Stretching Out the Miles

Possibly for the last time before they start their fall marathon training, I met Jan and Frank at 6:30 for a medium long run through Austin. Henry joined us, too, for the first 3 miles of our journey, but then he made his own way back on a slightly shorter route. He's still working his way back into long run shape after his vacation to Italy...so much good food and wine, so little time!

At any rate, we started on the trail, and then turned up Lavaca to MLK, to Guadalupe, through the edge of the UT campus, up to 45th Street, where I had stashed some Accelerade and cups for a quick refreshment stop, then over to Duval and down along the Freescale course, through the UT campus, along by the stadium, over to Congress on MLK again, to the Capitol, where Jan and Frank dashed in for a quick water stop, and then down Congress to the trail. Jan ran directly back from there, and Frank and I did the trail for another mile and a half, finishing at Auditorium Shores. We did 4 striders, just in case Gilbert was watching (I always feel better after doing them, but those first couple feel really ungraceful...). It was a pleasant run, even with the heat creeping up into the low to mid-70's, bright sunshine. The route is largely shaded, which helps a lot.

The three of us talked about a wide range of topics, and had some good laughs as the miles went under our feet. It was one of those runs that makes you grateful for the ability to get out there and roll along with some friends. The social aspect of our running hobby cannot be underestimated. In many ways, running is our "therapy," where we can let the tensions of real life fade into the background as so much white noise, and just let our minds wander... I'll have to figure out how to join Frank and/or Jan this summer for portions of their longer training runs, or else I'll feel like I'm missing out.

We don't think the policeman at the Capitol grounds was watching videos, but he did have his car running with the air conditioning blasting away. I guess I don't blame him for that. It would be stifling sitting in that car with all that uniform and body armor.

Gilbert was still recovering from some minor surgery, but he showed up anyway to offer some personal instruction to folks while we stretched in the RunTex parking lot. We had maybe 30 people stretching, which made that a lot more fun. It was nice in the shade, and I think everyone was just enjoying the comraderie along with the good feelings that a solid stretching session give you.

Richard and I did the ab/core stuff after the stretching, and I got back to the regular numbers, doing 2 x 30 crunches/leg extensions, 2x20 "Jan" crunches, 2x20 "Canoe" crunches, 2x15 pushups, and 2x15 back raises. I know those exercises are helping my running form, not to mention my posture and such.

After that, it was good to see Patrick back out with us, so Jan and I hung out with him to check out what's happening in his life. He's on the road to recovery after messing up a calf muscle, and is able to run again, although he'll be gently working his way back over the next month. He'll be fine by the end of June.

It was a really nice day at the running office. The run was 10.6 miles, average pace 8:46/mile, with a long stretch in the middle where we were clicking away at 8:30-8:35 pace after a slower first couple of miles. Frank and I finished off the run with a last mile in the sub 8:00 range, which didn't really feel that much harder than what we had been doing.

Now, I get to see the new Star Wars movie this afternoon, and then it'll be time to rest up for the trail 10k in the morning. Should be fun on both counts!