I woke up this morning undecided on whether I was going to run or not. I wasn't sure if Larry and Wayne would be running. Sometimes they head to St. George on long weekends, and we hadn't discussed our Saturday running plans like we normally do. When I checked the temperature and it was 10 degrees, and I waffled even more. I even discussed it with Karen, and we both agreed that it would be better to wait and run later when it was supposed to be warmer. About 9:30am I happened to look out the window and saw Larry and Wayne walking by...cooling down after their run! I missed the camaraderie of running with them, but they looked pretty cold. I ran some errands, including a trip to Home Depot and also to Sports Authority to buy some new compression shorts and a new running hat (identical to the Nike one I have and really like, but I needed another one to keep at work). I then returned home and (finally) strapped down our water heater, replaced a broken light fixture, and fixed a broken sink stopper in the bathroom. When I finally got my errands and projects done it was about 3:30pm, sunny, and above freezing. Karen and her sister were at Costco so I decided it was a good time to run. I decided to run the 8 mile loop down to Costco and back, thinking I might see Karen on her way home along the way. A little over 3 miles into the run she passed me as I was heading south and she was heading north on 400 East. I asked Karen later if it looked like I was running well. Like the good wife she is she said 'yes'. Actually, I felt pretty good the whole run. I ran it at around marathon pace effort, a good steady forward-moving pace but not pushing too hard. I ended up averaging 8:02/mi for 8.75 miles. Mile splits were: 8:10, 8:09, 7:57, 7:54, 8:11*, 8:01, 8:12*, 7:53, 0.75 miles in 5:48 (7:45/mi). The 8:11 was mostly all slight upgrade, the 8:12 mile included a long wait at a traffic light. I felt like I held a good pace the entire run, and could have kept going for a while. It was pretty encouraging. I could still feel the PF and Achilles lurking in the wings, but they stayed away, as did the sharp foot pain from Thursday. I iced my foot immediately after the run. One day at a time. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself tomorrow. The stake president is out of town so we are not having our normal meetings. I'll be able to attend my home ward, and nothing else. That will be nice. Of course, the next Sunday we have PEC, presidency meeting, and two ward conferences so I'll be going all day starting at 6:30am. At least it pays well (spiritually).
Tomorrow, apparently to cosmically balance my reduction in Sunday meetings, some of Karen's family are coming over in the evening for dinner and, since it's a holiday on Monday, will probably stay late into the night talking and playing games. Actually, it should fun...for as long as I am able stay awake.
| 