Running With Jack

By the time I finished work yesterday I was so tired that I dozed off on the streetcar on the way home. Luckily I woke up in time to get off at the right stop and didn't take another loop around the city ;-)

The short nap did wonders, I was totally motivated as I left the house and made my way to the trailhead to run with my running club. I was a bit early, so warmed up with a 3 km (2 mile) run. It was a pleasant 26°C/79°F, the sun was shining, the birds were singing...perfect running weather.

When I got back to the trailhead I chatted with some friends for a few minutes as we waited for the rest to arrive. I took off with the mid-pack group and heard Lena, who was running behind me, ask if anyone wanted to run a faster pace. When no one responded positively I said "Lets go" and bolted ahead of the group before she had a chance to think about it.

As we pulled away from the group, Lena, who is training for the Dresden Marathon in October, said she wanted to try to run 10K at around a 5:25/km (8:45/mi) pace. So we cruised around the 11K loop and I kept track of our pace with my Forerunner. By kilometer seven a couple other runners had caught up to us and through their chatter Lena started slacking off with the pace. In an effort to help Lena meet her goal I said to new members of our little group that she wanted to maintain a steady pace and we were slacking off. This had the effect that I knew it would, the three of us pulled ahead and left Lena with the choice of catching up or running behind. Wisely she caught up to us and we were able to keep up the pace she had desired...well actually we speeded up to an 8:30/mi pace, but don't tell Lena ;-)

After the run I hurried home to shower and met the group at a local Greek restaurant for our monthly meeting (Stammtisch). It was a good time as always, but after 11 p.m. before I made it home - so much for catching up with my sleep.

Tonight is a rest night and Friday after work I want to run at least three hours on my hilly route. Running my long run on Friday night will allow me to sleep in on Saturday :-) On Sunday I am meeting a running club member, Iris, for a two hour run - should be fun!