I ran the Wil's Canyon Stop run solo this morning. I was glad I was alone. I would have been embarrassed to have someone I know witness this pitiful run. My legs felt very heavy and I felt very tired right from the start. These six miles felt very much like the last 6 miles of a marathon. In fact, if I run this slow at the end of the Utah Valley Marathon next week I'll be pretty disappointed. I tried and could barely manage 10:20 pace the last mile, and only averaged 9:57/mi overall. This seemed like more than just a bad run. In an effort to explain it, here are what I believe to be some contributing factors: 1. A basketball game the night before...our traditional Old Guys vs. Young Men at the church. We play first to 100, with half time when one team reaches 50. The young guys were good, but the old guys won by 20+. We had plenty of subs, but I played hard while I was in and got pretty tired. 2. I found out about the game at the last minute, just as Karen was serving dinner. I grabbed a single small hot dog. After the game I had some pork and beans, but never really ate much to refuel. I also didn't drink much so I think I was pretty dehydrated. 3. We stayed up late and I only got a little over 4 hours of sleep. Despite these excuses, I was a little concerned about how bad I felt. Maybe I'm even less prepared for this upcoming marathon than I was thinking. I guess time will tell. | 