Potential tune-up races:

4 weeks out, 09/27: There are a few possibilities, Coach Hathaway's Running South 10K seems to stand out. Unfortunately it's in Indianapolis, but otherwise it seems like a nice race.

2 weeks out, 10/11: Spotlight on Nursing 10K, Indianapolis (again).
It seems that the 10K is a serious event, so no winning of this one :) but it seems to be very well run.

Of course Indianapolis races are flat - another disadvantage - but not a huge deal.

A bit of a reason to be optimistic: 7 miles easy on Sunday and without effort I ran sub-7:30 miles. I tried to slow down, but the run felt very easy, almost effortless. The weather was nice and cool.

Then on Monday (Memorial Day) in hot weather (88 F), I ran 12 miles with trail and hills in Seneca park - the overall pace is meaningless, but I was strong at the end and finished with sub-7:30 splits. Also, this was my 8th day of running in a row.

Week of 5/25: 50 miles total. First time since last summer.

Long runs: 12 and 10 miles.
Easy runs: 4 x 7 miles.

I plan to run 7 easy today, and be ready for the long tomorrow.

10.6 miles today in 1:18:44. A bit speedy, but I ran without my Garmin (battery is behaving funny), so I didn't know I was so fast. I ran across the Ohio to Indiana though the newly open Big Four Bridge.

5.67 miles today with striders in the middle. It was again quite hard, because it was freaking 85 F. Ran in Altras. I'm now almost two miles behind my week's schedule.

Plan for October 25. I'm changing to Sunday based weeks, because the race is on a Saturday.

Base building:
Week -8, 05/18, 49 miles
Week -7, 05/25, 50 miles
Week -6, 06/01, 52 miles
Week -5, 06/08, 54 miles
Week -4, 06/15, 56 miles
Week -3, 06/22, 57 miles
Week -2, 06/29, 58 miles
Week -1, 07/06, 60 miles

Race training:
Week -14, 07/13, 50 miles
Week -13, 07/20, 54 miles
Week -12, 07/27, 58 miles
Week -11, 08/03, 58 miles
Week -10, 08/10, 62 miles
Week -09, 08/17, 66 miles
Week -08, 08/24, 62 miles
Week -07, 08/31, 68 miles
Week -06, 09/07, 72 miles
Week -05, 09/14, 70 miles
Week -04, 09/21, 62 miles
Week -03, 09/28, 64 miles
Week -02, 10/05, 60 miles
Week -01, 10/12, 54 miles
Race week, 10/19, 44 miles

I ran the Iroquois circle today with the full horse trail. It was 80 F and I had tired legs, so it was pretty hard, but not as hard as last time. My time was 1:30:18 - I didn't wear a Garmin so I'll have to guesstimate the mileage.

It seems like this will work. I ran 47 miles this week, and I'm quite satisfied with how I feel. Rest day is Sunday.

Next week is Week -8 of base training. Total of 49 miles with 12 and 9-mile long runs. That leaves 28 miles for 4 runs; 7 miles each. We can probably start with the 12-miler on Monday, unless I break my back building the brick walkway to the garage this weekend.

12 miles in the rain, 70 F, Inox-8. I ran it pretty hard, but I needed it.

It seems certain now that we will be running another installment of the LSC Half Marathon - this time renamed as Urban Bourbon HM, and will be held a bit earlier than usual: October 25. With my 15 week preparation, I would have to start specific training on July 12. Just perfect. The time I'm coming back to the USA.

I have 9 weeks till then to ramp up mileage. It would be nice to push over 50 mpw for a while, cut back for a week or two, then start specific training at 50. If I could get to 45 this week and 47 next week, I may be able to do this by following Base Training C by Pfitzinger. then I would go up to 60 mpw before cutting back to 50 for the start of training.

I ran 11.5 miles today in 88 F sunny weather. I usually have this "first really hot day of the year when I want to run something hard" that is bound to happen about once a year and ends very miserably, sometimes downright dangerously. At least it wasn't dangerous today. Also, I ran my Iroquois Park trail circle, which means there was some water on the course. Good thing. I did not bring any water myself.

I didn't really want to do such a long run, but I just love that trail, and got carried away. Of course at mile 4 at my second water break I still felt great. Really, the "only" problem was dehydration that didn't hit me hard until mile 8. And I did find more water (in bathroom of a car mechanic) at mile 9, but it was a bit too late by then.

Note to log: I ran in my Altras today, and in my Inox-8's yesterday.

The 40 mile week didn't happen until this one, but now I've hit 41. Hip pain is back on and off, but it's managable. I don't care. I run until I can't.

This week is basically all easy, but my last few miles today on my 6-milers were at 7:15-7:20 pace and it felt easy. So that's a good sign.