Every Run is a Great Run!

Ten easy miles in Manti, 5 of them with Kim. Foggy and 15 degrees starting out and it didn't look so inviting, but it actually ended up being very nice run with the fog burning off and the sun even making an appearance toward the end.  Also ran into a couple old friends along the way and stopped to talk for a bit. Always nice to come back to the old stomping grounds and spending time with family and friends.

Now off to St. George for a few days - sure hope the sun sticks around for a little while!

8:49/143

Got the 10 miler done in the morning. Staying in St. George at the condo for a few days. Was hoping for nice weather but looks like after yesterday and today we'll have to say goodbye to the sun and highs in the 50s and get ready for rain, snow and colder.

Ran first 5 or so miles with Kim as did an exploratory run to see if we could locate some of the river trails we haven't run on yet since many sections of the trail that we have run on before are closed due to the nasty storms and flooding last week. Did finally find the trail that heads up toward Snow Canyon but after about a 1/2 mile it was closed as well due to being covered with mud and gook where it headed under the road.

So we headed back to roads near the condo and Kim finished up and I did a few hill reps up/down Canyon View Drive.

8:31/147

Let the rains begin!  Woke up around 7 and as forecasted the rains had begun to fall in STG. But they were pretty gentle and temps were in low 40's and we've certainly run in alot worse. So we headed out to get er done.

Since most our regular trail routes are closed right now we decided to drive into town and run on the streets of the main part of town. Ended up being a nice albeit soggy run. Ran about 6.5 with Kim then the rest solo back to the condo. Picked it up the last part with Kim as she had the horses neighing, mostly in the 7-7:30 range so I'll count 2 miles as MP.

8:39/145

Final St. George run for the week this morning as we were able to survive the bad roads later in the day and make it home safe and sound. Rest day for Kim so I went solo. Temps weren't too bad and no rain/snow but heavy duty winds the made me feel like I was already back home in SF. 

Decided to do an out-and-back run with the "out" part being uphill and straight into the wind so that I could coast back to the condo on the "back" part. Ended up on the trail that heads up toward Snow Canyon and was glad to find no closures along the way due to flooding. Just took it nice and easy today. Sad that it didn't work out to run with Brent and Sylvie this trip but looking to hooking up in 2011 with NICE WEATHER for a nice dirt trail run with Kim and one of the all-time great running couples the Barneys.

8:38/152

Felt good to sleep in today. Went running with Kim just before 10am. Cold today but could be a  lot worse. I guess tomorrow it will be worse. Biggest problem was finding any roads with decent footing, I sure hope the roads are better by tomorrow. Still did plenty of slipping and sliding but managed to avoid falling down or getting injured. No point in worrying about pace in these conditions so we didn't.  Finished with 15-20 minutes of snow shoveling XT.

Looks like I'll end up with just over 2200 miles for 2010 and 250 miles for this month. Not too bad after missing nearly 2 months due to the foot injury. Nice to have a good base heading into 2011 and to feel pretty good most every day. Hope everyone has a happy new year!

9:30/130

The SF runners had planned to meet at 8am for a New Year Run. Was up just after 7, took a look outside and saw breeziness. Weather.com said 0 degrees with -10 wind chill. Promptly went back to bed and Kim and I decided to try our luck later in the day. Went for a drive around 10am to see what roads were runnable. Not very many it turns out. Only a handful of roads not completely snow/ice covered and those that were clear had plenty of traffic. Trying to see the glass as half-full we made a game plan to get it done.

Finally got running just before noon. Not the funnest to try and stay dry, keep from sliding, and getting hit by brain-dead drivers, but we were able to get a good long run in and get some sunshine as well. We had the best luck down in Benjamin where the roads were the driest and traffic wasn't too bad. We also found a church open there (thank goodness for church basketball!) so we could get a drink and visit a bathroom. I was able to get in a few faster MP miles in the middle miles 6, 7, 9 with paces of 7:15, 7:04, and 7:24. Good to finally be done for the day.

8:36/143