Seeking a better country...

I haven't tracked my shoes in months.  I have newer shoes, and I'm running in 2 pairs of mirage threes.  All my other footwear is cooked.  Today I wore my old kinvaras to work.  I haven't worn crocs on a run in over a year.  I don't know why...maybe I got sick of them coming off.  For one thing, my son left a pair in a hot car, and they kind of shrunk.

My annual desire to move to Flagstaff AZ is cresting.  I'm really sick of the heat.  

10 pm.  It was sultry.  Jack came in the stroller.  We took flags off the construction signs and used them to hit garbage cans.  He kept noticing all the diamonds (road and construction signs)  By mid-run, the tiredness took over and he stopped talking and hitting things.  Today my boy turns 3.  He's been a good running buddy since he was 3 days old.  I'm a very lucky dad.

I had to get up pretty early to get these miles in before a 7:20 t-time with my dad, mom and son.  The run was nice; it was actually reasonably cool in the shade of the mountains.  Either that, or I'm getting acclimated to the heat.

Golf didn't go well.  As someone once said, "a good walk spoiled."  Except I didn't walk.  Eaglewood begs for a cart.  Then my dad bait and switched me into a car-type project.  All's well that ends well, though.  He had cold Dew in the fridge, and made us pancakes for breakfast.  

It was strange to not spend a good part of the morning on the race course or at liberty park.  But sometimes a break with tradition is greater than continuing a tradition.  If you never let go of something, pretty soon you are tied down all the time.  At certain points, enough is enough.

Feasibility study for Cottonwood marathon.  I've been dancing around commitment like a nervous bachelor for months.  If this 20 miler went well, I would plan on doing the next one.  Price goes up for the race on August 15th, so that will give me one more look in a couple weeks.

I got up at 5 am, ate some toast and got out the door by 5:30.  I carried powerade and jellybeans to drop at the 2.5 mile area, and carried fruit strips for fuel.  My course was out and back to Farmington City Hall 2 times.  It is exactly 5 miles from my door to the drinking fountain in the park near the pool.  

Garmin A died 3 miles in.  The first 10 miles were around 8 minute pace, probably rarely dipping under.  The course is nonstop rollers, and with 20 miles to go, I didn't want to start out too crazy.  

I got home after 10, drank some powerade and grabbed a different garmin to try.  It held out for the remainder of the run, which was really the litmus test.  I ran the 5 miles to the fountain again, just over 8 minute pace.  

15 miles into a run is a great time to start some MP miles.  16-19 were 7:39, 7:02, 7:54, 6:59.  Cooled down for a 9 minute mile to wrap up the 20.

Signals are mixed from this workout.  Yeah, I got 20 in.  But only 20% of the miles averaged marathon pace, the rest were 40-60 seconds slower.  My pacing is horrible, but that's kind of understandable on a rolling course.  

In two weeks, I'll find a long canyon to run down.  That'll give me a better idea on comparable terrain.