Addicted to Exercise

It was absolutely beautiful outside this morning.  The temperature was perfectly cool, and there wasn’t any humidity in the air.  I’m still not committed to running the Marathon in February since I’ll be racing hard a few weeks before it, but I like to leave my options open.  So today I joined the group for the 21-miler just for fun.  Actually, I was only really with the group for the first three miles.  Then I got out ahead where people were a lot more spaced out.

I was a little stiff when I first started out, but after a mile or two that had gone away.  I just focused on being smooth and was amazed at how quickly the miles clicked by.   Before I knew it I had reached the top of the route and was on the way back.  Looking back at my splits I see that I was remarkably consistent the whole way.  A few of the others from the group kept catching up to me as I was leaving each water stop, and they kept telling me I looked good.  That kept me motivated to keep focusing on my form.

Gilbert was out driving around the course checking on us, and I saw him several times.  He seemed pleased, so that was good, too.  The route today was basically the last 20 miles of the marathon course, and I liked the minor adjustments they have made since last year.  It’s still pretty much the same hilly course, but a couple of the meaner spots late in the game have been made a little easier.

Once I got back to Auditorium Shores, I did a handful of strides with some pull-ups mixed in before leading the group in an hour or so of stretching.  That was all a lot of fun.  My pace on the run was good, and my heart rate was nice and low.  It was so awesome outside this morning.  I’m really glad I got to enjoy it, and I feel sorry for anyone that wasn’t out there.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Awesome, Long Run, Running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.