Every Race is an Adventure!

I ran what we call the Tri-City route solo this morning. It loops through Lindon, into Pleasant Grove, and back through Lindon to Orem. It's a 6 mile loop but I added an extra mile on the end. I ran an easy pace and averaged 8:49/mi., a little slower on the hilly miles, faster on the flatter miles. I felt like I held a pretty steady effort throughout and ran the last (flat) mile in 8:17. It's encouraging to see my pace for easy runs gradually getting faster. I think the improving weather has a lot to do with that.

I have a couple of difficult decisions to make on my running calendar this year.

I'm registered for the Spectrum 10K in St. George on March 15, but now I've found out that Karen can't make it and I'd have to make the trip alone. I started doing the St. George Runners Series when it started a couple of years ago to 1) get the guaranteed entry into the St. George marathon, and 2) so Karen and I could have some weekend getaways.

If I don't do the Spectrum 10K I could still try to do the Run 4 Kids 10K on April 12, or the Hurricane 1/2 Marathon on May 3. They are both Runners Series qualifiers.

Our wedding anniversary is on May 4, so that might be a good weekend for a getaway to St. George and get in the Hurricane Half while we're there. Karen's making this difficult by saying that she is okay with whatever I decide, and this time I really think she means it. I don't think it's one of those husband tests (you husbands out there know what I mean...and I think so do you wives). Since I'm already registered for the Spectrum 10K, I may not decide until the day before the race whether I'm going. If I don't go, I'll plan on the Hurricane 1/2 on May 3.

I'm not really considering the Run 4 Kids 10K on April12 because I've kind of decided in the last day or two that I want to support the 1st Annual Utah Valley Marathon that is on that same day. I've been considering doing the Striders 1/2 on May 3, and maybe even the Ogden Marathon on May 17, but I think I'm going to pass on those and insert the Utah Valley Marathon into my running calendar instead. You don't get too many opportunities for a "1st Annual" marathon right in your own backyard. I won't be in any sort of fast marathon condition by then, but I think I'll be able to finish okay.

I ran the Tri-City route again this morning, but added a mile or so at the beginning instead of at the end like yesterday. This was another base-building easy run at around a 9:00/mi pace average.

I enjoyed a nice run in the sun with Tom and Nathan at noon. We started out towards Eagles View but  we kept going north instead of turning and going up the steep hill. Tom's current fitness level is well documented. Nathan is also in great shape as he prepares for Boston in April. I think he said he ran 18 miles at an average 7:50 pace Saturday, or something like that. I could tell the 8:20 pace we averaged today was much easier for them than it was for me. I'm just grateful to be feeling good as I start building my mileage base again.

I ran a modified Tri-City route this morning. I added some distance at the beginning and inserted the long climb up State Street from the Lindon City Park. I averaged around 8:55/mi for the 7.4 miles.

I left early and took my church keys with me so I could stop on the way home and do some work I needed to do at the church this morning. The plan worked well, except that it was sure hard getting my legs moving to run that last 1/4 mile home after sitting at the church computer for 20 minutes. I still made it home with 2 minutes to spare.

I saw a dog that looked like Larry's dog Ozzie so I called him when I got to the church, but Ozzie was at home. Larry and Wayne were planning to head out at 7:00am. It felt good to already be done.

The weather is probably going to be awesome again for a run at noon, but I've got a lot of work to do so I decided to get the run in this morning so I can work through lunch. Life is sure full of a lot of choices. It seems life is all about learning to make good choices and find a balance among the seemingly endless ways we can choose to spend our time and energy. I feel blessed to have such good things to choose between, and the freedom to choose.

I plan to go a little longer and easier tomorrow so I decided to go a little shorter and quicker today. I ran down to Orem Center street and back trying to maintain a steady marathon pace effort. I averaged 7:52/mi for 5.45 miles. Mile splits were 8:16, 7:54, 7:53, 7:55, 7:35, 0.45 mi in 3:22 (7:28/mi). The first mile included warm up. The last mile finally had some slight downhill and tailwind at the same time. I feel pretty good about the run, like I'm finally beginning to get back on track.

Also, I went ahead and registered for the Utah Valley Marathon on April 12. I don't have much time to get ready for it. I'll be lucky to work up to one 20 miler before then. I'm looking forward to it anyway.

Larry and Wayne were kind enough to accompany me on most of a 12 mile run this morning. Our plan was to run from the mouth of Provo Canyon up to Vivian Park...but we failed to realize the Provo River trail is only cleared up to Nunn's Park. We took the old Bridal Veil road at that point and followed it up to Upper Falls Park, which required crossing through one nasty section of frozen snow about 4-6" deep. It was smooth and frozen enough in some spots to run on top of the snow, but mostly it was a minefield of potential ankle turns.

I've decided to run the Utah Valley Marathon in about 6 weeks so I wanted to start getting in some longer runs on Saturday. My goal for today was 12 miles. We hit 9 miles shortly before we got back to the mouth of the canyon. We decided to run on south along the trail. Larry and Wayne said they were going to do about 10 miles, but said they would wait for me to do my 12.

Around this point two young women passed us. They were pretty good runners, but not elite runners, and I have to admit that it was bothering me that they were passing me. Since we had decided I was going to go a little farther than my buddies, I left them and soon passed the two ladies. I ran down to Riverwoods and then headed back. As I started back I saw that they were only about 50 yards behind me.

My goal was to just get in 12 miles today, the pace wasn't important. That's good because we ran pretty slowly. I ended up averaging about 9:25/mi for the 12 miles, with an 8:01 and an 8:15 mile near the end.

It was great running with my buddies up Provo Canyon again. The weather was in the 40's and sunny. It was a great run. (But then, as Tom says, every run is a great run.)