For Whom the Dogs Bark

53F and light rain, a little bit of wind.  7.20 miles in 1:32:26, 12:50 minutes per mile, low heart rate.  It felt like I was getting Saturday out of my system, so I wasn't too worried about the slow pace.  It is what it is.

I am going to Omaha today.  They were below zero last week or pretty close to it, but in the 20s this week for lows, so it should be pretty runnable.  Something different anyway, but I'm not going there just to run ;)

Set the alarm in Omaha this morning and checked the temperature.  -2F.  This is hard core cold and I don't know the area well enough to even try anything in the ice out there.  I brought stuff for running at 20 degrees, not minus 2 degrees.

Quick change of plans and I did 5 on the treadmill at a 5 mph pace.  For some reason it seems faster than actually running it, you can tell I don't know much about treadmills.  Had to ask my sister how to turn it on.  It had a switch under the front of the belt.  How was I supposed to know that?

This week is the start of my taper, so I don't feel too bad about the easier workout, it accomplished its purpose.

I haven't blogged in several days due to my son's wedding this week, but I have run every day.  The next few entries will get me caught up.  I did an afternoon run today.  Getting back from Omaha late and attending to other last-minute duties before leaving for SLC made it impossible to get out this morning.  I left work early, changed at the downtown club and drove out to Memorial park which is the primary running area in Houston.  It is always loaded with runners.  There is a three-mile loop there.

I warmed up for two miles then did 10x400, fastest pace 6:40 and slowest pace 7:48, progressively slower throughout, then cool down pace to the end.  To me that means I was pushing myself.  Legs felt pretty ripe at the end.  Average pace for the entire run was 10:07.

Hurried home and rushed to the airport.

21F in Provo, Utah.  Ran 4.84 easy miles, average pace 10:23 per mile.  Ran from my hotel on 2230 North up to 9th East, then down to 600 North, across to University then back to the hotel.  It was a lot nicer running down than up.  Most of the sidewalks were cleared off but not all of them -- I found out that I can run on ice OK.  Got back to the hotel just in time to get showered and up to the Provo temple for my future daughter-in-law's first trip there.  She is a delightful young lady.  I think my son is pretty terrific too, so this is a very happy time for our family and hers.

19F in Provo, Utah.  Ran 8.34 easy miles at an average pace of 10:09 per mile.  I left my hotel room not knowing beforehand where I should go, and then saw a trail by the river.  Got on it and immediately saw the signs -- it is the Provo River Parkway Trail, I think I have seen several references to it on this blog.  My hotel is on 2230 North and that seemed to be the northern end of the trail.  I took it downstream past I-15 and then some, seemed like I was almost to Utah Lake but I had to turn around and hurry back.  This is a great running trail available to the Utah Valley bloggers.  I only saw one other runner, though.  He zipped by me and said something.  I think it was "hello", but it was hard to tell with the Doppler effect. 

18F in Salt Lake City.

My son got married here yesterday on Temple Square, wonderful day, topped off with a trip to a Brazilian meat palace in Trolley Square, can't remember the name but we had some nice wind-down time with the two familes, without the honeymooning couple.  Too much meat, though, not sure what I was expecting.

So this morning I hit the streets at 6:00.  I wasn't quite sure what the conditions would be but I decided to do a tour of SLC.  This was a really cheap tour because it was on foot, in the dark and no tour guide.  I didn't notice a lot of competition.

I started out at the end of Foothill, at I-80, out the door from our daughter's apartment and headed north, which was mostly downhill.  Kind of difficult footing at times because all of the sidewalks aren't clear.  About a mile and a half up Foothill I saw a group of women running on the other side of the street.  They gradually pulled ahead and turned in front of me heading up Sunnyside.  I continued along Foothill until it turned into 500 South, more downhill, past Rice Eccles (go Cougars!), past Trolley Square to State Street, then up State Street to North Temple.  I had designs on running up to the Capitol but it was too steep and I didn't want to walk, so I turned around about 2/3 of the way up, back down to N. Temple and out a few more blocks until I had about 7.5 miles in before turning around.  Back through the avenues, including a trip up to a small house on M Street that I lived in as a kid when my dad was a graduate student (very steep road, I don't remember it being that steep), past the cemetery and on through the avenues up to the University of Utah.  I ran all the way through campus, past a building with some large ground-level windows.  I noticed in the reflection that my form is a little better.  I finally caught Foothill and took it back home.  Not fast at all, average pace about 11 minutes per mile, but OK for a taper week.  Ran some final errands, caught the plane and made it home to Houston before midnight.

I enjoyed my time in Utah this week.  I enjoyed my son's successful marriage, getting to know his in-laws, catching up with the few relatives I still have in Utah and getting in some runs in a different setting.