On Tuesdays I run with a club of anywhere from 10 to 15 members. Oftentimes there are three groups -- fast, middlins' and the geezers at the rear (that would be my group!). And usually we leave Runners Corner in that order. Sometimes our routes take us on a loop around one of the area parks, and we geezers will watch the fast runners going the opposite direction pass us at least twice (they often do two circles in the time it takes us to do one). But just as often, we end up going one way while they take another, longer route.
And so last night, knowing our pace would not hinder the faster runners should they choose another route, the Geezers (plus one newbie) took off first.
To the cheers of "Geezer Pacers Begin," we headed off, with Jeff Campbell leading the pack at a very good (race pace for me) clip. The faster runners headed on their own run, passing us within a few blocks of the start. And somewhere along the way we lost our geezer pace setter, who had looped back to the start after two to three miles. The rest of us though managed to maintain his lead through the arboretum -- sloshing through wet and freshly laid woodchips along the park's trail, and jumping over fallen branches from an apparent recent storm. Several times my ankles twisted on unseen dips, twigs and hazards. Each time I'd feel a foot slip, I'd yank that foot back and slam down the other in an effort to stay upright. In spite of the terrain, we geezers and the newbie maintained a pace close to 9 minute miles. Mine was 8:47.
And so ended what will most likely be the most aggressive training run of the week for an awful lot of us who are recovering and resting for the Mountain Valley 10 Mile Run on Saturday; and for the club's ultramarathoner who plans a 20-hour, 100 mile run this weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment