Last night (Tuesday) was the long run. I ran (according to MapMyRun.com) almost exactly 9 miles in 1:21:04, a solid 9:00 pace. Most of the run was faster than that, but I slowed to a crawl a few times to fiddle with my iPod. Tomorrow night (Thursday) should be a moderate day to keep my legs fresh before the pyramid routine on Saturday. I plan on running a total of four miles, with miles two and three at a 7:40 pace. That will put me at 15 for the week... with Saturday's workout, I should hit between 20-22. I will have to check my log, but this could be the first time since high school that I've run more than 20 miles in a week.

I guess I'll have to get used to this. At this point I don't think I'm going to get into making a detailed running profile, but rather just use the forum like I did on forumer. In keeping with my usual pre-race procedure, I'll be running six moderate miles tonight, likely followed by a few strides.

I'm definitely doing the 5k race rather than the prediction run. If I wanted to do the latter, I could probably win by predicting a time of 25:50 and then running a steady 8:15 pace. That's not a real race to me. I'm more interested in defending my titles from last year in the 5k --- first place in the age group and third overall. Last year Joe was shut out of the age group by a Weiner, so hopefully this time he'll be able to cut Weiner off in the race. I'm very uncertain about how my time will go. Of course I have to break the 19:20 I ran there last year, but eclipsing my 18:44 from two weeks ago could be tricky; it is a mostly flat-fast course, but there are a couple sharp U-turns you have to make, plus one point where you have to ascend a hill by way of a zig-zagging handicap ramp. Thus it's not quite as fast as the Step-by-Step/Jingle Bell course. But the weather should be optimal for racing.

Indeed --- a narrow, wooden plank one that requires making three sharp, 180 degree turns.

It's at a point where you go down to water's edge --- where the big historical ships are kept --- and then get back up to the highland via the ramp. I actually don't think there would be any other way up. After the ramp, you resume running on the path you'd been on shortly before -- but in the opposite direction (much like the Chaptico Classic turnaround effect). So after tackling the ramp last year, I passed Joe face to face. "It's a race!" he said then, observing that the Son of Walser was hot on my heels.

There's the Nutcracker 5k near Solomons Island on December 24th.

I came to the unsatisfying realization earlier today that my season may very well end on Thursday. Prior to this morning, I had not run since Tuesday. I did five miles this morning, and my achilles and calf began hurting again. It has since subsided, and I think I can get by this week by icing and taking ibuprofen. However, I may have to take 2-3 weeks off in order to heal fully. If that happens, then unfortunately Jingle Bell will be off the table.

If this is an injury that requires more than a week of rest, I think it wouldn't be smart to run a race in the first few days of coming off the injury. If I take time off after the Turkey Trot, I'll probably end up calling it a season.