I bought a new pair of Brooks Glycerin 6 on Thursday so I used those today. I went to Starkey park and got there just ahead of the official 6:30 opening. I thought I was doing pretty good getting there early but the parking lot was already almost full. Lots of people trying to beat the heat. Keith, Dixie and some others had already left for their ten mile run. Eric and Mike were getting ready to go out for 12 but they were going to do a faster pace than what I was planning. So, I headed out a few minutes ahead of them so I could start out slowly and then run with them for a bit once the caught up to me. It was just barely still dark when I started, first mile was slow and a little bit faster on the second mile. By about mile 4 I was just under an 8:00 pace when Eric and Mike caught up. I stuck with them for about a mile at a 7:12 pace. I then let them go but kept them in sight. They got to their turn around point and I kept going. The sun was still low so not too hot yet but the humidity was kind of tough, there was a low hanging haze in the air. There were large puddles across sections of the bike trail. Ever since I have been running here I have seen the signs saying that the trail was kept low to preserve nature so it might flood but had never seen flooding before. I was able to go around most of them except for one that I had to go through. I finally was approaching the turn around point just before it got too hot. I thought it would get worse but it actually stayed about the same due to the partial cloud cover. By mile 12 I was feeling a bit over heated so I stopped at a water stand and doused myself with the cold water (for which I am extremely grateful that the trail provides cold water). Pace was bouncing around between just over 8:00 and just under 8:00 for most of the second half of the run. Average pace: 8:01 And finally I was done! Next week I'll definitely start no later than 6:00 - but probably from a different spot. Cooled off in the pool when I got home, that sure felt great. Note: new "Trainer 1" miles - aka Glycerin 6 start at mile 461 | 