Running whilst socializing...

9.5 miles
1 hour 20
mid 80s 7pm



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Great evening to run. Ran with my good friend from high school, Brad, on the lakefront. Though I've largely avoided the people-watching exercise in self-consciousness of lakefront running thus far in my training, Brad convinced me to give it a try. Biggest benefits are guaranteed periodic water breaks, and almost no stops for cars. It's truly a pedestrian's dream.

We chatted the whole time, which is something I'm not used to, since I've run mostly solo since I was a kid. It was great to catch up with Brad, and the conversation made the miles go by pretty fast, but running and talking is considerably more challenging to the lungs than running and listening to the ipod in my mind. Also, Brad is a marathon machine. He's run one each of the last four or five years and does a regular pace almost a minute faster than mine. He is a machine. So I was a little macho trying to keep up the pace. I think the chatting caused the time to pass quickly enough, and the distance was just at the threshold of my comfort zone, so it wasn't as hard as I thought it might be.

We ran 4 miles from Montrose and Lakeshore to a spot he knew as a mile marker, then back. But my run began when I left home and ran around the park at Montrose Harbor trying to figure out where we'd agreed to meet. Then a real easy jog home made the full 9.5.

Conclusions:
1.) Lakefront running is not so bad. The lack of traffic stops, abundance of water stops, and the cool lake breeze made it a really straightforward run.
2.) Partner running isn't so bad either. It may take some of the focus off my stride when I'm starting to lose form, but then again, it also takes the focus off the pain. And conversation is a lot better than my minds ipod, which must be a crappy older version and always seems to get stuck on particular phrases of particularly awful songs for long stretches.
3.) Brad is a badass. Don't ever try to outrun him. You will be embarrassed. (I once saw him carry a keg of beer on his shoulder for 35 miles, running in the sand!***)



***At least part of that is a true story.