Great Eight

Thank you Brenda for the title suggestion!

It really was a GREAT run last night. As usual it almost didn't turn out that way, once again I found the need to use the bathroom. We ran our normal route and as we passed the port a pottie twice I didn't feel the need to go, unfortunately about a 1/2 or maybe 1 mile down the road it hit me. It was similiar to Saturday morning, it hit so hard that several times I had to stop in the middle of the street cross my legs and squeeze really hard. It was just awful! We were already headed back to the Port a pottie but I probably wasn't going to make it. Lucky for me a very good friend of Brenda's and a fellow runner was very close. Brenda ran ahead and asked if I could use the facilities. Suzanne and her husband were so nice!! They saved my run!!! When I was leaving I told her where I lived and said if you are ever running in that area and you feel the need please stop by!!

The cast of characters partcipating in last night run were - Brenda, Michele,Kelly, Robert & Myself. From the very beginning Robert took the lead and we all just followed.
It was breezy last night but not bad at all, especially considering how windy it was Monday and Tuesday night.
Before and after the bathroom break I felt good while running...It didn't feel like we were speeding along, but it also didn't feel too slow.
We did the first 5 miles in the Blooming Ridge subdivision, we try to get as many miles in over there as possible it helps us mentally to know that when we get back to Michele's we only have a few miles left.
We stopped at her house, she needed to take a potty break and we all took a water/accelerade break. I stretched just a little bit and then walked a bit until Michele came out. It is so funny because I always say can we take this part slower and everyone agrees and then those end up being our fastest miles.
When I had to take the leg crossing breaks in the earlier miles I noticed that it brought our avg pace down to 10:25, but by the time we finished we had a 10:02 avg pace.
We are always usually pretty chatty those first few miles and really it just depends but last night we got kind of quiet towards the end and especially the last .5 mile we were kind of all strung out. Kelly was REALLY strong last night! Actually she has been very strong a lot lately!!! I think running with people who are faster than you (not that I am) really helps. I know since I started running with Brenda and Michele I feel like I have improved not just my speed but my endurance. It is not a rule or anything but we usually don't take walk breaks on our Mon and Wed. night runs. We do take a water break whenever we get to Michele's house but that's it. Of course last night I had two major breaks.
Brenda really made me feel great last night, it was during the last mile and she told me how strong I was running. I was actually starting to really feel fatigued but it felt good to know it wasnt' showing!!

8 .0 miles
1:20:22
10:02 avg pace
1-10:06
2-9:52
3-10:39 I bet you can guess what was going on during these two miles!
4-10:59
5-9:53
6-9:47
7-9:42
8-9:22..woo hoo!! I am really proud of this last mile, we were running into the wind during a good part of it and I was starting to feel tired. To me this is where my increased endurance really shows, when my last mile is my fastest!