Soup Running

I'm feeling motivated to run this week.  I have accepted the fact that the weather will be horrible for another five or six weeks, but if I keep my runs a little shorter and easier, I will still enjoy myself.  Monday and Tuesday, I ran in Ryan Park with Dan.  We were able to keep up a good pace despite the mid 80's temperature and excessive humidity.  After a little online investigating, I decided that it was okay to soak in the stream near the end of the run, which really helped me to recover right away. 
Wednesday, I pulled off a double: Rome Point trail run on my lunch break and then beach volleyball at night.  I thought that with a cloudy/slightly rainy day, this run would be easier than the previous two, but the air was unbelievably thick.  On the positive side, I could cool off by brushing against the wet weeds, shrubs, and trees along the trail.  I also got extremely close to a deer on the trail.  It didn't want to move, it just flicked its ears and watched me as I tried to coax it off the trail.  Luckily for this deer, it is living in a nature preserve.  I recommend it stays there or develop a fear of humans.  I couldn't believe how soaked in sweat I was when I returned to my car.  At night, I subbed for a friend on a local 4 on 4 volleyball team and had a ton of fun. 
Thursday, Dan and I planned to run 10 miles on roads to guage our Blessing-ability.  Our plan was to run later in the day, after drinking coffee from the aptly named Jitters Cafe.  We also decided to run with Gatorade rather than our usual water.  For some reason, I had pictured drinking a purple flavor.  On the run, as my bottle sloshed around in my hand, a little of the purple drink would seep out onto my hands and stained them this weird blue color.  We ran hard.  I wanted to see what I could do the Blessing of the Fleet 10 mile road race in if I decided to run it next week.  I guessed that I would suffer through a 72 minute run.  I proved yesterday that I was correct.  Dan set a blistering pace (1 mile 6:58) and I trailed him for the first 4 miles.  I took over after that, and hit the half way point at 36:06.  I wasn't sure in the middle miles if I would be able to keep up my pace for the entire distance.  The second half has a lot of subtle uphills, and I felt like I was probably going slower.  I refused to look at my watch and battled through the rest of the miles.  I finished up in 72:13 for a second half time of 36:07.  At least I'm consistent.  I think that with fresher legs and some added adrenaline I could get to 70 minutes in the race.  But would I enjoy it?