I'm retired from racing. Really.

I've been planning to do Jardine Juniper for some time, but ended up having to watch the kid so couldn't go.  I did get 6 miles in on the river trail, then went home and got the jogging stroller.  I ran 4 miles, stopped to watch Marci playing tennis, then did about 5-6 more miles.  Not sure total distance- 2:00:01, exactly, but wasn't quite moving 7:30 pace.  We'll call it 15.5 miles.  (I later checked it on mapmyrun.com and it was 9.54 miles, meaning my 15.5 total was dead on).  That puts me at 36 miles in my last 2 runs.  Definite easy day tomorrow.

806- 365

I found this article very interesting, and thought some of you might, too.  Lots of runnings stats- 6 pages worth.  I liked that 11.6 million Americans ran at least 100 days last year- that's only 3.8% of the population.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,sssssss6-243-297--10909-1-1X2X3X4X5-6,00.html

6 easy miles with 5-20 second striders thrown in.  New shoes- tangents.  Race tomorrow.  Sleep now.

Tangent- 6

Freedom Run 15k today down Blacksmith Fork canyon into Hyrum. It would be a good judge of where my fitness was, with my first decent race. I wanted to be at least under 55 min. I couldn't sleep last night- maybe 4 hours, waking up at 4 am. Tried to sleep more, then just got up. Did 2 miles warm up, then ate and waited for Cody and James to arrive. We drove to the start, where we did another few miles warm up, waiting for the start. It was delayed due to lots of race day signups.

Race finally started with a very deep field for the size- maybe 300 runners. Perfect weather- cool, a bit of a tail wind for a few miles. Wanted to start slow and Cody was happy to run with me. First mile was 5:41- a bit faster than I wanted, but felt good. Big pack ahead of us, we were in 13-14 place, with us in an empty spot (how I like it!). Second mile was 5:50, then 5:54. Picking off a few runners. We caught 2 guys who tried to tail us, so I picked it up to lose them. Cody dropped but one guy stayed with me. Fourth mile 5:38, then 5:39. Still feeling good past the half way mark, but hoping the hill doesn't make me pay for my surge. 5:42 for mile six. We hit the hill and I got up it pretty good- 6:02 mile for mile seven. I passed a guy right at the top- running up it last week in training paid off. I was now in 9th place- it sure if fun to pass people all race rather than get passed. 5:56 mile for the next mile (a bit uphill still), then picked it up with a 5:41. Last mile same pace as first. 0.3 mile in 1:48 for a total time of 53:56 and 9th place. Boosted my esteem for the marathon. Felt good and relaxed and enjoyed the race. James was a minute ahead of me, Cody 30 seconds behind. Good job and thanks for the race, guys. 2.5 miles cool down. 

I looked up previous results and found my time would have put me in second place the past 2 years.  Looks like the race is growing.

New Tangent shoes felt great. Tangent- 20.

Met up with Jeff Shadley in Idaho Falls.  We did a nice morning run together- I felt good even though we were trucking along pretty good (6:50/mile pace, maybe), plus I only slept 9 hours the past 2 nights combined.  8.75 miles with Jeff, plus a mile warm up and a mile (plus a bit) cool down.  Enjoyed running with him and am meeting him again tomorrow for a short run.  Good run, very nice to run in the cool morning, good conversation.

Omni- 246

Met Jeff at 6 am.  60 degrees- pretty nice (a lot better than 90 deg in St George).  We did a loop up to the river and around the trail there.  9 miles, probably 7:10-7:20 pace average (or so).  Logan should have developed their river like that.  A long run tomorrow will put me around 75 miles for the week. 

Omni- 255

Still in Idaho.  Didn't start my run till after 10 am (saw a late showing of Transformers last night- great movie!).  Ran around community park, and wound my way around the cemetery, to the river and Fremont park.  Felt like I doubled my mileage by running from tree to tree to try to stay in the shade- it was hot!  Felt like crap for the first 3-4 miles, but pushed on and felt better.  1:40:57- probably 13.5 to 14 miles, so I will round down.  Hot.  Hope to get an easy 3-4 in later today.

Omni- 264