Today we were scheduled for 12-15 miles on the Scenic/Bonnell loop. Marathoners were supposed to do Bonnell, and the rest of us a regular Scenic loop. We got going a little late, just after 6:00, and soon enough, our pace pod had grouped up. Frank's people were off ahead of us, then Liliana with some people, and then us. I think we had Lisa, Susan, Leslie, Brad, Jan, Renee, Brian, Marty, Richard and me. Might have been others, but that's pretty much the list.
Anyway, some of the gang stopped for water at Mopac, but about 5 of us kept going, since Gilbert had put out stuff ahead of us at about the 4 mile mark. At least that's what he said he did. I got a little nervous when the drinks weren't at Red Bud, but relief settled in when we saw the stuff near the boat docks. We tanked up on Powerade and water, and moved on. At that point, the lead pack that I had run with moved ahead, and I ran to the dry cleaners through Scenic with Brad, Jan, Marty, Richard and Brian. We had some fun conversation through the Scenic hills, too. Brad and Jan revealed their evil song selections ("Short People" and the Ooompaloompa song), and I countered with my songlist, which featured, uh, the loneliness of being alone. You had to be there...
When we reached the dry cleaners, Richard and I peeled off, since we were doing "only" the Scenic route. We took on more water and a GU, while the others went off to conquer Mt. Bonnell. From that point on, we were running as a duo, and we enjoyed the rolling hills of 35th Street and Exposition together. I was running pretty relaxed today, and despite the temperature, it didn't feel all that terrible out there. We passed Will and some Galloway people on Exposition, and then we got that last dose of water and Powerade at O. Henry.
Susan and Lisa caught back up with us at the water stop, or were there when we got there, and we started the last 3 mile portion of the journey with them. We pulled away just a little on Lake Austin Blvd, not really starting a fast finish, but picking it up a little. Richard was going to get a last quick cup of water and a dousing under the outdoor shower at Mopac, so I went on ahead there, and commenced a fast finish. I didn't think I had picked it up all that much, but it turned out to be a nice little acceleration for the last 2.3 miles or so. There was some traffic on the trail, as expected, but it wasn't a big problem. I'd like to thank the guy pushing a stroller who I passed with one mile to go. As I went by, I heard his kid saying "We're going to chase you!" That gave me a good laugh. Good finish to the day. Richard pulled in about a minute behind me, so he had a good finish as well.
The numbers: 10:08, 9:30, 9:25, 8:49 (got in with those friskier runners), water/Powerade, then 9:47, 9:29 through the rolling Scenic hills, water/GU at the dry cleaners, then with Richard 9:24, 9:08 down Exposition, water/Powerade at O. Henry, and fast finish at 8:46, 8:08, 7:42, and 0.2 miles at 7:00/mile.
Overall, 11.35 miles at 9:45/mile with water stop time included, more like 9:04 without. Good run. The fast finish was quite good, 8:08/mile pace for the last 3.2 miles, and that's what I like to do on these longer runs. If you can pick it up at the end, then you properly paced the first 75-80% of the run. At least that's my theory. We're running slightly easier in the heat, but that's probably a good idea. I know for sure that the water stops are longer in the summer. Won't it be great when the weather breaks in, oh, October? :-)
Richard and I did 6 striders, and they felt fine today. The stretching was fun, but Gilbert was not in a mood for goofing off, and told people to leave if they weren't going to focus on the task at hand.
I hung out for a while afterwards, catching up with Pete, who just got back from 7 weeks of summer altitude training at his vacation home in Taos, and then talking with Brad, Jan, Brian, Alex and Frank. It was a really nice day of running with the peeps, another day where we laughingly "only" ran 11-14 miles. Now, I need to get back on the full schedule of workouts next week. I've been slacking a little on the gym and recovery runs, and that must be fixed.
Just over 24 miles for the week, which isn't awful since it was all quality running, but I need to get back up over 30 miles per week at a minimum.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment