6:45 am. Visited my friend Nate. Jack didn't take well to sleeping in a strange place, and was up late, very late, very early and early. He's a light sleeper, and thrashed around all night. I got up around 6, thinking (foolishly) I could sneak out without disturbing him. He followed me out within 5 minutes. Luckily the other girls woke up to tend him so we could go run. Oatmeal and a butterscotch chip cookie for breakfast, followed by 8 miles up Hobble Creek Canyon. We turned around and came down easy for a mile or so, then picked things up for 5-6 miles. Nate is 3 weeks removed from a sub-12 Ironman performance, and he handed it to me. This felt like a race effort all the way, without most of the typical stops and pauses. We kept things just over 8 minute pace on the climb, then dropped to 6:40-7:00 miles on the way down. After a nice soak in the canal, we enjoyed scones, fresh raspberries, yogurt, omelettes and juice for breakfast. The kids had a wonderful time, as did I. Once you get past Provo and Orem, Utah County isn't too bad. Post run, I was very wiped out, both from the run and bad sleep. Whenever I go long and hard, my left sacrum attachment area is a bit tender. By Sunday it was cleared up, so I'm not very concerned. My feet fared well, but I need a new pair of shoes for this marathon cycle. Nearly 500 miles isn't a good starting place, especially for pounding, fast, downhill miles. | 