Tuesday Night

I went to the group run where the turn out was a little low because of recent rain that didn't return during the run. In my opinion rain in the summer is actually better than no rain. It cools things off, including me, and I either get soaking wet with rain or sweat so why not mix it up.

5 miles out and back, mostly around 6:50 pace. I realized as we were cruising along that 6:55 pace is now right on the edge of easy for me. On a good day it is easy and on a not so good day I have to work a little harder. Definitely an improvement. I was feeling good towards the end so I took off for the last 1/4 mile 5 miles in 33:00

Wednesday Morning.

Another 5 mile run this time with Lee on Forbidden Drive. Because of the time crunch in the morning I find these runs are more something I have to get through and tend not to enjoy them as much as evening runs. It's also because I never feel quite as good running as soon as I get out of bed. Maybe if I ran something longer than 5 miles, the first half would be more of a warm-up and the second half I would really enjoy. 5 miles in 38 minutes.

Thursday Evening.

I joined Ian and Chem Steve in front of the Art Museum for an undefined route through Fairmount Park. Steve has taken a little mental and physical break from running and decided not to join us for the full 8 miles as he builds back into things. I am sure he will right back up to speed in a few weeks and again pulling away from me towards the ends of these runs.

After Steve turned off, Ian and I continued on across the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and onto some of the trails in West Fairmount Park. We ended up on parachute hill, the hard way, and then back down to Montgomery Drive to MLK where the pace picked up to a just below 6:30. I again felt more comfortable than normal at this pace and although I wouldn't say it was easy I was still able to hold a conversation just fine.

8 miles in 58 minutes.