run, run, run

Spanish Fork, UT 7:00 am

Pace: 7:29

I felt really crappy this morning. I ate a lot of sugar and bad food this weekend, then my wife and I drove to Utah at 7pm last night. The car we rented didn't have a very big gas tank. I discovered that when I was close to Tremonton. About 3 miles out of town I ran out of gas. Luckily, those 3 miles were all downhill. So we were able to coast all the way to the off ramp and then walked to the gas station and borrowed a gas can. It was the best case scenario for running out of gas, but at midnight, it still isn't very fun.

So we got in at about 1:30 and I got up to run at 6:30. Felt horrible, but was still able to run in to work at a 7:30 pace. The Springville Stink was sneaky this morning. It hit me on the back stretch after I thought I was past it.

Then, my Garmin watch band broke when I was taking it off. I ordered another one. I hope it arrives before the race on Saturday.

Spanish Fork, UT 6:30 am

Pace: 7:30

It was pretty cold this morning. I forgot to bring a hat with me, so I went to Target last night. They are out of them for the season, so my ears got cold. The worst part was running toward Mapleton from Spanish. Then just before Springville when the wind blows down Hobble Creek Canyon it was really cold too. By the time I got to the office my head was fine, but my fingers were frozen. Two pair of gloves on too.

Spanish Fork, UT 6:30am

Pace: 7:38

Same route as yesterday, up to Mapleton, over to Springville and down Center St. Weather was better, not as cold and windy but I was feeling more tired. The Springville Stink was pretty bad today too.

I'm going to taper a bit for the next two days to be ready for the race on Saturday.

Springville, UT 12:30pm

Pace: 7:41

Went for a lunchtime run with Matt. He had been sick, but held up a good pace until the last mile and a half or so, then he told me to just take off. Normally I would have hung with him, but I was in kind of a hurry to get to an appointment.

Boise, ID Noon

Pace: 6:56

So much for taking it easy today. With a race tomorrow I was going to just go on a short, easy run but the weather was great and my legs felt good, so I ran fast. I'll just have to rest up this evening.

The Dry Creek Half Marathon wasn't very dry. It was raining when it started and the course was muddy throughout. It was a really fun race, but very challenging. Lots of hills and single-track trails that were very slick. I fell down twice, but popped back up and kept running. I was afraid one of my ankles would go out, but I finished injury-free and ready to run again on Monday.

I felt pretty good throughout the race, passing more people than passed me and ran pretty strong the whole way. It was a good training race and I felt pretty good about my finishing time. It will be interesting to compare this race to Robie Creek in two weeks. Right now, I'm thinking that this one was a bit tougher. Robie is just one long hill for 8 miles. This one had hills that just kept coming and coming. And the downhill was pretty difficult in many places because of the mud.