Week ending Sun. Sept. 11

MON 9/5
10k race at Pinnacle Promenade

TUE 9/6
Off

WED 9/7
13.1 miles, two laps of the Bark Park to Crystal Bridges loop with a little extra length thrown in.

THU 9/8
Off

FRI 9/9
The Square to Bark Park route and back to The Square.

SAT 9/10
Off

SUN 9/11
22 miles from The Square around Bentonville parks. We hit Tiger, the Stink Plant, Bark Park, Walton, Crystal Bridges and then part of the half course. Totally improvised.

I opened this week with a 10k race on Labor Day. I toed the line with many friends at the Run For a Child in Rogers, Arkansas. My last 10k race was in 1987, the summer after graduating high school. So I wasn't sure what these legs had in them. I figured I could do a 48 minute time for sure and maybe break 45 if I was lucky. I just missed breaking 45 minutes and placed third in my age group with a 7:23 pace.
On Wednesday I set out with doing a 12 mile run in mind. Things went well and I felt great. So much so that I added a little distance and set a PR for the half marathon distance by 1 min and 18 seconds.
Friday was a recovery and fun run. Brian and I met Kim and jogged a couple of miles with her before heading back to The Square. Good to see Kim getting back into the swing of things after some time off to have a baby with her husband Brandon. Congrats to them both on the birth of Landon.
Sunday was interesting. The last long run before Twin Cities. A nice group with Brian, Daniel, Jesse and Jason. I struggled to keep a consistent pace. I was either 20 seconds too fast or 20 seconds too slow. About 6 miles in I dialed the pace back as it was more than what I thought I should do and the rest of the guys gained ground on me and pulled away as they began a tempo run. This is when I began my up and down pacing issue. I started to feel a little tired, got a second wind. Then tired again before catching a third wind. And for good measure repeated that one more time before catching Brain and Daniel at mile 19 and finishing strong. I have never had so many winds during a run. But it was my best overall pace for anything in excess of 17 miles and I felt pretty good afterwards. A little sore in the usual spots today but that is expected. I have to say this is a huge boost to my confidence and gives me the info I was looking for to dial in a race day pace.
The end result is 51+ miles this week at about 8:35 pace, a podium finish at a 10k, a PR at half marathon distance and my best long training run to date. I'll take it.