Speedy Gonzales

So, it turns out that I can run a little faster than I actually have been. *gasp!* I dont know why I always thought that I HAD to be so slow, but thanks to my handy dandy Garmin (which is about the best thing ever invented, by the way), I've discovered that I can in fact run faster than 11:30-12:00 min miles.

Saturday our run was up at Cliff Drive. Which I LOVE because it is such a pretty run, but, those of you in KC know it's not exactly the best area. We're talking, a mile away from Independence Ave where all the hookers hang out, it's been a dumping ground for dead bodies, that kind of thing. And Cliff Drive itself is pretty isolated, in fact, they gate it off on the weekends to keep cars out of there. So it was nice to be able to run without worrying about traffic. But I definitely wouldn't want to run here by myself.

Anyway, Saturday I had volunteered to be pace group leader (PGL) for the 11:40 group since Kristi was out of town. Every session, the Cliff Drive run is not very well attended, so we ended up with only about 6 people in our group. Our course was a 5 mile loop instead of the usual out-and-back set up, I assume for safety reasons. Everyone else in the group was only doing 5, and I had 10 scheduled (well, 12, but decided to make it 10 for simplicity's sake). So I stuck with my normal group for the first 5, and honestly, I felt like I was crawling. Something about being able to actually SEE what pace I was running made it feel really slow. I wanted to go faster, but since I was PGL, I tried to keep on pace.

After we finished the first loop, I was able to hook up with the 11:20 pace group for my second loop. Now, the 11:20 PGL is known for going faster than 11:20. But I didn't realize exactly HOW much faster. Pretty much ever time I looked at my watch, we were under 10:30. And half the time, we were under 10:00. So, for me, that is a little quick. But you know what? I felt just fine. In fact, it felt downright COMFORTABLE to be running at that pace. Did I mention that pretty much the entire run was uphill? The first mile was flat, then there was a really sharp downhill before we got on Cliff Drive which was completely uphill for the 3 or so miles we were on it. But I still felt good going faster than what I'm used to.

So, that is pretty exciting! I did 2 last night and finished with an overall pace of 10:46, which included walking up part of this hill by my house and then having to wait for a bunch of cars before I could cross the street. So, I actually RAN faster than that. I feel like I for sure can break 5 hours in a marathon this year, and I know I can blow my half mary PR out of the water too. I think I'm going to do the Olathe Half next month just to see how I do.

And this is off topic, but for those of you that have seen the new Friday the 13th, how is it EVEN appropriate to take a 10 year old kid to that!? Dan and I went to see it Sunday night, and there was some woman there with her son, he couldnt have been over 10. All good classic horror flicks follow the same formula; sex, drugs, and gore. And this had PLENTY of all 3. I'd even venture to say that it had more than any of the earlier versions. It's not the 80's any more, films have gotten raunchier. Maybe I am just getting old, but there is no way in hell I would take a 10 year old kid to see that! Oh, AND she didnt even make him sit with her. The theater was pretty empty, and she let him about 4 rows behind her. Which meant that he could (and did) get up and move around during the movie without her seeing him. And then she didnt bother to make sure he picked up his trash after the movie, and he left a half full bag of popcorn spilled out on the floor. Parenting at it's finest.