Every Race is an Adventure!

AM. 5.9 easy miles with Larry.

PM. 6.2 easy miles with Tom.

Once again I experienced the phenomenon of running in the morning at a certain effort level and running in the middle of the day at what feels like the same effort level and having the pace of the daytime run be significantly faster (about 1:00 minute per mile today) than the morning pace. An interesting experiment would be to run in the morning with Tom and at midday with Larry. Is it the time of day, or who I'm running with? I'm sure who I'm running with has some effect, but I've experienced the same thing when I've run alone in the morning and alone at midday. Hmmm.

This morning I got in 1.5 miles and then met Larry and we ran the 2000 N Lindon loop. We were a bit surprised that Wayne didn't show up. He's running the Teton Dam marathon this Saturday and is tapering this week, but we still thought he'd show up for our easy run this morning.

It was another beautiful spring morning. As I walked home after parting with Larry I was struck by how beautiful everything around me was. The sun had risen over Provo Canyon, the air was crisp and clean, and everything seemed to be lit up and full of life. The brilliant blue sky was scattered with fluffy white clouds. Timp's majestic snow-covered peaks seemed to glisten. There was a tree whose beautiful green leaves seemed aglow.  The songbirds were at their best. My neighbors' dark green lawns and colorful flower beds were bold and beautiful. What a loving Heavenly Father we have who has given us such beauty to enjoy.

AM. I ran a little a little before I met up with Larry. We then ran the water tank hills. The temperature was in the low 40's with a pretty strong chilly wind blowing, but with a couple of shirts and my gloves I never got too cold.

We took it easy through the first 3 hills but then I pushed hills 4 and 5 pretty hard. On the way back down I decided to push the last 1/2 mile down from 400 E to Main on 1600 N. There was a pretty strong headwind, but I still managed to average a 5:54 pace. The best part was that it felt pretty good.

I think I'm in pretty good shape for the relay next week. I was hoping to have stepped my fitness up a notch from last year, but with shoulder surgery over the winter and a couple of injury setbacks I'm just happy to be where I am, which is about where I was last year, which was a good year for me.

It's great to have goals and strive for improvement and keep looking ahead, but I also think it is important to occasionally look back and see how far you've come, and count your blessings, and take joy in it. My glass isn't full, but there's quite a bit of water in it, enough for a cool refreshing drink.

PM. Ran 6.2 easy (8:12/mi) and enjoyable miles with Tom and Darin. I feel pretty good getting 12+ miles in today. Of course, Tom had 14+ and Darin 16+ I think, and of course their miles this morning were considerably faster than mine. That's okay. My glass is still well over half full.

Ran some easy miles with Larry up towards Provo Canyon. I ran a little before meeting up with him for a total of 6.9 miles. It was unseasonably cool again this morning, but it was still a very enjoyable run.

I guess you could call today's run a "running lifestyle" run. No particular plan, no intervals, no pace goals, no uncomfortable effort...just a couple of buddies running along sharing good conversation and enjoying the beautiful morning. I think runs like today's run motivate me to keep running as much as the pursuit of PRs. Work kind of imploded on me yesterday and I ended up working until 9:30pm under a bit of pressure to get some bugs fixed. After this morning's run therapy I'm ready to face another day.

A little cross training again this Friday playing basketball with Andrew and the guys in the morning. There were only 6 of us this morning, so we only played half court, but it was still pretty fun. I got a little scare when a tall but quick young man and I both went for a loose ball. I ended up taking a hard shoulder to my sternum. Fortunately my skeletal structure withstood the blow without any breakage. My sternum is a little sore, and it twinges a little if I twist a certain way, but I'm grateful it's minor enough that it shouldn't affect my running.

As evidence, because we only played half court I didn't feel like I'd gotten enough of a cardiovascular workout so I went out and ran a few miles after we got home. On our run yesterday Larry was telling me that years back the neighborhood group would run a "fast mile" from the top of the WordPerfect curve (about 800 E and 1600 N) down into our neighborhood (about Main and 1600 N). I ran the one mile up (8:56) to confirm that it was a mile, then ran the "fast mile" at a quick but less than all out pace (6:11), then cooled down a mile (8:12) by going around the block a couple of times. I didn't notice any discomfort in my chest while running.

I'm late blogging this run. It's been a busy, but good, weekend. Kevin, Larry, and I headed out at 7:00am but Larry informed us he had to be back to go support a hike some of the Relief Society sisters in our neighborhood were doing. Kevin and I went out again for some more miles after dropping Larry off. We ended up going about 10.6 miles

It was good we kept it a little short today because Tiffany called and asked if we could stop and pick up some glitter on our way to see Amy in the Art City Days parade. Tiffany is interning at Lavendar Farms and has help design the fairy costumes for their parade entry. One young fairy couldn't make it this week so Tiffany asked Amy to fill in. She did an awesome job and had a lot of fun riding on a small horse-drawn wagon and waving at everyone watching the parade. Karen and I are both from Springville so this is our hometown parade, but we hadn't been for many years. We, and our other two daughters, got shaved ice and watched the parade and had a good time.

I then spent a few hours running errands to help Karen and the girls get ready for girls camp this week. After that I left Karen and our older daughter to shop, cook, and pack for camp and took our two youngest daughters to visit my parents at their property in Nephi canyon. My Mom said they were going to eat around 5:00pm and we passed through the gate at exactly 5:00pm. The marinated chicken, corn on the cob, shredded potatoes, and pumpkin pie were delicious. I visited with my parents and two of my sisters, taught Emily how to drive the four wheeler by herself, lost at Canasta, taught my daughters to play Yahtzee, and enjoyed the absolutely perfect weather and frequent visits from the humming birds. We had planned to leave around 9:00pm and passed through the gate at exactly 9:00pm. I only mention our arrival and departure times because this is the only time in recorded history that we have arrived to and left from a scheduled event exactly on time. My daughters thought that was pretty cool. It was also cool when we saw an inch worm floating in the sky attached to...absolutely nothing. There was nothing but sky above, and there it was dangling on an invisible thread in the breeze. My sister saw it, too, so we have four eyewitnesses.

What a fun day!