Double Cotton Row

The Fleet Feet of Huntsville sponsored training runs for Cotton Row began today, I think. While I'm talking about Fleet Feet, I'll go ahead and do a commercial. I don't work there or have any relationship with them except that I'm a satisfied customer. Those guys are great. Go there to buy your running gear. They know the sport and will take care of you. The customer experience at Fleet Feet in Huntsville is second to none. Also, they do more to support the local running community than any entity I can think of. I wouldn't think of buying running gear anywhere else. Great staff and GREAT owners.

There were two groups, one that met at 6:00 and one that met at 7:00. The 6:00 group is the faster group. I didn't get in the lead pack with Marty and Greg (those guys are just out of my league fast), but stayed in the second pack with Joey and a guy I met this morning, Jeff. We ran just about 7:22 average pace for the 6.2. With the second group, nobody ran my pace, so I took off and ran alone. Joey and Marty were coaching the next steps groups. Great work, guys.

On the second time around, I ran the first two miles much closer to 8:00 and I stopped and chatted with a fellow named Steve at the top of the Mountainwood hill. Then, I really tried to pour it on at the end. I didn't go race pace, but I wanted to finish the 12.4 miles very strong, and I ran those at about 6:45 each. Even with the slow miles and the stop, I ran the second loop in 46:43 for a 7:30 average pace. Then I finished up with a cool down mile and headed to the gym.

Yep, I went to the gym after 13+miles and played racquetball for the first time in at least 2 or 3 months. I forgot how much fun racquetball is. Surprisingly, I was able to compete. I really didn't expect to play well. However, during doubles, I heard the opposition talking to each other about keeping the ball away from me and hitting to my partner. :) I went 1-1 in singles, losing at 13 to one of the top 3 players at the gym. I played 7 games total. I love racquetball!