Waking up with a dry throat usually meant that I didn’t hydrate enough the previous night, especially when I didn’t drink any alcohol. That doesn’t bode well for the day’s upcoming running workout. I’m not usually a big morning drinker but on this day I felt the need to imbibe more fluids if I was going to have a decent run. After drinking some water, plus coffee, I left home for Saturday morning’s AREC run.
Nike was supposed to send some representatives today to offer free gait analysis to the runners and when I arrived in the area, I saw that they had already fired up their two treadmills, computers, and monitors. A line of people were waiting to be analyzed. Hmmn, that last sentence sounded more like psychoanalysis which some obsessive runners probably need. I didn’t avail myself of Nike’s services since I already knew how screwed up my gait was and my head is what requires analysis.
Instead, I did a warm up jog and after a couple of miles, I was still feeling parched so I drank more water. Friday’s potato salad binge must have caused a sodium overdose in my body which resulted to the thirsty feeling. Sodium indiscretion notwithstanding, it was time to face the music and run with the masses. In what may be the biggest group we’ve ever had, 150+ runners strong showed up to participate despite it being a long holiday weekend. Some of these runners could have gone out of town instead, but probably chose to run with our group as part of their staycation. With the number of people we had, I actually had to walk a few yards at the start because the group was so big. It was almost like being in a race. As in the previous Saturday, I started with the 10 minutes per mile pacers and resisted the urge to give chase to the 9 minute pace runners who I saw up ahead. It wouldn’t have worked anyway since I can’t start a run that fast. Just past the first half mile, I noticed someone pacing with me and I recognized Ellen F. whom I’ve known through Facebook friends but never ran or talked with before. Since the pace was comfortable, I just stayed with her and we exchanged running experience stories along the way, so much so that I was barely aware of the pace or distance that we covered. The whole way, it turned out to be a ‘steady state’, no push, cruising pace, for which my joints appreciated at the end. I was even able to tack on another mile of cool down afterwards.
Compared to the hard, lung busting and joint damaging, chase and recover 5 miler last weekend (http://noeldlp.blogspot.com/2010/05/chaserecoverdrive.html ), this Saturday’s more comfortable pace was a welcome respite for my tender joints. Thanks for the good pace, Ellen, nice to get the chance to talk with you and get a good workout at the same time. That goes for the rest of AREC too, who give me the motivation to train week in and week out.
2 miles warm up, plus 6 miles with the AREC group, plus 1 mile cool down = not bad for an early Saturday morning. Is there a shrink in the house?
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