This weekend’s 10-mile training walk was moved from Saturday to Sunday. Though Deb did 8 miles Saturday, she agreed to do 10 more with me on Sunday at Sharon Woods! Now that is a good training partner! (And part of the reason we do so many races together.)

It was humid and the air felt thick, but it was not as hot as it has been for the past few weeks. It was overcast and we thought that it might rain.

We started out at our goal pace of 14:30-mile and tried to maintain that the entire time. The pace was easy for us to maintain and we did a good job of it until the last mile or so. (On long slow days, we have no problem going slow.)

Less than a mile from our starting point, we saw a flock of wild turkeys! Unfortunately, I did not have a camera with me. There were 10 turkeys and it looked as if four of them were adults — I think two were adult Toms. I had never seen turkeys at this park before — in fact I have never seen wild turkeys before — but Deb saw the flock on the other end of the park at least once prior to this. (For the record, each time we saw the turkeys, we slowed a little bit.)

After about 7-miles Deb ended up with a stitch in her side, and we slowed a little. We were not out to beat a speed record, and besides, she walked 8 miles the day before, so I had no problem slowing until the pain subsided.

Toward the end of our last lap at Sharon Woods, we had to decide which direction we would go to complete the last 2 miles — toward the hills or toward the flat section we just finished. (Sharon Woods has a 3.8-mile loop.) Because we are preparing for Parkersburg, we decided to head toward the hills. In this direction, you go down a fairly steep hill, then at the 1-mile mark, you turn around and go back up that same steep hill. We felt great climbing back up! It was not nearly as difficult as these same hills earlier in the workout!

It didn’t rain, but in those last two miles the sun came out. Though that would normally be a good thing, this day it just made the air thicker, muggier and the temps hotter. Thank goodness we were nearly done.

It was a good walk at a good pace! It was nice cutting back to “only” 10 miles. Next weekend we cut back to just 8. I am feeling very ready for Parkersburg!

(322)