Two Of Us [Entered 11/16/07]

Saturday, 11/10, it was time for the last super long run before White Rock. There's not many of us doing that race, so it was a small crew that met at 5:45 for the start of the 20-22 miler. The course was the out and back Shoal Creek run, with the finish on backwards Scenic. 21.5 for the full Monty, about 20 if you cut it by returning via Exposition.

As I've mentioned, I was still a little spooked by my illness earlier in the week, so I wasn't sure I would be able to do much with this run. I figured I'd start out with everyone, pick a nice solid pace, and just see how it went. I had all sorts of bailout options along the way, depending on how my body was reacting and how much energy I actually had. So, it was with some trepidation that I set out for the jaunt.

I settled in with Larry by the first water stop, and I figured he'd soon grow bored with my pace and would move on to catch Randy and Lizette ahead of us, leaving me to cruise the miles with only my thoughts to entertain me. However, he kept assuring me as we went up Exposition that he was happy with the pace, given that he'd run a 50 miler last weekend, and he was racing the 10 Miler in the morning. What a running animal!!

So, the second water/Accelerade stop came and went at Shoal Creek, and I was still feeling pretty good. The pace was solid, and my body seemed ready to continue. All the while, we were talking up a storm. Now, as many of you know, I'm not exactly a reticent individual. Chattering away as we run is usually my forte'. But, Larry is a nonstop source of discussion topics, and on this day, I really appreciated the fact that I could be entertained as we slogged out the miles.

Sooner than I had imagined, we were at the turnaround at Foster, and I was still feeling pretty darned good. Sure, I knew deep down that I was a little lower on stored energy than usual, but Larry kept assuring me that we were doing fine, so I just kept on cruising. We were at 1:38:00 and change at the turnaround, about 10 miles or so, which rolls out to about 9:45/mile, including all the water stops. Pretty nice, and well within training pace range.

Coming back, it still felt pretty good, and at Shoal Creek, I decided that I might as well head home on the longer route option, just in case I kept feeling good. If things caved in, I'd still probably get in 20 miles, and if I felt strong, then I just had to finish the course instead of trying to manufacture additional mileage going the other way. Larry agreed, and so we went on down 35th Street and hit the Backwards Scenic finish. We got a splash and go at the Dry Cleaners, since the weather was a bit muggy and slightly warmer than we've had lately. Still, it was a decent weather day. No real complaints there.

Scenic was actually pretty fun, and again, before I knew it, we were at the last Official Water Stop at Lake Austin and Enfield. 4 miles to go, 17.4 in the books, and I was actually almost dancing when I thought about actually finishing this thing after the week I had had. The whole dancing thing passed quickly from my mind, but honestly, I was pretty pepped up when I took physical inventory at that last stop.

That one in the books, we just had to finish the thing up. I hung with Larry and let him sort of carry me, in a metaphysical manner, down Lake Austin Blvd. to the trail. After negotiating the usual knot of runners at the Mopac bridge, we settled in for those last couple of miles. At this point, I was having some serious internal discussions with myself. Stuff like, "Okay, at the bottom of the little hill after the railroad tracks, I'm going to stop and take a walk." But, Larry was not aware of the voices in my head, and just kept talking me through the miles, so I kept running. More discussions followed, and again and again, I was able to ignore those seductive voices suggesting that I should stop running. I notice that my pace fell off during that mile, but I was still motoring along. Larry finally decided to have a bit of a fast finish with about a half mile to go, but by then, he had done his job, and I was able to pick it up a bit myself for that last half mile. Nice.

Finally, I was at the water coolers, and I could stop running. I owe Larry a huge debt of gratitude for helping me with this difficult run. I'm not sure I would have done as well without his cheerful company and encouragement. Once again, that's the sort of thing that makes me happy to be a Gazelle. It's the people that we run with that make this group what it is, under the leadership of the Pied Piper, Gilbert. On a morning that I was pretty sure would end in a truncated run, I was able to finish the full distance (21.4 miles) at a pace that was totally acceptable.

Final stats were 21.4 miles at 9:58/mile average pace, including all water stop time. Actual running pace was around 9:18/mile. Those were both good numbers for me. Sure, I didn't have the Fast Finish that I've enjoyed the last several times out, but under the conditions, this was a big win for me.

Now, I've just got to continue to improve my energy stores, enjoy these last 4 weeks of sharpening and tapering, and run a marathon. The hardest work is now done.

Thanks again to Larry for carrying me today. Awesome!