Recovery Run - 8-31-09

I can not believe it is the last day of August. The weather is making it easier to believe though. It was only 83 degrees today. I know it will heat up again, but it sure was a nice break.

I ran a short four mile recovery run this afternoon. I mixed up the route a little for fun and headed down to the Battery from my office on Broad Street. I made a loop around South of Broad and really got a nice view of the city and the harbor.

My pace was nice and slow (10:10, 10:13, 10:21, 9:58). I waited to do this run in the afternoon because I knew it was going to be nice and cool this morning and I would have never been able to slow down enough.

I missed the rain by a few minutes and really got to enjoy the run and the city. Not bad...

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Long Run - 10 Miles - 08-29-09

I met the group at 5:00am for a ten mile run. We ran from the Old Village out to Sullivan's Island.

This was a shorter run, but at or near marathon pace. We started off with a warm up mile (12:25) through the Old Village (this was with the whole group). My legs were really tight from the track workout on Wednesday, I think I could have used another mile of warming up.

Andrew, Cathy and I picked up the pace and ran towards Sullivan's Island (8:55, 8:40, 8:48, 8:52). We stopped to refill our water at the half way point, which was at Fort Moultrie. It took a little while to get our pace back up, but we got up to it and stayed with it until we got back to the Old Village (9:14, 8:59, 8:52, 8:48). We finished up with a cool down mile that we all needed (11:02).

As we were finishing our run, Andrew noticed that one of his nipples was bleeding. It is pretty hardcore when you are bleeding all over your shirt as you finish a run. So for the last mile we talked about ways to keep your nipples from bleeding (nipple guards, Vaseline, band aids, anti chafing sticks, etc...). You just don't get these types of conversations any other place...


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Mid Week Run - 8-27-09

I did my six mile mid week run this morning. There was no official Boot Camp this week so I took a break for the whole week.

It was good to get my six miles in this morning and not out in the heat of the afternoon. I ran an ok pace for most of the run (9:42, 8:40, 8:42, 9:01, 9:00, 9:33). I was not really pushing it. I just wanted to enjoy a morning run.

I ran over the Ben Sawyer Bridge to Sullivan's Island and back to my house. I was able to see the sunrise from the bridge and it was amazing.

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Track Workout - 8-26-09

I was pretty pumped to get to the track this morning. Last night I read this article in Runners World about this young runner, Andrew Wheating, who is the new hope for the USA in the Mile. Did you know that the US has not won an Olympic Gold in the mile in over 100 years? How crazy is that?

At one point Wheating talks about what constitutes a good race: "Fast, yes, but the greatest is a field of guys battling for the lead, a whole pack neck and neck, guys dying, guys diving... God, it's exciting coming from behind, ripping past everyone."

I did not run track in high school. I played football and hated running. I may have liked running a forty yard dash, but anything more and I was puking. But now I find myself really excited to get to the track. It really does not matter how fast you run, when you are running your pace and doing a track workout you just feel like a track star!

Here is my workout from this morning:

1 x 800 warm up
6 x 200 100 recovery (:56)
6 x 300 200 recovery (1:24)
4 x 100 100 recovery (all out)
4 x 400 300 recovery (1:52)
1 x 800 cool down

The workout was pretty easy until I did my 100 meter all out sprints. This was to help build the lactate in my legs and then run 400's afterwards. My times were right on until that point.

200 (:56, :54, :53, :53, :53, :53)
300 (1:24, 1:20, 1:22, 1:17, 1:23, 1:22)

I ran my 100's with Andrew (not Wheating) who is in his 20's - just want to make that clear. We ran all out and then jogged back. I love to race short distances and I really pushed the speed. It felt so good. All I could think about was Andrew Wheating and how he must feel coming around the track, from behind, passing all those guys and winning the race.

I ran the 400's after that and it was not easy. My legs really felt like I was running in water. I am guessing that this is something I am going to have to work on. My times were (2:04, 1:58, 1:56, 1:54).

I finished with a cool down lap and headed off the track. It was a good morning...

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Tempo Run - 8-25-09

Tempo runs in the afternoon suck!

I woke up this morning and decided to do my tempo run this afternoon. What was I thinking??? It sounded like a good idea as I looked at the big red 4 on my alarm clock this morning...

This was my first eight mile tempo run so I added a loop around Hampton Park near the Citadel to my normal afternoon route. That loop was the only shaded area of my run. It was also the place where the rain hit me the hardest.

I started off my run with a slow warm up mile (9:54). I picked it up for the next few miles as I ran near the Ashley Marina and the River Dogs Stadium (8:41, 8:47, 8:33). As I was coming back from the Citadel and the loop around Hampton Park I stopped to fill up my water bottle. My shoes were soaked at this point (rain and sweat).

I had trouble picking up the pace after I stopped (9:14, 9:33, 9:18). It was really humid out today and except for the rain cloud that got me around the loop, there was no shade to be found. I finished with a cool down mile (10:42) and ran down Broad Street and the Four Corners of Law.

This was a long run for an afternoon. Next time I look at the clock in the morning I will remember this run...

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Recovery Run - 8-24-09

I ran a four mile recovery run this morning. I started at MUSC and ran down Broad Street past the John Rutledge House and back.

My pace was great for a recovery run (10:43, 10:13, 10:10, 10:36). I started early (5:30am) and was going to go workout at the gym afterwards, but I was feeling crappy and just went home.

Not sure if I am coming down with a cold or what, but I woke up with a headache and still have it this afternoon.



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Long Run - 18 Miles - 8-22-09

It felt good to get eighteen miles in today. Only sixty three days left until the Marine Corps Marathon and my training is really paying off.

We had a lot of runners this morning for our group. Three of us (Cathy, Andrew and I) were running eighteen and the rest of the group was running fourteen. We did a really cool route around the islands that started in the Old Village. We were doing an easy pace of around 10:30.

We started with a warm up mile through the Old Village (11:56). We then ran up Rifle Range Road to the Isle of Palms Connector (10:39, 10:13, 10:27, 10:39). We also passed the group that was running the fourteen miles and picked up Elizabeth (she was new to the group and wanted to run with us).

The run on the IOP Connector was amazing. When we started on the connector it was dark, but as we came over the bridge the sun was coming up and the view was unreal (10:23, 10:24, 10:31). We had the added bonus of having a hill workout from the bridge.

As we came off the connector, we turned left and made a short stop to fill up our water. Cathy and Elizabeth made a stop at the restrooms so Andrew and I made a small loop on the far side of the Isle of Palms up to 32nd Ave (10:06, 10:08). We met up with Cathy and Elizabeth and ran over to Sullivan's Island (10:09, 10:15).

We made a short stop at Breach Inlet and filled up our water again (10:27). We ran over Sullivan's Island and then over the Ben Sawyer Bridge (10:15, 10:01, 10:22). As we made it back to the Old Village we only had two more miles and I was ready for the run to be over. Andrew and I picked up the pace slightly and finished at St. Andrews (10:16, 9:51).

I went home and did a lot of refueling. I had to coach my son's flag football team so I was short on time and did not get to take an ice bath.

I have to say that today's run was a great! The route was fun, we had three bridges, and a big running group. I was running on only three hours of sleep, but after the run I felt really good.

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Mid Week Run - 8-20-09

What was I thinking?

I went for my mid week six mile run on Thursday afternoon and could not believe how hot I got. I usually don't even take water with me unless I am running over seven miles, but luckily I decided to bring on this run.

I was trying to run steady at around marathon pace. I started with a slow warm up mile (10:46) and could tell it was going to be hard to keep up the pace. I was able to keep the next two mile at a pretty good pace (8:23, 8:46), but had to stop under a bridge for a few minutes to cool down at the midway point (9:33, 8:47). I finished with a cool down mile (10:30).

I know I have done runs in high heat before, but the combination of the heat and humidity was brutal. It took me forever to rehydrate...

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Boot Camp - 8-20-09

It was the last official day of Boot Camp for the summer. I was expecting a fun morning of dodge ball or maybe even some relay races, but the Marines had different plans.

We started with a quick stretch and then went right into a box formation. At this point I was still hoping the dodge balls would be coming out...

For the next thirty minutes we went through so many exercises that I can not even remember them all. I know I worked my abs more than I have in a few weeks and I did more squats than I can count. Still no dodge balls...

As we were finishing, I saw that our Boot Camp shirts were being brought out to the gym. Now if you have never done the MUSC Boot Camp you may not realize how big of a deal this is, but it is big. I missed getting a shirt last time because I had to miss too many sessions while I was training for my first marathon. I was not a happy camper. I still look with resentment at the people wearing the "red" Boot Camp shirts...

We finally finished our workout and were called in for the "shirt ceremony". We also gave some gifts to the two Marines who were graduating and being commissioned. This is always my favorite part of Boot Camp.

One of those Marines is a guy named Bradford Parr and his graduation has even more importance for me. About two years ago he made me really think about what I was doing to myself. He was talking about the fact that you just can't come to Boot Camp and then go out and eat at Hardees (that was a little freaky, because that's exactly what I was doing). He talked about eating right and fueling your body. For whatever reason, something clicked inside of me and I made a huge change.
For the next six months Parr made a point of checking on me to see how I was doing. Around Christmas of that year and after I had lost about twenty pounds he gave me a Citadel Marine shirt. The shirt was nice, but it was a medium so I said thanks and figured I would just put it away. Ninety pounds later I put that shirt on and I still wear it. In fact, its the red shirt I am wearing in my "after" picture on my blog site.

I am honored to be invited to their commissioning ceremony and tomorrow at noon I plan on walking from my office to join the rest of the Boot Campers who will be in attendance.

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Track Workout - 8-19-09

I made it to the track at 5:20am this morning. I love track workouts and was ready to get started.
I ran my 800 warm up and stretched out. I actually called Coach Greg on the phone to get the first part of the workout (sad...).

This was going to be a marathon pace workout and is as follows:


1 x 800 warm up
? x 200 (1:06 - do as many as needed until you get your pace right)
4 x 400 (2:12)
6 x 800 (4:23)
1 x 1600 (8:50)

200 recover for all repeats

When I first started running the 200's I did three before Greg showed up and I noticed I had the wrong pace. I slowed down, did two more and nailed my pace.

I ran the 400's a little fast and was only able to get in five of the 800's. We finished with a 1600, without looking at our watches (harder than you think). I ran the first half fast, but after making a correction I was right on pace.

200 (:53, :54, :50, 1:04, 1:04)
400 (2:06, 2:02, 2:02, 2:06)
800 (4:14, 4:14, 4:13, 4:12)
1600 (8:30)

The whole workout was 6.5 miles. It really did not feel that long.

Last night, my son and I drove over to the track while my wife took our dog to obedience school. We walked around and then watched the middle school kids practice football. There were a lot of runners on the track and one group was running repeat miles (I hate those). The cool thing was that along with that group there were other people walking and jogging. It was nice to see so many people just getting out. My son said the best thing after he saw a guy run by that was having a hard time. He said, "he is really trying his hardest and it doesn't matter if he is first".

Sometimes you just need a five year old to put it all in perspective...


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Tempo Run - 8-18-09

What an awesome day. I ran my seven mile tempo run this morning and then came home to take my son to his first day of school.

Although I usually meet a group downtown for my tempo run, I wanted to ensure that I was home in time. I got up extra early and started my run from my house. The run felt great and I made it home in plenty of time.

I started with a slow warmup mile (11:08). I increased my pace, but my pace was a little slow (8:50, 9:00, 9:30, 8:55, 8:45). I could not figure out where my turnaround was and could not see my watch so the middle mile time was slower. I finished with a cooldown mile (10:25).

I know that my pace would have been better if I was running with the group, but when family needs and training schedules collide family should always win...

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Recovery Run - 8-16-09

I ran my recovery run on Sunday again. This worked out well last week and I am hoping for the same results.

I ran the four miles as slow as I possible could (10:23. 10:39, 10:41, 10:35). This was even slower than what my schedule called for and it felt pretty good.

I am not going to Boot Camp on Monday and will be doing my seven mile tempo run on my own due to my son starting school this week. Planning ahead is the only way I can get all of my training in and do everything else I need to do.

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Long Run - 10 Miles - 8-15-09

Is it strange when ten miles seems like a short run?

This morning was another 5:00am long run. I met up with everyone at St. Andrews in the Old village. I think there were eight of us. Most of the group was running a slow fourteen miles, but three of us were going for a little speed today.

Greg (our coach) drove us out ten miles to the end of the Isle of Palms. I road in the back of the truck and I think it may be the first time I have actually been cold this summer.

We got out there and it was still really dark. I bet it was a funny sight seeing us dumped off on the side of the road.

We started with a slow warm up mile (11:52). We wanted to stay between 8:55-9:25 for the middle eight miles. We picked it up and ran a pretty decent pace (9:05, 8:50, 9:04, 9:17). We stopped for a few seconds at Breach Inlet to refill our water bottles (I did not wear my camel pack today).

After we started running again my hamstring was a little tight and it took about two miles for it to stop hurting (9:26, 9:05). I will have to keep an eye on it for the next few runs.

We increased our pace for the last two fast miles as we ran back into the Old Village (8:56, 8:55). We finished with a slow cool down mile (11:11) that felt like we were walking after the last few miles.

We got back and I drank a low calorie Gator Aid and cooled down with an ice cold washcloth (thanks Greg!).

It was very strange being dropped off and running back, not sure if I am a fan. I like out and back runs or loops for the most part, but it was a nice change.

Only 70 days left until the Marine Corps Marathon!

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Mid Week Run - 8-13-09

It was a rainy day in Charleston...

I ran my mid week, six mile, run from my office to the Citadel. I guess I could call it a steady run, but it really doesn't matter...

I ran at lunch time so I was expecting it to be pretty hot. I was surprised when I walked out and it started to rain.
The rain really helped with the heat, I think it was only in the mid eighties when I started running.

I ran a warm up mile (9:42) and then ran four miles under marathon pace (8:38, 8:37, 8:43, 8:39). Not bad considering it was poring down the whole time. I finished with a cool down mile (10:26) which was pretty slow due to my shoes being completely soaked.

I still can not believe it rained the entire time I was running.

I guess "real runners run in the rain" or something like that...


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Boot Camp - 8-13-09

It was another fun morning at Boot Camp...

We started out fast and never slowed down. After warming up in the gym, the Marines started yelling at us to get out! They motivated us by adding that we had less than a minute to get on the roof (fun, fun).

I ran a little over a mile and then we were "asked" to join the Marines in the middle of the roof. We lined up in two lines facing each other and heard those ugly words "you know what's coming don't you?".

We did know what was coming...

One side did exersices and the other side sprinted to the wall and back. At one point we even had to run the stairs while the other group was in the plank position. We alternated exercises and sprinting for well over thirty minutes. After this we ran two laps around the track. We finished up with more upper body and ab exercises until we ran out of time.

Fun, fun , fun...

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Track Workout - 8-12-09

I missed my track workout this morning, so I had to make it up tonight. I went to the track with my son at 7:00pm (he was so excited).

The workout was as follows:

1 x 800 warm up
6 x 200 - 100 recovery (:56)
6 x 300 - 200 recovery (1:24)
6 x 400 - 300 recovery (1:52)
1 x 800 cool down

I started with an 800 warm up and then did a quick stretch. The weather was so nice, it was cooler than it was in the morning.

I hit my pace on everything I ran. I was a little fast on some of my splits, but I think that was due to the weather.

200 (:54, :54, :52, :54, :52, :52)
300 (1:18, 1:19, 1:20, 1:18, 1:20, 1:23)
400 (1:46, 1:47, 1:46: 1:48) - I only did four

I finished up with an 800 cool down.

My son had such a good time. He ran with me for a warm up lap, did a bunch of sprints, practiced the long jump and even watched an adult flag football game while I was running.

It was really nice having him out there with me...

1 comments:

Tempo Run - 8-11-09

Its hard to work yourself up for a seven mile tempo run when your whole body is sore from the day before...

I knew I was going to need some motivation to get out of bed so last night I made a point to send out emails about when I would be starting and what route I was going to run. You can't send a bunch of emails to people and not show up!

I got up early so I could meet the running group at 5:30am. We started at MUSC for a downtown Charleston run. The pace was set high for the tempo part of the run, but it was so hot and humid that no one was planning on hitting their pace.

We started with a slow warm up mile as a group (12:14). We picked it up for what I was hoping would be a low 8:00 pace. I convinced Cathy, Katie and Tammy to run with Andrew and I for the first fast mile (8:17).

We held the pace for another mile (8:21), but then I felt a cramp in my side and slowed down until it went away (8:27). I could tell I was slowing down on the fifth mile, but I was still putting out a lot of effort (9:12). I pushed the pace on the six mile to get under marathon pace (8:34). I had fallen back from Andrew on the last two miles, but he slowed down at the end and we ran a cool down mile back to MUSC (10:06).

I was hoping for a little faster pace, but I know I was putting out the effort. Even in the morning the heat and humidity just hit you like a brick wall when you start running.


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Boot Camp - 8-10-09

Boot Camp was brutal! We had to carry a body bar for the whole workout.

The workout consisted of us running with the body bar, doing upper body with the body bar, running with the body bar, doing abs with the body bar, running with the body bar, and of course sweating with the body bar!

At the end of the workout, we celebrated Adnon's birthday by doing twenty seven triple threats (flutter kicks, hello dollies, and leg lifts) - with the body bar.

If I would have been able to lift the body bar I may have swung it at Adnon...

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Recovery Run - 8-9-08

I ran a short four mile recovery run today. I decided to change this run to Sunday morning instead of Monday afternoons so I could beat the heat.

I ran near my house and made a point to do this run as slow as I could stand it (10:40, 11:03, 11:08, 10:32). I finished up with 100 push ups and then stretched for about 10 minutes.

It was good to sleep in a little and then get out and do a quick run. I know I will be happy I did this when I feel the heat tomorrow afternoon.



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Long Run - 16 Miles - 8-8-09

Its Saturday and that can only mean one thing, long run! I met the running group at 5:00am this morning for a sixteen mile run.

I was a little worried about getting out of my normal Friday night routine because I had family in town for the past few days. I was still able to get to bed at a decent hour and even made everyone a pasta dinner (wholegrain pasta with turkey meatballs).

I got up at 4:00am, ate a breakfast bar and drank a glass of water. I filled up my camel pack with ice and water and brought two hammer gels for hydrating and refueling. I was actually not dragging this morning and felt really good as I walked out the door at 4:40am.

Our running group met at St. Andrews in the Old Village for a loop around Mount Pleasant. We had eight runners in our group. We even had one runner (Adnan) show up at the last minute to run with us on his twenty seventh birthday!

I ran the first warm up mile with the group (13:27 ). After that we broke up into three pace groups. I was running with two other guys (Andrew and Adnan). We ran up Rifle Range Road to the Isle of Palms Connector and around the Town Centre (10:42, 10:39, 10:08, 10:18, 10:32, 10:28). We stayed together until mile seven and Adnan (who had not run long distance in over a month) dropped back. We ran down Mathis Ferry Road (10:17, 10:11)and did an out and back to Remley's Point (9:59,9:55). Coach Greg showed up with water and I was able to refill my camel pack (this was a huge help). We then ran around the new park under the Cooper River Bridge, this was the first time we had gone this route and it was great (10:04, 9:54). We made our way up Coleman back to the Old Village (9:56, 9:40). At this point we noticed that we were pretty short on our last mile so we ran a cool down mile around a few blocks (10:47).

After finishing the run I was spent, but felt great. I drank a lot of water and a bottle of low calorie Gator Aid. I also drank a bottle of chocolate milk (suggested by Steve and Greg).

Before I went home I was talking to two other runners (Joy and Tammy) about the route being a little short today. In true crazy form they both decided to go run another mile. I love these people!

I went home and took a fifteen minute ice bath. This felt really good (OK, not at first) and took the soreness out of my legs for the rest of the day.

I needed plenty of water today (more than I have ever needed) and it was really hot and humid, but I felt better today than I have in a while. Its good to be a runner...

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Mid Week Run - 8-5-09

Our running group met at MUSC this morning for a six mile run. We had seven runners, two of them were new. A few other people had started earlier to get in their miles.

We started off with a slow warm up mile (12:39). I ran with Andrew for the next two miles (8:05, 8:00). This was a little fast for my pace, but it was nice to run hard for a couple miles.

I slowed down for my regular pace for the next two miles (8:38, 8:42). After that I ran a cool down mile (9:47).

Good run...

2 comments:

Tempo Run - 8-4-09

I had to skip Boot Camp this morning to get in my tempo run. It was going to be too hot today to run in the afternoon.

I ran six miles down Coleman over Shem Creek (I love running over Shem Creek). It was early, but still hot and humid.
There was a guy walking towards me with his headphones on that I must have scared half to death. When I got up to him he jumped and looked like he was about to scream. Very funny...

I ran a slow mile to warm up (10:38). I was trying to run close to an 8:00 pace, but my legs were not cooperating. My next four miles were not as fast as I wanted, but not too bad (8:24, 8:45, 9:05, 8:55). I finished with a slow cool down mile (10:21).

I have been slacking off on my tempo runs for the past few weeks so this was my first time actually pushing a little. At least it felt good to lengthen my stride. When you run slow long runs your stride seems to shorten and it makes it hard to get going on the fast runs.

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Recovery Run - 8-3-09

Not much to say...

I ran a four mile recovery run. I tried to go slow, but was still too fast for a recovery run (9:46, 10:09, 9:54, 10:21).

Oh well...





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Boot Camp - 8-3-09

Boot Camp was a pretty tough this morning. My legs felt like they were moving through mud after running fourteen miles on Saturday.

We started off fast today. It was a quick group stretch with exercises thrown in to get our heart rate elevated. After warming up for several minutes we went to the track on the roof to run laps. I was able to run about one and a half miles before they called us into the middle of the roof.

The Marines split us up into two groups (2 x 3 ability groups). My group started in the middle of the roof. We split into two groups facing each other. One side did exercises while the other side sprinted to the wall and back. We did this forever!

Then our group was sent to the track. We broke into our three ability groups. We started with a warm up lap around the track and then we did lunges on the straight away, then jogged the curve, sprinted the straight away and then jogged the curve. We did this a few times, changing the exercise each time until we were sprinting both straight aways.

As we were finishing, I saw Greg (my running coach) and said, "that was fun". He looked at me with crazy eyes and said, "that was not fun - just to be clear"...

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Long Run - 14 miles - 8-01-09

Marathon training is cranking up now that we are in August (only 84 days left). I have a lot of miles to cover in the next few weeks and I think my base miles from earlier this year are paying off.

Our group met at 5:00am this morning in the Old Village. There were six of us running. Even this early in the morning it was already hot and humid.

Our route was a loop around Mount Pleasant. We started in the Old Village and ran up Rifle Range Road to the Isle of Palms Connector. We went around Mathis Ferry Road and then did an out and back to Remley's Point. After that we headed back up Coleman over Shem Creek and into the Old Village.

We did a slow warm up mile as a group (12:18). I broke off from the main group with two other runners for the rest of the route. We were running an easy pace today to get in the miles (10:31, 10:37, 10:14, 10:21, 10:16, 10:25). We made a quick restroom stop at a gas station at the midway point and seemed to slow a little (10:40, 10:49, 10:34, 10:47). After we came back from Remley's Point we picked up the pace (10:21, 10:20).

Our last mile was our fastest (10:06). I was kinda zoning out when I noticed the other two runners had picked up the pace and were getting ahead of me. I had to wake up and push it to finish near them.

I am excited about the training this month. We are picking up the pace and increasing the miles. Should get interesting from this point on...

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