After the Rain

Well, I was 3/4 done with this post, when blogger decided to go offline and deleted everything.
I just like that title, but this is more like after Andy Payne. My recovery was faster after this marathon than any before. As much as I'd like to think that that means my conditioning is better, it is more likely due to the fact that I walked a lot in A P, and since I had my granddaughter for 3 days, I walked a lot after the marathon.
On Wednesday, I ran a 7 mile tempo run at an 8:15 pace.
On Thursday, I ran trails at Draper. I ran both the Green and Yellow trails for a total of 7.5 miles. I ran Green and Yellow because I haven't quite figured out how to stay on the Green trail since it's been redone. But I like the improvements that have been made on the Draper trails, by the Oklahoma Earthbike Fellowship. Just a side note, please, if you run there, yield to the bikes. It just makes sense, and in my opinion it shows that we appreciate what their groups have done to maintain the trails. I do realize that running clubs have helped on this also.
On Saturday, the running club was planning to run a loop (13.5 miles) around Draper starting at 7. I wanted to run with them, but I also had to be 70 miles away by 11 for a meeting. So I decided that if I started a little early, I could do both. I started around 6:50, and my plan was to start slow, and let the speedsters catch me somewhere on the E side of the lake, and then try to keep up with them. On the S side of the lake a friend, DB, caught me while riding his bike. We talked for quite a while, and before I realized it, I had run about 4 miles at an 8-8:10 pace. Not what I had planned. DB moved on, and I slowed down. When I turned on to the N side of the lake, I then decided to try and beat the speedsters back to the start. DB had told me that they had started a little late waiting on people, so I knew I had a chance. I did finish before I ever saw any of them, and when I got back to my car I saw another friend, BL, there. He has recently had knee surgery, and he told me his running career was likely over. I was sorry to hear that, but he's in good spirits and said he can still bike, swim and otherwise workout as long as it isn't too weight bearing.
Sunday, I ran the Bluff Creek trails for about 7 miles with a friend who ran the Sunmart trail 50k with me. He is just getting back into trail running after life has thrown some curves at him. This guy has such a positive attitude about things, that it always does me good to run with him. We will both be running our next ultra (50k) at El Scorcho July 20th in Ft. Worth. All in all a good week.
Tonight, Monday, the running club is having an informal 2 mile walk/run. It is really to collect goods for a charity. I plan to be there, but will try to volunteer rather than run 2 miles.
Hasta luego