Every Race is an Adventure!

There's nothing quite like a Monday morning solo run in the rain. As I mentioned to Larry on Saturday's long run, some ultra marathon advice I read online is to just keep moving forward. ("Keep moving forward" is also the motto from the movie "Meet the Robinsons".) It's probably the single most important thing I've learned from running. It applies to so much more than just running a long race. This morning it got me out of bed to run alone in the rain. I've got a goal to be as ready as I can be for the Squaw Peak 50, and this 6.2 mile run in the rain at 9:28/mi average pace was one more small step in the right direction.

I ran the 2000 N hill route, 9:41/mi average pace.

Another solo run. I started the normal Wednesday run up the water tank hills. As I started up the dirt road at hill two it felt too soft. I didn't want to run in mud, so I ended up running the paved first hill up to the parking lot twice, then dropped down 800 E to 1200 N then back up the 800 E hill and down 1600 N to home. With all the hills my average pace was only 10:24/mi.

It was good to see Larry and Wayne out this morning. We ran the Cascade route at an easy pace. Between leaving a little late and not running fast I was a little behind schedule so I pushed the last 0.4 miles or so home at about 6:30/mi pace. I was a little pleasantly surprised that I still had that kind of speed in me, if only for a short distance.

I met Wayne and Kevin at the mouth of Provo Canyon at 5:30am. Actually, Kevin was a little late so he parked at Timpanogos Park and we met him there. On our way there, John Gillespie joined us and ran with us as far as Vivian Park. There he and Kevin headed back. Wayne and I ran up past South Fork Park until our Garmin's showed 8 miles. We should have had 16 miles when we got back to the parking lot, but we ended up with 21 miles.

When we reach the Bonneville Shoreline Trail turnoff near Bridal Veil Falls Park, we decided to go on up a ways. We were too late to join the John Bozung group who were preparing the trail for the Squaw Peak 50 in 3 weeks, but we saw a biker and other runners, including Rich & Marci Lamoreaux and Paul Nielsen. We ran with Rich and Paul for a bit...Marci was up ahead.

I took Wayne up far enough to get a feel for the climb up the chute to Hope campground. We turned around when our Garmins showed 15 miles and headed back to the Provo Parkway Trail and then the last 3 miles to the parking lot.

I learned (was reminded of) two key things during this morning's run: 1) old guys shouldn't forget to take pain killers before a long run, and 2) dirt trails are much easier on the body than asphalt. The last few miles were tough. My old friends, right hip pain and right PF heel pain, decided to return for a visit at the same. I'm somewhat proud of my response when I was so tired I could barely keep moving. It makes me feel like a true runner. I picked up the cadence of my foot turnover and focused on maintaining good running form. In other words, when I got so tired it was hard to keep going, I tried to go faster. One great side effect of going faster, besides running more efficiently, is getting done sooner.

Wayne was only planning on about16 miles and 3 hours. He stayed with me for 21 miles and 4+ hours. Good running buddies are a true treasure. We both felt good about the run. It should benefit me in the Squaw Peak 50 on June 5, and him in the Teton Dam Marathon on June 12.

By the way, we were expecting sun but didn't run into any until about mile 18 or 19. That was fine by me. It was great running weather, but I guess some heat training would be good.