Kim had to get done early today so we went out around 4:30 and I rode the bike while she got a few miles in before joining up with the group. Her foot had a weird pain and also the IT band flared up so she had to cut the run short. Bummer! I hope it doesn't turn out to be a big problem, I think she did the smart thing by not forcing the 20 miler today.
After Kim met up with the main group at 5am I joined up with the speedster group consisting of me, Nate, Tyler, Darin, Steve and Carl. Plan was for 22 miles averaging in the 7:30-8:00 pace range. I could tell early on that my legs were not going to be very happy to go over 20 miles today. Obviously I wasn't recovered from my Wednesday fast run down the canyon. I'm going to wise up from now on and not push hard on the steep downhill but save any tempo work for flat or slightly downhill roads. I couldn't keep up with most of the group after the first 9 miles or so but Nate was kind enough to hang back with me so I wasn't by myself. Even though we kept the pace in what should be my easy range there were times it felt like a death march as my legs were just deader than dead. But interestingly enough the last 3-4 miles of the run we found ourselves hitting 7:20-7:30 pace and breathing easier than we had been earlier in the run. Maybe the GUs kicked in or something. At any rate I was just glad to get this run done and in the bank. The ice bath is calling me. Then it's COLLEGE FOOTBALL COUCH POTATO DAY!!! For some reason (endorphines?) Kim gave me her blessing and encouragement to sit around all afternoon and watch Utah and BYU begin their football season. What a woman eh? I wonder if it's some kind of setup?
Ave pace 7:55 | 