Cool but not cold morning. Met up with Dixie, Raj, and Raj's friend Mike 6:00 am in Coachman park in Clearwater. Got going pretty quickly, up the helix onto the Clearwater bridge and towards the beach. Great morning for a run. Especially wonderful view of the waterfront from the top of the Sand Key bridge. Headed south a few miles then turned left towards the mainland and over the Belleair bridge. Stopped at the Belleair town hall to use the water fountain and bathrooms there. Talked to a few other runs, one of whom trained with Dixie 10 years ago getting ready for the Disney Marathon. Headed up north a little bit farther until I was almost at 10 miles (near the Belleair country club golf course), said good bye to the guys and turned back the way I came (they were just doing a 13 mile loop course). Felt pretty good for the next 3 miles, then felt tired and had difficulty keeping the pace. Stopped briefly, stretched, relaxed, then kept going and soon felt better. Felt good on the final ascent back up the Clearwater and managed to pick up the pace even more on the way back down. The run felt a little rough at times, but it was a great morning, had some running buddies for 10 miles, and things could have been much worse.
Average pace: 8:15
| 