I got stuck in a noon meeting today so I didn't get to run with Tom and Nathan. However, after reading Tom's blog maybe it's a good thing. They ran Eagle's View, and that's not what I wanted to do today. With the Spectrum 10K this weekend I plan to mini-taper near the end of the week, but I still want this to be a pretty good training week so I plan to get in some good miles early in the week.
I started off with the thought of running the 8 mile loop we've done a couple of times recently, only in the reverse direction. It ended up being quite different. Rather than loop through East Bay I started directly up University Avenue, worked my way east to 500 East, then kept going north to 700 North (just south of BYU campus). I then headed east and went up to Seven Peaks Blvd, down to Seven Peaks, and back to 900 East.
There was a bit of a climb up to Seven Peaks Blvd, but it was nothing compared to the climb that started at 300 South and 900 East and gradually got steeper over the next mile or so as I headed east and then south into the neighborhoods east of State Street. Tom had mentioned his distaste for this particular climb, and I now understand why. It just seemed to keep going and going, getting steeper and steeper, and then I met Mr. Headwind as I turned south and went up the steepest part of the hill just before the top. The headwind continued as I headed south and west back to work, but at least there was a lot of downhill, with only a little uphill on the two overpasses.
My average pace was 8:48/mi for the 9 miles, the fastest being 8:13/mi on the first mile, and the slowest being 9:40/mi on that lovely long uphill. All in all it was a very good run, especially the sunshine and mild temperatures.
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