I'm retired from racing. Really.

Long run today.  Left at 6 am and ran to Paul's house.  We ran to the canal and up into Logan canyon.  There was a very stiff wind coming out of the canyon, strong enough to almost stop us moving a few times.  It was strong enough that even though we were 2 feet apart, we couldn't hear each other (I asked him 3 times, "Do you think Favre will get traded this weekend?" and he thought I kept asking, "How far are you training this weekend?").  The pace up was slow- I don't think we ever went faster than 8 min pace on the way up, and I imagine the wind and hill miles may have been 9 min pace.  Paul turned around at around an hour just as I paid an emergency visit to a bush.  Then I continued on up the trail to Guinavah Malibu campground- just over 11 miles in 1:32:58, a whopping 8:27 pace.  I was thirsty and getting tired so was excited for the downhill.  Ran home via the same route, picking up the pace along the way.  By the time I hit the canal I was running just under 7:00 pace.  1:19:05 for the return trip (I added on a little to hit 22.5 miles), 7:10 average.  Not too bad- 1:17 faster per mile on the way back!  2:52:04 for the run- 7:38 pace.  My legs were tired but still moving well by the end.  Good run.  It was nice to run with Paul, even though it was only for 1/4 of the run.

84 miles for this week- my highest mileage of the year and highest since last August.  85 miles next week, then up to the 90's for a few weeks.  This week was the end of my race-free training, with 4 races in the next 6 weeks.

806- 491