We had a good turnout for our 5:45am run: Larry, Kevin, Wayne, Tom, Nathan, Michael, Collin, and me. The weather was cool and overcast...perfect for a long run. We ran the first couple of miles together (9:27, 9:24) then Nathan, Tom, Collin, and Michael started pulling away. I stayed back with Wayne, Kevin, and Larry. I figured since Tom, Nathan and I were the only ones going 20 miles, that I would have plenty of time with them later in the run...but the gap kept getting bigger and bigger (9:34). Wayne, who had run 9 miles pretty hard last night, was only going 9 again this morning. He went with me and we closed the gap, passing Collin and Michael (8:43, 8:24). He turned back at 4.5 miles and I pushed on and closed the gap a little more on Tom and Nathan (8:20). After a brief stop for a drink at Vivian we started up South Fork. The uphill felt a lot like...well, uphill (10:08, 9:17, 10:05, 10:06). The four miles or so back down to Vivian were faster, but not as fast as usual (8:36, 8:26, 8:38, 8:16). I think my legs were feeling the effects of pushing earlier to catch up. After Vivian, Nathan said he wanted to go sub-8:00 the rest of the way down so we bid farewell. Tom and I stayed together the rest of the run, both of us content to just keep moving and finish (8:53, 9:10, 8:47, 8:57, 9:11, 8:49). We averaged 9:04/mi for the 20.15 miles. This 20 miler felt a lot like...well, a 20 miler. It was great getting to run with Tom and Nathan again, and it was great to have the run done.
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