Eight weeks down, seven to go. Training in week 8 was a bit unique with three 6-mile recovery runs, a 14-mile midweek run, and a 16-mile long run. The recoveries each went well enough if not uneventful.

It was kind of nice to have several easy runs all lined up. Tuesday’s 14 miler was faster than expected, mainly because I knew Colin was also going to be running 14 miles (in Connecticut) and I wanted to put up a good showing. Well that jerk a) “got lost” and ran 15 miles; and b) was tired so probably going to be a little slower. He ended up still being faster, even with the longer distance and being “tired”.

The real question would be how the 16 miler on Saturday would go. The plan called for 12 of the 16 miles at race pace. The day before I spoke with the jerk Colin about what my “race pace” should be considering the ridiculous heat conditions. Basically, 8 minutes per mile at 86 degrees and 60% humidity is not the same as 8 minutes per mile at 63 degrees and 20% humidity. I had to figure out what an appropriate race pace would be in these brutal Texas conditions. The plan I came up with? Just wing it. I’m happy to report my pace was awesome during the race pace miles, totally boosting my confidence in what has been a bit of a discouraging stretch.

Onward to Week 9!