Shortened Long Run at American Tobacco Trail

Goal: 13 miles
Actual: 11 miles

After a weekend of fun with the Bullocks in Greenville and a couple days of running on my own, I was ready for some company on a run and opted to run with Addie Bracy at the American Tobacco Trail in Apex, NC. I woke up at 640am and got all my stuff, including my cat, packed into the car so that I could meet Addie and Aaron by 930am. Turns out that I completely overestimated how long the drive would take and arrived at the trail at 9am. Fortunately, Addie drove over as soon as she could so we could start a little bit earlier.

The conversation was great as Addie told me about her Chicago marathon experience and her running goals. We also exchanged stories about socially awkward runners. Addie trains completely on her own and, to me, that makes her that much more of a stud. She trains 99% on her own and pushes her mind to the limits every workout because she doesn't have any obligation to meet someone out there on the trail every day, so that means she must will herself out of pure dedication. Fortunately for me, willing myself out of bed in the early hours of the morning is a bit easier when I know that I'll be meeting a group of my five closest friends in Charlotte. I think that all of the runners in Charlotte who have a dedicated group to run with should not take this for granted. You are very lucky to have such great company on runs because not everyone has that luxury!

Enough preaching. Luckily the conversation helped the time go by pretty quickly, and, judging from how my legs felt at 11 miles, I think we dipped under 7 min pace for a couple of the last miles. They just felt tired and sore so I opted to veer off to the parking lot when Addie called it quits.

I had planned on running 13 miles to hit 50 miles for the week, but instead opted for 11 miles to top off at a whopping 48. I figure it's best now to be smart and take things easy instead of rushing my mind or body.