SRRC looong run -- Sun. August 17

First group meet in a while, and definitely ready for a double digit run today, at least emotionally, even if maybe not quite yet physically. Fortunately Jay and Bill both there (also Savannah, Lisa, and Dawn, who ran together a shorter run), and they were planning a long hill run. I suggested going the back way to Quabbin Tower, and they were game, though we didn't know how far it would be -- guessed between 12 and 15 roundtrip.

Set off in bright sun, low 80s perhaps, but after going over the common and down Jabish we hit shade along Enfield; followed to the gates and headed right down Earl(e)y, all the way to Blue Meadow--this was a *beautiful* bit to run, for sure-- then along past the Visitor Center (stopped for water top-up) and then across the dam and up the hill. At that point the other two went for it a bit, and it was Jay's day; I was tailing both by 30+ seconds at the top. Jogged up the tower, then enjoyed the breeze for a few minutes and headed back, with 8.2 miles done on the outbound.

This time I felt fine and they tailed a bit, so that I lost track of them and thought they must have exited the Quabbin the other way. We'd agreed to go back on 9 but not specified which way, so figuring if I hurried I'd catch them on the main road I made a v. quick stop for more water and headed out, but no sign of them. Headed back towards town wondering how far ahead they were, but there are no long vistas so they might have been only a minute or two ahead. Getting somewhat sore and very glad of the water as I reached 11 and then 12 miles, I was glad to see the Jeep dealers and head into Jabish. The hill was a slog, but I noticed the half marathon distance pass at about 1hr 40 mins -- fair enough, and up over the top of town and down finally to the goal at DnD, thus:

Time: 1:53:41
Distance: 14.82 miles
Speed: 7.8 mph

Comment: welcome back to the long ones, yahoo! On the way back, I put in a couple of sub-7s, which is nice too. This was a good run, and I felt fine-- very stiff, but not tired, really pumped at the end; Jay mentioned similar. It turned out, AIH, that I was the one ahead -- they had come back the same way and were tailing me!! They came in several minutes later, after I was afraid they had gone back to look for me. LOLz. Also, a pointer from Coach J on cooldown etc. was to take an ice bath before showering. I figured I'd try it instead of ibuprofen, and sat in cold water for 5 minutes cooling off my legs. Seems to have helped.