Karen took the girls shopping in the evening so I headed up the canyon for a run. There were a lot of people on the trail...skate boarders, bikers (quite a few families biking together), walkers, and some runners. The weather was ideal. The parks were full of people eating, playing, visiting, and just enjoying a beautiful day. I felt pretty good so I push the pace a little (for me). Saturday I averaged 10:00 pace going up the canyon. Today I averaged 9:18/mi, though it was only for 3.36 miles instead of 6. I ran from the mouth of the canyon to the second fountain at Nunn's Park. There was a "Your Speed" sign at the entrance to the park to remind people to slow down to 15 mph. When I was ready to start my return trip back down the canyon, I waited until nobody else was around the sign and took off as fast as I could to see if the sign would register my speed. I managed to get it to read 10mph. Of course that pace didn't last very long, but I did hold a pretty good pace going down. For the two miles between Nunn's and Mt. Timpanogos Park I pushed hard and my mile splits were 7:52 and 7:54. That's much faster than what I've done previously this year. As I ran along I pretended all the people on the trail and in the parks actually noticed me and cared how well I was doing. I tried to hold my form and look good for my pretended audience. After a stop at the Mt. Timpanogos Park fountain, I "coasted" in the last mile or so at 8:38/mi. My average pace for the 6.6 mile run was 8:44/mi. I think this was my best run since I began my recovery this year. I really enjoyed it. My son Andrew called as I was walking to my car to say the chicken was ready to come off the grill. I took a quick shower when I got home and enjoyed a great dinner on the deck with my family.
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