What a great morning for a run! The day after daylight savings time, a little hungover, and just overall tired! I did not want to get out of bed. I was beat. Especially with all the crap I have been dealing with at work the past two days. So as I crawled out of bed, dazed from the wine last night and the loss of an hour from the time change, I lined up my excuses. They were good, they were believable...but that would not suffice. I had to go. After all it was supposed to be an easy 17 today and my buddies were waiting for me.
And that's how it started...easy. Our good pal Tim showed up looking for moral support from the hard news about Brett Favre. Hard news for some...for Wisconsintes and maybe Packer fans across the country, but that's it. Us normal folk could care less. Anyway, Tim was there, humor and all, to help get us through the first few miles of the run. He did rub it in that he
was only doing 11 today! We had to hit Pleasanton-Sunol road for the journey over the hill and back up Foothill. Jokes were made by Louis about my shorts, but what could I do. I had to laugh as I was in this for the long haul.
So, there we were...a truly beautiful morning with signs of Spring everywhere. Not a cloud in the sky and a forecast high of 70 later today. Just perfect. I must confess, however, that I was sad to see Tim make the turn back early. Not because I would miss his jokes and conversation, but because as soon as he made the turn, the talking stopped and our easy run of 8:20 miles suddenly turned into 7:40s. We were only 6 miles in! We have a mile time trial on Tuesday! Is Louis insane???
The pace continued and picked up after each water stop. As we hit the big Sunol hill, our "easy pace" picked up again...what the F*&!. I must say that I felt great...it was what I needed to burn some stress and get this crap off my head. Just look at the picture above and you can see why. In the crowded Bay Area and ever so growing Tri-Valley, there are still places where you can find some solitude. Sure, we saw the occasional biker and some traffic, but when we got going, it was just the sound of nature, feet pounding the pavement, and the rythmic breathing of 6 runners all working together. This is one of my favorite routes and today it was perfect.
I thought we would ease off as we came back into town, but no, it only picked up. We tried to blame it on Louis, but soon another runner would take the lead, then another. The last half mile we were clocking 6:15s...it felt great and it was amazing. For the first time, in a long time I felt like I had a lot left with the last push. A strong finish and a feeling like I could do 3 or 4 more. It was exactly what I needed to clear my head, re-focus myself. Not sure what will transpire tomorrow...but I am sure my running is getting stronger!
