Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

41F, S 14 mph.  7:33 AP.  I pushed it up to a more moderate pace finally, kinda trying to force my cardio to come back.  I got a little tired at the end though, still recovering I guess.  Maybe next week I'll push out a tempo to see where I'm at.  Time to stop puttering around and get back at it if I'm going to run an April marathon.

55F, SSW 17-29 mph.  7:38/mile today - I felt as good as I have yet since the marathon.  I was hitting 8:00 pace going into the south wind -- definitely a good sign that I am close to recovered.  The tailwind coming home was fun - one of those that lifts you up with each step and carries you along.

52F.  Bad run, I could never catch my breath...just felt wiped out for some reason.  Probably a lack of sleep last night, maybe some stress.  Ended up with a few miles in the 8:20s to finish, overall avg was in the 8:00s.

On the backroads, I ran by a skunk that must have just been hit by a car that passed me earlier; it was dark, but I could see he was still twitching.  It was the foulest smell I've ever experienced.  When I was far away it just smelled like a skunk.  Then when I got closer (before I could see him there in the middle of the road) the smell was more like burning plastic or burning hair or something...just really acrid and strong.  Like a turd covered in burnt hair.  He must have expelled any and all bodily fluids after getting hit.  I thought for sure it was something other than a skunk, until I saw him.  I've never been so close to puking during a run, I had to really concentrate to keep it in.  Then I had to pass him going back the other way.  I concentrated on not breathing through my nose but the smell worked its way in anyway.  The wind was blowing it right down the road too, for me to enjoy for a good half mile.

easy 6 before driving to Kansas.  8:14/mile

48F, rain.  2 loops around the town of Derby, Kansas with April.  I had a job interview at the Air Force base up there.  She and her family were gracious enough to have me over for dinner the night before, which was awesome, and then we ran in the pouring rain for 18 miles on Friday.  Amazing how fast the miles seemed to click by, even though it rained the whole time.  We did the first loop pretty easy, then picked it up a little for the second loop, finishing nice and strong.  We thought about doing a tempo run to finish it off, but I was secretly happy when she suggested to just gradually pick up the pace.  Hopefully we'll be able to get together for more runs in the future.

This was my last job interview (God, I hope so anyway).  Should find out soon whether I'm moving to KS or OK.