Seeking a better country...

At 7:20 this morning, I ran to the race directors to drop off my registration for the 5k tomorrow.  I saved 45 cents.  I broke through an electric fence to come home on BST.  There were some old people and dogs up there.  I said, "Good morning."  Some of them said stuff back, and some of them ignored me.  All the dogs ignored me.

Race conditions were pretty good; no wind and somewhat cool.  The narrow street start had the usual congestion, but things were manageable after the first bend.   I didn't get out very fast, but I knew I'd overtake lots of the speedsters on the hill.  I passed around 20 people on Parrish.

Splits:  6:51 (start and the only hills), 6:23, 6:26 + whatever

This was all I had today; I was within a hair-width of puking over the line.   After the race I visited with Laputka for a while and tried out his clogs.  They seemed pretty good; I'll be ordering a few pair.  The winner came in at 15:40.  I can't believe a 20 min 5k put me in 9th in my age division.  I need to find a smaller race.  I also found out they are canceling the trail 10k, so that sucks.   

After spending the morning grouting tile, I left for a run.  It had been cloudy, and even raining a bit, so I figured it would be a reasonable temp.  Well, shortly after leaving, the sun came out in full force, so it was  hot one.  I took BST to Freedom Hills where I reloaded the water bottle.  I went by Ricks Creek, removed my shoes and pack, and lounged in the cool water, head to toe.  There were three girls doing a wedding dress photo shoot across the street; they probably thought I was pretty weird.  After the plunge, I felt much cooler for the remainder of the run.  My shorts were completely dry by the time I got home 2 miles later.  

It was getting late and I didn't want to put the girls to bed so...I ran to my sister's and back.  The pull up Mill Street was pretty good, and the tailwind and downhill on the way back were even better.  One nice thing about getting up the hill a little bit is there are fewer insects.  I didn't get started till 9:45 thinking it would be cooler.  I was mistaken.  

J, G, and A came on bikes to meet Grandma on Legacy.  We left around 8 p.m., and met her group (2 of my sisters) at Parrish Lane.  They wanted to ride the 1/2 marathon route.  It ended up quite an entourage; 6 people on bikes and me running.  It was hot and muggy and buggy.  The bugs would fly in my face and get stuck in the sweat.  Gross. We ran to Farmington Station.  I didn't know they had opened any stores, but now there's a Harmons at the end of the line.  I'll have to bring a few bucks next time for chocolate milk.  

While loping alongside my sister, we came up with the idea for a team race.  Pick your distance, but you, your partner and one bicycle have to cover it, switching whenever you want.  Obviously the runner would be the slow step, but it would be interesting to see how to optimize the fast running and switching to rest, etc.

I awoke around 5, and slept again till 6.  Got up for some oatmeal and left on the coolest temp run in weeks.  I ran to JP and did laps barefoot in the grass.  After a few, I ran down to the public park for a drink and lap, then back to JP to finish, then home.  It felt strange to have shoes on after 6 miles of barefoot.  I don't have any insightful analysis.

On a separate note, I got one guy to flip me off while driving to work.  It made my day. 

Fixing sprinklers all day, including running back and forth from valves to heads to valves to heads etc....I'm sure I had more than one measly mile, but it seems like cheating to count up.    So I missed out on a good run this morning, but will make up for it with a vengeance in the morning.  6 miles of barefoot was too many; my left foot was sore early today.  Oddly, it feels fine now, so hopefully it'll hold together for the morning.

After two 10 minute snoozes, I got up for oatmeal, and headed for the BST.  I took the usual way, but went higher after Ford Canyon to the high Farmington houses.  I saw a couple old guys walking up there, and they seemed as pleased to be up on a Sunday morning as me.  I went to the creek, and soaked my powerade for a while while I stretched.  The drink did get cooler.  After turning around and stopping climbing all over the place, I got some okay pace miles in; around 7:50 pace for the last 6 miles.  The first ones were 10-11, climbing 1800'.  I need to quit reading articles that say you can't go too slow.  This run felt too slow, but I was pretty sluggish from yesterday.

After a grandkids picture at my ancestral home, I ran up to the mouth of Mueller Canyon, back down, over to Vineyard, down to 13th, over to northern hills to North Davis Blvd and home.  The first mile was windy and rainy, the rest of the run was windy, muggy and hot.  It was a good shakedown for my tired legs.  I hope it's rainy with a tailwind for the 1/2 on Friday night.  The lit temple looked amazing against the dark, brooding sky at sunset.  It's not often you see a rainbow and sunset at the same time.

Slow, slow, slow miles.  Ash came with, so it was a real treat.  She was "tired" and didn't do a very good job of keeping up, so we languished along for nearly an hour. Besides finding a dollar in the gutter, she got a donut, so she was really happy with the run.  I got to listen to her silly prattle for an hour, so I was really happy with the run.  Afterwards, I picked raspberries for an hour, and didn't make it to work until 10.  Ahh, July.

My son dropped me off at Deuel Creek. I ran BST to Freedom Hills and came home.  I ran too fast for a nice easy run the night before a race, but couldn't hold back for some reason.

This race way pretty okay.  3 sisters, my mom and bro-in-law ran it as well.  My mom and one sister won their age divisions.  I could only muster a 3rd place finish.  I ran the first 4-5 miles pretty easy with my sister.  By then she had enough, and sent me on.  To make something out of this race, I wanted to try and speed up and run each mile quicker.  Although this was my mental intent, I didn't check my watch to verify I was actually accomplishing the goal, rather, I ran by feel, and gauged my effort on breathing.  Running at night takes away most visual cues, but I'm used to running this path in the dark, so it didn't slow me down.  

Awards afterward started 45 minutes too late, and were extremely tedious.  I didn't get home till after 2 am.  It was fun to run into my Van 1 teammates from WB, as well as complete this half with so many family members.  Overall, 1100 people entered all three of these races, so it was pretty well attended and a fun event.  It might play better in the fall when it's cooler and the calendar isn't quite so full.

Splits:  8:19, 7:49, 8:06, 7:49, 7:49 7:33, 7:14, 7:16 7:05, 7:15 7:11 7:30 6:34. I passed 8 people in the final mile.  I liked starting out slower and continually overtaking people over the whole race, rather than running in no man's land the whole time. 

We had an eventful day.  My wife is really knocked out with end of pg stuff; with her getting up every hour or so, I didn't sleep all that well.  She woke up around six nervous/panicked about not feeling the baby move, but he perked up and quit scaring us.  I went for a run, with both of them on my mind.  Things seemed relatively settled, so I went to work.  Come to find out later, daughter got hit by a car while biking to dance, but luckily, no harm done.  She had a walk light, while the oblivious lady in the van was running a red.  Furthermore, after a nap, another daughter woke up with a 103 temp.  So...now I'm home from work and gotta get dinner going.  I'm glad I got a run in this morning.

When the clouds got thick enough in the western sky to block the sun, me and my running partner left home.  We traveled 3 miles before her tire was flat.  Nice stranger #1 let us pump it up.  Instead of heading home, we foolishly continued our quest, and by mile 5.5, she was flat again.  Nice stranger #2 provided a pump and we made a beeline for Smoot Park where the boys were playing tennis.  I dropped of my partner and ran the final 2 miles without a buddy.  Between whining, being thirsty and having a sore butt from the bike seat,  (Dad, my butt hurts soooo bad!!  time passes   Dad, how much my butt was hurting before, well, it hurts even more now!!)  the first miles were quite slow.  The last couple were faster, but less entertaining.  

I need to sign up for a half or full to give my training some focus, but I'm hesitant until this baby shows up.  TOU?  Pocatello?  Definitely not Layton again.   

BST to Freedom Hills.  I added a trip up the switchbacks before heading home on Main.  There were a multiplicity of dragonflies this morning.  I also saw three other runners and several walkers enjoying the low 60's on the trail.

At 9:15 p.m. Jens set out on his bike with me to catch the fireworks up the hill.  3.85 miles up to find my family, watch a 35 minute fireworks display (awesome) and then run back down.  Between 800 S. and 500 S.  we passed 32 cars stopped up trying to get down the hill.  This may become an annual tradition, as long as I need to get in a run.

Jack was born at 3:18 p.m.  8 lbs 4 oz, 20.5 inches.  Tami did a fantastic job; they are both perfect.  What a day!!!

It was too warm to venture outside, but at least outside there is the possibility of a breeze.  I watched a good Law and Order.  

I spent a nice, cloudy day working in the yard with various kids.  The weeds have sure gotten away from me.  We left around sunset to pick up some binkies.  Ran a one mile warmup, then did a hard quarter followed by a recovery quarter x12.  Fast quarters ranged from 6:20 to 6:55.  I'll blame the slower ones on a stiff, south wind.  Obviously I've got some work to do.  There were lots of fireworks popping.  At the end we stopped at Wal-Mart and found some nice silicone binkies.  Hope they work.

Slow run with Ash after it was already sunny and warm.  We didn't get out until 8:30 or so.  We had a nice drink at the park, and she sicced the play dinosaur on my hand.  

Jack got a little fussy around 5:30.  I had the alarm set for an hour later, but figured I might as well let someone sleep a little longer.  I got him all swaddled, and put a towel around his head to give him some stability, and we set off.  He looked around with the hiccups for the first couple miles, then fell asleep.  The road is smoother than the sidewalk.  I got home and immediately my other running partner was mad at me because SHE wanted to go with Jack.  It was great to get out early in the day while it's cool.  Lots of walkers, bikers and runners were trying to see the baby.  

Ran 5.5 miles up City Creek Canyon with Russ.  2000' of climb.  I love this run.  I wish it wasn't a 15 minute add-on at the beginning and end to get there.  The slope is perfect both up and down.  9:06 overall pace, one faster mile coming down the hill.  It is raining/sprinkling outside as I type, so I think I'll be heading out now...as soon as I change this font.

It started afternoon and evening showering, so I changed and headed for the hills.  I kept the pace at 10 minutes for the first two climbing miles, then brought it on down on traverses.  Once I got to the flat road, I opened up for a couple quicker miles in the pouring rain.  It was awesome to be out; it would have been even better 5 degrees cooler.  I debated whether I should shower after the run, after all, I was completely soaked through.  Just for the record, I did clean up.