With the holiday weekend I ended up not planning a run with anyone, so I was left to decide on my own what to do. I decided to do a loop around Orem. I started on 1600 N, went west to 2000 W, south to 2000 S, worked my way east and north to Palisades then north to Cascade Golf Course, then worked my way west and north back up to 1600 N and then west to home. It ended being 14.6 miles. I finished in 2:10:12, for an average pace of 8:55/mi. I averaged around 8:50/mi for the first 6.5 miles, then slowed as I headed east and then north, which were mostly uphill. I stopped at exactly 10 miles and took an eGel and drank about 8 ounces of water from my water bottle. I felt pretty good the next 2 miles north to Cascade Golf Course, but I was still only running just over a 9:00 pace. As I turned west, and began the gradual downhill instead of uphill, I picked up the pace. I ran the mile to 1200 N/800 E at 8:17/mi. I started the next mile at 8:06/mi, but my average pace for that mile slowed to 9:00/mi as I went up the big hill and around the former WordPerfect buildings, but I managed to pull the average back down to 8:24/mi by end of that mile at 400 E/1600 N. I was now only a little more than a 1/2 mile from home, and it was my favorite 1/2 mile downhill, so I pushed the pace from 400 E to Main. I decided to not look at the pace on my watch as I pushed this 1/2 mile, but instead I solely counted my stride rate. I had calculated my stride rate at right around my target of 180 a few times during the earlier part of my run. I calculated it at 195 for this section, the same rate as when I was pushing hard on Wednesday. When I checked my pace at the end of the 1/2 mile it was 6:47/mi. I felt pretty good about finishing that strongly, and overall I just felt pretty good after the run. I had no real aches or pains to speak of, and recovered pretty quickly. The skies were overcast and it never got too hot. I think I prefer running with a buddy or two or more, but I also enjoy a good solo run now and then, and I enjoyed this one.
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