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Ran a slow 3 mile route with Ben this afternoon for our last run before the marathon.  Average pace was 9:06 as we attempted to keep our rate conversational and down to marathon pace.

This was the big day!  I ran the Provo City Marathon with 10 young men ages 14-18 and 4 other adults.  (Three of the youth opted for the half marathon, but I'm still very pleased.)  My son Ben won first place in his age division (12-14) and he was the only runner.  His time was 4:18:30, just behind me.  My other son, Alma said his goal was to finish in under six hours.  So I was very pleased when I saw him come across at 4:45.  I think he won the award for the best shirt, which said "running sucks"  He got all kinds of comments during the run about his shirt.  Another of our young men won 3rd place in the 15-18 age group with a time of 3:55.  He had the best time in the group.  Three of the adults finished ahead of me at 4:12, 4:13, and 4:14.  The other adult is in my age group and he finished his first marathon in 5:44.  He had more injury trouble than any of us, but he also had great determination and was able to pull in out in the end.  I'm so happy for him.  The rest of the boys finished between me and him.

In my age division (55-59), I also won a medal for third place out of seven runners.  My time of 4:17:00 was just six seconds slower than my personal record of 4:16:54 at the Top of Utah marathon 3 years ago.  During the last 45 minutes of the run, I knew I was close, but not that close.

When I got to mile 19, I thought that I would be hitting the wall any time now.  I think my pace slowed down a lot before mile 19, but I had a reasonable amount of energy all the way to the end.   I forgot to bring my GPS watch, but I stayed pretty near the 4 hour pacers until almost the half way point.  The 4:15 pacers finally passed me up at mile 24, but I didn't have the energy to stay with them.

The weather couldn't have been much better.  It was a little too cold at the start and a little too hot at the end, but tolerable for short sleeves throughout.

I have to say this was the best marathon out of the three I've run because I didn't have everyone passing me at the end.  Without the injury in the midst of the training cycle, it could have been much better.  The other good news is that my injury never slowed me down during the run.

I ran hard today.  No reason to worry about anything with no more marathons scheduled.  I'm almost back to 100%, which is so different from the slow recovery after previous marathons.  Ran 3.94 miles at an average pace of 8:38/mile.

I'll be running for fitness now, but I'm not swearing off future marathons either.  That elusive 4 hour marathon is still hanging over my head.  For now my focus has to be maintaining fitness and getting ready for Brian's wedding on June 8.

I had great energy from start to finish today, probably because of my lack of running lately.  I probably won't even get in my long run tomorrow.  Nevertheless, I will continue to run and to seek improvement, whether or not another marathon is in my future.

Ran 4.6 miles at an average pace of 8:15/mile (37:57).

59 degrees as summer time approaches.  Ran 5.42 miles in 46:19 for an average of 8:33/mile.

Even warmer before dawn this morning at 63 degrees.  Not quite as much energy as yesterday, but still a good run:  4.65 miles in 39:25 or 8:29/mile.

Felt good from start to finish today and increased speed with each mile.  But, it was a pretty average performance overall:  4.59 miles in 39:23 or 8:35/mile.  I love the weather lately:  57 degrees this morning.

I was not excited to get up and run in the rain this morning.  Besides, I had plenty of excuses:  No marathon to prepare for, a wedding in three weeks to prepare for.  OK.  Just two excuses.  But, when I got up, it wasn't raining and I went.  A few drizzles happened here and there for the first 8 miles and then a real downpour on the last two miles.

Overall, I was pleased with 10.15 miles in 1:26:14 or 8:30 per mile.  Had energy most of the time.

Well, something is better than nothing.  Ran 3.95 miles in 33:42 or 8:32 / mile on a cool 46 degrees morning.

I passed my house to achieve the complete 4 miles.  Ran 4.04 in 34:09 or 8:29 per mile.  Cool and dry morning was very nice.

I finally woke up at a decent hour so that I could run for an hour.  1:00:29 to run 7.3 miles for an average pace of 8:17 / mile.  The last five miles were very close to an average of 8 min/mile.

Didn't leave until 8am because Ben wanted to run with me.  It was his first run since the marathon and the heat made things more difficult.  We went pretty slowly and I ended up dropping him for the last 2.5 miles.  Completed 10.57 miles in 1:38:56 or 9:22/mile.

Part of the way, we were running against runners in some official race and we were offered gaterade.  We told them we weren't in the race, but they gave it to us anyway, and we gladly accepted it.

Ben wanted to run with a friend at school this morning.  So, I invited myself to join him.  By her own admission, she is not a runner, but I would not have believed that after the first 8:48 mile, which is faster than I usually get on my first mile.  After that she slowed down a lot, mostly walking.  But, that's how Ben was six months ago.  So, she could do it if she wanted to.  Truth is, she may have been more interested in Ben than it running, which is why I went with them for 3.65 miles.

Then, I ran 4.41 more at an average pace of 8:38 per mile.

I ran hard today to burn off some extra calories from yesterday.  Ran 5.53 miles in 45:11, or 8:10/mile.  Of course that rate was assisted by skipping a couple of running days.