Grove Run

Today we did the Grove run for our back down week. The remnants of Tropical Storm Erin brought back the very humid mornings again. It was warm and steamy for us. We headed out in a large pack and started to string out along Riverside due to various speeds and the stop lights. Our first water stop was near ACC. At that point I settled in with Vasil for the remainder of the run. The first 5 miles were all in the 9:00 range. We made a pit stop at the Holly Power area and took off again. We made another water stop under I-35 where I ate my second Accel Gel. I really like these gels and they are now the gel of choice for me. The next 5 miles were all in the 8:30 range as we slowly picked it up. G had another water stop at the small boat ramp near AHS. Once we left there we were on the "pick it up" piece of the run. The final 3.5 miles were 8:15, 8:11, 7:55 and 7:58 pace for the last .5 mile. We did a few strides at the end and then gathered for stretching.

The run itself wasn't that bad, but it was a long week and I had to push to pick it up at the end. It was a good effort and I am pleased at where I am at with 7 weeks to go. Next week will be long with a 10 mile pace run on Monday and our first 22 miler on Saturday.

Stats - 13.5 miles/1:57:20/8:41 pace
AHR - 138
MHR - 160