Every Race is an Adventure!

I slept in a little because of the holiday, and didn't leave until 7:25am. I'm considering running the Spanish Fork half marathon this Saturday. Kerry is planning to run it as a long threshold pace training run and I'm inclined to join him. Kerry is thinking about running about a 7:30 pace, so I thought I'd see what that felt like this morning.

I wanted to run a fairly level course, without stoplights or intersections to get in the way, so I decided to run on the canal road. I decided to warm up for a mile, run 3 miles at around a 7:30 pace, then run another 6 miles at an easy pace.

As usual, I started the first fast mile too fast. My splits for those 3 miles were 7:16, 7:33, and 7:31 (average 7:27/mi). The next 6 miles were 8:45, 8:59, 8:29, 8:47, 8:36, and 7:59 (average 8:36/mi). I could have pushed the fast miles faster, but I knew I had 6 miles to go afterward. I ran those 6 miles at an "easy" pace, but they weren't all that easy. I may have still been feeling some effects from the 20 mile run on Saturday. Still, it felt good to work and I enjoyed the run.

I'm glad I didn't start any later than I did. It felt good most of the run, and it was nice not starting in the dark, but it was starting to get pretty warm the last few miles.

I ran some hills and some easy miles with Larry and Wayne this morning. We worked our way uphill until we eventually went up to the top of 2000 N. We then came back down and looped around Lindon.

I ran the Lake View course with Tom at noon. I didn't run this morning like I normally do so I went down early and got in three miles on the treadmill before Tom showed up. As I recall, the first mile was a little over 9:00 and the next two were sub-8:00, around 7:45 I think.

I was hoping that moving outside to run with Tom would be more comfortable, but it was warm and humid and not really very pleasant weather-wise. Running with Tom made it bearable, enjoyable even. I had us finishing the 5.2 miles in 41:57 (8:04/mi), 21:24 (8:14/mi) out, 20:33 (7:54/mi) back.

I got out a little early this morning and got in 2.25 easy miles before meeting up with Larry and Wayne. The weather was cooler this morning. It's about time! I especially enjoyed it after yesterday's warm and muggy noon run, although it was still muggy this morning. When we finished there was water literally dripping off the brim of my hat, and it hadn't rained at all.

After I met up with Larry and Wayne we ran the water tank road. After hill three I pushed ahead and pushed the last two hills pretty hard. We took it easy coming down as it was still kind of dark and we couldn't see the rocks on the road very well. When we got to 400 East on 1600 North I decided to try some speed down that perfect downhill half mile to Main, which is just before we turn into our neighborhood and end. I averaged 5:59/mi for that stretch. It always feels good for me to get under a 6:00 pace, even if it is only for a half mile on a perfect downhill. I felt strong and comfortable running this morning.

I only wanted to go a few easy miles today. I was undecided between running the Spanish Fork Half Marathon or doing a long run with Larry and Wayne. Either way I didn't want to beat myself up too hard today. It was so nice at noon today, quite a bit cooler than it has been, that I decided to just do some laps on the sidewalk/trail around the greater Novell campus.

I didn't have my Garmin, but according the my measurements using Google maps it's roughly a 1.36 mile loop. I ran three loops plus about another 0.4 miles getting to and from the loop via Novell's main entrance. My time for the roughly 4.5 miles was 36:31 (8:07/mi). With the waterways, sleeping ducks (I think I counted 16 in one spot), grass, and trees along the loop, and the cooler temperatures, I really enjoyed the run.

 I've decided to do the long run with Larry and Wayne tomorrow. They are planning to run from Wasatch Mountain State Park in Midway, along the northwest side of Deer Creek, and down to the mouth of Provo Canyon (20+) miles. Mark and Michael Nelson, and maybe Curt Gassman, are planning to join them. Larry says Michael might be bailing out at Bridal Veil. I may do the same. We'll see. This should be a fun adventure. I've never run this route before. At least I'll be with good company.

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I had been considering running the Spanish Fork half marathon, but when Kerry's plans changed that meant I would be running it alone, so I decided to do the long run Larry and Wayne were planning.

Wayne dropped his Jeep at the mouth of the canyon and Larry, Wayne, Kurt Gassman, and I rode up in Larry's truck to Wasatch Mountain State Park. Kent Gassman came along to drive Larry's truck back home so we wouldn't have to go back up and get it. We miss Kent running with us, but it was nice of him to help us out. We dropped some drinks at the head of the Deer Creek North Trail along the way. We also called Mark Nelson who lives in Midway so he could meet up with us. His son Michael ended up not coming along for the run.

We started running about 6:20am. It was still dark and the weather was cool but not cold. The weather was actually awesome the whole run. It was cool most of the time, and didn't ever get too warm.

I had never run on the Deer Creek North Trail before. I really enjoyed it. It is wide and in good condition. The Deer Creek Reservoir is really low as they have drained a lot of it so they can do some maintenance on the dam. Along the way we saw geese, cranes, deer, chipmunks, and some other large bird we couldn't identify. The mountains were beautiful, with many of the leaves beginning to turn red. As planned, Mark turned and headed back home before we reached the dam.

After we reached the dam and the end of the trail, things got interesting. With all the road construction going on around there, we ended up doing some running on new roads, old roads, torn up roads, railroad tracks, and up one short steep hill between roads. It was actually pretty fun. We finally reached Vivian Park and the familiar territory of the Provo River trail. The distance to this point was 16.75 miles.

Kurt's hip and knee had started to bother him earlier and, with him planning to run the Top of Utah marathon next weekend, he wisely decided to cut the run short. He called his dad (Kent) who was waiting for him when we reached Vivian.

As we ran from Vivian down the trail we saw many of the searchers that are still looking for Camille, the BYU co-ed who has been missing for over a week now. Near Timpanogos Park we were asked by volunteers (who ran along side us) if we had been up the canyon since the time of her disappearance. Since we ran up there last Saturday, we said yes and they asked for our names and phone numbers. It was hard to stop 21.5 miles into a 22.5 mile run, especially with the awesome continuously running fountain only 1/4 mile ahead, but I did (the young lady looked like she was getting tired) and gave her the information. When we reached the end of the run at the parking lot, there was a large group of orange-vested volunteers heading out. A few of them asked us again.

Just after the last fountain a young woman passed us, accompanied by another young woman on a bike. We couldn't let her pass us this close to the end (no one had all day) so picked up the pace. She asked if we were training for a marathon. She is training for her first marathon at St. George this year and asked for advice. This helped the last part of the run go by rather quickly and easily.

Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the run nearly a 10. Great company, beautiful weather, beautiful scenery. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and survived with only some tired muscles.

We finished the 22.5 miles in 3:38:44 (9:44/mi). This is almost 20 minutes longer than I plan to be running during the St. George marathon next month, so the marathon will be easier, right? It won't be harder to run a 7:40 pace for 26.2 miles than it was to run a 9:40 pace for 22.5 miles will it? It will? Ah, dang!