What a HUGE difference 15 degrees make! Sunday morning was cool (relatively, it was 67 when I got to the parking lot) though still a little humid. Maybe I'm giving the weather a little too much credit but this run was awesome.
We had no coach, neither did the 12:30 group, but we all knew where we were going and luckily someone had marked the way in chalk when it became confusing. We started out as a little group of four intending to do a 13 minute pace. After the first mile or so we became two groups of two with Ameenah and I taking off a bit faster. We didn't really mean to but we just both felt too damn good to slow down. Not that we were speed demons but we kept a good pace around 12:15-12:30. We passed the 12:30 group at a water stop when they waited for one of their runners to use the portapotty and it was quite a while before they caught up. We stopped around mile four for a Gu and a water refill, then at the stables at mile six for a brief walk and at the turn around to gingerly tip-toe down a steep curved hill with live traffic and around mile 10 to shake gravel out of my shoe.. We were happy, energetic, and feeling strong. I kept saying "I shouldn't feel this good at mile 8, this doesn't make any sense!"
Of course it didn't last the entire run and the last six miles we slowed a little. I stopped more than I needed to so I could wait for Ameenah who wanted to talk more walk breaks. I would run ahead and wait at a stop sign or water fountain, then we would run together until she felt like walking, I would run ahead and wait. Eventually she told me to just go and I finished the last 3 miles or so on my own, walking only across an intersection and up one small hill because I was getting a blister on the bottom of my foot and it was bugging me. I passed the 12:30 groups while they were waiting at the bathroom again, they caught up to me about .5 miles from the end and we all finished together. When we came into view of the parking lot one of my running buddy coworkers came over and ran the last bit with me, I thought she was nuts for wanting to take another step after 16 miles. But then I sat and waited with her and when our other coworker came in, about 25-30 minutes after I did, we both got up and ran the last bit with her too (and I discovered it felt pretty good, got rid of some of the stiffness from sitting). I never felt bad, my legs were a little tired but I was never mentally exhausted and cranky. I certainly didn't feel, physically, that I'd just gone 16 miles. I lost about .75 miles when I must have stopped my Garmin (which I don't actually remember doing) but some fancy math shows total running time of about 3:30.
Definitely the most encouraging run I've had in... forever. Nothing went wrong, the weather cooperated, I ate and drank well and felt healthy. I hope the rest of the training goes as smoothly.
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