I got really disappointed when I realized that on the day I planned to run my 10K in North Carolina, I will give a talk at a conference in South Carolina. Timing couldn't have been any worse. Of course there is no way I could find another 10K on the following week or even two weeks, and also nothing for the week before. So this is it. No 10K.

The best compromise is to run an 8K on the week before. So now my plan is to run the Little River Bridge race in Laurens, SC on March 28. My set goals are: 36:12 (7:17 mm), and worst case 40:00 (8:03 mm). I had to reorganize my training to taper a little before this race, so my weekly mileage and my long runs will peak a week sooner (and at a lower value, obviously).

Yesterday my 4 mile mid-week run was really hard again. This time, I wasn't too slow, but I WAS hurting. I'm wondering if this is actually the result of my interval training on Tuesdays. Maybe it takes more out of me than I realize.

I'm running a 5-mile tempo today, which means 1 mile - 3 miles - 1 mile for me. With the slow initial and the finishing parts, I still should do no worse than 40:30. I am very tempted to attempt to speed it up a little to do it in 40 minutes - so that my minimum time goal is satisfied weeks before the race on a hard course - but I must be patient, I shouldn't risk injury, so I'll have to stick to my pace as closely as possible.