"Recovery" Long Run - yeah, right

This morning, 6:00 saw us gathering at a new place for the Saturday long run. We met fairly far south in Austin at Porter Middle School, for a new route that Gilbert has chosen for us. After some confusion where some of us parked on the other side of the school in the actual parking lot, we all were herded to the same starting spot. It was to be around 10.2 miles (ended up slightly longer, but that was pretty close), and he warned us that it was hilly, especially in the second half of the run. True words, as it turned out. The usual admonition to run these long workouts "easy" was given, and the group of maybe 25-28 runners was off. I told Jan that we should run these long runs easier than her projected marathon race pace, but I suppose the pull of the group was stronger than my amateur advice. I found myself at the back of the pack, intending to run in the 9:30/mile range for the workout. I chatted with Francine for a bit, who is preparing for the San Francisco marathon in a month or two. Then, I eased forward and caught Richard and Jason, who were some 50 yards ahead. The rest of the folks had blasted ahead, and we wouldn't see much of them except for a few seconds at early water stops.

The conversation was amiable between the three of us, as we rolled up S. Lamar street. We got caught at a traffic light, and that was the last that we saw of Mike and Carrie, who had run with us last week. A quick water stop, and we were off. Crossed Town Lake on the Pfluger Bridge, and made our way over to the next quick water stop at Mopac. At this point, our mileage was a little over 4.5 miles, and our pace while running was 8:50/mile. If you count the water stop time and the time lost at the light, our pace for the entire day was 9:33/mile. Depending on how you want to count it, we were either right on target or way fast. Whatever.

We continued across Town Lake again, and took the trail up to Barton Springs Rd., where we crossed and took Barton Hills Rd as if we were going to do the Wilke hill repeats. That's a pretty hilly stretch, but it felt okay to me. I sort of enjoyed the hills and was pressing up them just a bit as a mental exercise. About 3 miles later, we were at the second "official" water/Powerade stop, just before a hilly loop that loomed before us. I took a GU there, just because I had one, and the three of us took off again. Once again, I guess I was having a good day, but I pulled away from Richard and Jason, finishing the very hilly loop about a minute ahead of them. I took another quick glass of Powerade, and we were off again. The hilly loop was about 1.65 miles long, and it was a tester, that's for sure. Having pretty big hills late in a run is a good exercise for the heart as well as the brain. We were at a little over 9 miles here, with an actual running pace for me of 8:51/mile. Pace including water stops was 9:37/mile.

The last stretch on Barton Skyway (the name should have been a clue) included two big hills, and I was glad to see the signs of Lamar street as I crested the second hill. Richard and Jason were running their own pace by now, so I just kept on pushing to the finish. A short cruise down Lamar, then onto Panther Drive, and we were done. Final mileage for the paced portion of the run was 10.5 miles, average pace 8:52 (9:31/mile if water stop time included). After a few seconds there in the nice shade at the finish of the route, I joined Alex for a loop of the school campus and a run on the grass perimeter for a cooldown (Gilbert suggested this). It turned out to be almost exactly one kilometer, and it was done at a truly easy 10:15/mile pace. Nice and easy.

I joined Jan for 3 long striders on the track at the middle school, and I felt really good, actually. Not nearly as stiff and uncomfortable as I usually am when doing strides.

After chatting with Frank, Jan and Patrick a bit, I hopped in my car and drove up to RunTex for the long stretching session. We had fun doing that, and it certainly helped us to finish off the day in good fashion. Pete had us send our psychic assistance to Paul Pugh, who was at that moment in the very early stages of Grandma's Marathon (Paul ran a fine 2:42:55, 6:13/mile pace, for 54th overall, so he'll be pleased with that, I think). Perhaps we helped him in some small way?

I stayed after and did the core exercises, which didn't feel too bad today. It was actually pretty nice in the shade of RunTex's awnings, and Joseph was there to chat with as I knocked those final exercises out.

It was a really good day at the running office, and it finished off a good week as well. I did all the scheduled workouts, and I feel fine as I recap the week. Tomorrow is a full day off, I think, unless I get motivated to hit the gym for a short workout.

For the week: 32.9 miles, 4 runs, 2 gym workouts, about 40 minutes of cycling.