Tilghman, Sammie, Margie, Mark, TNT alum Scott and I set out after 6:30. I was hoping for a slow pace, but the young-uns started moving after a half mile. We were on a 9:15 pace the first few miles. At one point, the five pups ran astride while I trailed a few paces behind. I said, "You guys look like the Super Friends," thinking my action figure would have been named Old Fart. Mark replied, as we ascended a hill, "Twin powers activate ..." to which I asserted, " ... in the form of an escalator."
The first five miles were a gradual ascent, with one serious hill at the Percy Priest Dam. I was semi-cooked by mile five, sapped by the humidity and hill work. Mark wasn't feeling super, either, and he hung with me some between 3.5 and 6.0. The next two miles went better, but by 8.0, I was dialing it down below my 9:20 pace. I said sayonara to them at a trail juncture. It's amazing that the night before several of them stayed out late, watched a band and drank beers, while I was cutting short my run. That's what 20 years' difference will do.
A stone bruise on my left foot and some twitching in my right calf were two reasons I decided to run less than 12. Mark ran 11, while the others completed the 12. All agreed it wasn't an easy day, but not extremely hard like many August mornings. Scott was just getting started ... He planned to run eight more in the afternoon. He's running in a six-man marathon relay on the Blue Ridge Parkway next month. Right.
I'm past the halfway mark of training. Total miles this week: 24.5; total training miles since early June: 246.
Later in the morning, Dori, Will and I went to a Gilda's Club brunch, which I enjoyed. Dori has made some good contacts from attending these meetings. I was impressed with their set-up. Everything in their building is designed to connect, educate and relate.
Tonight, the women will compete in the Olympic marathon. Some dude at Gilda's Club said he'd rather watch paint dry. To each his own.
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