Every Race is an Adventure!

Darin and I ran the Eagles View loop at noon today. We kept it conversational and I wasn't trying to push very hard, just keep things moving to not make the run too slow for Darin. He had to be back for a 1:00pm meeting so we were just going to go out 20:00 minutes and then turn back. It turns out we made it to the top in 20:00 and finished in 38:51. I would have been satisfied with an 8:30 pace today, and felt like we were running around 8:00, but it must have been faster than that on the way back. It was encouraging to discover that the average pace was closer to 7:45.

My bothersome foot (PF, achilles) felt good during the run. Even on the uphill I didn't feel like I was stressing it much. However, I can tell that I still need to not press hard for a while yet.

I ran 6 easy miles with Larry this morning. I wasn't aware, but apparently both Kevin and Wayne had told Larry yesterday that they were planning to run this morning. Oh well, maybe Thursday. It would be great to them both back out with us on a regular basis. Wayne has been recovering from a stress fracture for several weeks, and Kevin was recovering for many months from breaking his leg in nine places, but has been running some the past few weeks...just not with me yet.

I think the temperature was around 30' this morning, with a bit of wind, but I was dressed well for it and it was quite a comfortable run. Rather than meandering through the big hills east of home, we meandered through the flatter streets west of home this morning. We averaged 9:11/mi for the six miles. We ran pretty steady with the first two miles at exactly 9:11 and two of the other miles at 9:10. One mile in the middle was a little slower because we stopped to wait for Larry's dog to stop wandering and catch up, but we apparently unconsciously made up for it by running the last mile a little quicker. It was by no means a fast run, but a little more focused and steady than many of our easy runs since St. George. I sense an increased determination from Larry to get back to his old form and seriously focus on a BQ this year. I hope it lasts and the injury bug that bit him this year leaves him alone.

Yes, I've told Larry (countless times) that he needs to start blogging. When he finally does, then I'll know he's truly committed to getting that BQ time...and I'm confident he'd get it.


 

I ran Lake View with Will, Russ, and Tom (part of the way). Will seemed to be pushing the pace the whole way. Tom and I were content to trail behind, but when he turned back after a couple of miles I was faced with running alone or catching up and running with Will and Russ. I didn't want to run alone, so I chose the latter. I ended up running out in 20:00 (7:42/mi) and back in 19:37 (7:33), for an overall average pace of 7:37/mi for the 5.2 miles.

Sasha recommended I not run faster than 8:00/mi for a couple of weeks until my foot heals up, but that doesn't seem to be possible for me when I run with the Novell guys. I do fine on the other days when I run alone or with the neighborhood guys. I have no trouble running slower than even 9:00/mi. Does averaging slower than 8:00/mi for the week count? Probably not. Oh well, at least I'm staying conversational, and my foot still seems to be getting better. I think it was going sub-7:00 (even sub-6:00 for one mile) at the same time I was boosting my mileage that triggered this episode. I think reducing my mileage and running conversational pace only is helping.

Wandered through the hilly streets of NE Orem with Larry. The Christmas lights were pretty and the conversation was enjoyable.

My first thought this morning was how glad I was I wasn't running the Nutcracker 5K with Tom this morning. Fresh snow on top of wet slush...not ideal racing conditions. Larry and I had a pretty enjoyable trot through the snow along the canal road (the roads were too slushy). Even at an easy pace the footing was a little iffy in spots. It will be interesting to see how the tutu run went this morning.

The snow was a nice way to welcome in December. My two youngest daughters giggled down the stairs this morning and went straight to our advent calendar (felt Christmas tree with ornaments) and put up the first ornament. Even Larry's dog Ozzy had an extra bounce in his step as he ran through the snow. We also passed a few groups of kids up early sledding down the snow-covered hills near their homes. There were also times when it was very quiet as we padded through the snow along the canal. Ah, the running life. Ain't it grand.