Running with friends

I had a great run last night with my friends Amy and Steve. We ventured off for a 4 mile run. We left from downtown on our way to meet up with the Mercer run group. We went through the campus that has some hills through it but when you run with friends it makes you forget about what is around you.

We were suppose to meet a specific time but we were apparently a couple of minutes behind schedule. I did not realize that some people in the world are so anal about having to go on a fun run at a specific time. Then as to add salt to a wound, I was told that I was not running fast enough. I have never classified myself to be on great speed. I am a runner, not someone who goes everyday of my life trying to prove something to myself. I know that I am getting better over time and not going to push myself to a point of possibly injuring myself.

One of the guys in the group who loves to run long distances, Kevin Hatfield, has celebrated his birthday last week. He is going to attempt to run 300 miles next week. Kevin is the one who puts on the annual Bartram 50K race that I am going to do again next year. If you love to run trail, grass and gravel through the forest, I truly recommend this race to anybody wanting to run from 5.25 miles ( 1 lap ) to over 31+ miles ( 6 laps ).

When we got to about 3 miles Amy, Steve and myself broke off from the rest of the group and continued back to our cars. We turned on our downward approach to the finish and started to pick up the pace. At one time, I looked at my watch and it said we were keeping an 8:30 pace. Amy told me she thought we were going a little bit faster than normal. We got near the finish of the run and I looked at Amy and asked her if she was ready to turn it on. We were about 1/4 mile out and then we were off. Finishing strong with a 6:15 mile pace on the end. WOW!!!!

Amy had to leave to go to Fit Camp so Steve asked me to finish up a cool down lap so we went out for another mile. We were going for a few minutes and Steve told me we were keeping an 11 minute pace. He laughed and said this was faster than his normal pace and wanted to slow down a little bit. We then finished up our COOL down lap and headed home to change clothes and head to a Christmas party that was catered by Olive Garden so I had no problems getting some good carbs back in the ol body.

I am taking today off cause either tomorrow or Sun will be a long run for me 16+ miles. I don't have much time left to get ready for Disney so the runs I get in now are maintenance runs. 3 weeks to go and I am so ready for Mickey Mouse.