The sun was out!!!

However, last night I decided to go back to the Hansons Half-Marathon Method as my basic running plan. Which means that I am picking it back up where the speed work starts – I think that is about Week 6.

No, I am not planning on running in any Half Marathons, I just like the plan and it tends to keep me on track,  but most of all it gives me some guide rails to stay inside of. In other words, I don’t attempt to go speed crazy or too stoopid on this plan. I am in this running thing for the long haul and this plan seems to be about where I am now in my running life. 

Not super fast, but still able to put one step in front of the other fairly well.

Even though down-back is passable, people are still needing tow trucks to get all the way through if you don’t have a larger 4WD vehicle. As we saw when we took Bennie and Hunter on their walk down there this morning. She had a long wait for the wrecker to come to pull her out – they hate having to play in the mud.

Yep, she was stuck up to the frame. She chose the wrong line and I imagine that the bill was going to be pretty expensive. Mary said she saw her driving down the road about an hour later.

So I planned to go to Planet Fitness and run from there. I needed something at Dick’s and figured that I would get some weights and stretching done after running – outside of course.

While I was changing in the locker room, Mike one of the guys I have gotten to know a bit this winter, asked if I was running outside and said if he had a long sleeve shirt he would go with me. Well, guess what. I had an extra long sleeve shirt in my gym bag and offered it up.

We both chuckled and he did take the shirt.

I don’t get to run with people very often and I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to run with someone who is faster than me. Then he said it was too bad we would be leaving before Jon (another faster runner I talk to a lot at PF, who is coming off knee surgery) got there, because he would probably love to run with us. He texted Jon, who said he could be there in 10 minutes.

Of course, we waited.

I did my pre-run routine while we waited.

Mike and I agreed on doing about 4.0 miles and Jon planned on about 2.0 miles. It was actually fun to be running with other people. We talked and introduced ourselves. Mike and Jon have been running at lunchtime for a couple of years, so I told them a bit about myself and they gave me the scoop on who they were.

A lot of experience and varied backgrounds between the three of us.

The run was a nice one where I didn’t really pay attention to the pace and it seemed to ebb and flow naturally over the course of the run. I was paying more attention to what they were talking about than about how I was feeling.

Although that last hill, I think that Mike and I might have picked up the pace a little more than we expected.

Overall, a very enjoyable run and I hope it is the first of many. It did feel good to run with others, especially when I know they are faster than me. It might make me think about a couple things a bit more seriously, but mostly I think it is great for me to get out of my loner mentality and do a bit more with other people.

I am actually pretty social and enjoy being around people…well at least in small amounts. 😉

Oh, the reason I went to Dick’s I wanted to get a pair of Nathan Lock Laces for the Karhu Ikoni, since all the ones I had at home were too short. The stock laces are ones that I tend to have an issue with and can never get them a consistent snugness, so I usually do change the shoes that have those lace out for Lock Laces of some sort.

Once I put in the new laces, they felt fine and on the run, I didn’t think about them, other than how comfortable they were. Which is what I want from my shoes. Now I just need to trim those lace so I don’t have them looped around several times.

It was a pretty good day, I did a few of the outside projects that I could do with the 15-20 mph breeze and looking back, I did enjoy my run today more than I usually do, a very good thing.