Five of us cheerfully set out to run 20k on Sunday morning. There was John, Laura, a South African and a cheery Albertan (Don’t recall the latter two’s names). I was glad to have the company. Also glad the group was small.
I took my place beside Laura, few steps behind the three guys. I met Laura casually last year when I was leading the LTR group. Never had the chance to talk until this morning. We had lots of time to get to know one another. Long runs are like that.
I went into this morning’s run with a “get it done” attitude. As it is my LSD run, I was slightly worried that the group would be too fast for me. Fortunately Laura and I were running at the same pace so we trotted on.
We ran near my place so it wasn’t unfamiliar territory. It was such a lovely morning for a run. Slightly windy but very favorable for a long run. I took several gels – maybe 4? They did the trick. My legs felt slightly heavy around the 16k mark but I think it was all the hills. Gosh the hills were challenging. I can see a lot of hill work in the coming weeks.
In the end we clocked about 21 kms – a half-marathon distance. I barely glanced at my Garmin. I just kept on and chatted away with Laura. We did lose the guys once when we stopped to pee. Overall we stayed together and enjoyed post-run coffee. It’s been one of the most enjoyable runs that I have had in a long while.