The Comeback Cometh

On Friday night I went to a wild work party downtown. From what I remember it was a good time. All the food at the party was quickly snatched up and I found myself too engaged in networking/catching up with old colleagues to eat. I finally grabbed a few greasy slices of pizza at an Italian restaurant, but it was late and I was tired. A few hours later I woke up with cockatiels flying all over my face. I crawled out of bed and made some joe then chugged some Gatorade. Soon I was bombing down Canal Road and in no time I was in Georgetown. It was a small group (Chuck and Marren) and the weather was cold and blustery. We ran a boring, but pleasant, out-and-back on the Towpath and covered a tick over 6 miles. I then added on a couple more while running past the waterfront for a total of 8. I spent the evening listening to Handel's Messiah, crashing a blind date and negotiating my way around a house party with a "cruise ship" theme. The evening ended eating a late dinner at a diner surrounded by drunks, rejects, lowlifes, addicts and high schoolers. It was time for some rest; on Sunday I was scheduled to run "long"...well, long for me.

On Sunday morning Wiggy, Predator and I met a dozen guys at The Line. My throat was burning and I knew I was battling some type of head cold. I bundled up a bit more than normal and prepared for my longest run since August or so. Jarrin was there. So was Bain. Max, MikeC, Luff Daddy, Karl and Scott all were all in attendance. Maybe 1 or 2 others too. We hit the trails first and kept the pace honest. Somewhere out there we met Murphy. I turned back after 40 minutes and then went after the Ross Drive hills. Bain, Max, Jarrin and Murphy all went back with me. My goal was to try and push the last 20 minutes of the run and see where my fitness was. Jarrin's GPS clocked some 5:50s and that was before Bain and I pulled away and cranked things a bit. Gool ol' Bain. I cooled down for a mile and called in 12. 56.5 miles for the week - 11 more than last week. A bit of a jump, I know, but sometimes all it takes is going a little too long on two days, and all of a sudden your over your desired mark.

I've decided to keep things going as it and will continue to uptick the weekly totals while keeping the pace chill (meaning no workouts). Next week, I'll aim for 14 mile long run or so.