#NeverMissAMonday

Distance: 5 miles

Average Pace: 9:46 (baby!)
Course: McFarland
What hurt: My face!

About yesterday's run:

Very good run.  Always so glad to have zippy MM pushing the envelope, and more so today because she was cold. Haha,  There was very little time for chatter, but we got there, got it in, and got done.  KK, too.

I am getting a little anxious about tapering.  It feels like I haven't run long in ages.  That can't be good!  And I won't have either of my run buddies to push me.  :/

On the other hand, I am so excited and so looking forward to the weekend. I asked Bill (the staunch persona-non-runna) to come with, because I was getting a bit nervous about heading down at 2am and solo.  And wow.. he said he'd come!  We decided to drive down Friday afternoon, and stay in a nice hotel near the race.  date-run-cation.  Woo!  I promised him a nice pasta place for dinner (cuz carb loading), a roll-out-of bed late and meet me at the finish line maximum commitment, and a celebration breakfast of champions.  So I won't have Michele on the course, but I can look forward to Bill being there at the finish line.  That will have to be motivation enough to kick some butt.

I'm not sure what my expectations should be for this one.  I mainly just signed up because I wasn't sure what I was doing for training, and it seemed like good motivation to keep the distance up through months where I usually tank it.  The biggest pro will be that it is flat, along with it being a smaller race.  Plus the fact that HOPEFULLY I will not have to pull off to the side to remove a shoe and adjust a sock twice.  All of my minor aches and pains have really stopped plaguing me in the last 2-3 weeks.  Comparing the run I had at Publix or even yesterday to the runs I was having right before Thanksgiving is like night and day.  The course run was miserable.  So hoping to at least do the same or a tiny bit better than at Thanksgiving.  9:50 pace average would be A-MAZING.  First half PR of the year in January has a nice ring to it, too.  On the other hand, there are MANY cons. I haven't run the course, I am not running with a sidekick (who ALWAYS pushes me outside my comfort zone for the better), and training in December / January, while it was much better for having signed up for this (good idea, it worked!), was certainly not exactly like October / November in its intensity.

On deck tonight is an easy 3.1.  I am going knock that out solo on the treadmill.  Lets see if I can keep a sub-9:30 pace at 9 pm at night.  :)