faster with age

     Ran 14 miles today in the afternoon. It was 34 deg and sunny. I ran up past the reservoir and down the canal. The snow along 11 miles of this run [that are on dirt road] is getting worn through to the dirt along over 1/2 of it but the 2 miles along the canal were slower going because there hadn't been any vehicles to make tracks since the snow so I was mostly running where deer had made a trail. I ran the first 7 miles at 8:15 pace and the last 7 at 7:23 ave pace. Last mile in 6:33. 1 1/2 of the last 2 miles are on pavement and it instantly feels faster when I hit that section. Overall pace for 14 was 7:49. My runs have felt better this week than they have in a while.

     8 miles at 8:31

     10 miles at 8:28 AP. Did 5 or 6 strides the last 2 miles. Passed 2500 miles today.

     5 miles at 9:03 AP

     My wife's 86 year old mother from Pennsylvania passed away Monday while out here visiting. She spent a few days with us then was down in Salt lake staying at my wife's brothers home when she got some blood clots. They decided to have a funeral out here on Saturday since almost all of the family was out here. We drove to Salt lake early this morning and stayed with my parents in Sandy. 

     I went out for a run in the afternoon and it was a record 60 deg but very windy. I ran 5 miles at 7:55 pace then did 3x1 mile repeats with 1/2 mile recovery. I just wanted to hit my goal half marathon pace of about 6:28. The first mile I hit 6:26 and it seemed a little to easy with the tailwind I had. I realized how hard the wind was blowing when I turned back into it for the 2nd repeat and ran that one in 6:56 while pushing harder than the first. I ran my 3rd repeat around a loop by my parents house to even out the wind. I used to run around this loop while growing up there. It was just about 3 laps for a mile in 6:23. Overall pace for the run was 7:41.

     Still in Sandy for the funeral I ran 5 at 8:39 AP.