I ran Provo Canyon up to Vivian Park and back with 7 of 12 of the relay team (Verdon, Kerry, Greg, Tom, Terry, Will and me) plus Larry and Wayne. As usual with the relay team members, we seem to push each other. I started with the group then held back a little and ran with Larry and Wayne for a bit. Kerry and Verdon were just behind us and the rest started pulling away. This was the first time I had met Terry so I decided to push to the lead group and run with them for a while. Terry was obviously idling to stay with us, but it was a pretty quick pace for the rest of us. I ran with Tom and Terry for a while with Will and Greg a little up ahead. We caught up with Greg then Tom and Terry pulled a little ahead, with Will still in the lead, and I ran with Greg for a while until he pulled ahead me as we approached the park.
On the return trip I ran with Kerry. We didn't push real hard as we conversed but it was still a pretty steady pace. I noticed a young man running a couple of steps behind us for quite a while so I finally introduced myself and invited him to run with us. His name was Martin. It's his first year running, he's training for his first marathon at St. George this fall, and this was his first 10 mile run. We were running about an 8:00 pace and he was running with us pretty easily. He asked a few training questions and we gave him a little advice, then Kerry told him about this web site. Maybe he'll join up. It's certainly benefited Kerry and me. The three of us ran together until the last mile, when I decided to pick up the pace to the end.
I averaged 8:11/mi up and 7:47/mi down, running the last mile in 6:36. It was a very enjoyable run. I wore my new shoes for the 2nd time and they performed very well. I think I'm ready for the relay next week. At least I hope I am, because it's too late to do anything about it now.
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