Go, you chicken fat, go away!

Well, I have to say this is the most miles I've gotten in a month in a while.  Just a guess.  I might go back and look when the last time I got this much.  I'm not sure if my shoes will last another 50 miles, but I'm optimistic.

This morning it was me, Vickie, Mike and Glen.  No Maggie.  She was sick.  It didn't seem like there was as many cyclists this morning as last week.  I had stretched out before Mike came to pick us up, so I only needed to stretch a little before I started.  I got another head start on everyone.  The first cyclist came cruising down the hill and turned around and headed back up.  I could hear him saying to Glen and Mike that they were the real men.  Glen caught me at the half mile point.  Mike caught me right around 0.9 miles.  Mike ran 14 secons per mile slower than he did last week.  I ran 10 seconds per mile faster.  When Glen passed me it was like I was standing still.  And he runs so effortlessly.  It's amazing.  I was able to keep Mike in my sights for most of the time.  Mike is really tall.  Like 6'5" or 6'6". He looked real stiff this morning and I thought he looked real goofy.  But then I thought, "He just passed me.  I must look even goofier."  Before I got to the top I saw another runner running down.  He was not part of our group.  Then I saw Mike coming down.  That means Glen had continued on.  When I got to the top I could see him coming back.  Last week we both got to the top at the same time.  This week I was a little ahead of him.  I stopped to take a quick drink out of my frozen water bottle that was mostly thawed out by this time, but still had a chunk of ice in the middle.  Oh my gosh, cold water during a run is soooo good.  Then I plodded downhill.  I don't know if it was my plodding or Glen's stealthiness, but I didn't hear him when he caught up to me and it startled me a little.  I asked how far he went.  He said down to the shooting range.  I asked if that's how far he went last week.  He said yes.  So I guess I'm getting faster and he's staying the same?  Anyway, I saw my wife right after she passed Bulldog.  That means I was a mile ahead of her.  Her goal was to average a 15:30 pace going uphill.  She average 15:36.  My water bottle stayed mostly cold on the way down, and I would take a couple of swigs every mile.  I finished it right before the stop sign.  I called Vickie to see if she wanted us to wait for her to finish or pick her up.  She said she was at 5.5 miles and wanted 6, so we should wait 10 minutes and then come get her.  So naturally I waited 5 minutes and we went and picked her up.  She got 6.2 miles.  Another fun run, but man I was sweaty.