Meet the group at the running store this morning for a long run. I started out with Lindsay and Melissa with the intention of repeating the same as my 13 miler with them a few weeks ago - Start out with the fast group and hang on. Today was much better once we got to the 3 mile mark. The first few miles were tough and I felt like I was having to work much harder than I should have been for the pace we had, but once I was warmed up the run started to click. I was feeling good but expecting water at the 6 mile mark and there was none, so I had to wait. Finally took the gel at 7.5 and started feeling better. Melissa was running with us off and on and at this point Lindsay was ready to kick it in gear, so my plan was to hang on.....didn't do too terribly bad, but knew that pushing too much would not be overly beneficial. Sticking to the mid 7's and cruising along. I knew once we left the trail I would be in trouble if I could see Lindsay, so there was added incentive. Of the last 3 miles, mile 12 & 13 are a pretty good gradual incline and I was able to stay on target, but very grateful for mile 14 which was downhill. I am very pleased with how this turned out and I felt much better than I did on the 13 miler. Splits: 8:40, 7:57, 7:58, 7:55, 7:59, 7:51, 7:47, 7:45, 7:34, 7:28, 7:49, 7:54, 7:54, 7:43, 7:28 Avg. 7:51
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