Sixteen by Six Feet

I was reading my latest copy of Runner's World this morning when I came across an ad for Road ID. You know the one's I'm talking about--"Warning. Driver cut himself shaving, 500 feet" or "Warning. Teenage Driver Ahead making out with girl friend while texting with his toes." It made me think of yesterday's long run, where a car passed by and I got a lung full of second-hand reefer. "Warning: Stoned Driver Ahead. Run for Cover."

Fortunately, I wasn't in any danger; maybe only the passengers were stoned. I was running down Hwy. 1 yesterday which is the gateway to Big Sur, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. M.A. ran with me while Bunny was running up ahead of us--she has a coach now and he wanted her heartrate to stay in 135 bpm. That was too fast for me, especially since I was running 16 miles. I needed to keep something in reserve so that I could make it that far. I haven't run 16 miles in a month, and that's the farthest I've run since the Seattle marathon.

At first I was going to try to run 18 miles, but reconsidered when my running group decided to move next week's 20 miler back a week. I'll go for 18 next week and then 20 the following week. I don't want to risk injury.

There's a heat wave going on right now in the North County, so we three headed to the beach early in the morning. Cambria was under fog which made the temperature a litle cool when we started running at 7:45. It didn't last long and we headed north up to San Simeon. I like this route for a few reasons: there is a town along the way so we can use the bathroom and refill our water bottles; there's another bathroom at the State Park where we turn around; the shoulders are wide, so cars don't get too close; and the road is reasonably flat. Plus the scenery is drop-dead gorgeous.

So the run was challenging, but not impossible. We stayed hydrated and Gu'd and ran strong to the end. I might have been able to run a little farther, but was happy to stop when we did. We stopped for coffee in town and then I went home and took a nap.

I've logged 32 miles so far this week. Tomorrow I run 4 miles then have a race on Sunday. I haven't signed up yet, cuz I can't decide whether to run the 1 mile, 5K, or 10K. My friends are running the 5K, but since it's a regular training day for me, I'm thinking I should run the 10K and call it a speed workout. The one mile appeals to me, but I'm a little shy to do it because I'm thinking it will be full of high school and college track stars. M.A. and I were talking about the race with the owner of our gym and he asked me what I would run the mile in--"Around 5 minutes?" Sheesh! I looked at him and said, "Just under 4." It took him a moment to get it.

I took a hot bath this morning and my muscles don't ache anymore. I also got a pedicure and my feet really liked that. The color I chose was "Orange You Glad It's Summer." It may be the second day of autumn, but with the temperature in the triple digits, it feels like summer to me. And I'm glad.