long run finale

front: polly, melanie, ashley.  back: cindy, amanda

The morning began at 5:15 am for a final long run with our friend, Polly.   Polly has her PhD in molecular evolutionary biology.  Yep.  That’s right.  She’s smart.  Well she’s moving, and now she gets to enjoy her runs in Tuscon, Arizona.  In case I didn’t mention, she’s a bad ass runner as well.  It’s no problem for her to hold a 6:30 pace for 20 miles, hence my uncertainty over this morning’s run!  We met before sun up on the UF campus to bring in the day.  Ashley mapped out our quest which took us through campus and SW Gainesville to the famous old “Tobacco Road.”   Polly ran 21, Ashley ran 16, and me…well, a mere 13 was settled on.  We ran onward till my drop off point and I watched them run with ease as I drove by a few minutes later.  The longer the distance, the better they run.  My job?  Try not to get dropped too badly on a training run.  Especially on this day since the grand finale ahead was a going away brunch for Polly.

After the dirt and grime was washed off, we met our coach for brunch.  Banana pancakes and reminiscing over old runs and races made for a fond farewell.  I don’t know anything about molecular biology, but I do know Polly’s a running superstar in my book.  Tuscon’s lucky to have her!

The picture below was our last race together at the melon run.  Dave’s lovely team (overall place women’s division):  Amanda 1st, Polly 2nd, Ashley 4th, Cindy 5th and Melanie 6th.