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.

[Tri Girl]

great job, Surgtech!!!

[jessmarimba]

Good luck with your race, Tri Girl! I can't imagine going that far.

[surgtech1956]

Completed W2D1 this morning. I went out about 7:15am. The heat index is suppose to be 110 today.

[OakLeaf]

Wow TriGirl, good luck!

Amazing Yellow, what a beautiful world you have to run in.

Nice work, skhill!

Surgtech, you're really coming along.


I cut mine short this morning because a thunderstorm was coming in. Rain on the run would've been welcome but I'm a little leery of lightning. Someone was just killed by lightning in my county earlier this week. Granted he was fixing an antenna, but still. My running top is now hanging on the line in the rain in case I have to run in it yet again without washing it. It was getting pretty ripe. Hopefully it'll at least get a good rinse. I only had two that weren't already at the bottom of the hamper when the power went out.

We have electric back thank goodness, but I didn't want to start a load of wash without being sure the electric will stay on long enough to finish it - and I don't know whether it will dry out enough today to dry anything.

[Tri Girl]

Thanks everyone.
I only made it 27.33 miles before my knee became very angry at me, and I knew it was time to stop. I was close to a 50K, but I was never going to make it to 50 miles. I could tell immediately it was far too hot and humid (even at midnight) for that to happen.

Hope everyone had good Saturday morning runs!

[surgtech1956]

Today I completed W2D2 of the C25K program, it was only 75 degrees, compared to the 90+ we've been having the past couple of weeks.

[jessmarimba]

Did another half this morning. So much better than last time. It was 52 degrees at the start, calling for a 60% chance of rain (it never rained). Rolling hills, more elevation change than last time (between 8,000-8,600 ft) and dirt road almost the whole way. Finished in 2:06:something, good enough for 3rd in my age group (BIG surprise, since most of the AG awards were at least 15-20 minutes faster). But it was a great race for me regardless of place. I think I'm going to sign up for one more rolling half, just so I don't have only uphill races to look forward to!

[yellow]

Congrats, Tri Girl. 27+ miles is FAR! I don't care what anybody says. And it was certainly enough to gave you a taste of the ultra world

I did a nice 22.5 mile trail run yesterday that was only supposed to be 18-20 miles. Darn trail closure. Ran on a trail I hadn't been on since last fall and it was gorgeous. I think hubby and I are going to go back up there again tomorrow (Sunday).