I took two trips running up Provo Canyon this morning. I was supposed to meet Larry and Wayne at 6am at the mouth of the canyon but I was running a few minutes late so I called Larry and told them not to wait, I would catch up. With Larry's mini-stroke about 10 days ago, Larry's taking it real easy. His doctor told him not to run, but that he could walk if we kept his heart rate under 120. He decided he could run at an easy pace and keep his heart rate under 120. I caught Wayne and Larry pretty quickly as they walked until I caught them. Larry ran most of 5 miles, walking some of the uphills when is heart rate was getting a little high. I think 126 was the highest reading I heard him mention. It was good to be out with both him and Wayne. With Kevin on vacation, I ran solo everyday this week until today. Wayne had to be back to the car by 7am so he took off ahead on the way back. After running 5.25 miles with Larry, I headed back up the canyon for more. I decided to go up about 4.5 miles; adding 9-ish to my 5.25 would get me around 14 miles. I averaged about 10:35/mi for the first 5.25 miles, and 9:12/mi for the last 9 miles (9:49/mi for 4.5 up, 8:35/mi for 4.5 down). I felt pretty good still at the end, running the last 1.5 miles at 8:25/mi pace. I'm encouraged. I'm going a little longer, going a little faster, and feeling a little less pain. The weather is (too) slowly getting more springlike. I enjoyed the improved weather this morning, but it was still chilly and I kept my jacket zipped up and my gloves on until the last few miles when the sun finally broke through the clouds. | 