Not the best conditions...

...but not my worst run. I'll confess, the last time I ran over 9 miles was over a month ago. Between then and now, I've PR'd for the 5K distance and shaved another 25 seconds off my 1 mile all out time. But, hello, Vic!!!...we're training for a marathon here, right? Right.

Hopefully it's not too late to start ramping up again. I've obviously gained some fitness over the month and I didn't feel like I really needed to start from scratch ramping up the weekly LSD miles. Since the USA race is next weekend and 10 is such a nice, round number, I decided to give the 10-mile course through River Oaks a try.

Yes, the conditions today were horrible, especially compared to the seasonable mornings we've had this week. When I walked out the door this morning, the air hit me across the face like a George Foreman jab and I seriously considered just scrapping the whole thing. But I didn't. I did get a later start than I had intended, arriving at the park around 7:05.

I took water every chance I got. Had 3 gu's over the course of 10 miles. Grabbed water at Starbucks on Post Oak and then took advantage of the water hose behind Pilgrim's cleaners on San Felipe. TNT was serving up cool water over on Willowick and the fountains at Shepard and Allen Pkwy and at the Starbucks provided plenty hydration so I didn't have to carry a fuel belt.

I was a little surprised and am now a lot sore. I really ran well and ran consistently. I still felt a little bit of Thursday's run in my thighs and that's where I hurt the most now. I downed some Endurox and headed back to the house for soccer games and yard work. Here are the splits.

Total distance - 10.0 miles
Mile 1 - 13:52
Mile 2 - 13:37
Mile 3 - 14:07
Mile 4 - 13:29
MIle 5 - 13:40
Mile 6 - 13:32
Mile 7 - 13:40
Mile 8 - 14:37
Mile 9 - 13:46
Mile 10 - 13:15
Total time - 2:17:38
Average pace - 13:46

Oh, and I'll mention that I just let the clock run, even during water breaks. From this run, hopefully, I won't have to worry about a PR next weekend. I beat 2:22:53 today today on just a training run. Anyway, ...one word...REST DAY!!!