Seeking a better country...

It was so hot outside I opted for the close quarters of the treadmill. Ugh.

Got this one in the morning so I wouldnt be doing the 5k on totally dead legs, 10 hours later.q

7 am.  I registered early this year, and even bought the shirt, expecting it would be a nicely designed tech shirt, like it has been in the last couple years.  Turns out it was a crappy white cotton job; like a cheapo Old Navy 4th of July shirt.  Bummer.  At least the $20 is for a good cause.

So I warmed up a couple miles, and caught a ride to the start line with one of the race organizers who thought I was going to be late.  

The mad dash at the beginning left me far back.  I caught lots of people on the hill, and finished mile 1 in 6:34.  Mile 2 was 6:03, and includes most of the downhill.  I finished in 19:18, well off last years pace, but quite a bit under the 20 minute threshold; so the last 1.1 was 6:05 pace.  I would have been pleased with anything under 20.  I managed to catch up to Angie, Tara and Kristin in the end.  I think Angie nudged me at the finish line with a furious sprint.  I could have gone a bit harder, but it would have put me over the puking edge.  I would love to run this race with a competitive field on a cooler day and see how much quicker I could do it.  I soaked myself in somebody's hose just before the start, but I still felt hot and dry-mouth about half-way through.

All in all, a good start to the day.  I guess I can still fake a decent 5k.  I wish I had stayed around to help Tara clean up on the gift certificates.  Despite being 30 seconds slower than last year, 19:19 was good enough for the age group win and $10 at Don's Meats.  

Hiked timp. 15-16 slow miles, 4450 of vert. Gorgeous.

11pm. After a day of campaign signs, I was mad enough to need some running therapy. I ran to Leonard's grave in the Farmington cemetery, with stops along the way to fix signs and see what was missing. I'm glad people are so excited about my wife's candidacy, but I wish they would call us about getting their own signs rather than stealing the ones we already put up. Small town elections. What new devilry is this?

8:30 pm  Hot run with the stroller.  Jack and I dropped off a few bills.  He talked and sung for most of the run; eensy weensy spider, this little piggie, twinkle twinkle, ooo wee ooo, (like the Wizard of oz monkeys) calling out hello to everyone we passed.  My favorite was the random times he'd lean around and say, "Ah-luv-you-dad".  

7:30 am  After dropping off two girls for camp, I talked Ash into coming along.  All it takes is $1, so I gave away half of the proceeds of Monday's run just to get a little company, and she didn't even give me a bite of her donut.  We ran to Freedom Hills and back.  The slightly cooler morning felt nice, but still too hot for a shirt.  I soaked in all the sprinklers I could find.  

7 am.  Ash wouldn't come, so I hopped in the car and drove to BST.  I couldn't make myself do that 10% first mile.  4 out and back to Farmington.  While passing the switchbacks, both coming and going, the same lady was at the top.  She's training for a 1/2 in October, and using that wreched half-mile to get into shape.  I told her she's on the right track.

I think rather than revisiting last year's switchback madness in prep for Huntsville, I'm going to come up with a challenging # of MP or faster miles to hit.  The switchbacks made me stronger, but I need to be stronger for more than 5-6 minutes at a time.  

I was nervous about snakes for the entire run, but I didn't see any. 

7:30 am  Skipping work for the day, so a slightly later start, and slightly longer run.  Home to the Frontage Road, then ran east on the little Davis Creek trail to Main Street, and came home.  If I was a girl, I would NEVER frequent that stretch of trail.  I wouldn't recommend it for bikes, either.  Goat-heads abound.

6:45 am.  Visited my friend Nate.  Jack didn't take well to sleeping in a strange place, and was up late, very late, very early and early.  He's a light sleeper, and thrashed around all night.  I got up around 6, thinking (foolishly) I could sneak out without disturbing him.  He followed me out within 5 minutes.  Luckily the other girls woke up to tend him so we could go run.  Oatmeal and a butterscotch chip cookie for breakfast, followed by 8 miles up Hobble Creek Canyon.  We turned around and came down easy for a mile or so, then picked things up for 5-6 miles.  Nate is 3 weeks removed from a sub-12 Ironman performance, and he handed it to me.  This felt like a race effort all the way, without most of the typical stops and pauses.  We kept things just over 8 minute pace on the climb, then dropped to 6:40-7:00 miles on the way down.

After a nice soak in the canal, we enjoyed scones, fresh raspberries, yogurt, omelettes and juice for breakfast.  The kids had a wonderful time, as did I.  Once you get past Provo and Orem, Utah County isn't too bad. 

 Post run, I was very wiped out, both from the run and bad sleep.  Whenever I go long and hard, my left sacrum attachment area is a bit tender.  By Sunday it was cleared up, so I'm not very concerned.  My feet fared well, but I need a new pair of shoes for this marathon cycle.  Nearly 500 miles isn't a good starting place, especially for pounding, fast, downhill miles.   

6:45 am.  Ash came.  She insisted on going to Smiths instead of Dicks, or in other words, ice cream cone instead of donut.  I hate heading south.  The roads are so much busier; all you can hear is the swishing of speeding cars, instead of birds and breeze.  But when my girl wants ice cream, she will have ice cream.  We got to Smiths, and on account of   "No shoes, no shirt, no service" I waited outside by the salt.  It took forever for her to emerge with our cones; very sloppy, melty concoctions.  I dumped most of mine; I wanted ice cream, not a McDonalds shake.  Then we ran home the long way to check on the campaign signs.  Our installation methods have improved, either that, or the wind hasn't been as strong lately.  

6:15 am  Freedom Hills via BST.  It was cloudy and a bit muggy, but NOT cool.  Ran home on Main, caught up to Paul and Chewie for a bit.

6 am  2.5 miles to Pages Lane Trailhead, to meet Andy, Tara and Shantell.  We did a 4 mile tempo; 7:15, 7:00, 6:40, 6:30.  Felt pretty hard.  Then I ran home.  Now I have a really good headache.

7:45 am.  Really, really slow miles with Ash.  We stopped for 2 drinks, at the turnaround, and the store for her donut.  She was dragging like a chain searching for dead bodies in the water.  I felt lucky to get her home.  It was a nice relief from Wednesday's tempo, though.

Slow-pacing the Legacy half tonight.  The hourly forecast says it'll be 83 degrees;  yuck.  I don't know what to do about a long run this week.  Maybe I'll just run home from the fairpark at midnight and call it good. 

10 pm.  Paced the Legacy Midnight half, 8:20 pace with Matt and Tara, then ran home.  It was too hot and dark.  One lady stuck for the last 5 miles, and got in around 1:49.  Pacing was fun, solo running after midnight, not so much.  I didn't have enough something, and the final miles were pretty rough.  I'm not sure the marathon is a good idea, but then, that's never been the case in the past.

8 am.  Anna came with.  We stopped to visit the park, the peacocks, the burros, the park, and the park again.  She is out of shape, but we had a nice time.  'Twas very hot by the time we got home; despite stopping at three parks, she was ready for a big drink at home.

7:30 am  Some runs never feel right.  This was one of them.  Pace was around 8:20, but it felt like a minute faster.  Cold shower when I got home was nice.  I need to stop running to check on all the signs.  It keeps bothering me when a sign is newly missing or blocked by a tool candidate. 

6:30 am.  I skipped Tempo Tuesday because I didn't want to be wiped out to run with Russ tomorrow @ desnews.  The alternate route was BST to Freedom Hills.  It was under 70 when I started, but the soak at the park felt great.   This was a much better run than yesterday and Sunday.

7:20 am.  I ran with Russ from mile 15 to the finish of the Desnews marathon today.  He turned in a solid performance, beating his pr by 8 minutes, and destroying his course PR by 2 hours.  I think one could really turn in a fast time on this course if it wasn't held in late-July.  The heat is too much of a factor, though.  Those uphill sections along Wasatch, 1300 E, and Foothill aren't much fun either.

Way to go, Russ!!

6:45 am.  Ash wouldn't come, so I took to the trails.  I wore a belt, and was glad to have 20 oz.  The trail was lonely and quiet.  I was only 15 degrees away from being comfortable; September can't come soon enough.  I came off the trail in Farmington, cutting through someone's backyard and firepit.  Bombed down the steep road, trying to toughen up the legs for Huntsville, then picked off 8 or 9 lady runners on Main Street.  Where are all the men?  It's always about 6:1 in favor of women harriers.  Finished up with a 6:38 mile, then lay down on the driveway to make a beautiful sweat angel. 

I hate showing up to work on Friday at 9:15, but it was worth it for this run.  The desnews race reports have been delightful to read...thanks, everyone. 

7:15 am.  For some reason it took me 45 minutes to eat a bowl of oatmeal and get out the door.  It never cooled off overnight, and my plan was to do a double today for a total of 12-14.  Once I got going, it seemed stupid to dread another run all day long, so I just kept going.  I got to Legacy and was nearly run over by dozens of bikers, and a crowd of crazy inline skaters.  I saw very few runners.  It sprinkled a bit, but not enough to cool anything off.  At Farmington State street I headed east, then followed the Lincoln Highway all the way home.  The final miles were tough, but felt better after I ate some smarties.  

It took until 7 tonight to not feel wiped out, and I considered going out for a few more.  Instead of actually running, I got on the computer to write about running.  What a chump.

A stranger runner I chatted with briefly today asked me if I was getting ready for a fall marathon.  Out of my mouth came the reply, "Why yes, I'm running Huntsville at the end of September."  I guess I better get signed up for reals.  I guess worst case I will miss the race on account of a new baby. 

7 am  Usual run to Farmington, but I came home a long way, including hills up to Firebreak Road.

6 am  Tempo Tuesday.  2 weeks ago the whole thing was too much, so this time I drove to the trailhead early, and did a truncated warmup, approximately one mile.  Jasmine, Tara, Andy and Shantell arrived, and we ran another 1/2 mile or so before picking things up.  The first 2 miles were 6:45 pace.  At the turnaround, Jasmine wanted to go much faster.  The back 2 miles were 12:28, so pretty quick.  We all regrouped and loped in easy to the starting point.  1 more mile to cool down.  I felt great all day.  

Interval sprints doing door hangers.