Location - Conroe, TX
Distance - approx 9.5 (had Garmin woes again)
Temp - 74
Avg HR - 151
Pace - 12:43

Went up to Conroe for some hill work.  I was late getting to Memorial, so I headed on up to Conroe.  I made it to the meeting spot at the church parking lot, but didn't see any cars…..worried that I was in the wrong place, I drove further up the road but found no other church. I turned around and the others were arriving just as I pulled back in.  Turns out Matt and Bill (?) had waited for me back at Memorial (sorry!!!).  

Barb and I decided to start before the others.  But before we left, Steeeve gave a warning about the route - "there's no shoulder, and you'll probably get yelled at by angry fishermen."  Ok, I thought, this is going to be interesting. 

So, when Barb said there were some big hills in Conroe, she wasn't kidding.  The first two hills were a little intimidating - they were so high, cars would appear on one peak, then disappear for a minute until they reappeared on the next peak.  Definitely not the hills we have in the city. 

But, I actually didn't mind the hills as much as the drivers.  Steeve was right about the lack of any shoulder to run on - it was either the road, or bumpy grass.  And while we didn't encounter any angry fishermen, we did dodge a number of pickup trucks speeding past us.  The scariest parts were the tops of the hills - I kept worrying a truck would come flying over top, giving us miliseconds to scramble off the road.  

The group of fast runners veered off to do more hills (showoffs :P), and Barb and I turned off into a neighborhood with pricey-looking homes.  The neighborhood was built on a slope, so although we didn't encounter any more steepish hills, it was still an effort.   The neighborhood was peaceful and quiet - at one point, we saw a mother deer with three babies crossing the road.  Later on, Carrie spotted another deer munching on grass in someone's yard.  Made for a nice run. 

After we finished the run, my legs felt great.  No pain in the achilles.  I figured it was the worn out shoes after all.  Too bad it wouldn't last, though.  

Afterwards, we went to Ryan's for breakfast buffet.  I ended up missing the exit on the way there.  Great.