July Running

[skhill]

This morning I finally got around to running the course of Wed.'s 10k, well most of it. There's a stretch on an arterial road with no sidewalks or bike lanes or shoulders, and I'm not going to do that during rush hour. Ended up going about 7.5 miles, at a relaxed 9:15 pace. I'm not expecting a PR in the race, but that's OK. It's always a fun, festive race.

[yellow]

skhill, have a great race! Anyone else running a holiday race today or this weekend?

I ran an independence (independent) trail event on Sunday (the event is always on July 4 if July 4 falls on a weekend). I've run sections of these trails before but never put together. It was a beautiful day in the Wasatch. About 25 miles of mostly singletrack, some doubletrack. I decided I haven't been taking enough photos on my runs so I brought my camera along on this one. Here are some photos.

Getting in as much as possible before the sun is up!


Running along the Wasatch Crest


My friend Missy coming off of a peak that has the very plain name of 10,420 Peak.


A shot of some typical trail conditions once you get up higher.


An overview of the mountains from the crest. Part of this route was in the mountains on the right side of the photo (right of and above the reservoir).


Happy Independence Day to all the US gals!

[Crankin]

Beautiful scenery.

[skhill]

Wow, what a beautiful run, yellow!

Well, today's 10k is in the books. I was slower than I had hoped, at 55:24, but still averaged a sub-9 minute pace (barely). The last mile was my fastest, and I was blowing by people coming up to the finish line, which is always fun. It was hot and humid, so I made a special effort to not go out too fast, and also took water twice instead of my usual once or not at all. (Haven't learned how to drink from a cup while still running just yet!).

It's great how at this race a lot of folks who live near the course come out onto porches and sidewalks and lawns to watch and cheer. Some are in pjs and drinking coffee, some are dressed up and drinking mimosas and bloody marys (wish they'd share!). There are some folks with garden hoses (and some water guns, too) showering us with cooling water, drought-be-damned. The overall winner (in just 30:07) is 40yrs old, but then he holds at least one age group national record...

The heat took a toll, though. Around the 4.5 mile mark there was a young woman who had passed out and was attended by several emts, and there was also evidence of much puking just past the finish line.

Now, I'm trying to decide whether to venture back out into the heat to see the parade, or stay in air-conditioned bliss...

[Tri Girl]

HOLY COW! Those pictures are incredible, Yellow!! I would love to have that kind of scenery to run amidst.

I'm doing a 50 mile road race this Friday night/Saturday morning (it starts at 11:59 Friday night). I've never even done a 50K, so if I make it to that point and need to stop, I'm OK with DNF'ing at mile 30.9 (it's 5, 10.3 mile loops). However, if I can go the extra 20.6 miles, I certainly will. Wish me luck!

[jessmarimba]

Sounds like a great race! It's always nice to finish strong.

And beautiful photos, yellow! I definitely need your endurance on hills.

We did 8 this morning, fairly hilly gravel trail. Good day to run.

[surgtech1956]

Great photos yellow. I completed W1D3 of the C25K Program today. Wow it was hot though, temperature was 89 degrees(F). Drank lots of Gatorade after.