6.24 miles in 55'10"

it was still dark at 7:00 when i pulled up at ryan k's house in haviland saturday morning. he and marshall b were out waiting for me when i pulled up to the curb. we walked down to the city park were we met up with travis s and josh b. donnie h didn't show up on time, so we just left without him.

about a block after our start we passed the bank thermometer. it read 57 degrees, but the brisk north wind made it feel much colder. early on ryan and i set a slightly faster pace than the others. the three amigos stayed within a block of us for most of the lap then josh and marshall dropped back and travis started chasing ryan and me down. the bank thermometer read 56 this time around.

after our second lap, travis was within a quarter block of us. ryan and i started to up our pace a bit near the schools. i was doing fine, cruising along until we turned onto chestnut. it was there, three blocks from main on lap three, that i started feeling pretty lousy. since i've puked on a run before, i knew what was coming if i didn't slow down.

i'm not especially fond of bile, so when we hit main i told ryan to go. i was just going to slow him down. i dropped my pace a bit and got the nausea under control. travis passed me. i kept going.

when i passed the barclay college gym, my wife spotted me and asked me how much i had left. at the time i thought i might not finish my planned 10K, so i told her, "at least a half lap."

i ran around the east side of town and back to the city park where i had to make the hard decision: to stop or keep going. i kept going. i glanced at the bank as i ran past it the last time. 55 degrees. minus one degree per lap!

before i got to the schools for the last time, i was feeling a lot better. i picked up my pace and dealt with the headwind for the last time. turning past the barclay college gym again, i upped it even more. i looked at my watch. "if i work hard, i can make 54 minutes," i thought. i ran!

turning south i flew down the street with the wind at my back and a slight downward slope. i kept pushing and pushing and pushing. i rounded the corner and saw ryan and travis waiting. i ran as hard as my legs and lungs would allow.

i stopped my body and my watch at the city park. 55'10" for 6.24 miles! a new PR for 10K since starting up again in august. i only need to take a few seconds off of each mile to put the skinny kid in his place. i'm going to beat him!

thanks, ryan for helping me set a good early pace. thanks travis, josh and marshall for showing up. it was great!