Fun Running Weekend

This has been a fun filled running weekend for sure. Yesterday we raced the Chase Race 2 miler and it was awesome. The best part was not really my time but the team spirit that we have with our group. When one of our group members would win an award we would all yell and clap. Not many of the other running clubs had this going on. We ALWAYS have this with the Cabot Cruisers!

Here are some photos from yesterday:

This was the majority of the group that raced

Me, Curtis & Gary

Sunday:
This morning Annette and I met Bailey at the shop and then drove down to the River Trail to meet Gary and Curtis for a 15 mile run. Today we decided we were just going to have a fun run. No pressure, no worries about pace, just run, have fun and enjoy the day. Well, if you knew Gary and Curtis you would not think this is possible as they are very competitive and they love to run fast. They changed their plans today for us.

Here is the gang, Gary, Bailey, Annette and Curtis

We started at the dog park and headed toward the Big Dam Bridge. Just before crossing, we found out that Bailey had never been across the Big Dam Bridge. Of course we had to take photos! This is an awesome place to run and the views are spectacular.

Bailey - her first time to experience the Big Dam Bridge

After crossing the bridge we headed down the part of the trail that all marathoners hate. Mile 20-24 of the Little Rock Marathon. This part of the river trail can get a little boring but it still beats running the streets of Cabot. This was like a stroll in the park for super fast Gary and Curtis, but they hung with us the whole time. We were averaging about a 10:25 pace most of the time but we would take a walk break every couple miles just to get a drink. The weather was about 38 when we started running but it was warming up fast. I was starting to sweat.

As we ran into downtown Little Rock, we all started picking up the pace. Annette wanted to make a pit stop at the River Market and you would have thought we were running for a finish line. I looked down and checked my Garmin and we were running about a 9:15 pace.

Almost to the River Market

After making a brief stop at the River Market, we headed across the Main Street bridge back to North Little Rock so we could get back on the River Trail. I guess we stopped too long because once we hit the trail, I started feeling like I was slowing down. Annette and Gary too off. Must have been Annette's bathroom break. We let them go for a while and just before turning down the trail towards the skate park, Curtis took off after them. Bailey followed and I was behind. We ran pretty hard trying to catch them, they had to be running a 9 minute pace or faster because it too Curtis a little while to catch up to them. I eventually caught up.

Annette, Gary and Bailey posing downtown

When we were almost to the boat ramp area we noticed a trailer set up that was doing demo's for Specialized Bikes. For some reason, something was said and Bailey took off in a sprint with me and the guys trying to catch her. She is very fast! We stopped at the demo for a few so Gary could look at a new Tri Bike. Gary is training for Ironman Louisville so he is in the market for an expensive tri bike.

After heading back towards the dog park, I think Annette talked Gary and Bailey into racing it in the last mile. They took off and disappeared in no time. We found Bailey's water belt up ahead and grabbed it to take back to her. After we finished Gary was telling about the FEAR he had when he heard the velcro on Bailey's water belt come loose. He knew the race was on then! I don't know who won but I know they were running super fast. 5-6 minute per mile pace. They were having fun though and thats what it was all about today.

We all had fun, got our 15 miler done and enjoyed a beautiful day. On top of that the stories and conversation along the way are priceless. The really strange part for me is this 15 miler was almost faster than the ones I did training for the Tulsa Marathon when I was trying to maintain a certain pace. This was a fun day and it was nice to just be back at no pressure running and enjoying being outside.

Me, Annette, Curtis, Gary and Bailey after 15 miles of fun

Afterwards we went back to the bike demos and watched Gary test drive an $8000 tri bike. He said it was super fast. Then we all took off for a recovery drink at Starbucks. Chocolate milk was the order for the day with most getting coffee too. No sweets so we were all good. I know Curtis and I were sure looking hard at the Hardees across the street but Gary said NO..lol. I had grapes for lunch when we got home and by 6pm was ready to eat a cow. We opted for some pasta with shrimp in it. I burnt 1988 calories on the run today so I was still short of this by a long shot which is good.

Here were my stats from todays stroll in the park run, actually not bad:
Total miles - 15.0
Average pace - 11:32
Time - 2:53:03
1-10:33
2-10:16
3-12:23
4-10:56
5-10:26
6-12:15
7-10:35
8-11:56
9-12:21
10-10:31
11-13:46
12-11:51
13-11:02
14-11:42
15-12:42