This weekends group run was 12 miles. It was a step back week for the group. We ran from the downtown Y and the course was 3 loops, stopping back at the Y each time for our aid station. Kristy was manning the aid station and not running with the group this week. Heading into the run, my plan was to do 4 loops with Erin, we'd run the first 3 with the group and then do a bonus lap. Before the run we had a chance to catch up with the usual crew we run with. Erik had run the earth day half marathon the previous weekend, Kris and Maria had run their first 20 miler, and Rick and Kristy had each done a 20 miler on their own. Erik was interested in our plan to do another loop when we told him about it.
As we started running Erik and I were talking and not really paying much attention to our pace so we started off a bit fast. I pointed this out to him, but he didn't seem to mind. I figured I'd keep up with him and we could always meet up with our group on the next loop. After Trail Mix last week it felt good to cover some miles quickly again and our first loop was soon over at an average of around 11 minute miles. We headed into the Y to grab something to drink and eat a few shot bloks and quickly headed back out again. Again I figured I'd keep up with Erik and we'd meet up with the group on the next loop. About halfway around the second loop we met up with Jackie, who is running the half marathon this year. I had known Jackie from my days at NDSU and it was nice to talk with her as we ran. The second loop was even faster then our first, we improved about 30 seconds a mile. When we got back to the Y I told Erik that I wanted to wait for the group to catch up and run with them and he agreed. The third loop was our usual group of Kris, Maria, Rick, Erin, Erik and myself with Jerry joining us for his own bonus loop. He's training for the half marathon but is heading out of the country next week and wanted to get a few extra miles in this week. After the first 2 loops I was a bit tired and was really dragging the third. I think it was a combination of having a cold, recovering from Trail Mix, a fast start to the run, and poor hydration on nutrition during the run. When we got back to the Y I was done. Fortunately Erik was still interested in the bonus loop and he and Erin went out to get the extra miles in.
Sunday
On Sunday we went out to Maplewood Start Park to do some hiking with Cory and Maggie. We started off up Hallaway Hill and then left the trail for some free hiking. It was a great day to be out, warm enough for shorts and not too windy. Our legs got a little tore up from some of the brush we were going through so after a couple of miles we found the trail again and stopped by the truck for a snack. We then went looking for a geocache that was on the Ironwood Trail. It took some searching, but eventually Erin found it in a log. We left a packet of Gu there and signed our names. After the hike we enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading back to town.
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| The geocache we found |
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| Cory, Maggie and Erin |
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| Our picnic lunch |
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