That was it?

Well, I guess unofficially I'm a member of the double digits club as of this morning at 8:30. I say unofficially because when I got home, I found that Mapmyrun.com shows ~9.7 miles, just a little more than last weeks "9 mile run" of 9.4. I ran this morning without the aid of mile markers or my Polar footpod (the distances on that thing are suspect as well). I wouldn't say that I need a Garmin but I will say that I'd like to have one, a 205 if possible.

When I drove up to the parking lot late, Strider Joanne jumped out of her car and said, "Oh, Vic, I'm so glad you are here." Her 2/1 partner, Sashi, could not make it and she was hoping that I would be there so she could run with me. Jo is a small lady but a big runner. She runs faster than me (of course). I think She and Shashi have been running ~14:00 miles on their long runs. Still, she was very eager to have someone to run with this morning and vowed to take it slow. I forgot to tell her she was an answer to my prayers. She was worried about holding me back but the absolute truth is that she pushed me just right. A couple of times she got ahead of me 20 or 30 yards and just doubled back to rejoin me. I know it must be hard to slow down 1:00 - 1:30 minutes from what you do on your slow runs. She has a nice little quick turnover and pretty good form. Oh, by the way, Jo is well in her years but very young at heart.

Overall, I had a great run. Of course, the hills at TH park presented some challenge but I tackled them better than I did last week on Allen Parkway. Of course the weather was nice this morning and I'm sure that contributed to a good run. Jo likes to talk and I enjoyed the conversation. When we turned around at Kirkwood, Jo told me we had 3.5 miles left. I thought, "Is that it?" I think one of my biggest problems mentally is not knowing how far I have left. Am I halfway? Do I need to conserve a little. I guess this will come with experience being at these venues more. Anyway, I was feeling pretty tired about 2:15 into the run and Jo told me it was just 1 more mile. "Is that it?" By this time last week, I was hurting. So, I ran the last mile in with only a short break at one of the runner's showers.

No stats really to report. I know that's so unlike me but you know, right now I'm just trying to finish these long runs strong. Also, I'm just trying to enjoy myself, concentrate on nutrition and hydration. Speaking of which, the Gu's worked just fine today. I took one at :45 and at 1:30. If I were going to be much longer out there, I would have had another but I felt fine. I love the way I feel after a long run. Really sore, broken, barely able to walk around, yet so alive! Not sore to the point that I've hurt myself but just where I know I've pushed my body a little past where it wanted to go. Now rest!!!

I had the opportunity to drum up some interest in the Koala/Luke's Half Marathon. I took one registration but handed out a lot of printed flyers/registrations. I'll bet next week, I'll get a lot of registrations turned in. Did get one today which was good considering it was raining and the two ladies had parked in the I-10 lot. I drove them to their car to get their checks. What service!!!

God bless!!