LSR to Mountain Bonnell

I am finally home and spent my second night in my own bed after 11 days away. I met the group for a 12-14 mile run depending on what we felt like. G wants us to be ready for the 10 mile pace run on Monday AM. I started out and stuck with a group of about 6 folks including Anne, Alex, and Lilianna. We stopped for water in front of the Hula Hut where I ate my first Carboom. We stopped again at the cleaners and again at the top of Mt. Bonnell. A few of us ran to the top of the park to see the view and headed down the trail on the back side. We headed down Balcones and then stopped again at the cleaners where I ate my second Carboom. The group kind of went ahead of me for a bit, but I caught back up. We stopped again at O'Henry for water and then were off for the fast finish. Everyone took off as usual. I wanted to run how I felt and push it a bit. Anne was ahead of me and Alex passed me after the MoPac bridge. I was able to catch her right near the finish and passed a couple of other folks in our group. It's not like we are racing eachother, but it's nice to have a target when you are feeling tired. I ran the last 3.5 miles in 7:33, 7:25, 7:20, and my pace for the last half mile was 7:01. I felt pretty good but my lower legs always hurt after that route due to the camber in the road.

We did a few strides and then grabbed our stuff for drills and stretching. We did some hopping, higher-open, and then did our stretching. I used the rest of my RunTex gift certificate since it is a tax free weekend and headed home. It was a good day and I am so happy I feel this strong after two weeks of "iffy" training as well as poor diet. Hopefully I can minimize my travel over the next 10 weeks.

Stats - 13.5 miles/1:54:25/8:29 pace
AHR - 143
MHR - 170