Longer Run, Scenic Version

This morning, we gathered at 6:00 for an early start to the scheduled 11-12 miler on the Scenic loop. My pace group was two new folks, Mike and Carrie, along with Jan and Patrick. Patrick is back with us, easing into the routine again after rehabbing a hurt calf muscle. It's good to have him back! We vowed to go for something in the 9:30/mile range, given the heat and such. For the marathon goals that Patrick and Jan have, 9:30/mile is just about right. Would we stay on goal?

We had two of the first 3 miles more or less at the proper pace, and reached the first water stop in good form. My HR monitor was giving me some wild numbers, which I can only attribute to Jan's new Garmin 301? Who knows? I do know that at no time did my HR actually reach 236, despite what my watch said afterwards!

The Scenic portion of the festivities was pretty hard, since we kept a pretty hard pace through the hills. Patrick and Carrie turned off at a point that would give them a lot closer to 10 miles, and Jan, Mike and I continued on the fuller route. Once we reached Exposition, Jan started feeling pretty good on those long rolling hills, and left Mike and I behind about 30 yards or so. We picked up the pace coming down Exposition to the Powerade stop at O. Henry Middle School, and had several miles in the 8:40-8:50 range. After a GU and some Powerade, we were off for the last 3 miles or so. Patrick had waited there at the water stop, and joined us for the final miles. Mike took a shorter water stop, and went on ahead of us. Jan pulled away once we hit the trail again, and I ran in with Patrick. We had a couple of miles around 8:40-8:55 to the finish, and were glad to see the zero mile marker!

Final distance about 11.2 miles, average pace 9:04/mile. Too fast for marathon training purposes (for Jan and Patrick), but okay for me since I'm not doing a fall marathon. Still, we should try to dial that back just a little bit for their longer runs this summer. I drenched my head in the outdoor shower there, just to start the cooling process. The weather was the usual stuff...nothing new there.

We did 5 striders on the grass there, and as usual, I felt a lot better after doing those. I don't have to like them, I just have to do them. The first one or two make me feel like a wooden man, but I loosen up pretty well by the last one every time.

I got my Endurox and stretching gear from the car, and found my way back over to Auditorium Shores for the stretching and such. The full gang had gathered by then, and we did some hopping things, and then Gilbert's balance drills, mostly for the people who are new to the program, the folks specifically joining for a fall marathon training program. I know exactly how the newer folks feel, trying to figure out how to gracefully do those drills. I had already changed into my post-run sandals, so I did the drills in sock feet (later, barefoot), and it really wasn't too bad doing them that way. I noticed a bunch of Gazelles had the Nike Free shoes on for post-run attire, but I don't know if I'm ready for those or not.

Next was the stretching, in a big circle on the grass field at Auditorium Shores. The sun stayed behind clouds for the most part, so it felt pretty nice out there. There were the usual groans and laughter as we worked our way through the various contortions required for the stretching, and a good time was had by all.

It was a good run, despite the conditions, and it was fun to run with Jan and Patrick, in particular. Sort of a reunion of our marathon training group for Freescale. Tomorrow, I've got to wake up even earlier to go out and volunteer for the Danskin triathlon out at Decker Lake. It's a women's only event, and is a pretty huge race in these parts. I've got lots of friends and acquaintances racing in it, so it should be fun to cheer people on as we hand out water.