Things didn't go quite as planned this morning, but it was a good run anyway. Last week Larry, Wayne and I decided to start running 10 miles instead of 6 on Thursday mornings. I tweaked my ankle last Wednesday so I missed the first 10 mile Thursday run. I was looking forward to today's run. I got up on time but my GI tract felt a bit off this morning and I didn't feel quite ready to run when I hustled to Larry's a little late. Wayne hadn't arrived yet and Larry was working on his bike. His hip is feeling better but he had decided to ride one more day before trying to run on it again. I asked to borrow Larry's bathroom and then finally felt ready to run. At first we thought Wayne had forgot we were leaving at 5:30am instead of 5:45am, but by 5:50am we realized he probably wasn't coming...very unusual for Wayne. Larry was still working on his bike but I decided to head out and let him catch up. I ran up to Provo Canyon (about 3 miles) and then went another couple of miles up the trail. As I headed toward the canyon the headwind was pretty stiff. When I started on the trail I turned my hat around backwards so it wouldn't blow off. As I recall, I averaged around 8:50/mi the first four miles and just over 9:00/mi the last mile up. I felt a little GI distress during this mile, but it faded and never returned. I finally ran into Larry on the way back down around Timpanogos Park. We had overlooked the fact that while Larry could catch up quickly on the bike, his dog Ozzie wasn't on a bike. Larry had to keep waiting for Ozzie. By the end of the run Ozzie was a living example of being dog tired. It was great having Larry's company for the run back home. With the overall downhill and the wind at my back, I was able to pick up the pace. I ended up averaging 8:31/mi overall, with the last couple of miles being around 7:40/mi I think. My ankle held up well. I'm icing it anyway to hopefully prevent any setback. My training and fitness is not where I hoped it would be at this point. I see Tom and Terry and Nathan and Josse and others training so hard and running so well and I must admit I'm a little jealous. I'm not afraid of the work and effort and pain. I'm afraid of blowing a gasket. If my body was a Ferrari I could just put the pedal to the metal, but I feel like I'm nursing an old Model T Ford. If I push too hard I'll find myself on the side of the road with steam boiling up from the radiator. But I feel pretty good about keeping the old car running and with the speed I am able to coax out of it. I'm grateful to be running as well as I am. | 