For Michele and Lynner!

I'm a bit behind on my dedicated runs. Sorry! This run happened last Thursday. It's dedicated to Michele and Lynner! I sent out an impassioned plea for $15 to reach the $1000 milestone and they both stepped up independently to push me over my goal. Thanks so much ladies, without your help hitting the pavement is so much more difficult.

This year I've been really lucky to have a lot of company on my training runs. Most mornings when I head down to the gate to leave campus, there's someone there waiting to run with me. Given my occasional flakiness due to off nights with the baby, it means even more to me that my friends are around to help. Thanks guys!

Back to Thursday. When I got down to the gate, there was nobody there. After waiting for about 5 to 10 minutes, I took my solitude as a sign to attempt to break the Nehru Park record. When I have company, we can't really run Nehru, so I haven't been pushing myself as much lately. Since I've managed to hook all of my running friends on trying to beat the record, the competition has ramped up.  The previous link shows my March 24 attempt of 11:10, which was then seven seconds behind the record. My next effort was a massive one, taking 24 seconds off of the record, pushing it down to 10:46. That record held until April 17, when Bernie managed to steal my record away. His time? 10:45. My best time in April was a measly 12:06, so when I set out on Thursday, I knew I had some work to do.

I headed out on my 4 mile route of the park and entered with a mindset to break the record. I was focused on my pace and tried my hardest to push my limits. It felt good in the park, I was running fast and I felt like I had a chance at the record. After the last sprint to the finish, I left the park and felt tired. I mean, really tired. So tired that I stopped my run. My plan was to walk back to school and call it a day. Wednesday is my soccer night, so any Thursday run is a bonus. I quickly looked at my phone to check my time on the loop and saw two things. First, I didn't break the record. My time was 11:05. Second, I saw that I had only run 2.64 miles. I was disappointed with both.

I decided to run home despite my tiredness. When I got home, I spent about an hour analyzing my run looking for a way to cut time. I identified four areas of the run where I can try to push a little harder, but overall, it's getting hard to cut the seconds.

I hope to do it. Maybe it will be on another dedicated run. Maybe we can make a wager, readers. How much would you donate if I can break the current record? Leave your pledges in the comments of this post and when I break the Nehru Loop record, I'll collect. ;)

This run belongs to Michele and Lynner!

I'm dedicating runs to raise money for a campship in memory of our friend Ty Taylor at YMCA Camp Miller. Click here or here to donate. Please make sure you choose the Ty Taylor Campship option. And please let me know if you've made a donation so I can thank you!

RUN STATS:

Distance - 2.64 miles first, then .69 miles more
Time - 18:28, 5:49. The pace on the first run 7 minutes/mile. The last bit, 8:28 minutes/mile.
Soundtrack - The Pixies' new album, Indie Cindy!

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