It was a great day for a run.  Temperatures at the start were a balmy 31 degrees.  The first half mile was a bit on the cold side with the wind blowing in off the river.  But that quickly changed with the first climb of the day.  This year, this came about a half mile sooner than last.   From here until the start/finish, it was a constant rollercoaster ride of hills, some big, some small, but a constant.  Rarely was there a flat section.  I chose to make this a training run with no real emphasis on time since I am just getting back into the swing of things since a layoff since Bandera.  I went with the mind set of running all the up hills the best I could and then hammer the downs.  My plan was to keep this up for as long as I could and just hold on until the finish after that.  First loop when very well.  The cool temps kept me feeling fresh and energized.  Everything was going great.  Caught up with Joe somewhere around the midpoint and he and I played leapfrog for a bit.  He’s pass me on the down hills and I’d catch back up to him with the ups.  We continue like this for the remainder of the loop, up Jacob’s ladder and on to the start/finish.  1:46 and some change for the loop.  I’m liking that. Second loop things are still feeling good.  I’m humming along but can tell I’m slowing a bit.  I keep up my plan of working the up hills and hammering the downs.  I’m near Joe until about midpoint of this loop.  Then I think Joe turned on the afterburners cause I never saw him again until I was finishing the third loop.  I still finish the second loop strong in about 1:53.  The third loop was a bit more difficult.  Body is still feeling pretty good except for the lower back.  I walk most of the hills.  By about the 5 mile mark, running is difficult because of the lower back.  I roll into the final aid station and ask Malissa and Jon if they happened to have any Advil or such.  Thank goodness they did.  Took two Motrin and slowly left.  About a half mile later, it started kicking in.  My last 3 miles were much faster than the previous five.  Thanks a bunch Malissa and Jon.  Final loop was quite a bit slower but I felt like I got what I wanted from the day.  A very good, hard training run in the hills. Great run, great group of people, great weather.  Couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend your Saturday.  Michael Sawyer