After two terrible days in a row, today was at least a little better. It was the usual LVRR Group run. I've done it alone the last couple weeks. I was walking back to the car because no one showed up again . Then, my friend Aaron appeared in his car. At least I had someone to run with. I'm pretty sure that I'm just going to make this the final run. The turnout has been terrible.
We decided to head out to the canal towpath along the Lehigh. I haven't run there much. Since no regulars have been coming to this group run, I've mostly just run the same route through town every week. It was good to do something different for a change.
The weather was nearly perfect. Of course it was a little humid and I was sweating. I couldn't complain though. It was still good.
We headed out and ran together. I'm trying to run faster and he's trying to slow himself down a little, so we kind of mesh fairly well together. I ran with him for the 1st mile. That was tough because I usually need a good warmup before I can run hard.
The pace was interesting for me. It was consistently just under a 7:30. I'm not used to running this hard for long. Usually, I run longer and slower or faster and shorter. This was a good in between.
I struggled up the Hill to Hill Bridge. I just tried hard to stay with Aaron though. I didn't think this pace would be this challenging, but it was. Maybe my body just isn't recovering from last week. Next week's half marathon could be very interesting.
We got onto the canal path and I just felt terrible. I tried hanging on as long as I could. After an opening mile of 7:26, I ran the 2nd mile at 7:35. After 2 miles, Aaron took off a bit. It was good to have company for awhile. We were going to 2.5 miles and turning around.
Aaron waited for me at the turnaround. We ran together for awhile, even though I was struggling. It was good to talk with him about training. I always seem to be on the edge of overtraining or I even go over it. He's overtrained before, so he knows where I'm coming from. He's had some health problems as well.
We ran together for half a mile. Then, he took off again. He waited for me at the entrance to Sand Island. This time, we were running to the Fahy Bridge. Originally, I wanted to go to that bridge, but I wasn't paying attention, so we had to go to the Hill to Hill Bridge.
Trying to find the Fahy Bridge, we went the wrong way and had to turn around and come back. We needed a little extra distance anyway. Finally, we got to the stairs. Running up them was difficult. It seemed very steep.
Aaron took off up the steps and then was long gone. I was feeling so crappy, so I just cruised along. He was so far ahead when we came off the bridge.
I came around the last turn and for whatever reason, I began feeling great. I looked at my watch and the current mile pace was 7:38. I just decided to push really hard for the final half mile. I watched the pace go down and down and down. I was breathing hard and all the people walking through Steel Stacks were looking at me funny. The pace went under 7:30, then 7:20 and finally under 7:10. The last mile was just under 7:10.
The last mile was a great end to a kind of terrible run. I thought I could run better than I did, but it was still good to push hard and run strong. Aaron and I discussed training for quite a few minutes after the run as well. Apparently he still goes to the Emmaus Run Inn a lot for their runs, but wasn't there last week when I showed up. I might start joining them to run faster. I really need to work on my speed over the summer.
Tomorrow, it will be back to an easy run. I think I might drive out to where my half marathon is and run part of the course. I want to get a feel for it some time. It is an hour and a half drive though. I may join the T-Rex run with Aaron on Saturday, but I'm not sure. A lot of friends are also racing at J's Run. There is a lot going on this weekend, but I haven't committed to anything yet. Regardless, I'll be busy.
5 miles - 38:02 (7:37 pace)
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