I ran slower than I had intended to today, but it was all in a good cause. When I got to RunTex at 6:00, there were only a couple of other gazelles doing the long run - most were meeting at 7:00 due to an upcoming triathalon. I hooked up with Francine who was doing her 19 miler in preparation for the upcoming San Francisco marathon. She had been told to go slow and steady, and since Gilbert said I didn’t need to worry about any specific pace (yet), I was happy to go out with her.

We started out very slowly, running with someone else for the first two miles whose name I regret that I didn’t remember. He was tapering for a marathon next weekend, just doing eight miles, and so we kept to his pace (about 11:30). My heart rate was nice and low, down around 140, which is where it should be for this pace. The weather was pretty nice: low seventies and overcast.

Francine and I sped up a bit after the first two miles, heading West on Lake Austin Blvd towards the boat docks. Even so, we were still only doing a 10:00-10:30 overall pace, and took that down somewhat with a bathroom break or two. Mile seven was the steepest, including close to 250 feet of vertical climb over about 600 meters, and that cut us down to 11:30; part of this was due to the fact that I found myself waiting at the top of the hills. I’d rather have good company for a run than pick up unnecessary speed. At some point around here it started raining cold, but it wasn’t too bad.

That was the way of things for the whole run. I did take the time to go up the steps to the top of Mt Bonnell, and let me tell you: after the 500 steep ones I was doing Radebeul, these 100 normal steps no longer seem like such a big deal. We had another couple of long breaks in the second half, finding a restroom and buying some PowerAde, but that’s just how it goes some days. I did pick up the pace a little for the last couple of miles, starting at 9:00 and finishing up at about 8:00.

All in all, a very comfortable run and a nice way to get the miles in. I’m not sure how much training benefit I received, but I was very happy to do the hills and look forward to making this course a regular part of my weekly series.

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