Another Cold LSR

Today was our last really long run before the ATT marathon. We've been in the cold for a week now and today was no different. It was very Oregon-like today. It was a light rain/drizzle all morning in temps that were in the high 30s and low 40s. I decided to go with shorts to avoid having wet legs all day, but wore two layers on top with my rain vest on. I started out by myself and soon caught up with Shannon. We ran for a few miles, but I had to drop the deuce at about mile 5.5 and when I came out was in between groups. I took off up Exposition and ran by myself for about 3 miles. At the second water stop I caught up with Amy and Patrick. I ate my second CarbBoom and drank really quick to catch up with them. We stayed together most of the rest of the way until they took off at the capital. I was close to Amy, but kept getting caught by the lights on Congress and never was able to catch up. We had a great time through the second half of the run after we were able to get out of the headwind and head east. We were stopped for some water on North Loop when Kristin Armstrong ran by with her posse. It gave us some fodder for discussion for a few miles. I had some good laughs during that section. I felt pretty good once we started on the down side of the course and we had some faster miles. I had only one mile out of the 8 minute range and most of them were in the 8:30-8:40 range. The last two miles were a bit of a struggle because I was cold and my hips were hurting.

Overall it was my fastest long run of the training season. I got back to the First street bridge and talked to Amy and Kelly for a bit. I then headed back to the car, changed my clothes and headed home. I was freezing and my hands were numb. I wasn't up for stretching in the cold and rain. I did the full stretch routine at home and did some ab work.

Stats - 22.06 miles/3:10:30/8:38 pace