The Long Run

Nice relaxed run with Chris H. in the neighborhood using the classic t-route. Humid out but it actually felt kind of nice. Made the morning extra dewy, kind of misty out.

We had a slight chance of Lisa joining us.  Jenny is thinking of running tomorrow and Friday since she'll be up early anyway.  Hope she has some good runs this week.  We haven't had very many for a while although her Sunday runs usually turn out well - except for the one a week before her marathon.

It was a good opportunity to slow things down today.  My easy run paces have been getting faster but that can be kind of dangerous and sometimes meaningless.  I'm happy that my runs have been feeling good.  I've been keeping the pressure off of myself.  But eventually I need to do some races to see where I'm at.

Going to go a bit longer tomorrow and try to get in some good miles for the  week.

Started with Jenny and Lisa R. out to the water stop, then said bye and headed out for some more miles.

This was a much better run for Jenny than the last time we ran together.  Lisa's knee has been a bit bothersome also so she kept it short also.  But it felt like summer when it seemed like we all ran together every day.

I did some of the run along the grassy part along Trinity Blvd again.  I'm starting to really appreciate it. 

I only had time for some really quick stretching and mobility exercises, no weights or pull-ups or stuff like that.  Was ready and out the door in less than half an hour to drop Andy off at his bus stop.  I did forget my workout clothes for boot camp tonight but Jenny is good about bringing them if I've forgotten.

Received the extension bar I ordered for the pull-up bar I got for my office.  I had bought it because it was half off and it does not need to screw in to the frame.  Still came out ahead even with the extra cost of ordering the bar (Iron Gym).

PM - went to boot camp which was about 1 hour and included about 1 mile of running.

Met Keith and Greg at Longleaf and we headed up Starkey Blvd, then we ran to Diane's house for a quick stop before continuing into Starkey Park.

Just before the power lines I stopped to top off my water, then was on my own. Turned left at the power lines and headed north.

It was a beautiful run, nice weather, peaceful, new scenery and lots of wildlife (but nothing dangerous). At 9 miles I was at about a 9:10 average, but my pace picked up especially on the return trip although it felt comfortable and easy. Got to the SR 52 and ran through the park up there before heading back. Ended up with a little extra.

What I didn't realize before is that there is an entirely separate and large park to the north of Starkey Wilderness Park called the Serenova Tract with 18 miles of well marked trails and a campground up at the north end.

After the run, stopped by the Striders area where Karen and David offered me a muscle milk (thanks!) and was able to get a ride back to Longleaf (thanks Denise!). Also, thanks go to Jenny's parents for taking Thomas to bowling so I could go a little extra this morning. I'll find out tomorrow if I ran this too fast or too far, hopefully not!
(I'm going to cut back a bit on miles next week)

I Put up some pics of the trails here.