9:00

I ran a nice, hot, sweaty seven-miler this morning. I felt good out there, and I didn't have to be at work until noon, so I tacked on an extra mile. The First Lady is back at choir practice these days, so Monday evenings are free, meaning a four or five-mile run is in the plans for after work this evening. It's a great way to beef up weekly mileage and get some hard work in. This might even turn out to be a double double week, since Wednesday morning's effort can and should be followed by a trail run with the group.

It's been a week and a half of decent running around here. 25 miles last week, which included a 6-4 double last Monday. It was pretty weird running only four miles on a Saturday, when typically I run longer distances. The nice part, however, was that it didn't really mess up my day.

I also ran 6x800 last Wednesday, as part of a six-miler. I've done a nice job of keeping my pace at around 7:40. It's probably the most running I've ever done at that pace. Last fall's 5-mile PR (39:40) doesn't count, since I didn't really train at a fast pace for it.

My base pace is also at 9:00. I'm wanting to be a bit of a faster runner, so I've decided to up the tempo just a little. This has been going on for a month or so, and I feel like I'm doing a better job of finding the pace and then staying there. I used to aim for 9:00 and end up at like 8:35 per mile, so I've improved.

The plan for now is to train for some half marathons just after the first of the year. Tuscaloosa has one in the works that I plan to race. Starkville, MS has one in early February, and perhaps Birmingham (Mercedes) can be in the works. No full marathons on my horizon right now.

I also signed up for the Nucor-Holt 5K next month. This is the race where some other joker ran past me in the last 100 yards, after he'd been walking toward the finish, and picked it up only when I passed him. I had a bum calf, so I didn't go after him. Turns out he took 3rd in our age group, so I was pretty honked about it. That's one reason I'm racing there. It'll also be a good challenge-- downhill the first mile or so, then it levels off, then a steady climb for the last mile or so.