Every Race is an Adventure!

I ran an extended Orem loop this morning, 8.26 miles in 1:09:19 (8:24/mi). Mile splits were 9:09, 8:53, 8:12, 7:56, 8:12, 8:40, 8:23, 7:56, 0.26 mi in 2:00 (7:50/mi). I miss my morning running buddies, but I guess running alone builds character...kind of like digging holes.

It was great to run with Nathan at noon today. Cory is backing off running to try and get his foot healed. He was in the fitness center and we missed him coming out with us. It was a nice day today, but it was a little hot with the temperature around 90'. I knew the pace would be pretty fast running with Nathan. We ran out together until the big hill and then Nathan easily pulled away. He waited at the top for me and we ran back together until the second overpass. From there he gradually pulled away and finished well ahead of me.

My watch (my everyday Timex Ironman, no Garmin today) fell out of my locker and reset when it hit the floor, so I don't have my exact time. I remember it being around 38:00 for the 5 miles (7:36/mi) so I'll just go with that.

I did some 1/2 mile repeats with Larry and Wayne this morning. I could tell right away it wasn't going to be a fast morning. My legs had no zip. My 1/2 mile splits were 3:20, 3:23, 3:20, 3:18, and 3:09.

I ran a loop that starts up the Orem Main St. hill then up the big hill on 2000 N and back down, then follows the road above Oak Canyon Jr. High then down and around through Lindon and back up 1600 N in Orem. This is the old 6 mile loop we used to regularly do on Tuesdays, but I extended it in a few places to see if I could squeeze an extra mile out of it. I ended up hitting 7 miles right back in my neighborhood.

I ran the 7 miles in 1:00:50 (8:41/mi). Mile splits were 11:19, 9:18, 7:21, 8:06, 8:17, 8:29, and 7:57. I ran an easy yet steady pace. I was thinking of Sasha's recent comment on Tom's blog that easy runs should be easy.

At noon I ran the Lake View route with Tom. I thought it might be a little cooler than recent weeks, and maybe it was, but it sure seemed pretty hot. Both of us had run in the morning and neither of us was interested in pushing too hard. We still averaged 8:00/mi for the 5.2 miles. We both commented on how we seem to run faster at noon with the Novell guys than we do in the mornings. I think we both kind of felt like we were running closer to a 9:00 pace and were pleased that it was 8:00 instead. I really enjoy running with Tom. I'm going to miss him while he's in India.

I ran the water tank road with Larry and Wayne this morning. Before meeting up with them I ran a little over a mile to see if my foot was going to be up for the run up the big hills. I got a bit of a blister during Tuesday's run and the two runs yesterday aggravated it a little. I did some reading online yesterday and a few different sites mentioned the use of duct tape, both to prevent and to treat blisters. I tried it a little last night just walking around and it seemed to help, so I tried it again this morning for my run. It actually felt pretty good. Now I just need to do some reading on how to get the sticky off my feet. Oh well, live and learn.

I've been getting in some extra miles this week so I decided to take a break from running this morning and went and played basketball with my son Andrew and the morning crew again. It had been a long time since I had played. It was good seeing some old friends again. We played for about an hour and a half. I'm not sure why, but we score 1 point for a 2 point basket, 2 points for a 3 point basket, and we played 3 games to 21 (win by 2). We had 11 (only 1 sub) so we all got plenty of playing time. It was really a lot of fun. I even hit a few long shots. It was a nice cross-train break before the long run tomorrow.

What a great morning for a run! Seven of us started from the mouth of Provo Canyon around 6:00am: Nathan, Greg, and Ryan from the relay team, Larry and Wayne, and Michael Nelson, a former neighborhood runner. I ran with Nathan, Greg, Ryan, and Wayne up to Vivian Park. Ryan had to head back at that point. The rest of us continued up to South Fork Park. At 7.5 miles out Greg, Wayne, and I headed back down settling for a 15 mile run. Nathan continued on up. I believe his plan was for 20 miles.

On our way down South Fork we passed Sasha who was heading up. As Wayne and I were waiting for Larry and Michael on the bridge at the mouth of Provo Canyon we saw Sasha pass by again on his way south.

I ran the 15 miles in 2:01:00 (8:04/mi), not including three water stops and a bathroom break. There were so many runners up the canyon today that there was a line at every water stop.

 The GPS struggled getting a signal in spots on the way down, so the splits were a little off. Basically, most of the uphill miles were at around an 8:30 pace, the steeper hills at 9:00 or slower. The early downhill miles were around an 8:00 pace, speeding up to around 7:30 the last few miles. I pushed the last 3/4 miles at closer to a 6:30 pace.

The blister I've been nursing since I got it on Tuesday's run got a little worse today, but didn't really bother me until the last few miles.