Every Race is an Adventure!

I ran my close-to-home serpentine route solo this morning. One of the reasons I like this route is that it is well lit. For some unknown reason, I have a tendency to step on rocks and roll my ankles while running, especially in the dark. Despite my precautions, about 1.3 miles into this morning's run I stepped on a golfball-sized rock and rolled my right ankle. Fortunately, it was not serious and I was able to continue my run and "walk it off".

I averaged about 8:47/mi for six easy miles run this morning. I threw in a half dozen 2/3 effort striders in the second half of the run. I intend these to be 100 meter striders. I've been meaning to get to the track and see how far 100 meters is in terms of number of steps. I think I've been running a little short. So instead of going home at the end of the run I added a little distance and headed to the track at THS.

I only did a couple of 100 meter repeats and determined that I was about 20% short on my previous guesstimates of steps per 100 meters. I pushed the second 100 meters pretty hard (for a cold morning in long pants and long sleeves) and ran it in 19 seconds. I'm not sure what that means, but I thought I'd log it anyway for future reference.

At noon, I ran Eagles View with Tom, Nathan, Will, and Bill. We started together but it wasn't long before Tom, Nathan, and Will were pulling away. We caught them when they had to stop at the State Street light, but quickly pulled away again. Bill pulled away from me up the big hill leaving me dead last...or last, dead.

I guess I wasn't totally dead, because on the way back I managed to catch and pull away from Bill and close the gap on the others until the red light at State Street once again allowed me to catch them. It didn't last long. Tom and Nathan pulled away yet again. I managed to pull ahead of Will briefly, but he caught me later and we ended up finishing together.

My splits out and up were 8:06, 7:52, and 9:29/mi for the roughly half mile up the big hill. On the way down and back my splits were 5:53 (downhill), 6:53 (two overpasses), and 7:06/mi for the last 1/2 mile (flat). My Garmin showed an overall time of 37:00 flat for 4.99 miles (7:06/mi). I feel good about the run. I would have felt thrilled if Tom and Nathan hadn't been so much faster. It helps that they are younger than me and will never be in my age division. :-)

I was looking forward to running with Larry, Wayne, and Kevin this morning but not a single one of them showed up. I'm pretty sure I was at the right place at the right time, since it hasn't changed in years, but I still ended up running solo.

I ran the serpentine route again. My legs were feeling some effects from pushing it hard yesterday so I took it pretty easy. I ran the first mile in 9:20, gradually speeding up to 8:01 for last mile. I averaged 8:47/mi for the six miles.

I pushed too hard on Monday and was still feeling the effects so I decided to skip the two-a-day today and only run at noon. I ended up going to the clerk's office and doing some church work from 5:15-7:00 am.

At noon I ran Lake View with Tom and Will. After Monday's hard run I think Will was a little skeptical when Tom and I said we were going to take it easy, but we did. We finished the 5.2 miles in 43:36 (8:23/mi).

Larry and I ran a modified serpentine route this morning for 5.5 miles. The temperature was in the mid-20's, quite a bit colder than recent runs. This was an easy run and I think we averaged around 9:20/mi. The pain I've been feeling in my left achilles/heel since Monday's (too) hard run was feeling a bit better and didn't bother me.

I did an easy solo run this morning. I kind of picked my route as I went and ended up running a sort of amoeba-shaped loop. I even braved the darker streets of Lindon for part of the run. I ran six miles, some of it kind of hilly, at about a 9:18/mi average pace. I don't seem to be having any trouble not running too fast on these easy cold morning runs.

Kerry and I went to Spanish Fork to run with Tom and the SF group. Tom's wife Kim planned a surprise breakfast for after the run. Tom picked up on a few clues and was a little suspicious that something was up, but I think a good time (and good food) were still had by all. I know I sure enjoyed it.

Kerry and I made a VPB (Virtual Private Bathroom) stop and I ended up not restarting my watch for a bit. My Garmin ended up showing that we'd run for 12.99 miles, so I'll call 13 miles close enough. I don't have my watch with me, but I think the overall average for me was around 8:45/mi, but I could be off a bit.

Me left heel that's been bothering me a bit for the past week or so didn't bother me at all during the run. I think the temperature was in the mid-40's when we started and was very comfortable for this late in November. I enjoyed the run, the breakfast, and the camaraderie.

Shortly after I got home I saw Larry, Kevin, and Jolene going past at the end of their run. I caught up with them and walked over to their cul-de-sac with them. I still haven't run with Kevin since he's started running after taking many months off because of a severely broken leg, but at least I've now seen him in running clothes. Maybe Tuesday morning we'll finally run together, but I'm not holding my breath.