8 miles

No...it's not the Eminem movie, it's what I ran on this beautiful Pacific Northwest morning.  It must have been one of those "calm after the storm" days because the sun was out and shining away this morning!  I woke up at 7:30am and decided I wanted to do an early run today.

I had planned on doing a 7 mile run originally but I had challenged my friend Rory Pitts to add a mile to his distance today so I knew I had to do the same.  I dressed up in my odd Washington wear: long sleeved tech shirt, capris, sunglasses and gloves and hit the road! 

I decided to go for a hilly route today.  I left my Quadrant neighborhood for the other Quadrant neighborhood down the street.  Usually when I do these two neighborhoods together it's exactly a 5k.  As I was coming up the long hill in the other neighborhood, I saw two fellow runners getting ready to hit the road.  I tried to pick up my pace...because I'm competitive like that ;)

McCormick Woods was just lovely today!  A slight breeze, the sun to my left corner of my sunglasses, the birds were chirping away, and several squirrels were out playing too.  A couple of miles into my route I finally met some other people on the road.  There were several walkers out this morning!  Finally at the end of the Woods, I saw two other women out running and chatting away.  Grrr...I really need a running partner!

When I got to Dunraven, I stopped for a minute and stretched in the sunshine.  Please Mother Nature, if you are reading this, I really loved the sunshine today...I'd love to have as much of it as possible!  Pretty please with sugar on top!!!  On my way back out of the Woods, I chose to go the hilly route.   A little less distance but with bigger rolling hills.  As I came back out onto the main McCormick Drive, I heard the familiar chattering of the two women runners again.  I have to admit, they pushed me to pick up my pace!

Heading towards home I also saw the first set of runners and waved hello again as I charged up the final hill.  Into Quadrant, I felt quite a pull in my right knee.  Unfortunately, it's my bad knee and it's been stiff all week.  I pushed through the final 1/2 mile of my run but the pain was getting worse with each step. 

I made it home and was able to stretch.  I haven't had any pain since my run so hopefully it was just a one time event!  I managed to keep a 9'30"/mile pace for the 8 miles.  I think I could have shaved off a few more seconds if it had not been for the sore knee in the end.  Overall, another successful run!

On a side note, my friend Rory matched my 8 miles this morning for his longest run ever!  I am very proud of how far he has come.  Way to go my friend!!!