Seeking a better country...

The day dawned.  A couple hours later I left with Jack in the running stroller.  We went straight down a quiet Main Street, always looking for the smoothest pavement.  4 miles later, we turned around and came home.  Jack slept for miles 3-7.5.  The last 1/2 was kinda bumpy due to the tar they use to cover cracks.  We found several treasures along the way, including $0.41, a freshly killed raccoon, and a not so freshly squooshed snake.  The morning was cool; my thermostat had it at 59, but that's on the shady side of the house.  We arrived home just in time, as the sun was getting high enough to peek over the sides of the stroller and get in his face.  No run is perfect, but this one came pretty close, with the free money and all.

My daughter needed a lift home from Park City, so I went up there after work to buy some shoes and wait for her.  In the interim, I bought some running shorts, and spent an hour running around the roads and trails in the vicinity of the Canyons resort.  It was much cooler than the valley, so it was nice.  I tried out the crocs, and they are very comfortable to run in.   The left one slipped partway off one time.  For about 5 minutes my left toes felt funny, but by the end, everything was normal.  I feel no after-effects this morning.  The crocs are baby blue and cost $5.  That's quite a savings from the normal shoe purchase price.  

Also, I have completed my registration form for TOU.  I even wrote the check, but I haven't put it in the mail yet.  This weekend the price goes up $25.  I'm in...but still wobbling on the fence a little bit.  I looked at all the close marathons in the time frame, (Pocatello, Salmon, Layton) and TOU seems like the best choice.  My base is pretty good, but the long runs aren't there.  Other than Ragnar and one half marathon last month, I haven't "gone long" since March.  I guess I'll have to get up early Saturday and go for 17 or something.   

Despite waking up around 5, I didn't leave on this run until 7.  Jack was having a rough morning so I tended him for a while while mommy slept.  Once he went to sleep, I took off; this gave the oatmeal plenty of time to digest.  I ended up at the baseball complex doing laps around the "Century Mile", which is only .7.

On my way there, I got into some sodden grass, and my feet got all wet.  I'm not sure if the wet feet or the thin socks gave me some rubbing issues.  The crocs didn't rub in 7 miles on pavement with normal socks on Monday...I must monitor this situation closely.  After the run, I got home and did some chores.  I finally managed to get to work by 10:30.  I guess I'm pretty much an ideal employee.

In the evening, I ran to a customer's house to switch over sprinkler lines.  Jack came with.  The customer lives south, and it reminded me why I always run north.  The roads are so much busier in that direction.  I had to go up on the sidewalk, and trying to keep things smooth for the baby with all the cracks and curb cuts was inconvenient compared to running in the road.

It's strange how some part of my livelihood is contingent on somebody's inability to rotate a knob to the right and left a quarter of a turn.

The crocs made blisters on the pivot for the strap.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  I don't think they'll matter in shoes, which I'll be wearing for a long run tomorrow. 

Long run #1.  This is the longest I've run since April.  Why do I want to add 9 more miles to this total?  I ran partway up and down City Creek, met up with Fiddy and Allie, then ran some cool down miles with them.  It was cool and nice with a breeze the first time up, but by the time I was running down the second time, all coolness disappeared, except for the residual glow of running with two of Utah's premier runners.

I hit my target for the day (16) and still had over a mile to get to the car.  I asked a cop if he'd give me a lift on the back of his motorcycle, but he declined courteously.  I walked for a while, then felt like a moron walking down a hill and ran the rest of the way.  Once I got out of memory grove, I found the stinkiest garbage can possible, and sat down next to it in the creek.  That felt great, but smelled bad.  A chocolate shake from Crown Burger was the final touch on this run.  Now I'm home, and I hope I'm too tired to do anything except take a nap or go waste money at stores.  I also have an 1800 calorie deficit to rectify.  Also, bathing might not be a bad idea.

My left tibia hurts 1/3 of the way up.  This is not a new thing, but after 16 miles it hurts more than normal.