Kelly and I met at Team 1, she was driving seperately because she needed to get home ASAP after the run. We were waiting on Michele but when she wasn't there by 5:17 I called... she called back she had overslept and didn't hear the alarm. We were supposed to meet Cheryl at 5:30 in Sherwood so we couldnt' wait. Michele was very upset that she had overslept and she said she was going to try to meet us. Honestly I never thought she would make it, but when we were on Cantrell she called again and she had just left Cabot. I told her how to get to Murray Park but we still didn't know if she would make it. She told me not to worry and that if she didn't find us she would go over to the Skate Park and run with Brenda's "gang" ;)
When we got to Murray Park the first thing I said was I have to go to the Bathroom!!! I knew it was a one seater and the line would get long. We lucked out and there was only one person ahead of us. I went in and did my business, which was kind of hard to do because the door wouldn't shut all the way and I knew there was a line of women outside waiting on me!
Cheryl and Kelly also had to go and we were a little late getting started. No biggie we had a map and we had Cheryl so I wasn't worried. We struck up a conversation with a girl outside I think she was a little bit worried but we saw her later and not only did she catch up but she passed us!
I guess we had been running for maybe .5 of a mile when Gary and Curtis caught up with us, those crazy guys had been doing hill repeats on their bikes before the run. Did I mention that it was FREEZING!!! I tell you what those are some tough, dedicated, crazy guys!
It was around this time that Michele called and said she could see a bunch of runners orginally she was going to go ahead and park at the meeting area and try to catch up.. we hung up and then about 30 seconds later she called again and just as she called she passed us. Cheryl suggested she turn around and park at the golf course and we would meet her. It worked out perfectly!!!!
From the very beginning we all said we were going to start off slow... and we did not too slow around 11:00-11:30 min miles. It was very comfortable. It was a little hard though when the guys were with us to not get pulled into their pace, although their pace is really really fast, they were running slower for us. For a little while it was Kelly and Curtis and Michele and Gary.
Cheryl and I were very comfortable bringing up the rear. Not sure how far but Kelly needed a walk break and let Curtis go and she came back for us and the three of us stayed together pretty much the rest of the run until the last few miles.
Our strategy of starting off slow really worked, we did not take any breaks until mile 4 and that was a "gu" break. We walked long enough to take in some gu and water and then we were off again. Just as we turned onto Markham we saw Gary and Michele running towards us... where is Curtis??? The Davis brothers like to play cat and mouse so Curtis had challenged Gary to catch up with him. Gary gives him a couple miles head start and then he chases him down. I told you those boys are crazy!! LOL but I sure do love them!!
I was starting to feel the need to use the restroom again so we made the decision to run to the River Market. It turned out to be a very good decision!! We all took a bathroom break and a refueling break and then we head back towards the Main Street bridge to cross over into North Little Rock.
Again we hadn't taken any walk breaks between our 4 mile break and the River Market which was 5.87. Well Cheryl did have to take an "adjustment" break. She had worn a heat patch on her sore groin/upperthigh area, and while it really helped her in the beginning it eventually started rubbing and becoming painful so she had to get it off. I really wish I would have had a video camera to capture it... she is so funny and watching her dig into her pants to get that thing off was hysterical!!!
It was right around that part where we were running in the "bad" part of town. Very sad to see all the mattress's laying on the road etc.
Once we got to the River Trail it was back to the same ol thing. I love the River Trail but even that can get old somethimes. I really liked this route because it was a loop, we went through some area's I haven't run in before including "Dillards Hill" it didn't seem that bad but I'm sure when it comes towards the end of the Marathon it is much tougher!
It was nice once we were on the River Trail to know that once we passed through certain area's we didn't have to turn around and go back. I love loop's!!!
We got to see several other Cruisers' we ran into Sarah S. and Heather at the Dog Park.
We also saw Brenda, Cindy, Lisa and Rock on the BDB. They still had 5 miles left while we had under 1. They looked great... strong as usual. They had done an out and back so they were on their second trip over the Bridge.
When we got to the Dog Park where we saw Sarah and Heather I had to make another pit stop. I had gotten ahead of the other girls and as I was inside I heard Kelly go by and say she had to keep going because she was going to be late. She needed to get back to Cabot for her son's Basketball game.
Michele had also gone ahead, while we were running towards the dog park we met up with a girl who was doing her first run on the River Trail and she didn't really know where she was going. Michele ran with her for a little while to lend her some support. Cheryl had stuck around with me... when I came out of the port - a - pottie she was laying on the ground. Her upper back hurt so bad and that was the only position that helped alleviate the pain. This was the first run in a few weeks that she had that pain. Of course I had to get a picture... I said to her you know I HAVE to take your pictures. Cheryl said I don't *&^%$ care!!! If you look close you can see she is sort of laughing sort of grimacing. She didn't stay there long and then we were back on the trail, we had less than 3 miles to go... woo hoo!!!
About a mile before the bridge Michele came running back for us. There would be long stretches where we would be strung out no one really running with the other and we were all in our own little worlds, but yet we were still together and that is such a great feeling.
As you are approacing the BDB you can see it for a long time which is NOT a good thing. It gives you too long to dread it! Just before we got to it I said let's take a quick break so we can run up that %$&*&@!!
AND we DID IT!! we ran all the way up, slowly but we did it! It was just before the downhill when we saw the other girls. We were on the downhill slide and they still had the hardest part of their run left.
When we got back to the parking lot Michele wanted to walk so she decided to head towards her car and we told her we would pick her up. We stopped to mark ourselves off of the sign in sheet and get a cookie. There is a guy who is at all these runs, he's a nice guy very talkative. He was kidding us about there only being one cookie left etc. Well he wasn't parked far from us and as he was walking to his car he stopped to chat. He commented on how color coordinated I was. pink.. pink.. pink... and oh you even have on pink sunglasses. LOL Then he looks over at Cheryl and she has blue.. blue.. blue... he was a bit dissapointed she didn't have matching blue sunglasses. LOL
Well then he started admiring my new Honda and was asking lot's of questions and we were talking about gas mileage when I saw him notice the 26.2 sticker on the back window. He said OH is that what your gas mileage is????? Of course he was being funny but it made me think, I wonder if some people might think the same thing.
Anyway we were there for quite a while and Michele had gotten pretty far before we picked her up.
After Cheryl dropped her off we headed back to the River Market to Boulevard Bread Co. for coffee and breakfast.
When we got there I saw Vicki and she came over and sat with us and the three of us chatted for a bit.. Arland was next and then the girls all came in. Kelly was even able to make it. Unfortunately she only got to see the last minute of her son's game.
It was nice to sit back and chat with everyone... and BONUS Cheryl helped me with my Garmin we changed some of the settings so I can see it better and get the stastics that I want while running. In the picture I have on Vicki's reading glasses..LOL
Once again it was another great morning of running and hanging out with friends!!
Arland also had a good run yesterday morning... he is complaining about being slow but I am just thrilled that he was able to run 4 miles with NO pain!!
After going home and showering I went back to NLR to run errands. Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Sam's Club. By the time I got home I was beat! The rest of the evening I just tried to do little things to keep me busy, I didn't want to fall asleep because I wanted to go to bed early. Well I didn't fall asleep but I also didn't go to bed as early as I wanted to... although I'm sure the majority of people would think 9:30 on a Saturday night is EARLY! LOL
2 comments:
I'll be at the River Trail this Saturday! Maybe I'll see ya.
Great report!
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