24 Down

Saturday pace runs are my favorite runs. Even when it's hot and I'm tired and not feeling great, I still like them. They are a "reasonable" long distance and I don't have to hold back too much.
I thought it was supposed to cool off by today, but the newspaper must have been mistaken. At 7:30 it was stiflingly hot. I gave it all I had and Scott said he was proud of me for getting out and getting it done. 8 miles in 1:21:38 (Avg. pace 10:11).

Sometimes I wonder if I can hold onto a 10:00 min. pace for NYCM but I'm pretty sure that it wont be 80 humid degrees and I won't be wearing a four bottle amphipod and I won't have my period (1st day -- the worst!). As you can see by the splits, the higher the sun rose, the slower I ran.

9:49
9:32
9:52
10:08
10:14
10:55 (potty stop)
10:32 (saw the village mayor and his wife taking a sticky morning stroll and used the opportunity to express my views on the need for a bike path). :)

Tomorrow is 17 miles. I'm looking forward to it for a couple of reasons. First, after finishing last weeks ridiculously hilly 16 miles I know that I can run 17 flat no problem. When your quads are shredded after 8 miles and you still find the heart to run another 8 that's a sign that all the "toughen up training" has worked. Second, it will be the first high mileage week that I have completed per the plan -- no interruptions. I'm looking forward to writing it down in the log.
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I looked ahead in the calendar and saw that Yom Kippur falls right during the long weekend runs. It's a stepback week. Friday is supposed to be a rest day, Saturday is Yom Kippur. My fast will begin Friday evening. I think I'll run Saturday's 6 on Friday morning and play Sunday's 12 by ear. If the weather is cooler, maybe I can run it later in the day. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to attempt it after a 25 hour fast.