San Antonio Marathon 3:44:53 (Pace goal 3:45:00)

The most difficult part of pacing, is when you have no one left but you still have to run that agonizingly uncomfortable pace till the end on your own.  (My opinion)

This weekend I was fortunate enough to be an official pacer for the San Antonio marathon.  My assigned time goal was 3 hours 45 minutes, which is an average pace of 8min 35seconds per mile.  Lately my relaxed "long run" pace has fluctuated between a 7:50 and an 8:15 (depending on weather and distance), so 8:35 was slower than anything I comfortably run, meaning this should be a cake walk.

What is pacing? Simply put, we pacers volunteer to run a certain pace to help runners achieve their goal time.  We put our time on our shirts, and we carry a time flag so people can choose to run along and know that this person will run an even paced run all the way to the end.
I opted to wear two watches (one for backup in case i inadvertently stopped the other one, etc.) and a pace band with overall times for every mile to ensure we were where we needed to be.

(Photo by Todd J. Husband to Kristal who is waving hello and was running the half. Half marathoners would split away at mile 11.)

I probably had about 25-30 hopefuls running the pace with/around me.  I did my best to entertain the group, encouraged the spectators to cheer my runners on, had a multitude of jokes and stories to keep their minds entertained.  Some people had music on from the start, and some hung back enough or a little ahead of me, and just used me to stay steady.  Everyone had their own plan, except me.  Mine was simple: run as close to an 8:35mins per mile regardless of terrain, all the way to the finish, and don't deviate from that plan no matter what.

While it sounds quite simple, it's actually quite difficult to be "on" for an entire marathon.  Typically, if one has a time goal, you may pick up the pace on a downhill mile, or slow down on an uphill to then make the time up on the downhill you know is coming.  Maybe you want to walk through and aid station to get extra fluids.  Maybe you feel like crap for a few miles.  Maybe you feel great.   But most of all, on race day, you run for yourself, your pace varies, and well, if you fail, you've got no one to blame but yourself.  I, on the other hand, had a multitiude of runners relying on me to stay steady and on pace.

It was great fun, but what I thought would be a simple long run, with an additoin of encouraging runners, turned out to be a challenging grind, mostly because of hot and humid weather conditions.  It got hot in a hurry.  New reports I've read say it got as hot as 79 F, but that's in the shade.  This course had no shade, and the asphalt just made things even worse as the sun just beat down on your head. 
As you can see from the photo below, i carried a water bottle, and i drank like a fish and took my own salts.  I even drank cups from most water stations even if my bottle still had water.  Destruction was everywhere, people were in trouble quite early.  We passed many runners that had been reduced to a slow walk, were stretching out their cramps, etc. I can't begin to tell you how many times I told my runners to take both Cytomax (electrolyte drink) and water to stay on top of the humid and hot conditions.  Heck, I was drinking like crazy, had my own salt tabs, and come mile 16, even my legs started to get a little tingly. (Personally, I doubled my salt intake from then on, and it thank fully kept any disastrous cramping at bay)
Most miles were within 5 seconds of goal time, and based on people's attitudes I really thought i would have some contenders late in the game. Unfortunately, even after 2 long miles full of encouragement, motivational quotes and stories, my last runner dropped off the pace a little after mile 21, so I was then on my own, and that's where this hot and humid party became a tough grind to the finish.  My job was to run 8:35s no matter what.  There could be someone in front of me or someone shadowing me, and I was their reference point, so there was no option to speed up to something more enjoyable, or pick up the pace to get the run over with.  So there I was, passing fading runners, runners that were walking, runners that were limping, or stretching their legs.  I had gone from a pacer that began the day with a goal of helping make people's dreams come true, to a runner who was now crushing dreams of runners as I caught and passed them, holding the dreaded 3:45 sign they so did not want to see.  "oh no", "fuck", "ugh", "dude, you're running too fast, you're not allowed to catch me yet" were just a few of the things I heard people say as I was forced to be the bearer of bad news.

But I had a job to do, and that was to run my eight thirty fives and get in as close as possible to 3:45:00.   The problem was, I was ready to be done, my legs were hurting from an abnormal pace, and it was hot, and i was tired, and I wasn't allowed to run any pace I really wanted.  I HAD to stay on pace. And so I did.  And it got tough.  Those mile markers took forever to appear.  And it was hot out.  And no shade. And a pace that just plain sucked to run on my own.  Just one runner.  Just one is all I wanted.  It would have made things completely different. The pace would have been great, had I had just that one runner!  Funny how the brain works.

Some runners ahead would see me catch them and I'd encourage them to "hop on" and I'd lead them in.  I so wanted to help people, but their minds had won, and they could only hang on for a few minutes until the invisible rubberband holding us together would snap and they'd yet again, be reduced to a death march.

I can't tell you how happy I was to see the Alamodome to my right, which meant less than a mile to go and I would be done.  I continued to encourage runners I passed and motioned with my arms to the crowds crowds to cheer on the runners all the way to the finish (which for some reason works really well when you carry an official pace flag).  I took the hard right, dipped down under an overpass, then the final hill about 300 yards from the finish (which i took a little too fast), and the final straight away to the finish line. 

I decided to take the sign with my left hand, and proudly bring in the 3:45 pace group across the line.
Even if the pace group had long ago become a party of one.

My final time was 3 hours 44 minutes and 53 seconds. 

(7 seconds off of perfection, but I had no interest in slowing down in the final 40, 30, 20, 10 yards to artificially get a closer time, so that was an honest, even paced, run to finish.)

(some official race photos. Clockwise, Early on around mile 3 or 4.  Finish line photo.  Two close to the finish.)

A while after the run was over, two of the people that had tried to run the time, found me (walking around with my pace flag).  Eventhough they fell apart and finished at 4:03 and 4:09, they thanked me for what I did, and said there was no way they could have stayed on pace as long as they did without me. That was the best thing I could have heard all day, and all I needed to hear, to know that the hot, sunny, miserable grind, was worth every second.  Can't wait till next year! 

10 miles

Ran 10 miles this morning. Karma tagged along for 2 miles before he decided he'd had enough of the 65 degrees and 85% humidity at 5:30am in the middle of winter. Personally, i kind of enjoyed it!

Queue the criticism:

Ran the last 1.2 miles of the Austin Marathon course this am since yet again, they've made changes. That last zig zag from san jacinto, then up MLK, then speedway, then down 15th, then a right left right through those buildings, then back to San jacinto to scale the last little hill is ridiculous. Cracks me up how they're unable to get the distance elsewhere and have to make all these turns with a mile to go. I feel sorry for those in pain that will have to deal with all those late-in-the-race turns. I know I've been in serious pains in the last 1.2 miles of a marathon or two, and the last thing I've wanted was six ninety-degree 8 turns on non-flat roads.

Whomever's in charge of making course changes in that office probably hasn't raced a marathon for many years. They need some new blood to offer advice in there, and don't bring me this "the city's road closure department is tough to work with" cockamamy bullshit, because that snake sure looks like it's messing up more roads than a straight line would! Just my $0.02.

Then again, on race day, you make it happen. No Excuses. No gifts.

8,000 miles

Today I crossed 8,000 miles of running. (per my log)

That's like running from New York to Hong Kong, or from New York to Cape Town, South Africa (in a straight line)

Should cross 10,000 miles before Football starts up again.

Sunday Monday

Sunday I left my house at 6:55am, and didn't get back till 4:40pm.

A day spent with a weed-eater in hand working out in Reimers Ranch on some running trails. It was a hot hot day, but it was fun to help put the finishing touches on the trails that will be used for next week's trail race. I'll be out there running too, and can't wait to go do three 10km loops on trails I helped build. It'll also be fun since it's a brand new course and pretty much nobody knows what to expect. I could give you a mile by mile description of it, but I'll instead keep that valuable information to myself and let you discover the trails on race day.

We also ran almost the entire loop before we started working on our assigned sections, then hopped into the pedernales river, noodle in hand and floated around for a good hour to hour and a half to cool off and relax.

This morning, after sleeping for about 10.5 hours last night I met up with some of the regulars and some not-so regulars but welcome additions(Meredith and guest from Boston) for 9.2 miles. Decided to run an abridged version of the Turista and commented on some of the sites around town. Hopefully I didn't shut everyone up, or bore everyone to tears. Regardless, we got the distance in, and we then happily soaked and cooled off in the very busy and crowded Barton Springs.

I bet next Monday will be a different story, when all the Coeur D'Alene Ironman people won't be in town.

Interesting sighting of the day: Apparently there's an amateur waterpolo team training in Barton Springs now?? I've decided to name the "Team Coccoon".

Can't wait for my 8-10 greenbelt miles tomorrow.

The season is OVER!

A long 15 months, the season has finally come to an end. 5 marathon or farther races in the last 6 months. Ouch.

A season that started in March of 2009 coming back from taking a few months off after a running a frustrating 3:21:06 in Dallas in December of 2008. I ran determined and ran feeling completely unstoppable in my quest to get myself to Boston, and then get even faster. Highlights along the season included 4 one hundred mile weeks, three of which consecutive, a solid California International in December(3:08), an eye-opening and fun Bandera 50km trail race in January, a hard and challenging workout at the Austin marathon(3:10), and then a 3:03:06 in Boston, exactly an 18 minute improvement in my personal best over 13 months of hard work.

Pace wise I took my marathon down from a 7:41 per mile (or 4:45/km) to a 6:59 (or 4:20/km) in 16 months. Not too bad for just 3.5 years into running, huh?

With a mostly fun, but at times a little rough Stockholm marathon now behind me, i look forward to taking June off from any formal training and returning in 6 weeks to the group to load up for a "train through" marathon in October in Portlamd, while also building up high trail mileage for the Bandera 100km trail race in early January of 2010, then switch gears and take that huge base and turn it into speed for Boston in 2010.

Have a week left of vacation in Sweden and I've been asked to provide more Swedish-Cuisine posts, mainly about all the Fish i'm eating. Too bad I haven't had any fish yet! hahah

But I did have swedish version of Cheetos today 'Ost Bågar'. MMM... I'd forgotten how yummy those are. And my mom made a great 'Coq au Vin' and claims it's simple to make and will give me her recipe.

Tomorrow I'll pop open the bag of Dill and Parsley flavored potato chips! I can't wait!

I luv Chrome and ran 10 miles

I've been using Chrome now since the day it was announced back I don't know, 6 months ago or so.  At first, it had some big issues, but they then released an upgrade and they've fixed 95% of the issues the first release had.

Granted, the Google Chrome browser still doesn't support a few things, and there are a few websites that look crappy on Google Chrome, but I friggin' love that browser.  

People moved away from MS Internet Explorer because it was slow and clunky and went to Mozilla Firefox.   Well, let me tell you, Chrome is where it's at if you're looking for speed, streamlined surfing, and pure joy and happiness. 

However, my happy attitude towards Chrome pales in comparison to today's 10 mile run.  Jason and I are going to raise money for his favorite charity, and almost the entire run had me wildly entertained.  

p.s.  Ran in new shoes today.  The identifiers I added are the best I've ever come up with.  You have to see it to believe it!

Saturday Sunday - 10miles then The Maze 10km

Saturday i met a whole bunch of us to run 10 miles.  It was fun to run with everyone again, followed by a nice soak in the Springs, and breakfast at Torchy's tacos.  My legs felt crappy for the last 3 miles.  By crappy, I mean still tired and a little achy, and definitely no get up and go.

Got a nice nap, then spent the rest of the afternoon painting my living room. 

This morning I ran the Maze 10km version.  There's also a 30km version, but since I'm still fighting "tired legs syndrome" and my race is 4 weeks away, there was no point in digging my gravesite this morning. 

The race was pretty fun.  It rained over night, so there were 6 water crossings, and some mud puddles to bring a smile to my face.  

Race strategy: Not to go all out at any time, instead just start out at a decent pace, then once warmed up, pick up the pace to a comfortable steady state (no, not 6:10 pace) trail run pace. Easy enough.

The start was funny...  I tried to count out how many people took off like it was a 1 mile all out, and think i count about 26 people infront of me.  Including one dude in a burgundy colored shirt that literally SPRINTED by me and 10 other people to get a better positions before we headed into the single track trails.  I would pass Mr. Burgundy well before my watch hit 10 minutes, and he looked like he was about to faint!  Hysterical!  Within 2 miles, people had definitely backed off of that crazy silly pace, and i was steadily passing people left and right.  Some people literally looked like they were dying out there, just 2 miles in.  Rookies.  

I settled in to my decided upon pace, and just held that till the finish.  I continued to pass people here and there, through about 19 minutes, then past one last guy who hung on within about 10 yards of me till about minute 40.   I asked him at minute 30 if he was just going to wait there and then pounce on me once we got closer, but he said he was just trying to hang on.  And I came to the conclusion pretty quickly that he was not lying, since he had no bigger race in the future he was training towards, and he didn't like to talk at the pace we were going.  Dammit, I could really have used some conversation to have the next 10-15 minutes go by.  Oh well, what are you gonna do?  Spoiler: I would never pass, or even see a single soul infront of me (to try and catch) after passing this guy. 

There are never mile markers on a trail race so it's hard to tell where you are, but I guesstimated and told the leach that we were in for another 15-18 minutes, meaning I'd probably run between a 45 and a 48 today.  (After I told him i knew the course, I realized I made a stupid mistake.  Why tell your opponent valuable information?  I should've said:"Oh i have no clue where we are")

I decided that once minute 40 hit my watch, on any next little descent I'd really accelerate down it, then pick up the pace to lose the ankle biter.... And I did just that.   It didn't take much to get rid of him, and I think my tiny pace increase and the fact that the course is EXTREMELY zigzaggy he lost contact and fell off pace.  The rest is pretty unventful.  I kept at it till the finish, and crossed the mat with my watch saying 46minutes 58 seconds.

They eventually posted the results print out, and I found out that I finished 7th overall.  This means I passed 19 runners or so.   First place ran 40 minutes, he had a 3 minute lead on 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and then there was 3 minutes between me and 6th place.  (I beat that one guy behind me by about 24 seconds.)

Stats:

• Time 46:58
  
• 7:41/min pace
  
• 7th Overall
  
• 6th Male under 40

I'm happy with my 7th overall, but it's not like I'm pulling out the champagne for a top 10 finish.  Lets not forget that pretty much everyone ran 30km version, so it was a watered down field.  However, it is what it is, and I'll take it.  TOP 10!  WOOHOO!!!   

Bring out the Cheetos!!!... and the paint brush... time to finish the paint project. 

Lesson of the day.

Regardless how many pairs of latex gloves you wear, dark wood stain will eat right through them.  

I had 3 pairs of latex gloves on while staining some furniture, and the stain ate right through the thin plastic and left my fingers black.  THREE PAIRS!

On another note, I'm back on the training schedule and ran with Mark, Damon, Jason and Ken for 10.6 miles this morning.  My hammies were a little tender on the last 3 miles, but nothing serious.  The pace did feel ridiculously fast though, even though they told me we were going 7:30 at one point, and had even slowed to 7:45 later on.   Eventually, the legs will regain their spring.

Still completely undecided on how i will run the 10km trail race I'm doing on Sunday.  I am glad I'm not up for the 30km, but I do feel a little weak for not going for the 30km.  Maybe I'll sneak in a 2nd loop, or maybe I'll run longer than 10 miles on Saturday morning to make up for it.  Then again, right now, it's all about getting my legs strong again, and not about finishing a 30km trail race. 

Happy running! 

Post Marathon brings out a mixed salad

It's always interesting to me how I feel after a Marathon has been run.  Especially one that was my 'A' race. 

It's not been 3 days, and I've gone from being happy that it's over and being able to take a break from the non-stop demands of training hard, eating right, sleeping enough, and other sacrifices, to my feelings turning into a little anger and disapointment, since I didn't quite reach my goal.  I was so close, and I had it within reach but was forced to bow out due to a silly error, and now my mind is racing with ideas. 

I've got the Stockholm marathon planned on May 30th, as a fun run while I visit my parents in Sweden, but the course is so much friendlier than the Boston course, that why can't I just go for all the marbles and crank out a 2:59:59 there!   I've got a whole 38 days to recover!  I  recovered for 32 days after CIM and ran a good 50KM trail race.  And that included 2.5 weeks of no running due to hamstring issues. 

The Team picks back up for training on May 11, for the Portland Marathon (oct 4), and I was initially going to have this be a 'B' race and not go all out on it.  You can't continuously go for broke as you simply need to give yourself a break or eventually you'll experience burnout.  But now, I have 3 painful minutes hanging over my head, that shouldn't exist, so I don't think i can just go run Portland, without knocking the cover off the ball. 

Then there's my big challenge on Jan 10th, 2010.  The Bandera 100km trail race.   I am REALLY exicted to run that trail race.  Based on my performance at the 50km option last January, I really think that if I put in the correct training from September to Jan, I can do resepctably well in it. 

Then there's Boston 2010.  I have already looked at Hotel rooms close to the finishline and will probably jump on one in the next month or so.   There are some good choices available, and I am so hungry to go avenge my mistake, that I wish I could run it again this weekend. 

Don't think I'm not happy with my 3:03:06, because I certainly am, but there's a big difference between struggling my way through the last 2 or 3 miles to finish crawling in at that time, and being physically forced to slow down to that finish time when everything but your two calves is primed, pumped and ready for a strong finish.   

If you would have asked me 2 weeks ago what I was going to do after Boston, I would have told you that I would be looking forward to relaxing.  But as it stands today, things are different.  I'm hungry.  I'm hungry for my sub 3.  I'm REALLY hungry.

Who knows though, maybe the dust just hasn't settled and in a couple of weeks, i'll accept my 3:03, and just accept that Portland in October is my next 'A' race.

However, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I don't have the Stockholm Marathon course sitting here next to me on my desk, and I'm salivating at the look of the elevation chart with a little bridge to deal with 2 times, and a few silly climbs here and there.

Why do you run?

I just love this video.

So inspirational a few days before a big challenge.

Ryan Hall - 2.5 week from Boston...

removed because it plays automatically.

Q1 Stats, year over year

Month - 2008 - 2009

January - 151- 332

February - 103 - 255

March - 41 - 280

1st Quarter Totals - 295 - 867

(In late february, and all of March of 2008, I was pretty much sidelined due to a bad IT Band injury because I was running erratic distances.)

In 2008, I was in the dumps mentally after two horrible fall marathons where I chased a 3:15. I was seriously thinking I should maybe quit this stupid sport. I then read a book (Running Within), my coach planted an idea in my head, I ran for fun for 3 months, and things turned around dramatically.

Quite the difference with 2009, where I've run 572 more miles than in the 1st quarter of 2008!!
I did have a little knee frustration, but it's at 95%, which to me means... ALL SYSTEMS GO!

Before I get to Boston, I'll have 1000+ miles under me.
In 2008, I reached 1,000 miles in the middle of June.

I also thought it was interesting to look at the 3 months leading up to CIM, vs. these last 3 months leading up to Boston:

• Month - 2008 - 2009
• Month 3 - 287 - 332
• Month 2 - 301 - 255
• Month 1 - 275 - 280
• Totals: 863 - 867 Doesn't get much closer than that!

What does all this mean? Absolutely nothing, really. It just means, I've done what I can to get ready, and soon it'll be time to put it all to good use on one perfect day in Boston.

Oh boy am I going to catch some flack over this one...

I'm going to choose my words carefully, and hope not to upset anyone.  It's really not my intent.

I was just on the Boston Marathon wesbite looking at stuff, and landed on the qualifying standards page.

It doesn't cease to bewlider me that the qualifying time standards for women at the Boston Marathon start at 3 hours and 40minutes for a woman aged 18-34, then goes up from there.

If you're a 54 year old male, you have to run a 3:35 to qualify. 

I understand that males are inherently stronger, faster, etc. but I just think that they should shave another 5 minutes off the women's standards.

At least this weekend I didn't hear (in an obnoixioulsy high pitched woman's voice): "Oh my god, I just found out that I qualified for Boston and I didn't even know it!", like is quite often the case when you hang around the finishline for too long.   (And if I did, this time, I wouldn't have had the urge to punch something or someone in disgust. Phew!)

Then again, I guess I could just shut up and say that men just need to "shut up and run faster". But now I'm in the club, and have qualifed on what is arguably a fast course and on a slow course, so I will say whatever I want and kick back and wait for the assault in the comments box, Kelso-style.

Funny little exchange

Heard on yesterday's run: 

Lady on sidewalk with British Accent as we run by: "Run on the sidewalk".

Steve pulls out the same English accent out loud back to her: "NO! I won't!"

Monday morning Recovery Run

Eventhough I took Sunday as a rest day, just walking an hour in the greenbelt with Karma so he could have some fun, I still couldn't stay awake past 8pm last night and slept like a rock till the alarm rang at 4:30 for my 1 snooze. Slept heavily for those 9 minutes too!

Considered skipping out as I knew there plenty of people going, but I had committed so I got my butt up. I met up with Bruce, Jason and Kamran for a run this morning.
it was cold out. Weather lady on tv said 25 out at the airport, my car said 31 when I was done running.

We did a karma loop, then ran away from the waters of townlake onto the road and warmer weather. I turned around after 30 minutes as I was only looking to run for an hour.

My legs felt a little heavy which was expected, but there was no visible pain, injury or severe soreness after Saturday's race. My left hamstring was a little twitchy, but nothing even close to like the week after CIM, where I felt like it was about to snap off my leg.

Ended up with about 6.5 miles. My pace slowed considerably on the last mile and a half, but that was intentional.

Need to eat a ton today to allow my body to fuel back up. I think a few slices of Pizza for lunch may be in order.

Ended last week with 61 miles, and should get about that same amount his week, followed by my regular ramp up to 90 over the next few weeks.

Happy running!

Monday rest day - Quote

Arthur Lydiard, during a speech in Osaka said the following about Lasse Viren.

"When he took his shirt off, he looked like a plucked chicken. There is no muscle at all, just ribs sticking out. He won four gold medals."

Total miles run in 2008 turn man into Forrest Gump

I ran my last run of the year this morning, and I'm glad it was on the greebelt!
It was a great morning to run out there.

I end the year with 2,893 Miles!
That's 4,655 Kilometers

How far is 2,893 miles?
It is 93 miles FARTHER than running diagonally across the country from Vancouver, Canada to the bottom tip of Key West, Florida.



You can call me Forrest Gump.

This is a great article

Kara Goucher's post NY Marathon interview

Being 25 days away from my marathon, a few of the quotes in there really hit home for me. She ran a 2:26 marathon and finished 3rd female, and it was her first ever marathon.

“I figured I’d do what Gete (Wami) did last year and just tuck behind whoever was leading and just gut it out as long as possible,” she said. “I got broken, with maybe 8 miles to go, and I kind of slipped back into fourth or fifth, and then I had to regroup because I was telling myself, 'It’s 10-K, you can do this, pull it together.'”

Goucher learned the lesson many first-time marathoners receive: that your body will hurt in places you never knew existed. “My body felt awful,” she said. “My hamstrings and butt and lower back are still really, really tired, and I felt nauseous and awful. I was having a hard time getting my fluids down the last part of the race, but that’s kind of exciting because I felt so bad and still ran pretty good.”

and...

"...When I hit 23 miles, I was like, 'Wow, this is the farthest I’ve ever run.' I’ll go away from this much more prepared the next time.”

(I am much more prepared for CIM!)

and...

"I wanted to stop and give them all a hug. Even though I was cramping and can barely walk right now, I loved it. It was awesome, so awesome.”

: )

October Recap

After coming up just shy of 300 miles in September I ended up just sqeezing over the 300 mile bar for October. Hadn't really planned it that way, but it was a nice surprise to see the numbers this morning. Especially since we've really picked up the track workouts, speedwork, hill work this last month, and taht usually brings the mileage totals down.

T - 55 : 8.5 Recovery miles. Surprisingly easy

55 more days till CIM!

I was a little curious/nervous/apprehensive about running this morning, before I went to bed last night. After my 28 mile mega run yesterday, I ate some breakfast tacos, then spent the rest of the day drinking Mojitos, Miller Lites and eating chips and salsa and a couple cupcakes. After a deadman's 3 hour nap late late afternoon, I was up again till almost 11pm, and didn't even eat a bowl of pasta (dinner) till 10pm. To my credit, I did drink quite a bit of water after my run, and then probably took down 60 more ounces.

I figured this morning's 6-10 mile run with Larry would be a big struggle. We ran a 1.2mile Karma loop nice and slow as the humidity and warmish weather really slowed Karma down. After that we set off around Townlake, and surprisingly I was feeling really good within our 2nd mile.

How does this happen? Seriously? I still don't understand how I can go run an easy 8.5 miles where we both had to make a concerted effort to NOT go under 8 min miles several times. I truly thought this would be a struggle; but I'll take it, and won't ask anymore questions.

I end the week at 90 miles, which is well over what I was hoping for (80+). I'm thrilled i got 90 on a tough tough week.

We now get a recovery week, and combined with a 3 day trip to Chicago, I'll probably end up with 60 to 70 miles next week.

The highlight of next week is the IBM Uptown Classic 10km Race, where coach Sisson wants us to run 10 miles BEFORE the Race, then race the race. Hmmmm...

I'm not going to lie. I hate 10K's. Hate hate HATE the distance, hate the idea of them, and hate everything about them. So much so, that I have refused to run a 10k in over 2 years. Last one I ran was 28 months ago, and i ran a 42:56 at the "Texas Roundup". Demons invaded my head for the last 12 minutes and I contemplated quitting the race as we ran by the old Rogue annex at mile 4.

I'm going to spend quite a bit of time deciding what I THINK I can run for a 10k after a 10 mile warmup!

Here's some food for my thoughts:
a) My PR for a 10k is 42:56 (6:55/mile)
b) A 10KM is 6.2 miles.
c) I just ran 6 miles in 40:57 (6:49/mile avg) after running a tough 20 miles.
d) 2/10ths of a mile at 6:30 pace would take 78 seconds.
That would mean I ran faster than my old PR yesterday after 20 miles.

So, lots of thinking to do!

In addition, a 6:26pace gets me in under 40 mins and that'd be pretty cool, as I could then re-retire from 10K's knowing I joined the sub-40 club! ha!
We'll also have to see what the "3:10 Train" thinks...

...strength in numbers, right!?