Saturday long run

Well, Lindsey and I were able to complete the longest run of this training schedule.  Here is the route we took.


We were happy at the start of the race:
All and all the run was good.  The weather was  nice (a whopping 25 degrees), though the wind was cold. I was really surprised at how crummy the condition of the trails though.  In many areas the trails were icy with hard packed snow and ice and we were forced to run on the road.  I have been having some Achilles tendon issues lately and I believe that it has something to do with running on the snow, particularly up hills.

There was some pretty cool graffiti on the trains when we ran through the energy park area:

And then got to see some Viking Warriors beating the crap out of each other in Como Park:


We finished up with our chocolate milk (my FAVORITE post-long run drink):


While Lindsey and I were running, we were talking about the benefits and costs of doing group training.  The motivation and the structure of group training is a great benefit, but the lack of flexibility has got to be a cost.  Because these runs take place at the same time every week, you can be forced to run in crummy conditions when waiting an hour or a day could make for a much happier run.  I have never trained with a group.  Have you ever trained in a group?  Do the benefits outweigh the costs for you?