Awesome, Awesome morning. Kurt answered my desperate cry for help a few days ago when I put out that I needed a running partner for a long run today. He E-mailed and said he was up for a 22 miler, but 18 was the furthest distance he had ever run prior. I flew home yesterday afternoon from Vegas and when I got home came up with a route basically running the first 15 miles of Des News course but instead of going North on Foothill we came south over I-80 and continued on Wasatch finishing at the park and ride above my office building. We met at the Park and Ride at 5:00 am, left Kurts car there and headed up the course dropping water bottles in various strategic places along the route. We got to the top about 30 minutes earlier than I had planned so it was pitch black still, I had a headlamp but the batteries were all but dead so we headed down the canyon basically by the light of really bright stars. It was a perfect morning, cool breezes the entire way, we never did have sun on us. Great company and great conversation. Kurt is an animal, he's never ran a marathon, never ran over 18 miles before but somehow managed to plow through 22 miles at 6:44 avg pace, incredible. Pretty much no question whether or not he can run a sub 3:00 marathon, he basically did it today, with a good 5 minutes to spare. 1/4 of a mile to the car I told Kurt I wanted to turn around and run back and have him finish his 22 and come back and pick me up. I really wanted to try and get at least an extra mile in so I cranked out a 5:52 final mile just cause I wanted to get the full mile in before Kurt picked me up. It worked out perfect, I hit 23 turned around and there he was. Perfect Day, I'm really excited about how good I felt the entire run. Last long run I have time for before St. George, now the key is to show up on race day feeling as good as I did today and I'm sure I can crank out a decent PR. 23 miles in 2:34:16 6:42 avg pace.
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