The purpose for today’s run was to recover before a difficult week next week; we’re doing Wilke on Monday, a “tempo race” on Wednesday, and 16-18 miles on Saturday.  What does Gilbert consider a good recovery run?  Well, apparently its Mt. Bonnell, or at least the Scenic loop leading up to it.  We had the choice.  Now, in a couple of months this run will feel like a recovery run, but just two weeks ago it was our “hilly long run,” and it takes more time than that for me to mentally adjust.

I have to take a minute to mention something that a fellow Gazelle said to me after today’s workout, “You know, that really wasn’t fun.”  And she was right, too.  There were a few pleasant minutes here and there but, for the most part, it was hot, humid, hilly and hard.  It wasn’t miserable by any stretch of the imagination, but it was one of the few long runs that I just had to slog through.

We ran the first five miles or so pretty nicely, and I have to say that even though I wasn’t impressed with my hill performance, it actually felt like my core workouts have been accomplishing something valuable.  This time, my legs felt tired long before my core did, which (I guess) is a good sign.  Took time to drink at the cleaner’s on 35th, then ran East to Exposition and back down to O’Henry middle school.  The 35th street hill was noticeably easier than the last time I did this course, which is another promising sign.

At the school Gilbert had powerAde waiting for us; or at least he said he would.  We ended up with an orange recovery drink that tasted more like a dreamcicle than anything else.  Ah, well, it went down nicely.  The goal was to do a fast finish for the last three miles but I ended up working more towards a not-too-slow finish instead.  I ran with (actually about 10M behind) Carrie and Amy for the first two miles, probably picked it up some, but during the last mile I started to lag.  I came up on Devon, a new Gazelle, and then we slowed a little more and picked up Brian; then they both took off and had 20M or more on me before I really noticed!  I passed Devon shortly before the finish, but wasn’t able to chase Brian down worth a damn.

Hey, at the end of the day though its another hilly 11-12 miler down, and I’m that much better off for it.  Combine the terrain with temperatures starting in the mid-seventies, add 90% humidity, and its a challenge alright.  I’m continuing to not wear a watch and concentrate on “running how I feel,” so I couldn’t tell you how fast we were, but I’d guess around an 8:45 running pace, not including waterstops.  Don’t quote me on that, though.

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