12 miles and $4500

What a great day! I learned our wonderful sponsors have pushed the Challenge up to over $4500! Normally I preach a modest pacing regime, but Go! people GO! This is awesome. Now that I have some teammates I hope we'll continue to see more pledges, as well. Thank you for your contribution no matter how big or small.

Speaking of big, today was a 12 mile run day. Mother Nature spared me the rain when I launched at 7am today along my small hill route. But, I was still a little sore from yesterday's gym workout. RacerX and I had done our usual 20 minute stationary bike ramp up interval work plus he introduced me to a new weight routine in lieu of our usual designed for muscle gain. I may have gained some muscle, but I also gained some tight quads in the process.

I got to witness a beautiful sunrise as the reds and golds creeped through a ragged set of cloud breaks. Within 30 minutes the developing valley fog and gathering storm front erased it from view. The hill run took me up into some of the best views of the valley and nature did not disappoint.

By mile 2 I had entered the Zone and the run went to autopilot. In the Zone I find myself monitoring my body performance with "one eye" and taking in the scenery with the other. It's a very peaceful state of being and one I find I can only get in a run (or on rare occassions if the kids are asleep). My mind seems to empty itself of all thoughts. Or at least most of them go to "low boil." In the Zone, no matter how long the run or how intense the pace, any discomfort, monotony becomes only a detached abstraction. If only I could apply that to work.

My goal for the run was to concentrate on even pacing and maintaining an average heart rate of 149 bpm. I can run forever at that exertion level and it works out to about ~7:45min miles on flat ground over a long distance. With the moderate hill sections I hit, seeing even 8min/mile wasn't in the realm of possible. The hills along the route (there are 5 good sized and long ones) pushed my heart rate up to 161 for short periods of time but never too long. Still, I was pleased to see at the end of the run that I in fact averaged 149bpm and an 8:21/mile pace.

Today's total run time: 1:42