Another week.  Another run.

And I gotta say – the more I do this the luckier I feel.  I’m guessing there will come a week here and there where I will just write something like “that was two hours I’ll never get back” – but right now?  I’m feeling a ton of lucky to be able to do this.

But enough about me – this race was all about…  YOU.  What I mean is – I ran this race with some friends and we all had very different goals in mind.

Jimmy was running to qualify for a smaller lottery pool in NYC.  He did.  He ran a ridiculous 1:29:16 and took first place in his age group.  Congrats Jimmy!

Kelly was running to get some miles on her feet.  “Just a 13.1 mile training run through the woods on a brisk November morning. No wind, no rain, no pressure and just enjoyed the morning.”  I ran the first 10 miles with Kelly enjoying conversation and the woods.  Fortunately she had her camera with her!

Could not stop looking at these icicles!

This windy river followed us most of the way.

Lara was running the Full!  So literally running a different race than the rest of us.  I haven’t hung out with Lara in forever so the ride up was a nice way to catch up!  Bonus:  If you carpool to this race you get parking perks.  The more people in your car, the closer you get to park.  Pretty sweet.

I was running to, you know, get my run in.  And also this was my first time running the NCR Trail half and I love a new experience.  Good or bad.  This was a good one.  Would run again.

The Run

It was another well organized, small race with plenty of support and no shortage of beautiful views.  A little chilly to start but overcast perfection after mile 1.

This race starts with a pretty righteous downhill – maybe .7 miles or so (I think) and then turns onto a very nice, mostly flat (or false flat) packed trail.  I can’t tell you what it’s made of… some rock, some dirt?  I dunno.  It was gray (mostly) and soft and the trees were tall.

The race is small – but the field or runners was FAST.  my 2:05 would normally put me squarely in the middle of the pack but I was way way down in my AG.  Not a big deal because I had a glorious run.

After 10 miles with Kelly and our LSD (long slow distance) pace, I felt really really good so I decided to pick up the pace from there to the end.  Just about that time my friend and old ES6 (endless summer 6 hour run) relay teammate Dave appears on the trail and ran with me for about a mile.  Man he got fast since we last ran together.  I wound up running a bit faster then planned but I figured why not?  There were only two miles left so I kept the pace up and finished strong feeling really really good.

The tenderness in my foot from the 50k two weeks ago continues to diminish and was not even there the day after the race.  That Advil (only the first few days) and rolling my foot on a frozen water bottle is really doing the trick. I continue to roll my foot because I figure it’s like when you take antibiotics – you take all the medicine usually long after you’re feeling good.  Just to make sure that whatever the issue is, is gone.

Next Week:  A run about town.  On my own (or with a friend or 10)