Rollback and Crank Up...

Alright, for clarification, I was not let go from my managerial position because I was a lame and incompetent worker. It seems that of the 220 Group Exercise Directors that were employed nationwide by my company, only 22 were retained and the others were released of their duties. I just feel sorry for the 22 that are left. They have to pick up the slack that the other 198 of us left upon our departure. One of the 22 who works in my city is freaking out with all the stuff they have to do and how they are not going to be able to get it all done. I'm glad I don't have that stress.

So, this weekend was a rollback week in my training and I only had to run 10 miles. My treat was that I was going to get to run with the super awesome Greyhound. Greyhound informed me that we would be meeting up with a running partner of his along our way. Saturday morning was perfect running weather in H-town. The temps were in the mid- 50's and the humidity was not that bad. I wore a "Shrug" over my running singlet to keep my arms warm until I got the heart rate up. I met Greyhound nice and early at Memorial Park and as soon as I got my Fuel Belt bottles topped of and said good morning to all my TNT buddies we were off. Secretly I was hoping that I would be able to hang the entire run with Greyhound and that I would not bonk out halfway or almost near the end of the run and he and his running buddy Teri would have to drop me like a bad habit.

The "Shrug" was great! It kind of fell off my shoulders so it let the cool air to my body, but it still kept my arms warm. Our pace was quick and we could do a little chatting here and there, but it was fun to be pushed a little and to see if I could meet the challenge. We were the first to arrive at water stop #1 and I left the "Shrug" in the back of one of the coaches cars and would get it later. We took off again into the dark and did our best to not hit any runners coming the other way on the trail. Again our pace was quick and I ventured a look at my watch to catch our pace when we ran under a street lamp. OMG! at the 6 mile mark we were around a 8 and a half pace still. I was feeling pretty good about that and also feeling like I needed to make a pit stop at the Double Tree Hotel when we entered downtown. Feeling constipated and plugged up? Forget the Ex-Lax, just go run! We ran to the Sabine St. bridge and water stop #2 where we were going to meet Teri. Greyhound had told me that Teri was around 25 and a pretty fast runner. She had also been asking who I was and was I worthy of running with them. Crap! I had to make sure that I would not flame out and prove to be lame.

We made our way into downtown and I stopped off at the Double Tree and ended up feeling 3 pounds lighter and ready to hit the fast pace again. I like running through downtown early in the morning. We ran past Main Street and turned around just past the new House of Blues that opened up this past weekend and started heading back. We were supposed to turn around at Main, but we went to the 5 mile mark according to Greyhound's Garmin. We saw other people from the group who had only 8 miles to do at the water stop at Sabine and my Home Chica Lauren asked what pace we were running. When I told her 8 and a half she said that we were way too fast for her. I stayed just behind Greyhound and Teri as they chatted and we dodged runners coming in the other direction. There seemed to be tons of them. I did not think that we had started out that early. I was hanging with them and that was all that mattered.

We got to the last water stop and I retrieved the "Shrug" and tied it around my waist. Teri pulled off her long sleeve top and tied it around her and we took off. Greyhound had mentioned something about picking up the pace and then he and Teri put the hurt on me. I was hanging, but it was hard. I was doing the best I could but i could feel myself slipping back a bit. I did not want to slow them down. I slipped back about 15 yards and could hold that. There was a local high school cross country meet getting ready to get started and all the little markers were out and the athletes were milling about in their lettermen's jackets. I wondered if they thought we were a bunch of slow old people or not. We hit an intersection and Greyhound and Teri had to stop for traffic. I was able to regroup with them. Thankfully, the pace would not be as fast for the last 2 miles. Again, I shadowed the two of them and I did not have to slip back. Greyhound and Teri stopped at the Starbucks to hit the water fountain and we took off again. Somehow I ended up in front. I hope I was not too slow. I guess the pace was decent because I did not hear them chatting and I looked back to see if they were there and I saw Greyhound over my left shoulder.

We made it back to the park and finished in a an hour and 40 minutes. Not bad since I had my Double Tree break and we made 5 quick water stops and waited a bit to pick up Teri. I was happy with the fact that I was able to hang! My heart rate was higher, but I needed that type of an intense run on a short roll back week. All in all, a successful run workout!

I will have more adventures from the weekend in a later post but it is bedtime for Bonzo.

Later Gators!

Liz