I ran the water tank hills with Larry, Wayne and Kent. It was 4 days after the Squaw Peak 50 and 4 days before the Utah Valley Marathon. My goal was to see how my legs felt to help me decide whether to run the marathon. As I jogged up to the meeting corner, I had some pain in my right heel, my left knee hurt a little, and my feet still felt a little beat up, but I felt up for the run. The PF-related heel pain felt better as I warmed up. I've been used to this since the PF flared up back in January. It feels a little different after hyper-extending it 3 times during the 50, but I'm not too concerned about it. The feet felt a little tired during the run, but nothing to worry about. With a few days more rest they should be fine. The left knee only really bothered me on the steep downhills where I had to watch my footing. When I hit the level section between hills 2 and 1 on the way back down I picked up the pace to catch up to Wayne and Kent. I was moving along at a fast pace and my legs felt great. It felt good to open up and run fast. I passed them just as we began the descent down the steep first hill and the knee didn't bother me when I didn't have to brake to watch my step. I'll decide on Friday whether to run the marathon, but it looks like a go. With the "no rocks, snow or mud", secure footing, and a mostly gradual downhill course, I think I'll be fine if I don't push the pace. I took it easy last year and ran 3:50. This year's course should be faster. That's only about 1/4 as long as I ran last week.
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