Maybe there is something to this distance stuff.

Monday 4/20/09—light, recovery run. 6.6 miles recovery run. Guilt-free.
Total 6.6 miles. 8:01/mile pace
4:40 Half
9:15 Mile
18:20 2 mile
19:55 2.2 (1 loop)
3.2
34:15 4.2
39:05 4.4 (2 loops)
43:05 4.9
47:35 5.4
55:25 6.4
57:00 6.6 miles (3 loops)

Sunday, 4/19/09--Terry Muzzy Run--Goal 18:30. I got to the Struble Trail in Downingtown at about 7:30; the race would begin at 8:00. I knew I had about 30 minutes to double-check that I was registered, warm up, stretch, and get to the starting line. I felt silly that I felt a little self-conscious in my warm up. Many people were just standing around; other, perhaps more serious runners must have been out and about warming up. So, I felt awkward getting in race prep mode as others look on. Admittedly, they may not have been paying much attention to me, but I felt a few eyes that spoke: "look at this dude; he's in for the kill." Anyway, I got my stretch on, so to speak, after running a mile. My wife and kids came upon me right before the start as I was swapping out my sneakers for my running flats. I heard the race starters called everyone over, so I took off my sweats and tights and left my gloves on. A half-mile into the race I realized that I was in a small pack of 4-5. One of the guys stopped to tie his sneakers and caught up with us, the top two, at the mile marker; he was moving! I was a few strides off second place by this time. By the time we reached the halfway mark, which was a cone we had to go around, I was about 120 meters off first place and 70 meters off second place. We were pretty evenly spaced. I saw that it was either 8:25 or 8:35. Buoyed by the string of other runners making their way towards the cone, I started to dig a little deeper. The leader continued to extend his lead as I cut into the distance the second runner had over me. I got within about 40 meters of him, and he heard me. With about a mile to go, he began to pull away. He ran 17:02; I ran 17:16; the winner came in at 16:32. Looking back, I should have pressed hard to catch up with the number 2 runner and tried my hardest to hold on. I could have pushed him and likewise him me. Maybe we could have dipped below 17:00! Or come awfully close. Well, I need not be greedy. This was my best 5K! Maybe there is something to this distance stuff.

With warm-up and cool down 4.5 miles.

Total for week: about 28 miles

Saturday, 4/18/09—light run and lift. 2.2 miles. Used dumbbells at home.