Testing ..9...10...11...12

This morning I'm up pre-dawn (6:30am, *yawn*) to test the waters for a longer run..10-13 miles. Normally I would be tapering and not running this much in the last week, but given my lack of training that's not a problem.

But, I do want to make sure that my leg is healed up enough that it's not going to leave me walking at mile 18 or some other ignominious end. 

Anyway, out the door....Thomas isn't the only one to see Orion up in the sky ...beautiful...but it means another summer is over, sigh. I jog to my stretching place and by the time I'm done the breaking dawn light has washed all the stars from the sky.

I set out at about a 9:30 pace, faster than I though I would, but it felt so darn good I couldn't resist. I felt fast and light, a nice change. Some chest muscles were still sore from all the coughing and hacking in the previous weeks, it felt good to stretch them out.

Took my loop around Palo Alto airport along the marshes and through BayLands with a crystal clear blue sky and water all around.

The sun peeped up over the east bay hills and kept me swiveling my visor as the path turned and twisted to keep the sun out of my eyes.

8 miles in, my calf muscle was still noticeable, but ok. I held my pace on the rough gravel and into a headwind and it felt "comfortably hard", I could tell my conditioning was down from my peak in July, but still felt pretty darn good.

There was a bit of wind, (rare for this hour) and it was neat to hear it in the pine trees near the duck pond. The usual suspects out for breakfast: geese, pelicans, sand pipers.

I finally turned toward home, ducked under rt 101 along the creek ( The Benjamin Lefkowitz bike underpass ) onto west bayshore and headed left, up Loma Verde. By now it was already about 72 degrees....going to be another warm day..

12 miles, 9:28min/mile, HR 126, cadence 84.

Good to go this weekend... WOOT!