Talking to Bob

Bob kicked my ass today.

Last night I got home at midnight from our vacation in Holden Beach, North Carolina.  I drove fifteen hours, two of them in a traffic jam FOR NO APPARENT REASON.  I needed a run this morning, but I didn't get my act together until about noon.  That is when I met Bob.

I had decided to run six miles on the Sand Run path as my "long run" for several reasons: 1) It is close to home,  2)It is shady (and it is HOT today), and 3) I thought the hills would make up for my lack of distance.  I am still tired and discombobulated from the drive, so I knew that I had to take care of myself.  I chose to drive to my starting point at the opposite end of the path because this gives me a largely downhill run on the second half.  I also told myself that I should take it easy on pace, maybe doing an eleven minute mile.  That didn't happen.

Around mile two I noticed that I was doing under a ten minute mile, and I thought I had been running more slowly.  I started to pass a gentleman ahead of me who was easily running (no gasping or sweating, unlike me), and I thought, "I should really run at his pace," but I didn't.  When I got to the three mile marker, I stopped to drink water, and the gentleman came in a few minutes later.  He introduced himself (Bob), and asked if he could run at my pace on the way back.  Damn.  I thought I was going to slow down, but I knew that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to run with someone who seemed to be running so effortlessly, so we took off.

Bob kept me going at about a 9:40 pace for the next two miles, and then I made him slow down in the last mile.  He was super-interesting to talk to about marathon training, and he really kept me going on what felt like a pretty tough run.  Thanks, Bob!  I hope we run together again soon!

One of the reasons I chose to run hills today is because North Carolina was so flat, and I felt like I got increasingly lazy during my runs last week.

This is the road I usually ran along the beach.

I ran the sidewalk along this road, and it was very nice and very flat, but it got very old very quickly.  I tried running around the marina, but it was really hot and muggy, and I found myself making excuses to just get the run finished quickly.

One day I chose to run barefoot on the beach, and it looked like this:

Holden Beach.  What you can't see are the clam holes in the sand.  Very cool.

I liked this much better, but I'm not sure barefoot running is something I should be doing when I still have a broken foot.  The sand felt great under my feet, and the wind coming from the ocean was a relief.

All in all, I got in four runs last week, and I think that is pretty good for a vacation.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I got in four runs on vacation.

Next week I'll be spending four days in Atlanta for the ISTE conference, and I'm thinking the runs will be just as hot and sweaty unless I choose the dread mill, in which case the runs will be frustrating and boring.

Also, I've joined a team from The Ohio Runner's Network (TORN) to run a five mile race on July 4th.   I usually don't do firecracker runs because it's so hot, but this sounds like fun.  I'll keep you updated.