R Jay and I met at the Oklahoma River downtown to get a semi-long run in for our training as we prepare for the Okc marathon in April (only 3 months away!).  Rendon was going to join us but he had another obligation with the young men in his ward.  Plus, he is nursing a sore ankle and trying to let it heal so it probably worked out that he didn't put mileage on it this week. 

The weather was pretty good for January.  It was cloudy and about 30 degrees or so with a light wind from the east.  As I drove to downtown on I-40 I can see the river since the interstate runs parallel to it and I noticed several runners on the paths by the river.  This is unusual so I supposed there was some type of running event taking place.  As it turns out, the OKC running club was having a training run in preparation for the marathon, as well.  They started at 7 am so they were already out in full force.  R Jay and I were meeting at 8 am.  No problem though.  The more the merrier and I kinda like it when there are other runners out there.  It's inspiring to see the many different types of runner you encounter.  There are old, young, big, small, black, white, fast and slow.  Gives me hope that not all Oklahomans will die from eating too much fried food. 

Just as R Jay and I were starting out a lady stopped us and asked if she could join us on our run.  It turns out R Jay knows her from Facebook, I believe.  She was uber nice and we just talked to her while we ran the first two miles.  She's probably in her late 40s or early 50s and she has run 3 marathons so far, all of which have been in the last 2 or 3 yrs.  So it is possible to complete this quest!  After two miles she peeled off to talk to some people at a water stand that she knew.  I think she's pretty active in the Runner's Club because there were a lot of people who were waving and shouting out "hellos" to her.  I really enjoyed talking to her. 

We ran slower for those first two miles (about 9:30 pace) but picked it up after that.  We probably averaged closer to 8:30 for the rest of our run other than stopping for a bathroom break or two.  We ran 10 miles altogether so it was a good training run.  We're supposed to run in the second leg of the Frozen Nose series this Saturday (Feb 2) in the event knows as the Groundhog Race.  It's out at Lake Overholser and is an 8k.