Marathon Training: September 11th, 2008

Today, I ran 10 miles. It's what you call a taper week. As far as I can tell, the marathon training schedule is kind of whack, but Hal Higdon has yet to steer me wrong, so I'm following directions. I did four miles on Belle Meade Blvd. and then tackled the 5.8 hilly, ridiculously difficult miles in Percy Warner Park. It was a tale of two paces. On the relative flatlands of Belle Meade Blvd I was under 9 minute pace. In the hills of Percy Warner I was over 10. Yeah, I need some consistency. In the past, I've run Percy Warner with someone who has a brilliant internal pace clock that keeps me on track. Not so much today. So, I didn't exactly bonk, but I could definitely stand to do more hills during the week.

On a totally unrelated note, I want to give a big shout out to my friends Laura and Joel Becker (and children) who hosted me for a beer on their front porch last night. They're good people. I love people like that who I don't see for a year, yet I'm able to then just jump right back into great conversation. I've actually known Laura since high school, when we both served on a national youth ministry committee. That kind of ongoing connectionalism is why I'm excited about the PC(USA) this week.