Seeking a better country...

7 am.  Freedom Hills, with a couple laps around the park, and a shirt soaking in the good sprinklers.  I came home the hilly way.  The 4th of July (and the local 5k) is right around the  corner.  At this point, beating last year's time seems unlikely.  What's worse is my apathy about this likelihood.

I've been doing a lot of runs, and I am enjoying myself.  The kids are coming along besides Ash, and we've got these relays and other events coming up.  But in order to have improved marathon performance, I need more workouts, not runs.  I'm barely working hard on a run once a week.  

So I'd love to get together with running partners more often for some tempo stuff.  Currently I don't have the mojo to tackle it on my own. 

7 am.  Breezy morning on the way home, with the stroller acting like a sail.  Jack pointed out lots of flags.

7 am  I got out the door, once again without my running buddy.  It wasn't the TV that kept her home, but Littlest Pet Shop.    Those things are so much fun.  She was busy cutting out little pieces of paper and making props for them; who can blame her?

The advantage of not having a running buddy is you can make lots of random turns.  Some of those turns head uphill, which makes running buddy less enthusiastic.  Before long I found myself on the BST, running around, wishing for water, although 'twas cooler this morning than the last two.  I got up on the wrong level, and thought I was heading south to Cheese Park and the drinking fountain; alas, I arrived at Northern Hills.  I came close to drinking out of a nearby spigot, but I was concerned the homeowner would get mad at me, so I returned thirsty.  I did pause at Parrish Creek to soak my shirt.  

Recovery jam toast. 

7:15 am  Ash came with.  I wore shoes, cuz I'm sick of running out of the crocs.  It doesn't seem to be a problem with the brown ones, but the blue ones fit a little on the loose side.

If I run tomorrow, it'll be a shorty; I must taper for the 1/2 on Saturday.  I'm 5-7% concerned about being able to pace the 1:35.  It should be fine, it's just been a long time since I've toed a serious line.  Probably nobody will show up wanting to run that pace anyway. 

I was up around 2:30 am to get ready for this pacing opportunity.  It ended up being a very good simulation for the no sleep Ragnar and TOZ in upcoming weeks.

The race started promptly at 6 am.  I spent the 30 minutes in the Silver Fork Lodge lobby, rather than the portapotty line.  It worked out very well.  I ate oatmeal and a pbh for breakfast, and drank most of a 32 oz powerade before the start.

We stuck with the suggested pace very well, and carried 10-12 different people for parts of the race.  Some would fall off, others would go on to finish a little faster than the 1:35.  One guy stayed with us for almost the whole race.  We had a woman named Marcie that stuck with us for the last half.  With 2 miles to go, I told her she could run in the 1:32 or 1:33s if she was willing to get very uncomfortable.  Josh, my pacing buddy ran ahead with her, and I stuck to the plan.  With around a mile to go, I stopped in the road and waved my sign to rally some people who were a little ways back.  We reformed a pack, and got most of them in under the goal time.

 Pacing was a lot of fun.  Around mile 9 I was feeling really good, and wishing I was racing.  I soon realized I wouldn't be feeling this good if I had been racing for the first 9 miles.  

Afterward I got some bonus miles retracing the course to find my friend Dave.  I missed him in the finish area, so those miles were wasted.

The canyon was beautiful, the temperatures were amazing, and I met a lot of cool people.  Runners are the best.  Hopefully I can secure a pacing gig every month or so.  It was good to get a workout in, and to have some folks to run with. 

In the evening, I ran with my son for 4 miles.  I hoped it would help my legs feel a little better.  The downhill is pretty severe, and my shins are sore, plus some sacral area.  I'll live, though.