Seattle Torchlight Run!

Last Saturday evening I laced up my running shoes and ran in the 8K Torchlight Run. 4.98 miles, I did it for a number of reasons. I wanted to race (I haven’t ran in a race underneath 26.2 miles since…2003 as an unattached runner in a BYU 4 mile race.) I wanted to see how I was doing compared to the training that I want to be for the Top of Utah Marathon that I am planning on running in September (I haven’t officially signed up yet though, so I’m not committed. Once that money is spent, though…) I wanted to go to Seafair, which is basically seattle’s excuse to have a party and a parade and stuff. I wanted to see real pirates (The Seafair Pirates are famous around Seattle, I guess.) Finally, people in my ward were going and invited me along, and I jump on the chance to have more than nothing to do on a Saturday night.

The race started near Qwest field, then around and up onto the Alaskan Way Viaduct, down into the Battery Street tunnel (I think that’s what its called) and then through the streets of Seattle back down to Qwest field. I was surprisingly nervous before the race – it’s a road race! Doesn’t matter! Yet it did. One fun thing about this race was the costumes – princesses, pirates, there was a fast-looking genie girl. I wanted to beat them. I really didn’t have any idea how fast I would go – I was thinking 32:30 was a good goal. 6:30 a mile.

So the race starts (yay for having a watch), and after getting through the first mess of slow people starting near the front we started going up the viaduct. Up ahead you could see the leaders of the race WAY ahead. It’s nice to know that once upon a time I could have ran with them for a mile or two. Also makes me feel pretty slow. At the one mile mark, I went to mark my split, and to my chagrin I found that I had left my watch on clock mode! No one mile split for me. I asked a guy next to me – 6:15. Hey, that’s not too bad! No way I’ll be able to keep that up….
The second mile I felt pretty good, starting to get a little bit tired. This 15 year old looking kid passed me, which made me kinda mad. I should’ve gone and stayed with him, but I don’t do speed workouts and I’m always afraid of dying. I stayed content to just cruise where I was. At the two mile I started my watch and called out for a split – 12:45. 6:30 second mile…yup, that’s about where I should be.
We spent an entire mile in the tunnel, which was weird – I kept hearing echoes of cars that I thought were driving behind us. I’m pretty sure I was very slow in that tunnel. We came out and I began to feel a little bit better, so I would speed up until I felt tired and then I’d try to coast where I was…but not slow down. A strong coast if you will. I’d pass people every once in awhile (I passed the genie girl during mile 2) Crowds began to appear (we were running along the parade route) and mile 3 came by at 6:30 again.

The roads were mostly downhillish now (the first two miles were mostly uphill) which was really nice. I continued going fast, pushing it while I felt good and trying to survive the rest. I was getting more and more tired. I would reach the point where I really didn’t care about catching the people in front of me…and then I’d feel better and I’d get closer anyway. Little kids would come up and try to give the runners high five…I got a couple but stopped after I missed one kid and instead slapped him in the arm. Serves him right. After awhile I looked down at the time and realized that I must have missed the 4th mile mark. It’s funny how much better I felt now that I knew I was almost done. I wish I had done a better job of studying the course – nevertheless, I sped up and began to pass people. Looking back, I wasn’t passed after the 1.5 mile mark. I definitely need to start out faster. I sprinted past the 15 year old looking kid about 50 meters from the finish. Take that. Final time: 31:15. I averaged 6:00 miles for the last two. Yup, definitely need to start out faster for an 8k. 6:15 6:30 6:30 6:00 6:00 were my mile splits...an average of 6:15.
Overall, I think I’m on course for my marathon goal of 3:00. Assuming I run it.

And most importantly, I made another Seattle memory. I love running down the middle of streets that are normally packed with cars. It's all about making memories.

Top 10 Sports Moments I've Seen

While I haven’t seen too many amazing sports events in person, (I think the best would be the Michigan state cross-country meet my senior year, but I was a part of that, so I don’t think it counts) I was pondering the other day as to the most memorable sporting events that I remember watching. The criteria for making such a list:
1. While it was going on, I remember thinking, during the event, “I can’t believe this is actually happening. This is something that I will be putting on a ‘most memorable sports events’ list one day, that I may put up on a web log (blog) if I ever cave in and make one because of a boring day at work.
2. I will have been so amazed/excited that I actually stood up and yelled and cheered.

I would tell you all to feel free to say something, remind me of something I should have put on there, but I know no one actually reads this, so the point is moot. On with the list.

10. 1996 Summer Olympics – Women’s Gymnastics Team Final

Yeah, yeah, I know. Kerri Strug has a really high voice, let’s make fun of her, big deal, so she did a vault with a sprained ankle. Just imagine little 12 year old Logan in the basement of our first Livonia house, sitting on dad’s old brown chair on the yellow/orange smokey shag carpet, watching late at night while everyone else has gone to sleep. Big crush on Dominque Moceanu. (She was cute. Look at her. You can’t judge me, I was 12.) We were against the Russians! I was patriotic! We never win women’s gymnastics! Well, we did win, and I was pretty excited.
Bonus points for being the first time I remember watching late night sports and then celebrating by myself, starting a grand Logan tradition. What a pathetic great life I lead. She's cute..but married.

I know, I know, I can’t believe gymnastics is on here either. It’s only #10. I needed a # 10, all the other ones are better.

9. 1999 Ryder Cup - United States comes back to win

So I have a secret, guilty pleasure. I like watching golf. Only on certain occasions – Sunday afternoon, nothing to do, and names that I know. I have to know who’s playing. So one day while I’m 15 I flip on golf to find the Ryder Cup. U.S. vs the World. I’m a patriotic guy (see #10) and I love watching the U.S. win, so I was disappointed to see them so far behind, but the announcer mentioned that the U.S. was making a big comeback. So I watched…and everything went in. I’m sure I don’t appreciate good golf as much as I should, but we just kept winning and we were so excited and I was excited too.

8. 2006 Tour de France – Floyd Landis’ breakaway mountain win

I know it seems like he was taking illegal enhancements or steroids or whatever. Everybody else was, too. Throw that out, don’t think about it.

This was awesome. Landis was out, he wasn’t going to win. He had bonked the day before, and was too far behind. Everyone had counted him out. After 7 years of Lance domination, the Tour de France was going to be won by a non-American. I don’t know how many of you have tried to bike up a mountain lately, but it sucks. I remember turning the TV on, just to see how the Tour was doing today – and the announcers were amazed. Floyd had taken off on a breakaway (good for him! That’s the way to do it. Leave it all out there.) alone and was just destroyed the field. Everyone thought that he would die…and he didn’t. I can’t just imagine the thought that goes through his mind – screw it, I’m taking off – and then he does and wins.

I love watching Americans win in France, when they can’t. Kinda reminds me of World War I…World War II..

7. 2001 World Series - Arizona Diamondbacks beats New York Yankees

I hate the Yankees. A baseball team from some po-dunk town in Arizona (does anyone know what city theyre from? They’re from a state! Goodness.) finds a way to beat the Evil Empire. Come-back win, 9th Inning, Game 7. Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling pitching from the mound…and big pandemonium ensues when Luis Gonzalez’ hit drops and the Diamondbacks win. Great baseball drama. Love it.

6. June 12, 2007 - Justin Verlander throws a no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers

I only saw the last half-inning of this game. Connor calls me up one day after work and tells me that verlander is three outs away from a no-hitter. I don’t get Detroit baseball in Seattle, but luckily ESPN turned over to watch the last half inning. It was amazing. Pure adrenaline up there. You knew before he threw the pitch it was going to be a strike. The crowd was amazingly loud. I was jumping up and down yelling at my brother over the phone. Strike. Strike. Strikeout. Strike Strike Strikeout. Groundout. I’m pretty sure that’s how it went. It was great.

5. 2007 Fiesta Bowl - Boise State beats Oklahoma

This game was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Again, watching alone in the middle of the night. Dad had stayed up with me for a lot of it but went to bed. I don’t really have a connection to either team – if anything, BSU annoys me because I know too many people from Boise. But seriously. 50 yard hook and ladder lateral to tie the game with seven seconds left?? Are you kidding me?? 5 foot 7 halfback throwing a touchdown pass? A statue of liberty play on the two-point conversion to win the game?? Are you freaking kidding me?? MVP proposes to his cheerleader girlfriend after the game?? And the underdog won the game. I wanted to put this at #8, cause I don’t have a real personal connection with either team, but while thinking about it and writing about it I am definitely moving it up. This was awesome.

4. 2006 - Detroit Tigers beat Oakland to qualify for World Series

Walk-off home run puts the Tigers in the World Series. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t the biggest tigers fan when I moved to Detroit. But I always knew – one day they would turn it around, and sooner rather than later. No one really believed me.
So when they tigers took off last year (I think ive talked about this already) I was ready. The team all waiting for Magglio to get home so they can start celebrating is the picture on my desktop at work. What a great moment for a city in the midst of the declining automobile industry. I love the Tigers.

3. 2006 - Italy beats Germany in World Cup Semi-Final

Again, alone for this moment. I don’t know how many people really understand how much I love sports. I really thought Italy was about to lose this game. We really didn’t look good in that extra time. And then all of a sudden…we scored. It was perfect. And then Del Piero scored the second goal a few minutes later to finish the Germans off. Take that Germany. I liked how it was still in the game, I loved how perfect it feels when somebody finally scores in a soccer match, and I love how when I jumped in celebration my wrists went straight into the ceiling fan that was on above my head. That hurt. Forza Italia!!!
I know everyone remembers the France game, with Zidane’s headbutt and the penalty kicks, but I was in a car driving across New Jersey with Mallorie giving me the play by play over the phone. That was so funny. “Uh..oh my gosh! The French guy just headbutted the Italian player?” “what? Mal? You have got to be kidding me.” “No! I’m serious!” “What happened! Mal!” “I don’t know, don’t get mad at me! He just all of a sudden went crazy and headbutted the Italian player and they gave him a red card!” Mal’s on a mission right now and can’t read this, but I’m sure she’d appreciate getting a shout-out here. She certainly had to deal with enough of my obsession with the Pistons. (See #2)

2. 2003 – Detroit comes back to beat Orlando, 4 games to 3. aka the awakening of Tayshaun Prince
Honestly, this was a hard choice. I had to put the Pistons here. I love them, and I was gone when they won the championship. I celebrated that through an email from my mom. I could have put when they beat Cleveland last year. Honestly the first moment that pops into my mind is Rasheed Wallace leaving to guard Manu Ginobili, leaving the most clutch 3 point shooter in history, Robert Horry, open in the corner to knock down the 3 that put the Spurs over the Pistons. Everyone talks about the Spurs Dynasty, but if Sheed hadn’t made that bonehead play….
So I put here a moment that I shared with Chris and Nathaniel in Amy’s basement. All the Livonia Ward people hanging out, something we did not do often enough. (Biggest regret of my high school career.) After watching some scary movie, (the ring maybe? I hate scary movies) turning on the game. Detroit was down 3 – 1, Tracy McGrady had just guaranteed victory, called the series over…and then started getting guarded by a new guy, Tayshaun Prince. 3 games later, Detroit was moving on to the next series. I love the Pistons.

1. Super Bowl XXXII, 1998 – Denver Broncos beat Green Bay Packers, 31-24
Football was the first sport that I loved. I loved football. I loved the Denver Broncos. I loved John Elway. I had his posters all over my room. I pretended I was him. I won multiple seasons as him on video games. I wanted to be him.
So when the Broncos finally beat the Packers in what SI called at the time, “The Greatest Super Bowl Ever” I don’t know if I have ever been so happy. We won. The Super Bowl.
It was a great game. 14 year old veteran John Elway throwing himself into the air, getting hit by two defenders and spinning around in order to gain a first down. Terrell Davis out for a quarter with migraine headaches, but going back in cause he wanted to win. Green Bay is in the lead…Denver in the lead…back and forth…and then the victory. My childhood idol has won his championship. My boyhood dream was realized. The Broncos had won the Super Bowl.

So, there you go. My list. This will be fun to read again someday.

I LOVE the Detroit Tigers

Last weekend I continued my love affair with the Detroit Tigers. Three games, three nights. Honestly, as soon as I found out that I was going to be in Seattle for the summer, I looked up the schedule to find out when they were playing. The fact that the Tigers were playing may have played a significant factor in my decision to come here (other factors: money…job…extended family…beauty…a future. All pale in comparison to the tigers, obviously) I put in some pictures:

Final tally, Tigers 2, mariners 2. It was really entertaining baseball, close games (well…Sunday wasn’t really that close), drama, basically two really good teams playing against each other. I do think that the tigers are a better team, but I may be biased, and it really doesn’t matter, it just matters who wins. Cause like I teach my missionaries, what is the purpose of life? TO WIN

I’ve been trying to figure out why I love the Tigers so much. When I moved to Detroit, I was (and still am) liked the Denver Broncos for football…and that’s it. I liked other sports, watching and playing them, but I don’t remember liking a team. Baseball, in particular, didn’t really have too much appeal to me. I was in Denver when the Colorado Rockies started, and that was cool, I remember liking them. Hockey was the big thing when I moved to Detroit, so I ended up liking the Red Wings, though a part of me liked the Colorado Avalanche, so I usually ended up cheering for whichever team won. I never really gave the Tigers a thought….
Until they closed Tiger Stadium and started building Comerica Park. I think that was it. Because such a historic place was closing, there were a lot of stories in the media and I remember thinking how cool it was that so much had happened there. I also remember coming in to Comerica for the first time and falling in love with the park, and thinking how sad it was that the team wasn’t good to back up such a pretty place.

Then last year the Tigers began to get good. Real good. The tiger seeds that had been planted began to grow. For some reason my family really grabbed ahold of it – we would call each other about the games, picked our favorite players, got the hats, and then the shirts, when I was in town we’d all go to the games together…all of a sudden there was this baseball fire of which I was previously unaware. I remember watching when magglio Ordonez hit the walk-off home run to put the tigers in the world series, yelling and cheering up and down, and feeling the magic of victory, that something special that makes me keep going back and back to watching sports.

And now I’m stuck. I watch all the games on ESPN gamecast because I can’t get them on tv. I really wish I had bought the package to listen to them on the radio. I go to three games in a row without getting bored, and I wish I could have gone to the next one. I argue with friends about who’s pitching is better. I probably won’t live in Detroit for the rest of my life – am I doomed to being obsessed with a team that I’m never going to be able to actually see play?

Sorry these blogs are so boring. Not funny at all. I told you these would end up being really boring…oh well. Something to do at work while I wait for my meeting.