Every Race is an Adventure!

Due to the holiday today I ran alone. I slept in late, but not as late as I thought. I kept thinking I had slept in until 9:00am, and that it was going to be too warm, but just before I left to run I looked at the clock and was surprised to see that it wasn't 7:30am yet. I guess when you're used to getting up at 5:00am every day, sleeping in until 7:00am feels like sleeping in until 9:00am.

I normally run 6 miles on Monday, but thought maybe I'd go 8 or 10 this morning if I felt good. The morning was so beautiful, and great running weather, and I ended up going 14, to Bridal Veil Falls and back. I didn't run super fast, but I kept moving okay. I averaged 8:44/mi overall, and ran a couple of late miles at 7:45-ish pace.

Another beautiful morning! Larry, Wayne and I ran the 2000 N route. I didn't have much zip in my legs after yesterday's 14 miler. I enjoyed the run nonetheless.

With the prospect of Kent rejoining us (he got into St. George), Larry, Wayne and I decided to settle on a weekly running plan. We think Kent likes it better that way, and our route planning has been a little haphazard since Kent quit running with us. The tentative plan is: Mon: Lindon loop, Tue: 2000 N, Wed: water tank hills, Thu: towards the canyon, Fri: open, Sat: long run (usually Provo Canyon). The weekday runs are normally 6 miles, with 10-20 on Saturday. Those who want more mileage either get a mile or two in early or do two-a-days. This plan is very similar to what we've done for quite a few years.

Larry's the heart of this running group, the only member who's been at it consistently for about 20 years. He's my idol. He's never been the fastest runner in the group, and has yet to qualify for Boston, but he's held on the longest and has always been the most cheerful, positive, talkative, and encouraging to others. He got me back into running after 20+ years, and I honestly don't know if I'd still be running without him. Thanks, Larry!

Larry, Wayne and I ran the water tank hills this morning. I thought Kevin and Kent might join us but Larry forgot to invite Kent and Kevin didn't make it out. We started with a detour to the baseball field at Timpanogos High School. Larry's crew had planted some Arbivida bushes and he wanted to check them out.

Once we hit the hills Wayne and I pushed up ahead. We both realized we're not in hill shape, but we did okay. It will be good to run these hills regularly again. On the way down we passed Josse and her dog. She got my name right today (jk). Larry's dog Ozzie was with us and the two dogs greeted each other with a little sniffing and then, to our surprise, a litte growling. This is unusual for Ozzie, and it didn't last long.

Wayne and I pushed again the last mile home (from the old WordPerfect buildings down 1600 North), running it in 6:49. It felt good to go fast. I've done very little speed work so far this year. It's good to know my legs can still move that fast.

Larry, Wayne, Kevin and I ran toward the canyon this morning. Great weather again. At the 3 mile turn around point Kevin wanted to loop down to Wil's gas station and back up the 800 N hill and Wayne and I went with him. It took us quite a while to catch back up to Larry. With about a mile to go Wayne had started to pull ahead of us. I asked Kevin and Larry which one of them was going to go catch him, but Larry said it was my job. I closed the gap to 20 or 30 yards, but once Wayne heard me he picked up the pace and I never did catch him. We ran that last mile at about 7:10 pace, much of which was gradual uphill. I really enjoyed the run.

Kevin and I ran the 6 mile Lindon loop this morning, average pace 8:36/mi. Another beautiful morning. The weather has been awesome this week. I'm looking forward to running with some of the guys from the relay team tomorrow (6:30am, Provo Canyon). Kevin and I are going for sure. I hope some of the others show up. Wayne is busy tomorrow and is doing 20 miles today. Larry is running the Sojourner's "Gruesome Grizzly" run.

I picked up Kevin then we met up with Ryan, Nathan and Kyle at the mouth of Provo Canyon. It was pretty windy, but still a beautiful morning.

It was great seeing Ryan, Nathan and Kyle. We ran together for the first few miles. Nathan stopped at the bathroom at Nunns Park and then turned back after 5 miles with Kyle so I didn't get to run with him as much as I would have liked. Ryan and I pulled a little ahead of Kevin and Kyle. When we got to Vivian, Kevin's wife was waiting with his 16 year old daughter who ran back down with Kevin.

Ryan and I ran with Kevin and his daughter for a mile or two then pulled ahead. At Nunns Park we pushed the two miles to Timpanogos Park at about 7:00/mi pace. We ended up averaging 7:59/mi for the 12 miles. That's the fastest I remember running that route in a long time. We passed a guy during this stretch who said, "Young guys suck!" as we passed him. I turn 50 next year and enjoyed being called a young guy.

Nathan was headed back out for more when Ryan had less than a mile to go. He ended up going past Kevin and his daughter, too. I don't know how far he ended up going.

Another beautiful morning, another enjoyable run!