Ran with Larry, Wayne, and Kevin at 6:30am. The weather was in the high 30's when we started and it was a little dark. As we got warmed up and it got lighter it was great running. We ran a 9 mile loop down into south Orem and back. We only averaged 8:39/mi overall, but Kevin and I picked it up a little the last 2.5 miles and averaged 7:54/mi for about 1.5 miles, then 7:11/mi for a mile or so, finally getting down to 6:11/mi for the last couple of blocks. I would have liked to go a little farther, but we had a 9:00 am meeting to get to. I also think we could have gone faster, but just running with my friends was enough today. With both my son and daughter having basketball games on Saturday, and with the leadership meeting this week, its been hard to get in a good long run recently. Of course, until a few days ago I was only training for a 10K in March. I had decided to wait until next year to run Boston, but this week I reconsidered and decided to run it this year. My wife is supportive, but is going to wait and maybe go with me next year, so I'm doing a short trip to minimize expenses. I'm going to fly out early Sunday morning and return late Monday night. Now that I'm officially registered and have booked my airfare, I'm getting pretty excited. This will be my first Boston marathon. I'm really looking forward to running with Kerry and Tom. Running St. George with them two years ago, and with just Kerry this past year (Tom was too fast), was awesome. It seems we all have the same goal for our first Boston, just run a comfortable pace, have a good time, and enjoy the experience. We can always pursue a good time another year. Nevertheless, there is no such thing as an easy marathon. I'll have to get a little more serious the next couple of months and make sure I find time to get in the miles and the long runs, but with spring coming I'm looking forward to it. | 