Every Race is an Adventure!

The kids are out of school this week. I had a little extra time this morning so I went a couple of extra miles. I guess everyone else was sleeping in so I ran alone.

I'm in a tricky place of trying to balance between injury recovery/avoidance and bumping up my training to be ready for the Squaw Peak 50 in June. As of last week I'm back up to 40 mile weeks. Now I need to push my way up to 50, including some longer long runs.

I was thinking as I was running this morning (a great benefit of being a runner by the way) that a key to injury recovery and wise training is to listen...to your body, to your running buddies, to other running experts, to your gut, to your spirit, to the Spirit of God.

I watched and listened to 10 hours of "church" on Saturday and Sunday. Many may think I'm nuts...or might feel the same...but I thoroughly enjoyed it. When running up Provo Canyon I love drinking from the fountain near Timpanogos Park that runs 24x7 year round. I call it the fountain of youth. It always seems to renew me. As I watched the LDS General Conference, and listened to modern prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ share their love, their knowledge, their witness, and their wisdom, the Spirit of God spoke to my heart. I felt like I was drinking from the cool, pure, and refreshing fountain of heavenly truth and love. I was renewed. As with running, now I just need to listen, move forward, be diligent and patient, find the right balance, avoid injury, endure well, and enjoy the adventure as I try to become the best I can be.

"All by myself. Don't wanna be, all by myself, anymore." These lyrics crossed my mind several times as I was running this morning.

I guess I did the unpopular thing this morning by getting up to run on this frosty April morning during spring break. For the first time in a long time not only was I running alone, but I didn't even see another runner or pedestrian along the way.

I ran the normal Tuesday hill route up 2000 North. My speed led me to think of my pace as "ultra pace"...not as in "ultra fast", but more as in "so slow that I might actually have a chance of finishing an ultra marathon at that pace." In other words, not a whole lot faster than walking. Like most things in life, if you just show up and get started and keep moving forward you'll eventually get done, even if it takes longer than you hoped. Sometimes that's enough. Two of my favorite talks this past weekend were on diligence and patience. I think those principles apply here.

It was cold again this morning, but at least I didn't have to run alone again. It was good to see Kent and Larry out. We ran the water tank hills. There was a dusting of snow. That, with my glasses fogging up a bit, made it difficult for me to see the rocks and ruts but I managed okay. On the way down Larry caught a toe on a rut and dropped. He hurt his hands and ribs, but after walking a bit went on and finished the run. He'll probably be sore. I hope it's nothing serious.

Kent and Larry yesterday. Wayne and Kevin today. That's two days in a row I haven't had to run alone. That's good. Some consistency would be nice, but right now it's kind of like opening a Christmas present every morning. When I go out to run I never know what, or better who, I'm going to find.

It was an easy run. We averaged just under 9:00/mi, with some 7:00-ish during the last mile. My plan is just to continue to consistently get miles in, gradually increasing mileage up until the Squaw Peak 50 in June. Speed is not a concern at this point. Trying to get my PF healed is. Today was encouraging. My heel felt pretty good. My regimen of Strassburg sock every night, morning stretches, aspirin, Futz ball massaging, and some occasional foot strengthening exercises seems to be helping.

I ran an extended Lindon loop solo this morning. Average pace 8:58/mi.

Larry, Wayne, Kevin, Kent and I did some trail running again today. First we ran to the mouth of Provo Canyon and up the paved trail to Timpanogos Park. From there we worked our way up the mountainside to the upper road that we followed back to the top of the water tank hills. With his injured rib Larry wanted to go shorter so he took a different route and we met up with him along the road.

There was a 5K trail race going on so Larry and I decided to go off road and follow the trail. The others wanted to get back so they went on down the hills. Along the trail we met up with two older ultra marathon runners we had met last week. They weren't doing the race either. I talked with Mel for a while. He told me he tried to get his buddies to run trails years ago but they wouldn't. Now at 76 (I think) he's the only one still running. I know we've sure been enjoying trail running of late. We're blessed to have so many great trails so close.

When we reached the finish line for the race we stopped and talked with Hawk Harper and others for a while. I wanted to go a little farther along the trail. Larry's ribs chose the less bumpy route down the road.

With all the uphill, and being on my feet for nearly 3 hours, by the end of this run I was pretty tired. And 45 miles for the week is the most I've done for a while. I think this kind of training is just what I need for Squaw Peak. I just hope my body can hold out.

What a great run this morning. I feel blessed. I wish everyone could have experiences like these on a regular basis. I think everyone would be a lot happier.