The Casey Special...

A-train and I went on a run around the Venice golf course today. It was going to be the standard 3 miler that I directed my friend to when she was visiting LA, with the addition of an offshoot up a very steep hill about a mile in, that Casey liked to add on. I was not looking forward to that part. I had declined to tell my friend to add it to the otherwise flat course because:

A. She was unfamiliar with the neighborhood and I couldn't think of how to describe the route accurately enough for her to follow.

B. I didn't want her to hate me when she got back.

ARA ran the course the opposite way than Casey and I used to, opting for counterclockwise ("My House, my run!"), and the hill he took me on was a much longer, gentler out and back at the top of the course, rather than the short, steep, off the side one. I mentioned that I was expecting the other hill, to which he replied simply, "Yeah, that hill's silly."

Damn straight.

It was a 2-fer for us, having done about 20 on the bike this morning, and I was mildly uncomfortable the whole time, and approaching serious distress when we kicked down the pace in the last mile or so. It was nice, though, to run with someone who's been considerably more regular about it than me for the past 5 odd years, and probably has a better sense of pace. Unless Easy-A was seriously sandbagging, I think I'm still able to keep up.

We ended the run at the park just past his house, which means running all the way back to the starting point and stopping there to walk the block to the grass. This is a practice I usually avoid, preferring to declare the block or so before the start point as "sacred ground" not to be run on when returning. It's silly, but it always unnerves me to run all that way back. You can't mess with 5 years of daily habitual conditioning.

We did some striders in the park-- the first speed I've tried in over 2 years. I felt heavy, be it from the extra pounds, or just from feeling a little bloated after sucking so much wind, but the speed felt good, and my knees feel fine.

I did some other things today, but it was sunny, and relaxed and those are the best parts. A good Sunday.