Good weekend

Helped a friend move on Friday night so didn't get to eating dinner till almost 9:30.
Met some people I'd never run with (through a friend I know) on Saturday morning, and it I took off with the front guy.  They call him Flash.  I eventually asked him his real name (not much into nicknames).  Chris was fast. Very fast.
My goal for long run day is to run 15 mins longer than the prior week's long run, which this time would be 2 hours 30 mins until I build to 4 hour trail runs.

I took Karma for a 30 mins loop at 6:30 then met the group at 7am for 2 hours.  For the fitness I'm in the pace was quite frantic. On a long run i typically try and get 5-6 miles per hour on a trail.  That is when I am in shape going out for 4-5 hours.  Not only am I out of shape, but I also haven't run fast or hard in 10 months.
At one point Chris said he likes to try and keep an 8:30 pace on his runs.  We were flying on flats, bombing downhills, and ran the ups.  Eventually I started walking the ups as there was just no way for me to run them.  Long story short, it was absolutely brutally hard, but I was able to keep up for a good 90mins (120 mins in for me) at which point he asked me about my upbringing to which my answer was: "Well, we can either keep running this pace and you can talk, or we can slow down by a couple of clicks so i can talk and not black out from exhaustion."
I did it... 2 and a half hours for about 16 miles or so.  Much farther than i planned to run, but happy that I ran hard with Chris.  Really put into perspective how much i have to go.  Can't wait to return the favor and run him into the ground once I'm in tip top shape!
Had 3 chorizo egg and cheese breakfast tacos then a nap then was out and about from 3pm till midnight.  Sunday I met Cindy and David for an hour trail run. The pace was friendly as we were all quite tired. Probably about 5.5 miles.

So for the week i got 8,5 miles Monday,  8 miles Wednesday and about the 8.5 on Thursday.
Total for the week:  47. (7 too many)
Prior week: 35 miles
Goal this week is not to go higher than 45.  Need to be very careful ramping up.

As for the IT Band.  It hasn't hurt on any of my runs that last two and a half weeks; BUT, it aches a few hours later, or when i sit on bar stools.  I will gladly take that trade off, but I do plan on getting it looked at by a doctor, and possibly get an MRI to see what's up.

10 months later, it's starting to feel like I am finally close to healthy, but I am not calling it over quite yet.