Monday was a quick 3 1/2 miles on the treadmill. Not bad — boring but not bad. My legs were still a bit sore from the long weekend run so I didn’t want to push it too much. Wednesday was 5 1/2 miler… run with the group, outside. All I can say is that it was long and hot – over 80 degrees. There was no water stop, and there were periods of walking. A few of the group took shortcuts or walked more than I, but some ran the entire way. I just couldn’t do it. I have definitely decided that I like morning runs much more than late afternoon / evening runs, especially after a hectic day.

Today was an ominous 6 miles. I don’t think I have ever run that far non-stop, until today. The weather cooperated – after a pouring rain all day yesterday, it cleared up overnight and was a cold 33 degrees when we started. Not as cold as some previous Saturdays, but cold enough that figuring out how to dress was challenging. Top consisted of two wicking layers plus a shell, and wicking pants on the bottom. I could have worn shorts but thought I would be colder to start. The advantage of the wicking pants is that they are very comfortable and don’t allow my legs to get cold at all. I also used ben-gay on my left shin — the one that has had shin splints for the past month or so. Today, my leg did not bother me at all for the first time. It was a bit sore last night, so I did the same prior to hitting the sack. That helped and will definitely be repeated!

Granted, today was not a record pace, but I clocked myself at 1:03:46. I started off a bit faster than I had planned on, so was feeling the strain by about mile 2 (not good) but was feeling much better at the water stop at mile 3. Mile 4 came and went without incident (I actually cannot believe I just wrote that). By mile 5, I slowed my pace a bit – allowing my new friend Jennifer to go ahead a little. We finished almost together, so apparently picked my pace back up towards the end since I have witnessed her pace to be very consistent. Another new friend Michelle and I ran the last hill together again as we did two weeks ago, but it was actually easier this week to not even think about walking this close to the end.

One other prep note — I planned today as if it was the actual 10K, as recommended by my coaches. I sat down and got off my feet last night, went to bed early, and did my best to hydrate myself all day yesterday and first thing this morning. I ate a small bowl of Mueslix cereal at 6:30, drank 1/2 a cup of coffee, took my allegra and drank a small glass of OJ. That worked well. I was not hungry at all – but suspect that I will be starving later!

So, the distances go down from here – something like 3 miles Monday, 4 on Wednesday, and 3 or so on Saturday. The distance prep is done – and the next time we run any distance is during the actual 10K. I know I can run that distance — today was 6 miles with hills. That is 6.2 flat miles, with water stops at miles 2, 3, 4 and 5. Even with heat, it will be easier than today — and I survived that easily!

As I said last week, I am physically ready to run this race. Mental prep will come in the days leading up to the race, but the stress of physical prep is done. This team prep thing works well, and will be part of my prep next year as well! I just have to see if my wife can put up with this another year. Maybe the intermediate team next year…. food for thought!