Just Go Long, and I'll Hit You At the Goal Line

This morning, warm and muggy as usual (please come soon, Fall!), started with all of us gathering at 5:45 am for a scheduled 13-18 miler. I planned on doing the 14 mile (approx.) version of the loop, and the Chicago folks had the option of extending it to 16 or 18 miles, depending on what they felt they needed. I partnered up with Diana and Volel, since Amy was triathloning on Sunday, and Jan and everyone else was blasting away at a much faster "relaxed" pace than I intended to run.

Volel is just returning to running after a monthlong bout with strep throat, and was pretty tough for being out there at all. Diana, as previously noted, is just getting started again after taking the summer very easy. She's aiming at Boston 2006, so there's no hurry for her in her training right now. So, off we went. We saw other people in the gang for quite a while, just ahead of us, but it was obvious that once again, I was in the last group for this run. We talked and laughed about a variety of subjects as we cruised up Riverside Drive, past all the student apartments, and tackled most of the hills on this route in the first 4 miles. Finally making the turn on Grove, we soon ended up at the water/Gatorade stop at 4.5 miles. Bernard was there, manning the water station, as Gilbert apparently jumped in with one of the groups ahead to run with them for a bit. I took a GU at that water stop, as well as water and Gatorade, and we were off. The pace was pretty easy, but I figured that since Diana and Volel were both talking about cutting the run short to about 10 miles, I'd have 3 or 4 miles at the end to push the pace.

Splits early: 9:34, .6 miles at 9:41, 9:35, 9:28, and .85 at 9:36 pace. HR was just loafing along, which was a good sign. I was grateful for the company on this run, and content to run along at a nice and easy pace for a while. Pace to the water/GU stop was 9:34 overall.

The next portion of the run was the nicest. We soon entered a quiet portion of the park system east of the Longhorn Dam, and with the sun still not up, we were navigating by a combination of pre-dawn glimmer and full moon. It was really relaxing to go through there, just the sounds of our footfalls breaking the stillness. We ran up on a couple of the groups ahead of us in there, as they had made a wrong turn (including Gilbert, which was funny), and had to backtrack to return to the trail. They soon left us behind again, which was okay. There will be time to race later. We crossed Longhorn Dam, and stopped briefly for another drink of water behind the Holly Power Station. The water was really warm, but it served its purpose.

By now, Volel had to admit that ending the run at 10 miles was a fabulous idea, so he and Diana were in agreement as to the endpoint of the run. We made one more water stop, a quick one, near the rowing center. Continuing on, I gave them the option of mileage choices as we crossed under First Street. At that point, they told me to go on, that they knew the way back, and so I took off for the last 4 miles or so. I picked up the pace to a moderate effort, and enjoyed the rest of the run by myself. It's not as much fun as running with other folks, but rewarding in its own way, I guess.

Splits: 9:34, 9:39, .77 miles at 9:43, 9:45, .9 miles at 9:40, and 9:22 (I pulled away during this mile). Overall pace through 9.1 miles was 9:37/mile. With water stops factored in, overall pace dropped to 10:01/mile. We needed the fluids on this rough weather day, but this was slower than I've been going in a while. No worries. It was time to pick it up!

I didn't watch the watch(es) for the rest of the run, but just tried to pick an effort level and keep it up for the last 4 miles or so. I made a last stop for some really great cold water at the Mopac RunTex truck, and headed into the last couple of miles. I pushed to Auditorium Shores, and except for staring into the rising sun on the last quarter mile or so, it wasn't so bad. Did a good job of picking up and holding the pace on my own, and I was happy with how the run finished up.

Last splits: 8:27, .5 miles at 8:20, 8:16, and 8:27. Good strong finishing kick. Overall pace improved from 9:37 to 9:17 as a result of those last miles. With all the water breaks, overall dropped from 10:01 to 9:44. I'll take this one. Final mileage 13.65 miles.

Grudgingly, I did 5x100m strides, and let me tell you, I was really stiff today! The first "stride" was mostly just exaggerated form walking for the 100m, loosening up the legs, since I couldn't do anything resembling a normal strider. After that walk up and back, using all the form stuff we've worked on in the past, I was able to go on ahead and do 5x100m actually running. I've not experienced being that tight after a run in a while, but the strides did their thing, and I was pretty much back to normal after they were through. A lot of water and Gatorade later, I made my way to RunTex to retrieve my stretching gear and post-run stuff. That walk felt pretty good, too.

I didn't see many of the marathoners, so I presume they gathered on their own to stretch somewhere. The stretching for the rest of us was at Auditorium Shores, in the shade, and it was actually quite comfortable. I really needed the stretching today, for some reason. There was some extreme tightness that needed to be worked out. After the usual grunting and groaning, we were done. I talked with Pete for a while, and it was fun to hear about his two week stay in New Mexico, fixing up their vacation home there (he jokingly calls it the "Gazelles Altitude Training Camp"). He's actually quite the woodworker, so he was able to do all the work himself, along with his father.

I missed out on a cold water soak with everyone, since I had to attend Gilbert's fall marathon information session. Gilbert used Alex and me as examples of how the program works, which was amusing to me. I guess I did set a bunch of PR's at distances short of the marathon, but I still haven't run that solid marathon yet. Hopefully, that'll be this year!

Anyway, it was a workmanlike day at the running office. I was pleased with how easy the first portion of the run went, and how strong I was able to run at the end. I had a really great power nap this afternoon, as my body just told me it needed extra rest after a huge lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. I'm looking forward to the day off on Sunday! For the week, 35 miles, and the only "miss" in the schedule was the 30-45 minute recovery run on Tuesday. Did all the other stuff, including both gym workouts. Good enough.