Care for a swim anyone?

Six of us met at Pawlings Road tonight for a trip around the Audobon Loop. My first thought was this is going to be a slooooooooooowwwwwwwwww 4 miles. Maggi was very enthuisastic with a wish to do consistent 8 and 1 intervals. But she forgot her watch. Helen had the watch but was skeptical about being able to maintain 8 and 1. I suggested we try it; start out slow and we could always change the interval if it was too much. So off we went. Maggie, Helen, Sherry, Julius & Me. And Brian walked;  broken toe and all.

The first 8 minutes was ok. At least we all managed to run the entire 8 minutes although I know I was ready for the walk portion. A minute later we were running again. I was just about to say are we there yet when Maggi asked what time it was. Helen informed us we had only gotten to 3 and 1/2 minutes. We all started walking. So much for 8 and 1.

Before I finish this story you have to know it was very very very humid tonight. It was about 83 when we started at 6:30 or so and the humidity had to be 70% or more. Within a few steps of starting out I was sweating ... a lot!

So we decided to change the interval to 4 and 1. I think we managed that twice before we came to the BIG hill on the loop. And we were heading UP. I like going up that hill rather than down but I was not going to run it tonight. So Helen, Maggi and I walked and Julius and Sherry ran. The two of them walked back down to meet us after (Show offs). At the top of the hill Maggi, Helen and I decided we were not running anymore so Sherry and Julius went off at their own  pace and we walked the rest of the way.

We had a very nice conversation that included things like; families, nicknames, raw milk, cage free eggs, rails to trails and other stuff. And the best thing was we were out there doing something. Without the group I likely would have gone home and not done anything tonight. We were lapped by one biker at least three times and Brian passed us as well.

As we approached the farm on Pawlings Road, Sherry, Julius and Brian were walking back to meet us. Again SHOW OFFS! LOL We walked back to our cars, drank water, stretched a bit and went on our way.

I love group running (and walking).