Silence. Cool running.

Let us first share in a moment of silence for the passing of Daylight Savings Time. Yesterday afternoon (Saturday) I stayed outside doing yard work just so I could be out there to savor the last vestiges of early evening sunshine. The clouds were kind enough to stay clear of the western sky and I bid adieu to the bright warmth of my days. Come spring, you'll hear me craving to leap forward and regain that late light. Ahhhhh.
Now what? Shall we fool ourselves with silver linings? My, it was light out when I ran this morning. Gosh, it's already dark but it's still early. I can blog longer. Whatever.
I did roll over in bed this morning when the clock said 455 knowing I had another hour to get up and get ready for today's training run. It was half-light and a cool 58 degrees when I stepped out into the driveway at 645.
I stashed a cooler with Gatorade behind a wall on the way to Park Avenue, planning to reunite with it around my 7th mile. Someone else had set their cooler behind the wall too, complete with three pumpkins and two ghouls to guard the coolers. It was cute. I surmised a full throttle party girl had the creative mind to decorate a water stop. I'd like to meet her.
I was three minutes late to arrive at Park Avenue. My group had already gone. So I headed out alone and just cruised. By the third mile I had caught the group which tells me they run too slowly. I reined back a little while to chat then moved out after another mile. Chris stayed with me and we were off on a long run. The others were going short.
We stopped and shared my Gatorade at mile seven, went another mile together then split up as I had an even longer run in mind today. The cool weather was invigorating and I felt like I could run forever. I did experience a little hot foot up under my right middle toes for awhile. I read somewhere it could be from shoes tied too tight but, if anything, they were loose today. No telling what it is about. It dissipated eventually although it has been chronic in my Asics.
I had an option to turn in and finish at 12 miles but went for another mile just so I could compare a training long run in my current condition with a half marathon race of a year ago. At 13 miles the watch read 2:00:03. My half PR a year ago - 2:02:17. So without even trying I would have PRed a half today (with that extra 0.1). Yup. The legs and running works are in peak condition and getting better. I like it.