Start Time: 9/21/08, 8:15am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 10 miles
Average Pace: 8:59min/mile (or 9:08min/mile)
Total Miles For September: 45 miles

I will be the first to admit that after Saturday’s bomb-out, I was not looking forward to Sunday’s run. My quads were a little sore, and I was feeling… less than encouraged about the run. But I headed out anyway (because I am a masochist, I guess) and ran on the W&OD Trail; starting at marker 3.5, down to the 2.5 marker, then up to 7.5 before heading back to start.

I don’t know why I am always surprised by the trail heading just slightly uphill as the marker numbers increase, but some days it gets me more than others. This was one of those days where that tiny tilt semed just horrible. About 4.5 miles in I actually turned off my watch, sat down, and ate my gel for 90 seconds before continuing on. That helped a little bit, but the biggest thing was about half a mile later running into Alma, whom I trained with back in 2005. She was on her bike getting ready for a triathlon next weekend, and she rode next to me for a few minutes before she zoomed off. And that was what really got me going again. My spirits were lifted, and I did just fine until (finishing off mile #6) I got to turn around and start heading slightly downhill for the remainder.

My finishing time was supposed to be between a 9:00 and 9:30min/mile average, so even with that 90 second break being fully added on, things were a-ok on that front. But I was still pretty beat after Saturday’s 15 mile disaster, so it was certainly tougher than it would have otherwise been!

(8:44, 8:47, 8:56, 9:32, 9:07 (or 10:37), 9:14, 9:06, 8:54, 8:40, 8:48)