Every Race is an Adventure!

2000 N hill route. No rain...but a little chilly. It was great to have Wayne, Larry, and Jolene out. I was surprised not to see Kevin.

I played tennis with Karen and the kids last night until about 9:00pm. We don't play much, and we're not very good, but it was a lot of fun. I wasn't feeling very zippy this morning so it was an easy pace morning. With the big hill, average pace was only 9:59/mi.

I would have ended up alone this morning but Lyle stopped as he was running by and decided to join me. I think he may have regretted that decision. Kris, his normal running partner, told me later that he told her that I tried to kill him.

All I did was our normal run up the water tank hills. He's run up there before, but not much, and I guess he normally only goes up the first two hills. I don't think he was expecting to continue up hill 3, 4, and 5. He started up hill 1 very strong and was pulling away from me. I eventually passed him as he walked a little, but he was just behind me at the top of hill 1 and passed me again at the beginning of hill 2. Again he walked a little and I went by him. I didn't see him again until I was stopped at the top of hill 5. Those hills are tough enough when you know what to expect. I was impressed with how strong he was able to run them, and that he continued all the way to the top.

My legs started burning at hill 2, but I hung in there and made it up in 17:17...pretty good for me. We took it easy back down. I really enjoyed Lyle's company to and from and down the hills. I pulled ahead again on the Fast Half Mile, averaging 7:19 pace.

It was a very enjoyable run. 

I ran the Wil's Canyon Stop run solo this morning. I was glad I was alone. I would have been embarrassed to have someone I know witness this pitiful run. My legs felt very heavy and I felt very tired right from the start. These six miles felt very much like the last 6 miles of a marathon. In fact, if I run this slow at the end of the Utah Valley Marathon next week I'll be pretty disappointed. I tried and could barely manage 10:20 pace the last mile, and only averaged 9:57/mi overall.

This seemed like more than just a bad run. In an effort to explain it, here are what I believe to be some contributing factors:

1. A basketball game the night before...our traditional Old Guys vs. Young Men at the church. We play first to 100, with half time when one team reaches 50. The young guys were good, but the old guys won by 20+. We had plenty of subs, but I played hard while I was in and got pretty tired.

2. I found out about the game at the last minute, just as Karen was serving dinner. I grabbed a single small hot dog. After the game I had some pork and beans, but never really ate much to refuel. I also didn't drink much so I think I was pretty dehydrated.

3. We stayed up late and I only got a little over 4 hours of sleep.

Despite these excuses, I was a little concerned about how bad I felt. Maybe I'm even less prepared for this upcoming marathon than I was thinking. I guess time will tell.

Wayne, Kevin and I ran the 10 miles from Trefoil to the mouth of the canyon. After my poor performance Thursday morning I was curious and a little nervous about how I would do today.

We started out at a comfortable pace. It felt like a good pace at which to start the marathon next week. Our first 4 miles down South Fork were 8:26, 8:23, 8:11, and 8:00. After we all made a bathroom stop at Vivian Park (yes, the flush toilets are finally! open), I was feeling pretty good and we gradually picked up the pace a little. At Nunns Park I had been more focused on my conversation with Kevin than running. Wayne said he felt the wind at his back and started pulling ahead of us. I decided to focus in and run strong the last 3 miles. I pulled ahead of Wayne and Kevin and stayed there. It felt good. They are both a little under the weather, but I enjoyed being in front anyway.

My mile splits for the last six miles were 8:00, 8:11, 8:01, 7:42, 7:36, 7:28, and 7:24. I averaged 7:56/mi for the 10 miles and finished feeling great. This was a great relief after how horrible I felt Thursday morning.

Today's run gave me confidence for the marathon next week, and helped me solidify my plans. I think I'll start out at the same easy-ish effort as at the start of the run today. Instead of picking up the pace after 4-6 miles like today and averaging 8:00/mi, I plan to stick to the easier effort pace and hope to average 8:30-ish/mi for the first 20 miles. I fully expect to be struggling the last 6.2 miles down University Ave, maybe sooner. I don't have the long runs in to feel confident of running strong to the end. I ran a strong 16 miler not too long ago, so with tapering and race day magic I suspect I can make 20 miles okay if I don't go out too fast, but those later miles will be iffy. All I can do now is try to go into the marathon well tapered, healed, rested, hydrated, and fueled and see what I can do. I'm finally starting to get excited about this next adventure.