Every Race is an Adventure!

I probably should have stayed indoors. The air quality was terrible. Even so, it didn't seem to affect my breathing too much...but I think I can still taste it.

I ran Eagles View again, the same course as last Monday and Thursday. The times were:

Last Monday: 41:57 (8:24/mi)

Last Thursday: 39:48 (7:58/mi)

Today: 37:58 (7:36/mi)

It would be great if this rate of improvement were to continue, but somehow I don't think that is very likely.

My lungs didn't appreciate me running outdoors in the muck yesterday so I stuck to the treadmill today. I warmed up @ 8:00-8:30/mi for 1 mile then bumped it to a 7:30/mi pace for 1.5 miles. I dropped it to 7:42/mi for another 1.5 miles then dropped down to 8:00-8:30/mi for a half mile cooldown.

I don't like running on the treadmill anyway, but today seemed especially bad. I was bored, too warm, and wasn't feeling very good anyway. My kids have been sick and I may have picked up a little something...or maybe it's from running in the gunk on Monday. I don't think it's anything that a good outdoor run in clean fresh air wouldn't cure.

I decided to run a new loop at lunch time today. It starts similar to the Eagles View run but continues north to 300 South, west to State St., south to 400 South, west to Universtity, south over the train bridge, and then back to Novell on the road east of University (behind the stores). It is approximately 6.4 miles.

I mentioned it to Cory and he decided to come with me. I invited Nathan and Scott also, but Nathan had a meeting after lunch and Scott didn't have the right clothes for the cold.

There was a slight breeze with lightly falling snow and it was a little colder than we expected. I should have been smart and worn long pants like Cory, but I had a headband, gloves, and fleece vest and it wasn't too bad.

We averaged 8:08/mi overall. Not too suprisingly, we were a little slower than that on the uphill sections and a little faster on the level sections. The last mile we picked up the pace and averaged 7:36/mi.

Because of his sore foot, I believe this is the longest Cory has run since the St. George marathon. He ran great and kept the pace moving right along. It was a pleasure having his company. It was also great having clean air to breath again.

Morning basketball.

I ran with Larry, Kevin, and Wayne this morning. We didn't really have a predetermined course or distance in mind when we started out. We ended up running down to the mouth of Provo Canyon, then worked our way down to Center Street, up the hill, then headed north on 1000 East and worked our way back home. It ended up being about 9 miles. Three of us had to be back for other activities or we may have gone longer. We only averaged about a 9:00 pace but it was an enjoyable social run. It's truly a blessing to have great guys to run with.