Mt. Bonnell & Wonderful Weather

It was simply perfect running weather out there this morning. Temp hung out around 60 degrees throughout, and it was clear and crisp. I even broke out a long-sleeved running shirt for the first time since maybe early April.

We gathered at 6:00 am at RunTex for our assault on Bonnell. Since Gilbert is in Chicago, we were sort of self-organized. Bernard and Shae were there to deliver the water/Powerade coolers to a couple of spots, but we basically got things going as far as running. Gilbert's instructions were to run the long run as usual, but to pick it up the last two miles. After some milling about, we finally got going just a few minutes late, in a big blob of runners.

Over the first mile, we settled into pace groups, with Alex and Liliana going on ahead with the faster folks, and a large group was hanging around at our pace. We had Amy, Shannon, Sharlene, Jennifer, Bryan, Janica, Volel, Joseph and Bob. A couple of other guys went with us part of the way, turning off at 35th Street for "just" 12 miles on the day. The first 2 or 3 miles were really relaxed, with the only HR bump on the short hill on Veterans Blvd. The first water/Powerade coolers were right where they were supposed to be, so we took a fairly quick 1:45 stop there to top off the tanks, so to speak. I went ahead and did a GU there, too. So far, so good. Everyone was having fun and chatting away, and we were off on the hilly second leg of our journey, to the top of Bonnell.

Splits Miles 1-3.74: 9:52, 10:11, 9:51, .74 miles at 9:36. Overall pace 9:54.

Entering the Scenic Loop, I think I usually speed up for some reason, and today was no exception. Volel was drifting ahead of the group a little bit, getting caught up with Dwayne, a faster guy who had passed us. Everyone else was sort of finding a pace partner during the more challenging portion of the run. The closer we got to Mt. Bonnell, the more information we gave to those who were new to the route. I told everyone about the corner, the false top, and the second incline, just so they wouldn't be surprised. Anyway, we hit the bottom of the Bonnell hill, and Volel was ahead of us. Joseph and I picked it up pretty well when the road turned sharply uphill, and we soon caught Volel. Joseph stayed right with me all the way up, and it was really cool to finish the steep part like that. We all grouped back up at the Gatorade there at the top of Bonnell, and again, I took a GU, my last one of the day. This stop was much longer, as everyone sort of celebrated the cresting of the hill. Amy and Joseph walked up the steps to the very top of Bonnell, but the rest of us figured we didn't really need that. The break was over, and it was time to get moving on the homeward leg. Off we went.

Splits miles 4-7: 9:28, 9:14, 9:02, and .3 miles up Bonnell at 9:10/mile pace. Overall pace to 7.04 miles was 9:35/mile. With the first water stop time added, overall pace dropped to 9:50/mile. It was a good run already, and it was time to enjoy some downhill running!

The giant group meandered down Balcones Woods to 35th, up the hill there, and onto Exposition. By then, a front pack of Volel, Joseph, Sharlene and me had formed, as we picked it up on the rolling hills heading back. There was a lot of talking as we ran, so it didn't feel too fast, but it turns out we were picking it up pretty consistently all the way to the last water stop. It was the most fun running I've had on that stretch of road in a long time, and that felt great! We reached the last Powerade/water stop at O. Henry Middle School in time to see Alex and Liliana head out for the end of their run. I guess they were taking it pretty easy...otherwise we'd never see them once they got away from us early. This water stop took a while, too, with the size of the group.

Splits miles 8-10.3: 9:18, 8:35, 8:31, .3 miles at 8:36/mile pace. Overall pace had dropped to 9:20/mile. Adding the first two water stop times, it slowed to 9:53/mile.

Gilbert had told us to pick it up for the last two miles, but I guess I picked it up right away after the O. Henry Powerade stop. I chased Sharlene, and Joseph was right with me. The rest of the folks were somewhere behind us, but by now, I was just enjoying running so much that I just had eyes on the road in front of me. We flew down to the Mopac bridge, and after crossing over, we caught Sharlene somewhere inside 2 miles to go. Joseph just kept pushing, so I resolved to stay with him. Using him as a pacer, it was relatively easy to keep moving along at what turned out to be 10K race pace. It just felt great to be moving like we were at the end of a long hilly run. Joseph put on a short burst of speed right at the end of the run to "win" the run, but then I kept moving, slightly slower, to do a cooldown lap of Auditorium Shores. It was such a nice day that I just felt like keeping on running. During the summer runs, when the run was over, no one felt like doing any extra steps, much less an extra lap. Weather makes a difference!

Splits Miles 11-14.5: 7:37, 7:33, 7:34, and cooldown lap of .87 miles at 8:59/mile pace. Overall final running pace 8:55/mile, with all water stop time, slowing to 9:31/mile. Just great numbers all around.

I did a few strides to loosen back up (4x100m), and then headed back to RunTex to lead the stretching session. Since it was still relatively cool, still in the low 60's, I put on long running pants and a windshirt for stretching. It was cool enough to get chilled if you didn't put on dry, warm clothes. I can't emphasize enough how happy everyone was to be out there this morning...we found a nice dry area in the grass and in the sun by Palmer Auditorium, and spread out there for stretching. There was a lot of laughter as we enjoyed the simple pleasures of good friends, great weather, and something of an after-buzz from the good runs. Richard finished up his last 20 miler for NYC about when we did (they started at 5:00!), and the nice weather even made that run for him a lot more fun. He looked and sounded very happy with his day.

Once the stretching was done, our running day was over. I hope that the weather is nearly as nice next Sunday for the Pervasive 10 Miler, on the evil hilly course that it features.

For the week, almost 36 miles of running, two good gym workouts, and even a little bit of indoor cycling. A great exercise week. Now, it's the UT/Oklahoma football game today, some Major League baseball playoff games, and Sunday morning it's time to follow all my friends running the Chicago Marathon. A busy weekend, of sorts.