Every Race is an Adventure!

I chose to go with the afternoon run again today, and once again I actually got it in. I decided to run up to what I've decided to call "The Fountain of Youth". It's the fountain (near Timpanogos Park on the Provo River Parkway) that runs continuously. The cool water is especially refreshing on hot summer days, but I found it refreshing today as well, as it served as my turn around point on my 9.2 mile run.

Similar to Saturday, I tried to run a steady press-forward kind of pace without pushing it too hard. This course was slightly longer and had more ups and downs, but I still managed to average about 8:07/mi and felt pretty good at the end, running the last 0.6 miles (gradual downhill) at a 7:21 pace. I'm cautiously optimistic about putting my injuries behind me (knock on wood).

I ditched Larry and Wayne on Saturday, so I guess they ditched me this morning. Actually, I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. I wasn't sure they were running Saturday morning, and because of Saturday Larry probably wasn't sure if I was going to be running this morning. Fortunately, this sort of problem is easily fixed with a phone call, email, or text.

After pushing the pace and distance a little on Saturday and yesterday, I decided to just take it at an easy pace this morning. I ended up running 6.9 miles at an average 9:37/mi pace. No foot pain again today (knock on wood again), but I'm icing the Achilles and PF areas anyway.

I've also been wearing a small neoprene ankle support since Saturday that I feel has been helping.  I was at Sports Authority on Saturday and noticed they had a wide selection of ankle supports. I've sprained my ankles many times so they caught my eye. They had Level I, I+, II, and III supports. The I+ support is a simple neoprene cup with a Velcro closure across the top. Because of the foot pain I felt on Thursday, and because it was less than $10, I decided to give it a try.

It feels so good that the only time I've taken it off is to run (my shoes provide support and cushioning) and to shower. It even fit well in my Sunday shoe. Besides the mild support it gives, it also retains heat. It almost feels like I'm wearing a little heat pad exactly where I need it, on my Achilles tendon, the plantar fascia near my heel, and across my ankle. The neoprene even provides a little cushioning in those same areas. It might all be in my head, but I've learned that can help as much as anything else. Time will tell.

I ran about 0.35 miles around the parking lot trying to keep warm while waiting for Will (there was a bit of a breeze), then we ran the 6.2 mile extended Lake View course. We averaged about 8:05/mi. The snow on the freeway bridge and on the dirt road was a bit of a nuisance, but overall it was a nice run.

Well, I talked to Larry and it seems he and Wayne have been going out at 8:00am instead of 5:45am. I can't say as I blame them. We plan to hook up again Saturday morning, but today was a solo run. I went 6.2 miles around local streets at an average pace of 8:38/mi.

I enjoyed a nice run with Tom at lunch time. He considered it an easy run. It was a lot easier for him than for me, but it wasn't too bad. I really enjoyed running and talking with him again. We looped over Eagle View way, up toward Seven Peaks until we got to 900 E and Center, worked our way south a little as we headed west to University Avenue, then looped around the back side of East Bay back to Novell. We averaged 8:49/mi for the 7.75 miles.

If feels good to be getting my mileage back up again. I plan to continue to gradually increase the mileage over the next few weeks, as long as the pain stays away. So far so good. I don't plan on any fast tempo runs until I get my base mileage up to at least 40+ for a few weeks.

We had our last church basketball game of the season this morning. We only had 5 players again, same 5 as last week. The other team had 7, one of whom was about 6'8". They are a good team and I thought we were going to lose by 20 or 30. We were down by 8 or 9 at half time, and by 10-15 points most of the second half. Then suddenly with 1 or 2 minutes to go we tied it up. We ended up losing by 4, 89 to 93 I think. This was a pretty high scoring game for church ball. We did win the second half, and felt pretty good about our performance. I knew my good shooting last week was an aberration. I kind of stunk it up this week. The other four, including my two sons, did rather well. Adam had an especially good game. I think he hit three 3 pointers along with several other baskets. Andrew always plays well and had something like 25 points and at least 6 steals. It was a lot of fun, but I was pretty tired afterward.

I got home from the game about 8:10am, drank a bunch of water and ate a couple of slices of bread, changed my clothes, then met Larry and Kevin to run at 8:30am (Wayne's in St. George). We ran an old 6 mile route through Lindon that we haven't run for a long time. We only averaged about 9:12/mi, but for me it felt a little like the last 6 miles of a marathon. My legs were dead. I think it was a combination of boosting my mileage this week and having just played a fast paced basketball game with no subs.

It's been a good training week, and I'm optimistic there are better weeks ahead.