All about that pace.

I was off work today and planned an early run, but didn't get started until noon. It was about a million degrees out and I couldn't find my water bottle. I left without it, thinking I could make it 10 miles without water and covered almost 9 before I made a side trip to the fountain in Steilacoom Park. After I had my fill, I spotted a nice shady patch of grass where I napped for about an hour before running the last mile home. It was a beatiful day for a run... and a nap :)

Tacoma Runners from New Frontier downtown. Fun run, but WAY TO MANY stoplights on this route. Played pool for a couple hours and listened to some crazy kareoke singers after the run :)

8:15am

3 mile warmup running to the start.

9:00am

Lined up in the middle of the pack and took off at about the same pace I maintained throughout the course. The first 1/4 mile is pretty steep down hill then mostly flat until the 2 mile turnaround. Then it's 1 3/4 miles of dreading the finsh on that same hill :) It takes a lot of effort to stay on pace going up that hill to the finish!

I have no idea how I finished this course in 24:04 the last time I raced it.

7:00am

Met with Choi, Deb and Cara to run 5 mile drive before the race. Averaged about 8:20

8:00am

Pretty small and tired turnout for the race after all the 4th of July festivities. I only ran as fast as I needed to stay in front :)

8:40

Ran another lap around the park with Choi, Deb and Cara after the race. Average about 8:50.

8 in the morning felt really good at 7:35 avg.

8 after work at 5:00pm was a lot tougher in the heat at 7:29 avg. My right calf also started bugging me again just in time for Ragnar :(

3 easy miles from Steel Creek with Tacoma Runners. Hot, but it was a fun route and I had a great time talking with Thad and Brit after. My calf was still achy so I'll be taking it easy until Ragnar.

The good news is that my calf is back to 100%. The bad is that I feel totally out of shape for this kind of distance. I hung in there, but it was a tough night. Each leg got progressively slower for me as I just sort of ran out of gas. The enthusiasm and effort that my team mates threw down for this race was absolutely epic and made up for anything I didn't bring to the table. I love to be around these people, they really know how to have fun and get it done! Preston was new to our team this year and brought us some serious speed along with his good sense of humor and sportsmanship. He fit right in with the group despite some of our antics. Rob, Tracey, Justina and Lesley all ran even stronger than last year and made sure we finished ahead of the "known" competition in and out of our division. We didn't realize until the next day that a new mixed masters team entered this year and beat us by a couple hours. We definitely have our work cut out for us for next year. Our missing teammate from last year, Eric Davis busted out a quadruple shift volunteering at both ends of the course filling requirements for 4 different teams! He gets my vote for MVP of this event! 

Extra Tacoma Runners event hosted by REI with free stuff at the Parkway. Great run with a monster hill and of course free stuff!

Bowling Run with Tacoma Runners from the Chalet Bowl. I had lots of fun learning that I suck at bowling :)

7 easy miles on Anderson Island with cousin Charley. Lots of hills.

10 on the treadmill at the hotel in Spokane.