I needed a "loosen up" run in the dreaded taper time before Ogden so I ran the Health days for the first time since High School. It was a lot bigger than I remembered it. This year there was over 600 runners the director said, confirming my belief that running is really in a massive resurgence this year all over the country.
I wanted to hold about 5:30s today so I started up the canyon about that pace and soon it kicked my butt. I thought the canyon would never end. I was keeping contact with two runners going up the canyon together and got passed by another right before the turn around. The two guys were obviously fit runners and started to pull away pretty good a few miles up as I slowed to probably 6:30 to 7 min pace up the hills. Going down was sweet so I decided to catch the lead pack and had to run 2 miles right on 5 min pace to close back in. I passed the two leaders with about 3/4 a mile to go and one of them, Carson it turn out, fell right in at the pace. He was just out for a nice morning jog..
Fun race, and a fast finish (with a slow time). The best part was talking with the other guys at the finish and meeting some fellow Bloggers. |