Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I ran on the canal road, out 7.5 miles then back for a total of 15. I doubled back a couple of times and ended up with 15.6. It was a nice cool morning and we didn't leave until 7:00am. It was just starting to get a little warm for running when we finished. We got rained on briefly a couple of times. The first time was a pretty hard rain that even included a little hail. Even with the rain, it was a pretty comfortable and pleasant run along the canal road. We passed a number of other people on the canal. Near the end we saw a large group of young male runners. A little while later we saw a slightly smaller group of young female runners. Both groups looked pretty fit. I think they may have been BYU runners. At about 10 miles I double backed for a 1/10 of a mile or so, took a quick bathroom break, then pushed at around 7:00/mi to catch the others. It was much harder than I thought it would be. After running with them a bit I was feeling really tired and decided I needed to "lock in" and try to hold a good pace the 3-4 miles to the end. Wayne had already pulled ahead so he was my target, but I never caught him. I found it harder than I wanted it to be to hold even an 8:20 pace. That's when I started rationalizing: 1) it's gradual but steady uphill, 2) there's a good headwind, 3) I'm 11-12 miles into the run and I've had no water or gels, 4) I'm wearing my oldest and heaviest trainers, etc. At least it was good training to keep my legs moving when they didn't really want to.
I'm still optimistic about the chance for a good run at St. George. Time will tell.
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