Get On Up! [Mt. Bonnell "Recovery" Run]

"Get up! (Get on up)!" - James Brown
"Can we hit it one more time, from the top?" - JB

The above lyrics are from the wonderfully titled "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine." You gotta love all his song titles that featured the parenthetical commentary! Subtlety was not usually a feature of JB's lyrics and performances, but he sure brought the funk with his amazing shifting cast of band members. Star child Bootsie Collins was even a player in the James Brown band for a while, and obviously he learned the Art of Funk at the James Brown University of Soul.

The famous "I jump back, I wanna kiss myself!" line that Eddie Murphy parodied in his dead-on impersonation in the "James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub" skits on SNL is from "Super Bad." That's a really fun song, by the way.

Today, I read about JB's last tour, where his body was taken on a 3-city tour for his fans to pay their respects. And what about that gold casket?! Unnnnnnhhh! His handlers redressed him for each stop on the tour, so even after death, JB kept up his tradition of multiple costume changes and show biz flair. There won't be many, if any, of his like to come, so take note of the passing of this star. And, at the very least, go to your neighborhood record store (sorry, CD emporium), and snag a Greatest Hits CD of Mr. Brown. It's endless fun, and the funk just rushes out of the speakers.

And now for something completely different, our little recovery jaunt on the hilly Scenic loop plus Mountain Bonnell. The weather shifted again, as it often happens, and we got cooler temperatures, about 51 degrees throughout the run, and thankfully no additional precipitation for today's festivities. Sure, we had to deal with some puddles on the roads and on the trail, but that's not too bad. Once the hierarchy of the runners settled down, we had about 10 people again for our pace crew. Among them were Carrie and Thon, still recovering from White Rock, Frank, Sue, Amy, Colleen, Jennifer, Rachel, Brad, Jan, Brian, and probably some others who I'm not recalling.

Through the first water stop, we sort of found our way into our mob, and dialed in the pace. We were a little quicker than usual, probably since we were "only" going about 13-14 miles. Sheesh. Amy pulled away from us after the first water/powerade stop, since she was having a good day, but the rest of us stuck together for the most part. There were several people willing to help do the pace work today, so that was nice. Frank and I sort of led the way through the Scenic hills, and then after slogging through a big puddle/pond on Mt. Bonnell Road, it was time to wage our assault on the mountain. As usual, we got quiet at the bottom of the hill, and everyone went to their own mental place to get themselves up the incline. I felt pretty strong today, and ended up finishing ahead of my pace pals. That gave me a much longer water/gu/powerade stop, but it's a training run, so what the heck.

Thon showed us a new way down the mountain, which added a few tenths of a mile to the day. I think I'll make that way the new Bonnell route for future runs. It was relaxing to not have to deal with Balcones Woods and the occasionally scary traffic on that road for a change. I tucked in with Thon, Carrie, Sue and Frank on Exposition, and we rolled along the hills there in good fashion. The last water/powerade/GU stop was at O. Henry, and then it was time for a fast finish for those so inclined.

I just took off at a reasonably quicker clip, and waited to see who wanted to run in with me. Turns out that my friend Sue was again at my side for the big finish. We rolled down the modest downhill first mile, and then hit the trail. The fast Gazelles caught us on the trail (I think they added some miles to their day before catching us), and then Thon caught us during the last mile. We sort of drafted off of him, using him as a pace target ahead of us when we were tiring at the end. Except for that last mile, I felt pretty comfortable. During the last mile, though, I was just in the position of needing to focus a bit more to keep my pace steady. It was great to have Sue push me during those last fast finish miles, too. It really helps to have someone there to keep you moving quickly.

It was a really strong run. Splits: 9:41, 9:01, 8:54, 0.93 miles at 8:35, 2:02 water stop, 8:43, 8:46, 9:04, and 0.1 miles at 9:33 (the final Bonnell crawl), 3:26 water/GU stop for me as we waited to gather everyone together for the descent, 8:40, 9:02, 8:55, 0.43 miles at 8:25/mile pace, 1:57 final water/GU stop, and fast finish at 7:36, 7:43, 7:33, and 0.19 miles at 7:01/mile. Overall, 8:37 running pace, and 9:09/mile with water stop time included. That's a good run for us on that course.

After knocking out some striders on the trail, it was time for stretching. Today, we used the front "porch" at RunTex, since the ground was pretty muddy in our usual spots. We laughed a lot more than usual, and finished up about the time they unlocked the doors to the store. One of the guys at RunTex (David?) joked with us that we needed to buy some shoes. I told him that I needed some, coincidentally, and told him what shoes and what sizes to pull out for me. After retrieving my wallet, I indeed picked up new pairs of Fila Providence (the newest model of those), and Mizuno Creation 7. Both my pairs of existing shoes are nearing the end of their useful lifespan, so I needed to get new ones in the rotation. The newest Providences are much better, aesthetically, and they still have that nice comfortable ride. The Mizunos are exactly the same as my existing pair, so no surprises there. After picking up some Enervitene for next weekend's ARA 20 Miler, I was done with my shopping.

Alex and I talked for a while about various and sundry topics, and then he had to get going to hit Chick-Fil-A for his standard Saturday lunch. It was a great day out there, and yet another fun time with my running friends.

Oh, yeah, for the day, 13.65 miles.