Today's run made me feel pretty good since I didn't feel like fading out at all at the end of the run. A good strong finish can be a great confidence booster. I had some company for the beginning of the run. Joe, Keith, and Nelson were at Starkey park just before 6:30. Keith and Nelson were only going to do between 6 and 7. So, we all started out together at a nice and easy pace for the first three miles, between 9:00 and 9:20. Keith and Nelson said good bye and turned back. It was a beautiful morning, about 74ยบ with the sun just coming up over the trees. There was one near disaster on the way out, we almost ran into a huge spider web. I'm not sure how it was connected because it was in the middle of the path, centered about 5 feet above the ground and parallel to the direction of the path instead of straight across it. I would have missed it except for the large spider in the middle of the web, it's body was probably at least one inch in diameter, with it's legs making it even larger. I would have hated to have the web and spider wrapped around me. After that the other guys talked about who had seen rattle snakes on this trail and how one person had even seen a gator farther out. Fortunately, we didn't run into any of those today. Joe and I continued on, to the end of the Starkey bike path and turned left onto the suncoast bike path for another 1.5 miles. Pace was picking up slightly. Turned around at the 8 mile point. Pace continued to pick up gradually. Just after 10 miles, Joe said he wanted to slow down but insisted that I continue at my pace. So, I kept on going with my pace continue to pick up. It felt not hard at all. At this point I decided I'd try to hold marathon pace for the return trip, which I was able to do. The last mile was at 7:04. I felt like I could have gone farther but was glad that today's run was just 16. Stopped back at my truck, grabbed a recovery shake then walked back towards the trail, just in time to catch up with Joe as he finished his run. Average pace - 8:08 This wraps up my highest mileage week so far. I've got one more big week next week, then start tapering off for Chicago. I can't believe how close it is now. Glycerin - 116.81
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