Boys of Summer

Normally I run with Kim on Tuesdays, but this week she's resting her sore shin. So yesterday I got to run with the Tuesday lunch-time crew from work. Well, some of them anyway. The two other women who usually join the group were both out for various reasons. Therefore, our running group ended up being me and 6 guys. I was a little apprehensive, but figured I'd just stick with them as best I could. It was a gorgeous day for running. A little warm, but otherwise it looked just like that photo above.

I lead the pack for the first half of the run. I chatted with one guy about forefoot running and Vibram 5 Fingers and Newtons. He naturally runs without heel striking and always thought he was a freak. I mentioned barefoot running to him the last time we ran together and he thought I was crazy. But it seems he researched it and no longer feels like a freak for his running form!

Several of the other guys remembered to ask about my Napa to Sonoma half marathon. We also chatted about treadmill running versus outdoor running, the horrible humidity we had this past weekend, and what upcoming races everyone is doing.

I remembered to bring my Garmin and was able to determine that yes, their turn around point is two miles from the starting point. So when they say they're doing 4 miles, they really are. When we hit the turn around point we paused for a few seconds to let everyone catch their breath. Then we headed back, pausing at the water fountain. Those pauses really added up, which is why one of my miles registered as almost 11 minutes.

I did struggle towards the end. Most of the guys pulled ahead of me and I found myself having to push it hard to keep up. But, I pulled it out and my last mile was actually my fastest one of the day! We had a nice long cool-down walk back to the office. I'd forgotten to bring either a visor or a bandanna and, strangely, this made my hair even more soaked than usual. So soaked, in fact, that I had to use the hand dryer in the locker room to dry it off! On the plus side, my hair had a lot of body for the rest of the day.

I was really wiped out afterward, though. Two runs less than 18 hours apart for a total of 9.4 miles? That's more than I ran all last week! I may or may not try to get in a 3 miler this evening. After that, though, it's time to rest up for my 5K on Saturday!

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Stats

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 585 ft Location: Chicago, IL Elev. Gain: -4 ft Date: 08/11/09 Up/Downhill: [+127/-131] Time: 12:17 PM Difficulty: 2.4 / 5.0   Weather: Partly Cloudy   80 F temp; 47% humidity   80 F heat index; winds N 13 G 21 Performance Distance: 4.02 miles Time: 0:39:19 Speed: 6.1 mph Pace: 9' 47 /mi Calories: 480 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 26 -0' 21 6.4 +0.2 -16 ft 2 9' 29 -0' 18 6.3 +0.2 -4 ft 3 10' 56 +1' 09 5.5 -0.7 +3 ft 4 8' 37 -1' 10 7.0 +0.8 +13 ft end 10' 17 +0' 30 5.8 -0.3 0 ft Versus average of 9' 47 min/mile

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