Every Race is an Adventure!

I ran the normal 6.2 mile Orem course with Larry this morning. It was a little warmer but still pretty chilly. I'm looking forward to some warmer weather this week.

At lunchtime I ran Eagles View with Nathan and Cory. They were a little late so I warmed up for a 1/4 mile on the treadmill. The temperature was in the low 40's, which felt good to me. This past week of running has seemed especially cold to me...maybe just because I'm getting tired of it.

I feel like we pushed pretty hard, although I'm pretty sure it was harder for Cory and me than for Nathan. He pushed ahead of us up the hill. I managed to stay with him all the way back, but it took some effort. I'm very satisfied with the run.

My Eagles View runs this year have been:

1/22: 41:57 (8:24/mi)

1/25: 39:48 (7:58/mi)

1/29: 37:58 (7:36/mi)

2/5: 39:48 (7:58/mi)

2/12: 37:53 (7:35/mi)

2/26: 40:11 (8:08/mi)*includes time stopped at light

3/5: 39:22 (7:52/mi)

I was planning on basketball for this mornnig, but my son wasn't going so I opted to run instead. We had a basketball tournament game at night and I wanted to leave something in the tank for that so I only ran a little over 4 miles.

When I started out I had decided I would just run our neighborhood 5K course. However, as I started up 1600 N from Main I decided I wanted to go a little farther than that so I continued up 16OO N to 400 E (1 mile gradual uphill @ 8:41/mi), turned north up 400 E to 2000 N (1/2 mile steep uphill @ 9:30/mi), turned west down 2000 N to 400 W (1 mile big downhill @ 6:48/mi), turned south on 400W to 1600 N (1/2 mile level @ 7:49/mi), turned east on 1600 N up to Main (1/2 mile slight uphill @ 7:30/mi), then turned north on Main and went up and around the block to home (0.35 miles level @ 7:19/mi). I then let my dog out and we jogged around the block for a 0.4 mile cooldown. I averaged 8:06/mi for the 4.25 miles, including the slow jog at the end.

We had 11 show up for the basketball game, so I didn't get as much exercise as I had planned, but it was fun. We gave them a good game but lost. Don't tell the other guys, but I wasn't too disappointed. Now I can focus on my running instead of worrying about the regional tournament.

I ran 6 easy miles with Larry this morning. It was enjoyable as always, even more so as the weather wasn't quite so cold.

I missed out on my normal Wednesday tempo run with the guys at work because I had to take my son to the doctor. His right shoulder as been bothering him off and on for a couple of years. He thinks it was injured during a Lacrosse game his senior year. They diagnosed a SLAP lesion in his right shoulder and have scheduled him to be scoped in a couple of weeks.

Kevin and I ran a variation on the normal Orem route this morning. We kept each other going at a pretty good pace and averaged 7:52/mi for 6.3 miles.

We ran down Main to 400 S, over to 400 E, down to Center, over to 800 E, up to 1600 N, then down to Main and home. As we approached the intersection at 1200 N on 800 E we saw the "WordPerfect hill" in front of us. I thought briefly about suggesting we go up it because the downhill home from there would be nice, but then suggested to Kevin that we turn at 12OO N and take the more level route home. Kevin said, "Let's go up the hill." I figured it was just because Kevin likes hills so much. As I had already considered it, I readily agreed to going up the hill. As we climbed the hill I ascertained that the uphill was just a price he was willing to pay to get the long (1 mile) downhill home. We did the first 1/2 mile of the downhill at 6:50/mi then averaged 6:30/mi for the second 1/2 mile, both of us finishing with a pretty strong kick, although I have to admit that Kevin pulled away a little at the end.

We both felt like we had worked hard and felt very good about the run.

I needed to be home by 8:00am so I started my 18 mile run this morning at 5:00am. The weather was in the 40's, but there was a strong cold wind coming from the NW which made it feel colder.

I ran a 6 mile loop up through Lindon three times. I ran the first loop alone. I averaged around a 9:00 pace. I got off my planned course a little and ended up running a little over 6 miles. I was supposed to meet Kevin and Larry back at the corner for the second loop. I didn't see them as I went by and didn't dare stop as I barely made it around the corner and up the street to my house in time for an urgently needed bio break. I also took an eGel, got a drink, and changed my sweaty shirt. I began to sweat like a pig when I entered my house and I didn't want to go back into the cold wind with a wet shirt.

I headed back to the corner and saw them walking up the other way. It turns out they had followed to my house and waited a while, but then began to question whether it was really me they had seen go past in the dark. Luckily, because of the chilly wind, Kevin had went back for his vest. I met them as they were returning from Kevin's house.

The three of us ran the second loop together. I had enjoyed the solitude of running the first loop alone, but now I was beginning to tire and it was good to have their company. We averaged about a 9:00 pace for the second loop, too.

Larry's wife Jolene wanted to run 6 miles so Larry went to check if she wanted to run the last loop with us. She wasn't quite ready, and Larry needed a bio break, so he said they would run the loop backwards and meet up with us. After Kevin and I refueled, we added a little distance to the last loop by taking a different course out of the neighborhood. Since it was lighter now, we also decided to run along the canal road as it paralleled our course. At one point Kevin insisted that we leave the canal road and run up and back down a hill portion that we were bypassing. We got back on the canal road and met up with Larry just as we exited that portion of the canal road. We then continued the loop, meaning Larry and Jolene doubled back the way they had just come.

As we neared home I was pretty tired and had to lock into a rhythm to keep my pace up. This caused me to pull slightly ahead. I figured once they hit a good stopping point in the conversation Kevin would be pushing to catch up with me. I was right. I was about a half mile into the last mile, averaging about an 8:15 pace, when Kevin caught me. Since we had averaged about a 9:00 pace most of the way, I felt like I was doing pretty good. As usual, running with Kevin somehow caused the pace to increase significantly and we ended up averaging a 7:39 pace for that last mile, meaning we were going even faster than that the last 1/2 mile. It felt good to have some juice left at the end of an 18 mile run.

I averaged just under a 9:00 pace for the 18.35 miles. My legs were pretty tired the rest of the day, but overall I felt very good and have no new pains to speak of. It was a good long run for me.