That was easy

I was prepared for 20-24 miles this morning only to discover that the big boys were going 14. I checked my log and 14 still gets me to 80 miles this week, so I jumped in with the group and hoped I could stick. Most of the group is running all or part of the Austin Marathon next week and took it easy. I will be cheering again this year so I'll need to plan a 24 mile run on Saturday. Anyway, I started out at an easy 7:30ish pace with Bruce and the main group. Ken was running off the front. At the first water stop, I left with Ken and decided to see how well I could hang at his 6:50-7:00 pace through the big hills. I fell behind by 4-5 strides on a few hills but managed to stay with him for 4 miles or so. I knew he would plan to close the final 4 miles faster than I could hope to maintain so I let him go. I then tried to maintain sub 7:00s the rest of the way in and did so easily. With about a mile to go, Derrick tried to blow by me. I had some gas left and decided to see if he had it today. It took about 3 surges to finally drop him for good. Even though this was a short run and the big boys were taking it easy, it was a huge boost to have a good solid run with plenty of gas left for a foot race at the end. I'm going to start timing my 10 milers and looking to get back to my 7:20 average pace or better.

On the subject of feet, I experienced some 2nd toe joint pain during my long run last Sunday that reminded me of my Boston experience. That was the first long run in my new Hyper Speed 3 shoes and very disappointing since I've grown to really like that shoe. In an effort to see if the problem was my feet or the shoes, I took out the Piranhas that I'd given up on for long running and tried them out on Monday. I ended up running all week in them and my feet really responded well. I love these shoes. I run without socks and just slipping these bad boys on before a run gives me goose bumps. I've now had runs of 14 and 16 miles in them with no blisters and no foot pain. I'll keep going in them next week and see how they feel on a 20+ mile run. My evolution toward minimal footwear continues. Maybe next I'll just brush on some rubber cement and go barefoot. (I'm still a tender foot off the grass).