Week 5 of 2,015 in 2015

I started the first week of March off with a great trail run with my Team RWB friends. As a group we ran 5 miles. We did the first portion together then a few of us fell back at a slower pace. Bryan led the group and I brought up the rear to make sure no one was left behind. Overall it was a very successful start to our new weekly trail group.

Bryan, Derrick, and I went back out and did the 5 mile loop a second time. 10 trail miles was a great way to get the week started! I really enjoy doing these trail runs. I do still need to look into a pair of decent trail shoes. I bought two pair of "trail" type shoes on clearance a little while ago; one pair has been working great for my bootcamp class and the other pair is going to be used for my sand runs. They don't provide enough support for me to use on my longer trail runs.
On Monday I headed out to Perdido Key to run the beach road. It was still overcast and a little cold, but a good run just the same. The beach road is on Johnson's Beach (a National Park) that runs down a narrow strip of land...

When you look to your left you see the sound and on the right you see the gulf.

Gulf Side

It goes about 2.1 miles before you hit the round-about and head back.

Round-about

Since it was still really foggy, I was quite surprised by the amount of people that were out running and walking on the beach road. I don't normally see many people, so it was a nice change. I also forgot my running hat that morning; this is why I make sure to wear one!

Wednesday's are a busy day for me. Since both kids are in school I run in the sand in the morning and then in the evenings I meet my Team RWB teammates for our weekly run. This Wednesday a teammate named Andy met me for a foggy, rainy, cold sand run. It was so foggy at the start that you could barely make out the lifeguard station and you couldn't even see the pier.

We did a total of 4 miles of walk/running followed by a half mile walk. It was slow going. The sand was loose and thick and we sunk a lot plus there was a steep drop so we ran a little lopsided. On the way back we ended up just running mostly in the water so we had some firm, flat ground.

Afterwards I rewarded myself with my normal Wednesday treat - Drowsy Poet! Of course the sun peeked out for a little bit while I enjoyed it...

Why yes that is a heart the Barista put in my coffee!!

For my Wednesday night run I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the 10k or the 5k. I was hoping to do the 10k, but I was going to wait until the 2 mile mark to decide for sure since I wasn't sure how my legs were going to feel after a morning of sand running. Well, they felt great, so I pushed on through with the 10k.
It was another run with a new running friend. Paul, a new member to the Team, joined me for the entire 10k. It was his first time running with the Team and people in general (he normally just uses the dreadmill), so he just kept pace with me the entire time...in reality he pushed me to my fastest 10k time EVER!

We finished the 10k in 1 hour. My fastest race 10k PR was 1:03. Just amazing! Paul was great company and made those miles go by pretty quickly; he is also a Navy veteran so we had plenty to talk about.
Another great week of running is now in the books!