The Prodigal Blogger Returns

I've been less than diligent about my running this week, taking a short break from training after the Mini. But, this morning, I got back out there on a muggy morning with Frank and Jan. It was around 70 degrees. We did a 7 miler on the hike and bike trail, covering the distance in just over an hour. Our overall pace was 8:48/mile, and it felt pretty comfortable the whole way. It was nice to run without a serious training goal for the workout for a change. And, it was fun to have Jan join us, so that she could catch us up on the gossip amongst the Gazelles from the last week. We took just one brief stop for water at Mopac, about 1:50 in length, so it was a good continuous effort. We finished things off with 4 striders. I felt totally uncoordinated on the first one or two, but things smoothed out by number 4.

Alex and Liliana ran the Mt. Bonnell route today, so I hope Alex didn't push it too hard this soon after his half marathon race. There was a fairly small group afterwards that met for the Saturday Stretching Extravaganza, but we had fun. Pete showed us a couple of "bonus" stretches today, and I think I'll go ahead and add them to the mix next week.

I discovered today that the bright yellow shirt that I purchased at the Mini is staggeringly bright. I didn't realize how bright until I put it on after the run. It'll be a fun shirt to wear on long training runs once it gets cool again (November?).

As always, hanging out with my fellow Gazelles was the highlight of the morning. The workouts are nice and all, but it's the people that make the group so much fun. I can't wait to see Gilbert on Tuesday for the circuit workout!