Good day today. I met the entire Goat Trail Crew at Joe's house at 8am. We decided to drive down to Murrell Park and run the round trip to Rockledge. This usually comes in at close to 9 miles. The trail on the east end is less technical and close to the lake so we usually get a nice breeze off the water. As a secret goal, I was at 88.6 miles for the month of May. It would have been nice to go over the 100 mile mark for the month. I have never had a 100 mile month. The air was fairly stale and humid in the trees. I stayed on the gel every 30 minutes and took two shark salts at the turnaround. We found a water fountain and refilled water bottles. It was nice to splash water on my head to cool down a little bit before we headed back. I felt better during the last half of the run. The first half was a little rough. The mountain bikes were a constant pain in the ass on the way back. When you get 6 or 7 miles in, coming to a complete stop and letting them pass every few minutes is a real buzz kill on the legs. There just isn't a way to get into a good rhythm. Close to the end, I let everyone know about my secret goal. We had to decide between going west for a few miles and then return or run back to Joe's house on the road. Fred volunteered to drive Joe's truck back to his house so we were going to pick up the last three miles on the road. From the lake to Joe's house is basically an uphill climb the whole way. Matrix was determined to pull me through this and to do it fast. We ran the first few steeper grade hills fast and finished the first mile in 9:02. I didn't think I had much left in me to go faster but Rich kept barking at me so I went faster to see what I had in the tank. We really got into a very good groove at this point. Rich told me we would have to go all the way to Flower Mound Road to get the full three miles in. I wasn't happy about that because it's uphill all the way. The good news would be the down hill from the corner back to Joe's house. Second mile was 8:16. All right, not bad. The down hill was coming and we kept digging. On the way downhill towards the turn to Joe's house, Rich had the bright idea of going straight and coming down a trail because we were going to be a little short. I told him no way. We would just keep going down Native Oak until the third mile was complete. I didn't want any more up hill climbs. I think we had about three tenths to go once we reached Joe's house so we just kept going. The last mile was 7:49, a very respectable last three miles after a nine mile trail run. I felt really good about the run. Thanks to my boys for getting to my goal for the month.
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