Saturday Seven

Saturday morning I met the local Lululemon group and some runner friends from the group for a long run. My goal was to just run the number of miles the group decided on (7) at a slower than normal pace for me since this would be my longest run during my injury recovery. My husband was only planning on 2-3 miles since he was racing a local 8k later that night. None of the regular runners I actually run with were running so I was going to stay back with a couple of other friends. I tried my best to stick to my plan but ended up going a bit faster than the girls, oops.
I was really just excited to be able to run long since it had been a while. Before my injury even 7 miles wasn't that long but now I'm having to add my mileage back up, slowly.

We ran along a route that I did one of my very first group runs with Terri and Melissa. It's a hillier run but one that I forget is hilly until I am actually running it. I probably should have steered clear of hills so soon but it was still a decent run. I won't bore you with splits this time around. I finished my 7 miler in 1:11 (10 mm pace). I took walk breaks when my hip said I needed to and I ran fast downhill since that felt good. I ranged anywhere from 7:30 pace to 14 (walking) and I was fine that my splits weren't negatives.

After the run my husband and I chatted with a couple of other friends before heading to Market Square for breakfast and the Farmer's Market. This is my favorite part of Saturday! Here are some of the things we did after the run.

[caption id="attachment_1425" align="aligncenter" width="225"] This is what I call post run resting. [/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1426" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Post run unhealthy frozen coffee drink made by "Lance," skim milk please! [/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1427" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Cowgirl hats go well with running clothes, huh!? [/caption]

We had a great time enjoying the morning together post run. We did a little more shopping and had planned to be home in time for naps before the evening race my hubby was running and that I was volunteering for, but you know how the best laid plans go. I'm proud of my husband and all my running buddies for braving the heat for the 8k Saturday evening. I enjoyed working the best water stop in 8k history and cheering everyone on. Of course the after race "party" was fun too!

Again, I am glad that I was able to log some miles and meeting another group to run with occasionally was nice too!