Meeting at the McDonald's out Rt. 3 at 6:00, eight of us braved the unseasonable temperatures to get 18 to 20 miles under our belt. The run started out cold before proceeding to chilly. The sun wasn't even up yet to begin warming things. I had on my headlamp as much for lighting the ground in front of me as for letting drivers see us. We wound through the dark and quiet streets of a housing development on our way to pick up the Chippewa Trail. I could smell skunk remnants in a couple spots and hoped we would not surprise their producer. The streets were deserted and the trail appeared to be something out of a spooky movie: long and straight with trees lining both sides, disappearing in the distance into the early morning gloom. Even Rt. 162 was quiet. A nice time to run.
After a lap inside Buckeye Woods Park, with only the eyes of the ducks, geese, various other wildlife, and an old man and his dog to affirm our presence, we headed down the Chippewa Inlet Trail. There we saw a blue heron and some white cranes perhaps. East on Chippewa Road and back to the first trail to lead us back into Medina. Eventually we made it to the Square, where we made our turn back south. Here we broke into two groups. One heading straight back to McDonald's, and our group, taking the zig-zagging, rolling, hilly route back in. Funny, our two fastest mile splits were during two of the final three miles, which were the most uphill and windy miles of the run.
Final numbers: 20.2 miles in 3:05, averaging 9:11 per mile. Our fast splits were during mile 17 (8:47) and mile 18 (8:12). Maybe that will explain why we were so out of breath!
Right now my energy level is still trying to come back up. But I would like to wish the best of luck to Dan H. who is running a 100K today and to all those competing in Ironman Louisville to our south. Hope some of this more comfortable air is reaching them down there. But not the wind.
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