spring is in the air

i do confess, it's making me a little loco. or at least more than my usual.

8:00 am saturday, rand picked up me and the rookie on the usual corner (it is such a lifesaver having a ride) and off to the park we went. it was perfect out - a little chilly, but you could tell that spring was a'creeping up.

we learned that we were actually a little ahead of what was on the schedule, and so we were supposed to run one mile more than last week. this would have been 9 for me, but i was feeling a little "eh" from some bad dinner choices the night before (pepperoni pizza, chicken wings, cheese fries & beer - while i really need to buy that marathon nutrition book, i'm fairly certain none of these items would be allowed) so was opting for 8. the rookie was feeling ambitious and doesn't like to run alone so we decided on 2 middle loops for 4-miles.

even though i've got the distance on him, the rookie runs faster than me. i'm not sure he *should* be faster than me or not, as i am a slow-poke and he is a beginner. i get very conscious about my pace, alternatively wanting to push a bit more and keep the company, but also knowing that i have to keep my own pace. one thing i've learned (and continue to learn, if you read about last saturday's run) is that you do have to run you're own run, and saturday's aren't about speed.

the first loop was easy, as it always is - i told the rookie he could leave me if i was too slow at any point. i learned my lesson from last week and insisted on a water break in the middle. cat hill part two was icky, but it always is, and i had visions of wednesday's practice to make me realize it wasn't *so* bad. after the hill, the rookie started getting all speed demony, so i told him he could go ahead if he wanted, but he ended up hanging around. once we hit 102, i was pretty happy there was only 2 more miles.

the last two, we both perked up a bit, exchanged hospital stories (him: concusion and before i knew it, we were only had about a 1/2 mile to go. almost done. i did feel a little guilty for *only* doing eight, but i felt good afterwards. we caught a ride back down town, and so ends another gts.

saturday's mileage: 8.0
season mileage to date: 49.3