Talkin' 'Bout Runnin' Grove (Excess apostrophes are intentional)

This morning, Gilbert had an organizational meeting of the fall marathon group, so we didn't get started on the long run until 6:45 or so. It gave me time to stash some water out on the Grove extension, near the community college, so I didn't have to carry any with me. I found a convenient shrubbery to stash the water bottles and cups, and then made my way back to RunTex and hung out waiting for the marathoners to be released.

I had planned on providing water mainly for my crew, so it wasn't the usual cooler out there. Once we started running, I got nervous when I saw that all the groups were heading out to Grove, including a bunch of new Gazelles who joined for the fall marathon program. My group was the middle pace group, and I was concerned that the front-runners wouldn't leave enough for the rest of us. Alex ran ahead with Joseph and Liliana, among others. My group was the usual gang, but we were joined by Thon, Carrie and Leslie today. We had two packs going, and ended up spread out a little more than that by the end of the day. It was good to see Richard out there this morning, and even though he was suffering from "I've Just Moved" fatigue, he did just fine. Gilbert, Bernard and Pete passed us about 3 miles into the run. Whoosh! Except for some excitement with traffic along Riverside, we made it to the water stop in good time. I was surprised to find that the front groups had not taken any water. Were they just going so fast that they didn't see it?

Our large double group took our time chugging water and taking a few GU's (3:42 of stop time), but soon enough, we got moving again. I think that's when we started getting a little faster. It wasn't intentional, but later review of the numbers shows that we picked it up in the park there off of Grove, and just kept the throttle down all the way home. We kept it faster, but not crazy, through the next water stop at the Holly plant, and then I guess we just got a little carried away. It didn't seem to be really fast, but it was a strong run by the time we were done. I ended up running the last few miles with Brad and Rachel. I did 4 x 100m striders at Auditorium Shores, and then went to get my stretching gear. Good run, it turns out!

Splits: 10:09, 9:06, 8:53, 8:34, .2 miles at 8:11 (water/GU stop), 8:28, 8:28, .75 miles at 8:38/mile (second water stop), 8:32, 8:04, 7:52. Overall, 10.07 miles at 8:40/mile pace. With 5:42 of water stop time included, pace was still a fine 9:14/mile. Unexpectedly good running today!

It was a huge crowd for stretching, and we did a bunch of Pete's "optional/bonus" stretches. Except for some minor discomfort in the left Achilles, I felt great today. It was hot, yes, but not horrible. Turns out that the front groups of runners couldn't find the water stash on Grove. I had told Alex where to look, but they failed to locate it. Oh, well. I tried. :-)

For the week, all five running workouts were done, and I plan to do the usual Friday gym workout on Sunday. I took yesterday off. Total mileage this week, 33.24 miles. Next week, I guess we'll run the long run with the marathon group, and after that, we'll possibly run a little shorter than them when we feel the need. June will be Circuit Month, so every Monday will be circuit training, which I think is a good idea for the summer season.