August 21st, 2010

18 miles with Tom, Justin and one Hamster (the awesome Mr. Chris Hamel, a great runner and righteous dude.)
We went north and hit the Wellfleet hills for a bit. The warmup was nice and easy and was @ 6:50 to 7:02 pace for the first 5 miles before we dipped into something quicker.
The first hill had me a bit concerned as we approached it, but I motored up it with no twinge or twitch, just a good deal of strength.
The only time I noticed any issue was the big downhills, where I felt the hammy bark ever so slightly. But really otherwise, the fitness was there, the strength was. I mean, it still felt like I ran 20 when it was 18, but mile 17 was a 5:35 and we really accelerated through the last 1/2 of it and were likely dipping into the 5:10 range by the end.
Great run with great company on a beautiful day and it gave me a lot of confidence that I can get back to some real training (with speedwork this time. Who knew it was so important for simply maintaining one's ability to withstand the g-force?)