Thu: 4.4 miles on Seneca Park trails. Shoes: NB. 83 F, cloudy. No GPS, time was 37:22.

I went to check out the Louisville Trail Runners club for this one. This was supposed to be a "faster" run, and after the disappointment I had with the university running club and their serious runners, I wanted to find something more serious. Nevertheless, I didn't have any expectations.

Well, let me tell you, those miles were hard! The terrain was hard, and running 8:30 miles was challenging! I think I've found my group.

I plan to jump into the Bernheim Forest half marathon in the weekend. The winner time is usually about two hours, so it must be tough.

Wed: 6 miles in 83 F, sunny, Brooks.

Sunday's run was a mess. In 92 degrees the 12 miles was too ambitious, and mixed in with a bout of diarrhea, it was more than my body could take. I ended up cutting it short, taking many breaks, and running it really slowly. I created a new category for these runs and I named it "failed". Fortunately I'm still in building phase (not for long though), so it doesn't matter all that much. Still finished the week with roughly 41 miles.

Provided I'm running the Big Hit HM, here is how the mileage plan should look like:

Week of
05/28: (building): 45 miles
06/04: (building): 49 miles
06/11 (week 14): 46 miles
06/18 (week 13): 49 miles
06/25 (week 12): 53 miles
07/02 (week 11): 53 miles
07/09 (week 10): 56 miles
07/16 (week 9): 60 miles
07/23 (week 8): 56 miles
07/30 (week 7): 61 miles
08/06 (week 6): 65 miles
08/13 (week 5): 63 miles
08/20 (week 4): 56 miles
08/27 (week 3): 58 miles
09/03 (week 2): 54 miles
09/10 (week 1): 49 miles
09/17 (race week): 40 miles

Thu: 6 miles in 86 F, sunny, Brooks.

Today was my 3rd day of 6 miles each, and frankly, I feel I didn't really lose any fitness (probably not quite true, though). The biggest problem is the heat: today it was 84 degrees, sunny. I also wear my shirt (for the first time since the break), because I'm more afraid of the sun (as in radiation) than the heat.

After a 3 week break, I ran 6 miles at slightly below 8 min/mile today. It felt great, although the 76 degrees humid weather felt quite hot (and I ran shirtless!). I'll plan 6 miles/day until Friday, and 13 miles in the weekend, and I see I feel afterwards.

As for racing plans, I'm in for another half marathon. Probably none of the fall races can be as ideal as the Derby Half was, so I will just shoot for a PR, if only by 1 second. Training paces will be set per McMillan determined by the 1:27:11 HM.

Potential fall races:

Sept. 23: Big Hit HM: Course is very similar to the Derby HM, but one has to climb the Central Avenue overpass twice! Last year the field was only about 1000 runners. The race is a little early, plan should start on June 10, if no interruption is anticipated, and it might be too warm. No registration info is on-line yet.

Oct. 16: Louisville HM: This is one running from the Water Tower, on River Rd and on the Riverwalk. Extremely low key, probably not that well organized. The website is unprofessional, they did't respond my email, and I doubt even the date is correct, because it's a Tuesday. Sponsored by Ken Combs RS. Some concrete sidewalks! No registration info is available (and probably won't be).

Nov. 3: Louisville Sports Commission HM: It looks like a real "runners' race", but the course runs through the Cherokee Park hills, which are quite hard! It might be too cold in November. Registration is $65 before 6/2. At the Derby expo they said 2000 runners, if I'm not mistaken.