Running

I went on a nice shake out run this morning through the streets of Logan. No snow today, so that was good. I will get in a solid run later this afternoon/evening.

I ran an even 14 miles in the evening.  It was nice to run several with Meagan. 

I enjoyed a nice hilly 9 mile loop up left hand fork in Logan canyon. It was hot, but was very enjoyable due to the views in the mountains.

I took today off.  My cold has been too persistent, so I decided to give in for a day.  I feel better now than yesterday, but I want to feel close to 100 % for the relay.

I went on an easy 15 miles through Logan.  I feel like my cold is mostly gone.  I hope that the race goes well this weekend.  It should be a blast. 

PS I don't really care about how many miles I run.  I focus more on the minutes and the effort.  This way I don't push the pace trying to get done with a run, rather I just enjoy the run and learn more about my body.  I hope that makes sense. 

Well it is finally here, WBR.  I have looked forward to this race for a while.  My first leg was #10, 3.5 miles flat, with a slight uphill finish.  I started a little fast with the adrenaline, 4:52 mile, then  two 4:59 miles back to back, with a relaxed finish. (saving some for ragnar), 17:14.  Remember the race has just begun.

Easy warmup and cool down.

At about 3 am I ran leg 22, 6.4 miles with a slight uphill finish.  I just locked into pace and hammered away for 35 minutes until the finish.  I felt strong, but with BYU over 20 minutes ahead there was no reason to kill myself yet.  I had to be patient for Ragnar.  I knew I could make up some serious time there.

I should preface this entry with a big thanks to my team, St George Running Center, and Fastrunningblog.com, but especially the guys in my van, Dave, Adam, Taylor, Clyde, Logan, and my brother in law Jake.  They really were the key to the success we had in our van.  Anyway, I ran Ragnar at about 10am.  The weather was warm, but not nearly as hot as last year.  I ran super hard the first mile, 8:02, but I couldn't breath.  I was super congested.  I thought the record was out of reach, but I still pushed to try to win the overall award.  Mile 2 was faster, 7:30 range.  By now I was feeling better, but I still didn't think the record was in my grasp.  I hammered the last 2 miles well under 7 min mile pace and ended up 29:12 on my watch,(old record 29:13), so we will see how the official results come out. 

PS My legs felt strong and healthy, no big knots, Sunday and Monday.  This is the best I have felt after WBR.