The Long Run [Entered 1/22/06]

Saturday, we all carpooled up to the 4 mile mark of the Freescale course for the last really long run of the training season, a 22 miler back down to the finish. I could tell that everyone had their game faces on for this one, as the talk was about what they had eaten the day before, how many GU's they had brought today, and how they would pace themselves. Gilbert gave us the word to run it relaxed, and not to worry so much about a "fast finish" to the run. He wanted us to actually run the finishing miles down and back on Cesar Chavez, but that wouldn't work out due to traffic concerns. Still, we would cover the distance. Temperature was fine, hanging in the mid 40's all run long. We got sunshine for the last 10 miles of the run, too, once the sun came up.

With little more to say, and after I had taken a pre-run GU to top off my energy stores, we were off. My pace group ended up starting with 9 or 10 people, a huge crowd. We had Amy, Shannon, Charlene, Jennifer, Rachel, Richard, Rich, Brian, and Tony (who would turn around at about the 8 mile mark). I took a quick hydration break during the first mile, investigating a shrubbery just off of Jollyville Road, but soon caught back up with the pack. As we turned onto Stonegate, heading towards Braker Lane, I hung back and waited to make sure that Amy was okay after she investigated the woods to the east of Stonegate. We picked it up the next mile or so, and caught the pack again as we reached the first water stop at Burnet Road. I took a GU at the water stop, as I did throughout the day, and after a couple cups of Powerade or water, we were off. Some of our crew had dashed across Burnett to visit McDonald's, and the group ahead of us had all taken a sudden interest in Jack In The Box later. Ah, yes, the inevitable plumbing discussion! Anyway, so far, so good. We were in a comfortable pack, and things seemed just fine.

Splits miles 1-5.5: 10:22 (includes brief rest stop), 9:10 (catching back up to the pack), 9:48, 9:37, 9:50 (another brief stop to wait on Amy), and .52 miles at 8:51 pace catching the pack again. Overall, a nice 9:40/mile.

It was good to get finished with Burnet Road, and by the time we had turned through the industrial park portion of the course, everyone had finished up their various rest breaks, and we were a pack once again. Conversation was lively, and everyone was feeling quite strong. Somewhere in here, we gathered up some additional runners. Sean joined us and would stay with us the rest of the way. We also picked up Shirley and Erin and one other woman through the Great Northern portion of things, but they would choose their own path later on. Now, we were almost big enough to be a local race, it seemed. The second water stop was on Great Northern, and we all grabbed more fluid, and took our GU's, etc. Rudy and Henry did a great job all day with tons of snacks and great music, and it was a truly nice thing that they helped us this way. Pumped up with a little Hendrix and some Powerade, it was time to get moving. Off to the races!

Splits miles 6-9.8: 9:45, 9:14, 9:25, 9:11, 0.3 miles at 9:23/mile pace. Overall, 9:33/mile. About 5:20 of total waterstop time so far, typical with a pack as big as us today.

Down Great Northern, then over to Shoal Creek, the running was easy. We enjoyed the nice neighborhood and the quiet streets, and reached Hancock much quicker than I had expected. Turning onto Hancock, I was glad I had brought my shades. It was pretty bright through there. We encountered a pretty big traffic delay at Lamar (or was it on Burnet?) of some 50 seconds, but while running kept a very good solid pace through this section, including the modest hills along North Loop as we crossed east towards Duval. Again, everyone seemed just fine, no one was falling behind, and we all moved around in the pack finding new people to talk with as the pace blob formed and reformed itself along the way. Henry was waiting for us at Duval and 53rd Street, and we took Powerade and water once again. Suddenly, we were way past halfway for the day, and it seemed like we were just getting started. That is a good sign, I'd say.

Splits miles 10-13.6: 9:13, 9:11, 9:19, and 0.8 miles at 9:25/mile. Overall 9:28/mile pace. Another 50 seconds of traffic light stoppage, and that third water stop was 2:32. Let's go!

Duval is a very pleasant long downhill trend all the way to the UT campus. We had good luck with traffic here, until after we exited the UT campus. I think the talk strayed to food during this stretch, but there were so many conversations going on, it was hard to keep track. Safely through the UT campus, we passed the talking oil derrick, and negotiated the nasty little hills there by the Capitol. We had some traffic stoppage along San Jacinto, but I just let the watch run. Up and over to the Capitol, we took a tour of the Capitol grounds, and then popped out, crossed 11th to Congress Avenue, and found Rudy with the last water stop. We had picked it up a little through here, which was fine (and partially based on easier terrain). We enjoyed a last fully supplied water/Powerade/goodies stop, gathered ourselves up, and headed out for the big finish. Almost done, but still miles to go.

Splits miles 14-17.5: 9:08, 9:06, 9:37 (some traffic stoppage in there), and 0.86 at 8:58/mile. Overall running pace down to 9:25/mile. Last water stop was 3:02 for me as I hung back to help explain the remaining route to a friend of Charlene's.

Cruising down Congress, I had to hustle to catch the pack after my map assistance at the water stop. Jennifer and I were running pretty fast for a while there, and I had a quick mile as a result. We had really good luck with traffic and such, and made it to Second Street and over across Cesar Chavez without much trouble. The group had picked things up a bit, anxious to be finished with this long training day. We were still very compact as a group, which was unusual for this late in a long run. Rich, Sean and Shannon seemed to be leading the pace work, along with a lot of help from Brian. I noted the mileage as we turned onto the trail on the north side of the lake, and figured out when our turnaround point would be. Although we had already run some 20 miles, we looked pretty fresh, since the weather was cool, and I really wished I could tell all those folks running on the trail what we had done already that morning! We saw a bunch of the faster groups heading back on the trail towards us, and gave what encouragement we could to them. We took a brief water stop at the Mopac bridge (1:26), and then turned around for the big finish. Although Gilbert had suggested that we use the final miles as "cooldown," everyone was in a mood to get finished, so the pace picked up instead. I panicked for a moment as the group slowly pulled away from me, but when I checked our pace briefly on the GPS, I relaxed, knowing that we were starting to kick it in. We did string out a bit on this very last stretch of turf, but it was okay by then. It was nice to cross the First Street bridge, and I passed the gang so that I could run all the way around the final corner, and added a little distance along Riverside, simulating the finish. That was just for me and my brain. We were done!

Splits miles 18-22: 8:12 (catching up with the pack), 8:35, 0.5 miles at 8:54/mile, water stop at Mopac, and then 8:18 and 8:00 to finish. Exactly 22 miles, by some whim of GPS. Running pace was 9:12. With all stoppage time included, pace dropped to 9:48, which was still just fine for this sort of run. Pretty much everyone had a fabulous run, it seemed. Richard was being careful, and cut some distance off the run, but he seemed to be working his way through his foot problems. The rest of us slogged through the whole thing, and it was great to see everyone so happy with their day. From here on out, it's much easier training, although it will still require some effort to get to the starting line on February 19th.

I walked along Riverside for a quarter mile or so, looking for the spray-painted "26.2" or "Finish" marker, but couldn't find it. Oh, well. I skipped strides today and walked back to Amy's car with her to get my stretching gear, etc. By the time we got back to Auditorium Shores, Gilbert had already taken the stretching about a third of the way, and I eventually took over when he had to get going to an appointment. Spirits were high, and the stretching was fun as usual. After I finished off the main group of people, the rest of us went back and did the stretches that we had missed when we got there this morning. The weather was getting chillier now with the sun disappearing behind clouds, and we were glad to be finished, I think.

Amy drove Liliana and me back up to our cars, and the long day of running was over. I felt pretty good, but I was certainly tired. I know I'm going to do well at Freescale now, weather permitting, and all I have to do now is stay healthy.

Later on Saturday, about 50 Gazelles and family gathered at the Kerrigan's house for a party and baby shower for Gilbert and his wife. Alex and I had three hot dogs each, and man, they were good! A couple of beers and some snacks, and it was a great day. I had a blast meeting some folks, including Jennifer's husband, Bert, and Henry's girlfriend Jennifer, among others. We laughed a lot at ourselves and our strangeness...at least we realize that we're odd creatures, doing something like training for a marathon. I had a great time there, and as always, it was fun to see everyone in civilian clothing. The guys looks more or less the same, but the women are dramatically different when they aren't wearing caps or ponytails. :-)

I crashed hard once I got home, after having a couple pieces of pizza that were left over after my kids' dinner. It was a good day. And now I get to sleep in on Sunday, the only day of the week that I can do that nowadays!