Perry – From BostonMarathon.org: FAQ: I used my qualifying time from a fall marathon in 2008 to enter the 2009 Boston Marathon. Can I use the same time again for the 2010 Boston or do I need another qualifier? A: Qualifying for the 2010 Boston Marathon began September 27, 2008, so if you ran a fall marathon on that date or later your time can be used to qualify for the Boston Marathon in both 2009 and 2010, even if you run in 2009. I think Boston tends to cap several months before the race, so qualification begins almost 18 months beforehand. It's pretty weird. In theory, someone could qualify for Boston, not run for a year, and then go run the race. Regardless, you qualified for the 2010 Boston Marathon. Joe – During the summer I would usually head to the NCR Trail around 7am or so. This was imperative to avoid the weather on hot days, but also to avoid the large crowds. Unfortunately for runners/cyclers, the wide NCR trail is extremely family friendly. It’s not uncommon for one to have to avoid parents teaching their children to ride bikes. Sounds as though you have a similar situation there, but I'm sure that's the case for pretty much all major trails. Regardless, I’m not sure whether I’ll be going to the NCR Trail on Saturdays anymore, unless Alden and I want to run on neutral ground. While the beginning (and therefore, the end) of my course in my neighborhood is hilly, Val showed me some relatively flat back-roads that she discovered recently. That will be a good break in the middle of a long run. However, the NCR Trail would be decent on especially hot days because of the shade it provides.

You guys pulled off some decent times again. Nicely done. I hopped on the treadmill at work for another 40 minute gradual tempo run. I think I had the treadmill at 6.2 mph for the first five minutes, and then increased speed gradually to 8.4 mph (~7:08 pace) for minutes 25-30. I followed that up with a few more minutes at an 8:00 pace, and then cooled down. Overall I did five miles before heading to class to take my midterm. I'll probably try to get my interval workout done tomorrow night (Wednesday). The workout will include 2x1600 at 10K pace, and 1x1200, 1x800, 1x400 between 5K and 10K pace. I'll probably try to do some strides as well, time & weather permitting. Should be something to the effect of 7-7.5 miles tomorrow.

I've actually turned the corner on treadmill workouts, at least on an occassional basis. I don't have to worry about speed, but can focus on the mechanics of my stride. Additionally, I'm sure everyone remembers how the rough the temperature of mid-to-upper 60s felt at Hospice last year after months of running in the 30s and 40s. The weekly treadmill workout is (hopefully) getting me more accustomed to running in the warmer temperatures. Today's run felt especially hot and humid due to more people being in the gym for some reason.

... But then again you both are running a 5k this weekend. ...

Are you guys doing Colon, or something else?

It's sort of a Catch 22 for me. I should be training more directly for a 10k, except I don't have enough of a mileage base to do the longer distance 10k speedwork, so running shorter 5k workouts is less fatiguing as I try to build my mileage up. Of course, I should probably not be doing much speedwork at all and be focusing on mileage. I've noticed, though, that my endurance is improving as each day of running passes, but my speedwork only improves if I actually do a speed workout. My legs aren't accustomed to running quickly-- in a 400s or 800s workout, my first fresh repitition is never my fastest in the set, because I'm not used to it and it doesn't feel comfortable until after a few. I do think the hills workout today is pretty much going to destroy me. Phil and I are trying to mostly train through this week. I think it's supposed to rain Thursday and Friday, so I plan to do very little running one of those days. This will have been my longest stretch of consecutive days running since a looooong time ago. The 5k actually starts at 10:30, which is too late for Phil to be able to go. Yes, I'm planning to Keep [My] Colon Rollin'. I've determined that I can run no better than a 23:30 based on how awkward my legs felt doing 800s, so I know my time will be something higher than that. This is really just a time trial to find out what sort of shape I'm in. I've run maybe 5 or fewer 10ks in my life, so the result time from Hospice is actually going to do very little to tell me what kind of shape I'm in (so far as I'm able to rationalize it relative to my old times). I'm still treating Hospice as the more important race, but I kind of need this 5k time in order to estimate a goal for the 10k a month from now. This will consequently help me calculate the actual times I should be doing for intervals/tempos. It's also worth mentioning that I often balk at the idea of pre-determined paces for runs. I try to think about whether the day's workout is intended to tire me or to be easy mileage and then I adjust my pace according to what I was hoping to get out of that particular day. Using yesterday at the track and today at Ryken, for example, I'm only doing both at about 80-85% since its two semi-hard days in a row. My 80% on the hills today will be highly variable based on how I feel after yesterday's track workout.

I think Phil certainly would. I don't want to speak for him, but I'm pretty sure he prefers the 5k distance over 10k+ distances. The nice thing about a 5k is that you can see a lot of improvement without having to go over 40 miles per week. In that regard, Phil and I are better suited to 5ks in the coming months. I plan to keep building my mileage into the fall, though, so I'm hoping to feel comfortable doing anything between a 5k and a half-marathon by fall.

If you are referring to the new LPR 10-miler, then that might be an awesome option this fall. I would kind of like to do the Annapolis 10-miler, but with it being the day after Chaptico always, I can't really race it. I like the distance, so having home field advantage for a 10-miler might be nice.

I've never done A10. What I liked about LPR10, was being done at the lighthouse, and not having to go run those dumb rolling hills up to Calloway