Runner's High

Having such great weekends makes it really tough to return to work on Mondays, but I'll take it over the alternative. Saturday was a planned group ride out and back to Tannehill State Park. Prior to heading out the weather was fairly mild which made me reconsider taking extra layers and some knee warmers. Thankfully, "better safe than sorry" kept rolling through my head, and I brought the extra gear for as soon as we rolled out a nice little front moved in and dropped the temps and brought in some mist. I was shocked to see how the temps could drop over the course of the ride.
In the group were three girls, and honestly I would ride with these three girls any day for any type of training ride. They were in great shape and could pull their share of the load. It was great to see. The tempo stayed hot throughout the ride and we cruised into the parking lot covering the 56 mile loop with just over a 20 mph avg. Not bad for a ride that included some slow sections through town. This was definitely the hardest ride I'd been on since my IM and my legs totally felt it.
Sunday was the long run. I decided the run the Mercedes course downtown again to see if I could drop my time again. The plan was to run 7:50's until mile 8 and then drop the hammer. Mile 8 marks the high point of the 13.1 course so the remaining 5.1 miles are mentally and physically a snap. This plan worked really well as I was feeling fresh and ready to go when the 8th mile came. By mile 11, my spirits were soaring as I looked to see the pace hovering around 7:05. I was definitely experiencing the runner's high. I wrapped up the run at a 7:36 pace. It was a good run for me and one that I can build on.
One thing to note, I tried dissolving a power gel in water and keeping it on my fuel belt rather than having to suck on a packet mid-run. This seemed to work really well although the solution tasted a bit sweet. Will have to work on the gel to water ratio.
Next week's goal will be to run the first 8 miles at a 7:36 pace and drop the hammer from there. We'll see how it goes. You gotta have goals right?