Last night I was feeling a bit wiped out and had some worry about this mornings run. I wanted to start it out early to beat the heat (although actually just beating the sunshine since the temp stays about the same for a while, about 77° from start to finish today). I woke up about 4:50, got ready, then got onto my bike and rode it over to David's house (about 2.5 miles away). He said I could leave my bike on his porch and would take a bag of stuff (dry shirt, towel, etc) up to Starkey for me (thanks David!). I got there at 5:30 and got going pretty quickly. I had the light on my hat (well, actually Jenny's hat, I had to promise I would buy my own hat today). I had been hoping the easy bike ride would get me fully warmed up but I still had a fairly slow start. I was moving better after about three miles (8:15ish pace). I ran into the parking lot in Starkey where people meet, hoping to run into someone who was leaving to go out for a run at the same time but I either just missed them or some were not yet ready to go. Stopped for a little bit at what is usually the 4 mile stop (almost 10 today). I went out to the Suncoast trail and turned left, went north for about a mile then turned around. At that point my right hip area was getting a little bit achey, nothing terrible but I decided I should stop briefly and stretch which helped out a lot. Once I was back in the park I was feeling better and was finally feeling like this run would actually have an ending. After going by the the stop which is 4 miles from the end, I began to feel better and was able to progressively pick up the pace with last two miles at 6:50 pace. Even though I didn't really get to run with anyone I did see lots of familiar faces out on the trail and said hi to lots of friends, so that's the next best thing to actually doing the run with someone else. Average pace: 7:47
Snacked and rehydrated at the social hour - had watermelon, donut holes, chocolate milk, and delicious Brazilian coffee compliments of Regina. Caught a ride with Bob back to David's house to get my bike then rode back home from there. Another good 20 miler checked off!
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