Every Race is an Adventure!

My family wanted to go to the Provo River Parkway trail tonight. My wife and teenage daughter wanted to walk a couple of miles, and my two younger daughters wanted to ride their bikes. I, of course, ran.

At first I had to keep stopping...to use my Garmin measure how far between the round marks (every four is 1/4 mile)...to stop for a drink for my daughters...to take my youngest back to my wife because she couldn't keep up. Finally, I was able to get a continuous mile in heading up the canyon. I ran it in 7:56 trying to keep up with my older younger daughter on her bike. I was hoping it was two miles back, but it was only 1.89. I chased my daughter again and ran the first mile in 6:40, and the last 0.89 in 6:06 (6:53 pace).

My legs were a little stiff and sore from the relay, but it felt good to get some fast miles (for me) in. I only ran 4 miles total (7:27/mi average), but that's okay. I really enjoyed the time with my family, and I'm not sure my legs were ready for much more.
 

Larry and Wayne were doing the water tank road this morning so I went with them. I didn't push very hard up, but held a pretty steady pace. On the way back down I could feel in my thighs the effects of that 7.8 mile downhill on my second relay leg. They didn't hurt a lot, but there was definitely some soreness and stiffness that I hadn't noticed until I started down. The skies seemed to have cleared quite a bit, but there was still noticeable smoke in the valley from the wildfires. I really enjoyed the run with Larry and Wayne.

I went to the fitness center for the normal Wednesday run. Tom and Nathan are gone this week, but I was hoping Cory might show. He eventually did, but arrived after I left and stayed indoors on a bike to give his foot a break. I did find Will on a bike when I arrived. He was planning to stay indoors and rest his knee, but it didn't take much persuasion to get him out to run with me. It actually made me nervous...he seemed almost too eager...and I didn't really feel up to a fast run in the heat.

Will is in the best shape I have ever seen him. He delivered a great performance at the relay. I told Will he had to run slow today, and maybe he was, but it still seemed pretty fast to me. I averaged 7:32/mi for the 5.2 miles. I hung with Will until the very end when he pulled ahead to the finish. My mile splits were 7:42, 7:36, 7:38, 7:26, 7:26, and 1:19 for the last 0.19 (6:51/mi). Given that it was probably around 90 degrees, and I was originally intending to take it easy, I feel pretty good about the run. While walking back to the building after showering I noted that my legs actually felt pretty good, with almost no stiffness or soreness lingering from the relay.

I ran the Lindon loop with Larry and Wayne this morning. We ran at an easy pace (around 9:00/mi average) but it didn't feel all that easy this morning. I think that fast run in the heat with Will yesterday drained me more than I thought.

I ran Provo Canyon up to Vivian and back with Larry and Wayne. It was beautiful running weather, despite the strong headwind going up. We took it easy going up. Mile splits were 9:42, 9:42, 9:44, 9:50, 9:23, 0.77 @ 8:28/mi. My Garmin didn't register very well for the first few miles coming down, but we were pushing a little faster. Wayne and I pushed the last 3 miles pretty hard in 7:20, 7:04, and 7:02.