Pot Pie Rise Up

Warning: Besides the occasional opportunity to wear matching shirts, running with a group (particularly this group) may cause you to run more frequently and/or farther than you may have run otherwise. Keene and Landy prepare to head back to Maryland after the Delaware Trail Dawg Triple Crown races.

Another Sunday and another 5:30 a.m. departure from the Coffee East/Diving Dog parking lot. This morning Lori, Landy, and I headed for Wittman to join Wood Frog for some running in and around "Pot Pie," Maryland. Keene was a gracious tour guide, taking us through strides of a run he does that Lori measured at 8.9 miles or so on her Garmin.

I have long envied Keene for the gravel roads, open fields, and water views he enjoys on his home running base. Temperatures in the 60's and ample sun made for a great run, complete with several attempts by Wood Frog and myself to make Landy run fast. This can be quite a task and is often best done by two or more people with interval bursts :)

Our sprints and pick-ups led to Lori giving voice to what could be an interesting challenge day--an RUR track invitational. Now, none of us are prone to want to run on a track. Personally, I stay away from them, as well as speed work in general with the exception of end of the run sprints and test-each-other intervals. But to get everyone together out on a track and have fun pushing 400's, 800's, miles, and such could be a fun (albeit painful) day. A Charlie vs. Dominic showdown would likely be worth the price of admission, though if you spread the speed over a decent distance, I think the long legs of Landy might outdistance everyone. Besides, that's about the only way I am likely to do any speed work proper...

We convinced Mike K. to show off some of his handiwork in the form of the Hooper's Island draketail, Dora, into which he's put countless hours, as well as two kayaks fully of his own building. And we got to scope the Frog's new shed-housed titanium commuter, a day after his longest bike ride--56 miles, getting ready for June's Eagleman half-Ironman triathlon.

Again though, for me it goes back to the company, the RUR folks, who once more, motivated me to get up earlier than I would have on my own, to go and get in a run I probably wouldn't have by myself. So my mind's eye today, kept the gravel country road and chatting with Lori, Landy, and Mike. And my mind's ear marched to a gravel-crunching cadence that Landy and I pounded out on about a quarter-mile pick-up down the lane to Rabbit Point Farm. One of those sublime rhythms that you just stumble upon and into, but not unless you get up and get out there!

P.S. It is also worth noting that this is the second RUR group run where we have cruised through Rise Up Coffee prior to making our return to Easton. A Bay Hundred area bonus :)