Ran with the gang today.

I went to run with the group early in the morning and found
E couldn't come because of PF.

I started with M and J and soon joined Jen and her 13-yr-old
son B. B and I ran in the front of the pack. He told me he
enjoyed running and I was impressed--at his age, I was the
next-to-last every time we ran in PE. (I was thankful that
someone heavier than me took that last spot. The
peer-pressure and shame drove me back to the classroom and
helped in my quest for #1 in academic exams.) I asked B about
his diet. He has a bagel or oatmeal for breakfast, makes himself
a sandwich for lunch, and mom prepares dinner.

At an 8:20 pace and over the next 3 hilly miles, B and I
traded positions with each other and the gap between us and
the herd grew. He was called back by mom after the toll
plaza. His plan today was 8 miles. It was great to run with him.

M told me the fake owl was put there to scare away the birds
so that the building gets less bird poo. I always thought it
was a great piece of art for tourist attraction! OK. I
under-estimated the utilitarian mindset. M was to run 20
miles today and I tried to tag along. Once we got onto the
paved trail on the levee, bugs swarmed the place and the
girls ducked behind me to get fewer on their faces. I didn't
mind as long as the tiny creatures stayed away from my eyes.
At mile 14, our pace was 7:56, the fastest in this run, and that
almost killed me. After parting with M, my last 2 miles were
slow, 9:58 and 9:10. The 9:58 mile must have been the one
where I climbed the last hill and stopped at the water fountain.

Overall 17.5 miles at 8:50. I put too much salt into the
half-bottle of water that I carried. I dehydrated as I
didn't get to a fountain for refill during the early part of
the run. ITBS didn't come and PF didn't bother much. I'm good.