I decided last night to do the Franklin Classic 5k today since my calf was feeling ok after the triathlon Saturday. I had strained it on a run earlier in the week. So I drove to Franklin & registered this morning. I tried something new and ran WITHOUT looking at my Garmin (except to start it), and "run by feel". QUESTION FOR JEFF - If you're running by "feel" and you feel like hell, does that mean you're suppose to run like hell? I tried not to think about the "pain" or whatever the heck it is that makes a person want to slow down and instead just tried to relax and think about running fast. I found that I'll need a lot more work to run hard without thinking about NOT throwing up because after about a mile that thought kept coming to my mind. What helped was picking a person ahead of me, counting how long it took for me to cross the place in the road they crossed, and running hard enough for that number to get smaller until I eventually passed them. In the final stretch to the finish I saw that a teenage boy, probably 14 or so was kicking, so I thought I would stay with him to finish strong. He looked over and hit another gear and so did I and I managed to sprint pretty much full speed across the finish. Then I wondered ...if I had that much left, why hadn't I ran faster during the race?? One of those things that make you go "Hmmmm". I ended up beating my PR by 7 seconds with a 22:49, and surpisingly this was 10th out of 60 in my AG. I talked to a couple of people who did the Tupelo marathon yesterday...who were doubling today...so I didn't say much more about my little triathlon on Saturday. It was a fun race, but pretty hot and humid (big surprise I guess). Who else was there today?

Hey Trent - congrats on Tupelo! The ones who did Tupelo were Diane - I can't remember her last name...she does ultras and did the Jaunt in the Joint last year,not sure if she did this year... and Phylis something from Knoxville. I hadn't met Phylis before today, but she's done 152 marathons.

Yeah that's the ones...it seems EVERYONE I meet that's doing the Monkey is freakin' hardcore. I'm starting to piece this thing together and not feel so good about my marathon choices.

Good to see you today Tony. Sorry I didn't get to talk to you long.

QUESTION FOR JEFF - If you're running by "feel" and you feel like hell, does that mean you're suppose to run like hell?

That sounds about right: if it hurts too much, run faster! Umm, Candice and Tanya: WTF. You gotta be happy with PR's. There are few rules in this sport, and that's one of them.

Yeah, I totally know what you mean. I'm just jealous, peak or no peak.

Umm, Candice and Tanya: WTF. You gotta be happy with PR's. There are few rules in this sport, and that's one of them.

Mine's only about a 15 second PR too. My previous one was also at race Judicata. I ran horribly yesterday.

If it helps you all feel any better, I felt like crap on my bike ride yesterday, too. It was HOT! Tony, right now the achilles is feeling pretty good. But it's too early to tell. No running for me today; I'm headed to the pool in a bit.