SRRC run -- Sun. Nov. 22

Arrive to find Steve L. also arriving, and Nick and Jim F. already inside. That was the crew for the day (Bill and Ken away; Andy and Amy no-shows). Decided on a Jabish canal 8, and started on rail trail; pretty soon it was clear that Steve (who claimed not to have run for a while, but then mentioned he'd done some good running over 2+ wks in Shanghai and done a near PB running up Mt Tom on arriving back in MA) wanted to run at a good clip, so we drifted ahead of Jim and Nick. Stopped at the canal turn-off to regroup, then took off again, adn this time stayed ahead--very nice along the canal, though I was feeling the pace (a 6:37 mile and then some more), which steadied back up to just over 7 once we came out onto 21 and started back uphill. By the time we reached the right turn into Old Spfld I had pretty complete numbness in my right leg--from not being warmed up enough, running too fast too soon, especially on the uphill (maybe I work my back harder on uphill?); Steve decided not to run on ahead, and I made what pace I could. Back through the high school for that one last climb, and then Steve did stretch out a bit, and I just kept going at my pace, thus:

Time: 53:25
Distance: 7.63 miles
Pace: 7:00

Comment: This was a tough one -- figured it would be useful to try some pace work ready for next week's 6 mile race, but I was feeling wooden from yesterday (especially thighs, not calves; that despite the hills...), and then the numbness: forewarned is good, I guess. Last year I had to stop multiple times in the race, and I want to avoid that this time. Maybe a longer warmup (2+ miles) and some back stretching during the week will help. I hope so.