Elite Jogging For Dummies

I was fortunate to get more sleep than usual last night -- assisted in part by getting up later than I had planned.  I ran the U/Avenues/Memory Grove loop. It was 36 degrees, still warm enough for shorts but cold enough for headband and gloves (and shirt).  I wore the Speedstars, which feel very cushy compared with the Hyperspeeds. It's nice to rotate them around. Total run time was 1:02. 

I had an early meeting so I couldn't run the entire Black Sheep workout, but since they were meeting up at Popperton Park, I got in some early miles by running up to meet the group. From there, we ran west on 11th Avenue easy. At I Street, we started doing one minute on/one minute off all the way down 11th , around the horseshoe at Memory Grove and over to the Capitol.  The group was doing stairs at the Capitol, but that's something my knee won't tolerate and it was time to head back toward home anyway, which I did with a few others headed the same way back to Popperton.  Then ran home from 11th and Virginia.

No running this morning. Instead, I got a massage from Mark at 6:30 am.  It was certainly more painful than running but I think it was helpful. 

This was a very therapeutic run.  My dad passed away on Thursday after battling pancreatic cancer for seven months and I took the day off to be with family and make arrangements for him.  In the cool mid-morning air I ran up Red Butte Canyon and on the Shoreline trail.  My dad was an avid painter of imagined landscapes and I felt like I was running in one of his paintings.  The colors of the mountains, the dense blue sky, and the contours of the ridgelines allowed me to see the world as I imagined he saw it in his paintings. 

 My dad was the sole reason that I became a runner.  He coached and encouraged me throughout my childhood and followed my running closely as an adult.  I enjoyed his company in my thoughts on this run.  I am so thankful to have had such a great dad to inspire me in so many ways. I miss you Dad!!

Group run from Foothill Starbucks.  Nice to run and chat with some friends.