Another weekend in Orlando

This past weekend I traveled down to Orlando again, a friend of mine was having a tough week so I wanted to spend some time with her.

It was actually a very full weekend, tears, laughter, drinking, and of course running. I did my long run on Saturday with my faithful Central Florida running friend, Tyler. We did a 90 minute out and back on the West Orange Trail, beginning at the Clarcona Horseman's Park. We ran about 10 1/2 miles at a 8:30 pace.

I didn't tell Tyler this but while I was running the last couple miles all these feelings of bitterness came up. It's interesting to me that when I'm struggling and in pain how I search out people to blame those feelings on. I'm just building the distance at which I ran keep my 8:30ish pace, so it still feels really difficult to maintain anything faster than that for longer than 6 miles. I'm confident in my training program, so I know that it will get somewhat easier as the weeks go on, but right now angry Kim emerges come the last few miles of a long run.

After we finished I was instantly grateful for Tyler's presence and with out a doubt knew that I would not have kept my pace up the last 20 minutes or so without him.

It's such an intriguing friendship to me. I find that, while at times I love my solo runs, that I crave that running time with Tyler. I love how he makes me want to work harder when I'm not around him so that when I'm with him I do better. This weekend's run was a stark contrast to the 1/2 marathon the weekend before. While it was still difficult I felt strong for 6 miles, and was definitely much more pleasant to be with! I guess the feelings Tyler brings up in me are similar to that coach-player relationship. Even if he wasn't a runner, I would still treasure our friendship, but with the athletic bond it deepens everything.

I'm still having a little tightness in my right quad/hip flexor, which has been nagging at me since the Relay, but ironically after Saturday's run it feels better. Yesterday I barely noticed it. Maybe my new neutral shoes are helping my legs to settle into a more natural form and rhythm when I run, versus the stability shoes I was sporting before. We shall see!