9 Miles at 9:30...WIN!

This morning's long run began our new cycle of mileage build-up. Next weekend's 10 miles, by the way. Of course, I finally got my wish and we had a cold, drizzly run. I was delighted, but apparently, not too many others shared my sentiment as not a whole lot of people showed up. In fact, none of the 10:00 Red (see? I'm slightly better than last year!) pacers showed, so a 9:30 pacer volunteered to pace us.

Fine, right? She paced the 10:00 Reds last summer. No worries.

Except for the fact that we didn't run a 10:00 pace. We ran between a 10:00 and a 9:30 pace, but closer to the 9:30 end of that time period. Everyone (the eight of us that showed up, that is) knew it, too. She kept apologizing and slowing down, but it really didn't help. So we collectively decided that this wouldn't be a problem...let's keep going.

This all, of course, supports my theory that shitty weather makes you run faster with less effort. Duh.

However, no run is perfect as evidenced by the douchebag that kept trying to cut me off. We'll call him Red Shirt. Because he was wearing a red shirt, of course. First he's on my left side, then he's on my right side. Then he's right next to me and the other girl running with me. Why can't he just pick a side and stay with it?!?!? What the hell is so difficult about TWO BY TWO that seems so hard to master??? But, I held my tongue and kept running. One runner in our group requested that we stop at the Fleet Feet aid station at Diversey. We had less than 1.5 miles to run, but since this is a democracy, everyone stopped. I kept walking whilst I took a few more sips of Gatorade, and then it hit me. If I just kept running, and a little bit faster at that, I wouldn't have to deal with Red Shirt anymore. So I hauled ass home, and it felt great. And by great, I mean exhausting, but still I was so glad to add some speed to the end of my long run.

It was a bit of a lonely run, as my usual pace group buddies didn't show up. I felt a little sad, maybe even a little abandoned...Corey showed up, but she decided that she'd rather stick in 10:30 Blue again this year.

So here I sit, pondering my aloneness. It's not as bad as all that, and I guess it's good race day preparation because I'll be doing Marine Corps solo (another friend is running it too, but she's run/walking and she's a hell of a lot faster than me). I don't do races with Le Petit iPod, because I'm a rules gal, I think it's a little bit dangerous, and I just like to be able to experience all that is going on around me on race day. Those are just my opinions!

So enjoy the rest of your weekends, and I'm going to enjoy my Sunday Rest Day. With some stretching, of course.