35F, rising to high 40s after sun came up, mostly clear. Easy aerobic run (mostly w/ club) with mile 11 at MP on the track. HELLO LEGS! Man, am I glad to see you. 11:35, 11:41, 11:45, 11:17, 10:01, 10:02, 10:00, 10:01, 10:14, 10:22, 9:09 (MP on track), 11:05. I arrived early at Centennial Park to take a warm up run around the perimeter. On the far side, I saw this herd of elk in the adjacent meadow. See the little dots in the mist?
None of my usual pace group attended the club this morning, so I started out with some slower folks to warm up, and we parted ways at about mile 2. One of the faster pace groups, which had run a different route, came up from behind as I ran on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, and I had them in my sights for about a mile after that. I turned into North Bend to run around some neighborhoods that I like over there. By coincidence, when I returned to the SVT the faster group was returning as well. I said hello and tucked in behind them, thinking that at least I could trail them again for a while and not be totally alone on the trail. That was mile 5. See that mile 5? See that 10:01? I was as surprised as anyone that they didn't drop me. Hm. I am not falling behind. Hm. I am talking to them. I am running with them. How curious. Right in that section of trail, the terrain is heavily wooded and my Garmin never reads pace accurately in there. It will read 16:45 one moment and 7:15 the next, as the satellites try to find me through the trees. Not knowing the pace I figured, "these guys are really slowing down," and enjoyed their company. After a little while two of them ran on and one young guy stayed with me. We ended up running the rest of our miles together, including the mile on the track. What a great running partner he turned out to be. He has only been running for 1 year but has a great deal of enthusiasm and love for running. We talked the whole time (except for my MP mile), which makes that pace I logged all the more wonderful to me. (ie Plenty of oxygen!) Very best wishes to everyone who is racing this weekend!!
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