Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Went to church, changed a diaper, watched the Indy 500, finished repairing my fence, cleaned the bathroom, and made flapjacks.

Enjoyed a Memorial Day run with Cody and Walter up on the Deerfence Trail. We went from Dry Canyon to almost Blacksmith Fork and back. The trail was very wet and muddy from recent rain, plus all the cow dung and rocks made footing tricky. I worked some of the uphills hard, but otherwise kept the pace conversational. We averaged 8:14/mile for the run.

Ran the dog for a mile. Then ran the Logan Loop. 8 miles at about 7:15/mile pace.

AM - ran the dog for a mile, then ran to First Dam and back on the Canal Trail. Averaged 7:19/mile.

PM - ran to Car Smart to pick up my car. Then went home, picked up Seth and ran the Planet Walk. 4.5 miles total.

*************

I was very saddened today to learn that Adam Jacobs died unexpectedly earlier this week. Adam was the owner of The Final Sprint (thefinalsprint.com), and I wrote articles for the site for about a year, back in 2007. During that time I talked to Adam frequently and got to know him a bit. I admired him for his energy, passion for running, and what he was doing for the sport through his website and the media coverage it provided. He was also a class act, always interested in my own running, and always willing to chat about running and other things. An all-around good guy. This has weighed on me deeply today, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family. Adam was 24 years old.

 http://dailynews.runnersworld.com/2009/05/adam-jacobs-founder-of-thefinalsprintcom-dead-at-24.html

Ran the dog around the block. Later in the morning, did a slow tempo on the North Logan Loop. 10.75 miles averaging 6:03/mile. This loop is a bit hilly, so probably a similar effort to my Young Ward Loop tempos.

Ran the dog around the block. Then I ran the Planet Walk out to US-89, crossed the highway, and went into Nibley on 800 W. I can honestly that in 8 years living in the valley, I've never been on these roads, or even knew they existed. Nibley. Huh.

Anyway, the purpose of this run was to scout out a 5K course I am mapping for the Charles Sare Foundation. They are putting on a race in September and asked me to do the route and the maps. Usually I just map what someone else has planned, so this was kind of fun. The route starts and finishes off of 800 W at the parking lot of Gibbons Park. It is a loop course, very flat, and goes through some nice neighborhoods. The road surface is very new and very nice, no camber. It should be a very fast course. The only problem is that is crosses railroad tracks. The tracks themselves aren't an issue, but having a train stop the race sure would suck. But it's rare to see a train on those tracks, and perhaps there is a schedule to ensure good timing.

Ran back home. 9.75 miles total.

Last night we camped at Maple Grove Hot Springs (Idaho). This is an easy hour trip from Logan and a good practice camping trip with Seth. It is right along the Bear River, near the Oneida Narrows. Very pretty spot. This morning I got up and ran Oneida Narrows Rd, a nice dirt road that follows the river. It is rolling terrain, but nothing too steep or too long (predictably, since it follows a river). Did 14.5 miles and averaged 6:57/mile. Followed up the run with a good soak.