(click here for full route map) 

Location:  Memorial Park –> Allen Parkway catacombs –> Sabine Bridge
Distance: 8.34 mi
Time: 1:31
Avg Pace: 10:56
Avg HR: 164
Temp: 75, humidity 54% (yay!) 

Tonight's run was one of my best this year, thanks to the cold front that came in this afternoon.  The temperature was a cool [x], with such little Houston humidity, you could *almost* feel some fall crispness.  The park was busy and crowded with people training for various fall races or just taking advantage of the cool weather.  

A little after 7pm, our group of about 10? Striders headed out.  Most were doing the 6-mile Jackson Hill route.  Chip and Matt were doing 8 miles to Sabine, so Maureen and I decided to tackle it too.  Thanks to the weather, I had a good start, keeping the pace around 10:00 (pretty good for me).   We crossed the bridge over Memorial and after a quick water stop, headed towards Sabine.  I turned on my trusty hat-lamp-thingy and took a deep breath before as we crossed under the disgusting Waugh bridge - 100ft filled with the stench of bat guano, and the sounds of millions of bats chirping.  Yuck. 

The cool weather was still working for me - it's amazing how high humidity drains me of energy.  I can't wait till winter.   We got to the catacombs - a stretch of gravel among huge concrete pillars, under the Memorial Dr bridge.  There aren't any lights, so it's pitch black and creepy as hell.  It would be impossible to run through there without any sort of light.  

By the way, everytime I run through the catacombs, I think of these homeless guys I surveyed for a research study at work.  I went to Sam Houston Park one night with the outreach team from SEARCH to administer health surveys.  Two guys were trying to be funny all night, cracking corny jokes and making marriage proposals to me and my intern.  Eventually they got bored and one announced, "Hey Joe - let's go down to the Bayou and scare some of those lawyers jogging down there."  (Don't know why they specified lawyers).  I said they shouldn't be scaring people, it wasn't funny and they started giggling like kids.  I asked why they liked scaring joggers and they said, "It's easy!  All we do is stand there, and those lawyers get freaked out."  One stood completely still like a statue, while the other started jumping and waving his arms around, mimicking a scared jogger/lawyer. Then they hurried off, saying "We have to go - it's almost 7pm.  All the lawyers are coming out."   Great.  In the spectrum of the homeless population, these guys were harmless….but I definitely made a mental note: do not jog along Allen Parkway alone.  At 7pm.  Especially with lawyers. 

Back to the run.  We made it to Sabine, stopped for a quick water break, then headed back to the Park along Allen Parkway.  Whenever we stopped at an intersection, I tried marking the stops on my Garmin by pressing LAP…..but got confused and gave up.  I guess it's time to RTFM again.  But otherwise, my energy level was still pretty good.  We skipped our usual water stop at Shell, thanks (again) to the cooler weather.  During the last half mile, I felt a surge of energy and was able to push the pace to 9:30!  Where the hell did that come from? 

So, it was a good end to a great run.  But, now two problems (which are hopefully minor): 

- Around mile 5, I felt a blister starting on my right big toe joint.  I thought my shoe might be too loose, so I stopped at Sheperd to tighten the laces.  No help.  I was wearing my usual socks, but I was in a new pair of shoes.  Maybe they need more breaking in?  I'm going to try some WrightSocks to see if those help.   I really hope it's not the shoes, especially this close to the Marathon. 

- Achilles tendon pain.  My right calf is painfully stiff.  I had been having problems with my achilles, so I got a new pair of shoes in case the pain was from wearing down my old pair.  I ran in the new shoes on Sunday (Conroe hills), and my legs felt great.  But tonight, the run was easier than Sunday but my achilles is throbbing.  Hopefully it's just because I was compensating for the blister with my right foot during the run.  I've been slathering Icy Hot on my leg, and now I smell like menthol.  My cat took one whiff, and disappeared under the bed.  ha.