Seeking a better country...

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.