8:30 am, but I have a long layover in Cincinatti, so won't be home till 5 pm. It's too bad that when you use frequent flyer miles, they don't treat you as well as when you're a fare-paying passenger. That means you get a seat in the middle of a row back by the engines and near the bathroom.

Picture: Park City, Utah

Day 4 - Salt Lake City - Sightseeing Day

We went to downtown Salt Lake City to tour the Mormon church grounds (center of photo with the oblong Tabernacle in the middle), have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and shop for a while. It wasn't too bad for Black Monday. We then went home where I taught my 12-year-old niece how to play gin, followed by another marathon session of 4-player Hearts. No surprises like yesterday when I "shot the moon" and got all the points. Off to bed.

Day 3 - Salt Lake City - Thanksgiving

It was a pretty normal Thanksgiving with all the turkey and trimmings. It was another nice day. Didn't do much today. We sat around most of the day, had dinner, played Hearts and Uno Attack again like yesterday, then watch the Disney movie "Cars," which was quite entertaining. Then it was off to bed. Oh, I also bought a new laptop from Dell, something I've postponed for months. Should come next week.

Day 2 - Salt Lake City - Sightseeing Day

Another very nice weather day here. I slept well for a change despite having a few cats and a dog sharing my bed all night. This morning, my brother and I went to Antelope Island State Park to hike some trails, see Great Salt Lake, American bison and some phenomenal scenery up close and personal. We then went to Bingham Canyon Mine to see a large copper mining pit. Then went to the liquor store again (what a mob scene). Tonight we'll stay in and watch a movie or something. Very relaxing.

Day 1- Salt Lake City - Here in Mormon Country

I arrived on time this morning at 10:30 AM on a direct flight from Milwaukee to Salt Lake City. It's very mountainous, which was expected since I'm up in the Rockies. My brother picked me up at the airport and went home to watch TV and take a much needed nap. Then we went with my niece to see her horse, stopped at Home Depot and then came home. Will do some traveling around tomorrow.

Going to Salt Lake City Tomorrow

I'm off the rest of the week and going to Salt Lake City to visit my younger brother and his family for Thanksgiving. He'll be off so maybe we can cruise around the surrounding area and take in the scenery. I'd like to go to Park City about 36 miles away as well, poke around Salt Lake City itself and go to Promontory Summit where the rail road from the west coast and the railroad from the east coast (Transcontinental Railroad) met in 1869. More tomorrow. Have to get to bed.

Lance vs. New York City Marathon

I chuckled to myself as I read this New York Times article about Lance's first marathon. He said what I've known for a long time about running a marathon. It ain't easy. The fact that he was practically walking at the end proves it. All us marathon runners know that there are only two dignified ways to cross the finish line--running or crawling. Today I'm sure he can't walk down stairs, much less sit on the toilet without his quads screaming in pain. Although he said he would not run another marathon, he will do another one--or maybe even the Iron Man next. Good effort though--impressive time.

From the New York Times:

About 18 miles into the New York City Marathon yesterday, as Lance Armstrong made his way toward East Harlem, he said his legs started to feel as heavy as anchors.

This was not the Tour de France, the bicycle race he won seven consecutive times, nor was this a steep climb through the Alps, a challenge he has conquered before, at times without seeming to break a sweat.

This was Armstrong’s first marathon, and he said that running the 26.2-mile distance, particularly the final eight miles, was the “hardest physical thing” he had ever done.

His dark green shirt was soaked with sweat, his gait stiff. He said his calves felt as if someone were squeezing them, hard. And his shinsplints were flaring up again.

“That’s when I started to feel helpless,” Armstrong said afterward, while being driven back to his hotel opposite Central Park. “I thought: Uh-oh, maybe I should have trained a little harder for this. I think I’m in trouble.”

But with the help of the 1984 Olympic women’s marathon champion, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and other legendary runners pacing him, the 35-year-old Armstrong made it through Harlem, then all the way to the end. He reached his goal of finishing in under three hours, with seconds to spare.

Exhausted and nearly walking, Armstrong crossed the finish line in 2 hours 59 minutes 36 seconds. He was 869th, with a pace of 6:51 a mile.

“I can tell you, 20 years of pro sports, endurance sports, from triathlons to cycling, all of the Tours — even the worst days on the Tours — nothing was as hard as that, and nothing left me feeling the way I feel now, in terms of just sheer fatigue and soreness,” he said, looking spent, at a news conference.

The marathon was Armstrong’s first major athletic endeavor since retiring from cycling in 2005, and he said he had not prepared for the race as he should have.

Armstrong said he was able to run only about 45 minutes a day, squeezing workouts among appearances for his cancer foundation and jaunts to Los Angeles, hanging out with celebrities. His longest training run was 16 miles; it is common for marathoners to do at least one 20-miler.

“I’m impressed,” Mary Wittenberg, the race director, told Armstrong. “With that kind of preparation, if it was anyone else, I would have guessed a finish of 4:30. But you, wow. You’re a tough one.”

Armstrong’s toughness helped make him the most successful cyclist in history and also helped him beat testicular cancer. Although accusations of doping have followed him throughout his career, he has denied using performance-enhancing drugs and has transcended sports to become an icon for cancer patients and survivors.

At the marathon, he was more recognizable than the top runners who stepped to the starting line. Armstrong said that was when he became nervous. He saw that the other runners’ legs were as thin as pencils. His are much more muscular. He was about 160 pounds when he raced in the Tour de France; he is now 180. He dreaded the pounding ahead, he said.

But when the race began, Armstrong said, he felt strong. Fans cheered him on. Some wore yellow LiveStrong bracelets. Others waved “Go Lance” signs. He wore a green shirt bearing 10/2, which commemorated the anniversary of his cancer diagnosis, Oct. 2, 1996.

Tigun Wibisana, a cycling fan from Manhattan who wore an “In Lance We Trust” T-shirt, followed Armstrong on his bike from the start until the Queensboro Bridge. To Wibisana, a leukemia survivor, Armstrong is an inspiration.

“I don’t really care who else is in the race because he is my true hero,” Wibisana said.

For the first 10 miles, Armstrong was paced by the former marathon champions Alberto Salazar and Germán Silva. They gave him his split times and cups of water. In turn, Armstrong looked cheery and bouncy as a television camera documented his every move.

“It was very hard to hold him back,” Salazar said.

Samuelson took over as his pacesetter at 10 miles. Two miles later, she said, Armstrong began complaining about his shins. As each mile grew more daunting, she said she gave him focus points. She told him just to make it to Mile 20, then it would become easier.

Armstrong responded.

“I have no doubt that he would have finished if we weren’t there to help him, but I think breaking the three-hour barrier would have been questionable,” Samuelson said. “I think the marathon is a mental game, and he’s got that down pretty well.”

Hicham el-Guerrouj, the 2004 Olympic champion in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters, joined Armstrong and Samuelson with about six miles to go. At that point, as the clocked ticked closer to three hours, Armstrong said he wasn’t thinking about the time. He just wanted it to end.

“I was so tired, I just didn’t care,” he said.

At the finish, he doubled over. After his news conference at the New York Athletic Club, he limped out of the room. “I’m a cripple,” he said, needing a boost into a waiting van.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said that I’ve never felt this bad, ever,” he said. “My legs are killing me. My back doesn’t feel that great, either. I’m really suffering.”

When he arrived at his hotel, Armstrong hobbled out of the van, looking stunned as he walked through the lobby and into an elevator. He got off on the floor that has the spa.

“Which way to the hot tub?” he said as the spa’s door closed behind him.

Those Lonely Running Shoes

This is where my running shoes have sat since Monday when I got home from the Marine Corps Marathon. Fortunately they have each other for company since my feet are taking several days of much-needed rest. The soreness in the quads is gone and I'm almost ready to lace up again and hit the road. Maybe this weekend.

Here is a graph showing my split times and the terrain. Notice the uphill portions at miles 3, 5, 9 and the uphill climb from mile 21-26.2. I hardly noticed 3, 5 and 9. But at the end I felt the incline, particulary the giant hill from 26 to 26.2 miles.