Easy Like Sunday Morning

Isn't that a beautiful sight? Blooming trees, a sunny sky, a path that goes forever?

Normally I do my long runs on Saturday mornings but now that it's spring the running club has started their monthly Sunday trail runs. When I saw that this month's would be on a path I hadn't run before I signed right up! Although I tend to run slower than the rest of the group when I do my long runs I feel better about joining them when we do an out and back route. Hard for me to get lost that way!

I admit I was a little nervous this morning about being the slowpoke and making everyone wait on me to go to breakfast. Turns out I needn't have worried. I had a buddy all the way and we didn't even finish completely last!

When I dragged myself out of bed this morning I was having a difficult time figuring out what to wear. It was chilly at 7AM but I knew that after running for 2 hours it would be warmer. So I opted for capris, a tank top, and a long sleeved top. Although I pushed up the sleeves on the top after a few miles, I was otherwise perfect.

In fact, I would say that this morning was the perfect morning to run. Cool, a slight breeze that only picked up a few times, sunny but on a semi-shady path. I didn't bring water since there were a few water fountains and although I stuffed a package of sports beans in my pocket I never ate them.

I got a rock in my shoe within the first two miles but I just kept running. I barely even noticed it and it didn't cause me any problems. I was enjoying chatting with the woman running beside me, taking in the small towns and then the natural scenery on our rails-to-trails path, and just generally loving running. I did, however, remove the rock when we turned around at mile 5.5.

On the way back our conversation died a little bit but I still felt nice and strong. My hip flexors started talking to me a little bit around mile 9 but otherwise I was in good shape. In fact, I probably could have sped up some but I didn't want to leave my fellow "slowpoke" too far behind.

Overall I did eleven miles with only a few pauses. One to remove the rock from my shoe, one to grab a drink at a fountain, and one for traffic. I never once thought I wouldn't be able to finish and I never once felt like walking. A far, far cry from the last time I ran this distance.

Afterward a big group of us went out to breakfast. I ordered pumpkin pancakes, two eggs, and fruit. And I ate every single thing on my plate. And it was good :-)

I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday morning.

***************************

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 701 ft Location: Elmhurst, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 04/18/10 Up/Downhill: [+252/-252] Time: 08:09 AM Difficulty: 2.9 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   48 F temp; 49% humidity   48 F heat index; winds Vrbl 6 Performance Distance: 11.04 miles Time: 1:48:48 Speed: 6.1 mph Pace: 9' 51 /mi Calories: 1313 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 36 -0' 15 6.2 +0.2 +10 ft 2 9' 38 -0' 13 6.2 +0.1 +29 ft 3 9' 40 -0' 11 6.2 +0.1 +4 ft 4 9' 43 -0' 08 6.2 +0.1 -3 ft 5 9' 48 -0' 03 6.1 +0.0 -3 ft 6 9' 51 +0' 00 6.1 -0.0 +13 ft 7 10' 02 +0' 11 6.0 -0.1 -17 ft 8 9' 59 +0' 08 6.0 -0.1 +9 ft 9 10' 04 +0' 13 6.0 -0.1 -3 ft 10 9' 54 +0' 03 6.1 -0.0 -29 ft 11 10' 04 +0' 13 6.0 -0.1 -9 ft end 9' 10 -0' 41 6.5 +0.4 0 ft Versus average of 9' 51 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com