4th of July

First of all, I now completely understand why so many dentists take off Wednesdays. Having a day off in the middle of the week means that you are never far (no more than 2 days, in fact) from your next day off.

Our 4th of July began with the Freedom Run in Provo, UT. Few cities in the US can rival what Provo does for the 4th of July. It's a month-long event. Last year we attended Stadium of Fire. This year, I decided at the last minute to run the 10K. The funny part of it was that online registration closed before I decided. Us last minute participants had only one option: register on-ite no later than 6 am. I was up at 4:45, our the door by 5 am, and at the registration site by 5:27 (Draper to Provo in impressive time :)). Since the race didn't start until 7, I had plenty of time to mill about. FYI -- racing and fun runs are much more fun when you do them with friends and family. Rufus -- I missed you as my buddy -- you would have loved this run! As I was walking to the starting line, a tall rather athletic looking gentlemen asked "Is this the way to the 10K starting line?" It was none other than the infamous, or famous if you are a 49er fan, Steve Young. Apparently he runs this race as a tradition. I responded "I think so, but I certainly don't want to be running next to you!"

The race course starts at Kiwanis park and has you run up 9th east until you make a left on University Avenue. Nothing says patriotic like a 1 mile uphill start! Then you drop down past the stadium, hang a left in front of the Richards PE Building, and run 2 miles down Freedom to Center street. It was AMAZING how many people had lined the streets in preparation for the parade. Provo lets you "stake your claim" several days early. It would have been more dramatic if they all would have cheered, but some of them were just waking up!

I finished in just over an hour -- impressed with myself as I had also passed about 15 people on the last hill which was nearly 1 mile long. My average heart rate was 163 and I peaked at 175 (that's the info Dad wants to know :)....

The neighbors, Dallas, and Cindy and Scott McEwen met me at the finish. Afterwards, we all headed down and watched the parade.