This morning Kent and I made the right choice I think. We decided to do the 10 mile tempo run from Trefoil at the top of South Fork down to the mouth of Provo Canyon. I dropped my car at the mouth and Kent drove us to the top. We weren't running the the same pace, so the driving was about the only time we were together.
The autumn leaves were very beautiful, with vivid reds and oranges mixed in with the evergreens. We saw a skunk and some wild turkeys. We also various squads of soldiers in camo uniforms with boots, full packs and carrying logs hiking/running down South Fork.
This was mostly a mental run today. We wanted to see how fast of a pace we could hold for 10 miles and see how we felt going just a little faster than marathon pace.
My mile splits were: 6:12, 6:48, 6:58, 6:45, 6:53, 6:59, 6:38, 6:47, 7:11, and 6:49. Mile 1 may have been a little fast, but it felt good. I was trying to catch Kent and a couple of other runners who had started down ahead of me. Mile 9, the only mile over 7:00, seemed really flat with little or no downhill. It felt really hard. I may have let up a little mentally, but I was working pretty hard. I was pleased that I was able to pull mile 10 back down to 6:49.
Kent wanted to break 75 minutes (7:30/mi) and finished in around 74. I wanted to break 70 minutes (7:00/mi) and ran it in 68:05 (6:48/mi, 8.8mph). So we both had good runs and made our goals. We're both pretty encouraged by the results. It was a beautiful day, with cool temperatures, beautiful autumn leaves and sunlit mountainsides. What a great way to start the day.
I'm only mentioning my sore right hip to point out that I'm not mentioning it. I'm trying to ignore it hoping it will go away...not my hip, just the pain. I'm a little concerned about whether it will make it 26.2 miles, but there is not much I can do about that now. Either it will or it won't. I'm going to rest it, running just enough to keep it loosened up, take NSAIDs to manage the inflammation and pain, hope for the best, and endure. At least it will give me an excuse if certain people I'm hoping to beat end up beating me instead.
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