A.M. Ran with Sergio. Had to cut the run short to 15.8 because we were going to a funeral of Sister Pauline Pace who taught me the Gospel in Russia with her husband. She died at the age of 92. It was a great privilege to know her and Elder Pace who has now been gone from this life for about 11 years. I am thankful for the sacrifice they were willing to make in their 70s to go on a mission and show me the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through their example. I could feel it, and I knew that it was not just from their personality, but there was some power beyond it that they possessed that came from their faith. I learned from them that service was not something you do when it is convenient, but you do it when the Lord asks. One of the hymns performed at the funeral was Be Still My Soul. It is interesting, perhaps more than just interesting, that this hymn drew my attention a week ago enough to write something about it in my blog. Saw Mike Ramsdell at the funeral. We knew each other in Moscow. He was a branch presidency councilor in my branch. He asked me about my run this morning and laughed when I told him I had to cut it short to 15.8 miles. As far as the run went, I did a warm-up with Sergio with a few pickups, then ran the 7.5 tempo with 2.5 down, 2.5 up, and 2.5 down. The splits by half mile were: 2:46, 2:49, 2:48, 2:50. 2:48 (14:01), 3:02, 3:05, 3:11, 3:07, 3:10 (15:35), 2:49, 2:47, 2:47, 2:43, 2:40 (13:46), total time 43:22, 8 seconds faster than last week. I felt sluggish in the first 2.5, then felt stuck in the uphill 2.5. There was headwind, maybe it was stronger than it appeared, but regardless I slowed down way too much on that uphill/headwind stretch. The quads are working too hard while all this is happening and I cannot find my rhythm. This slow down is still a concern and needs to be fixed. I should not be seeing 6:20 and slower pace in almost any wind on that grade - it is only 1-2 %. Then surprisingly I found another gear in the last 2.5. All of a sudden I started running 5:30 pace and it did not feel hard. Cooled down with Sergio, total of 15.8 miles. Kids ran on their own. Benjamin did 6, Joseph and Jacob 1 each, Jenny and Julia 2.
| 