Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

6 more on the TM, mostly 7.0mph.  Overall pace: 8:32.  I think running on the TM might be getting more bearable.  I'm not going to fully commit to that statement but I can see the beginnings of a truth to it.

Anyway I found out they have races here - a lot of them.  Of course they all start around 5am because of the heat but there are plenty of 5 and 10Ks.  I'm thinking about doing a 10K as just a training run, maybe a bit faster than my TM jogging pace.  Out of curiosity I checked what the temp is tomorrow at 5am - it's 97F (ouch).  So I'd be doing it less for the race aspect, and more just to say I did it.  We'll see, I'm not committed to that idea either; plus it could be trumped by my work schedule on many days, so I'd have to get lucky that my dynamic work schedule pops out a late show on race day.

I walked to the gym at 4pm today (it's a half mile from my room) and it was the hottest day since I've been here: 122 (in the shade) when I left.  We have a thermometer sitting in the sun that said 136.  It feels like when you open the oven to get out the food you cooked, and that blast of hot air hits you.  Only with a little breeze it's constant.

On to the running:  I did 3@8:41,  2@7:30 and  1@8:57.  The last cool down mile was actually the hardest part as I never felt I caught my breath, though the 2-mile tempo got my lungs moving up and down pretty good as well.  It was pretty tough getting through it on a TM for me.  On the walk back, the wind had kicked up enough to get the sand and dust blowing so it was actually almost like shade, and a nice relief; I could barely see my shadow.

I signed up for a 10K on Friday morning at 5:30.  Whether I will make it or not depends on my schedule; I won't know if I'm running it until Thursday.  But it's free to sign up so why not?

Another 6 on the TM, 8:41 avg.  I'm actually a litle sore from yesterday, but only on one side.

6 @ 8:34 avg.  I found the treadmills that don't shut off after 30 minutes so I'm happy about that.  It still sucks trying to get through 6 miles though.  I just get so stuffy and hot.  I'll probably keep it at 6 for a couple weeks, then try 7, and so on...

It's looking like Friday's 10K will be a no-go for me as I'll probably have to be at work before the race even starts.  I think the stars would really have to align for me to get free one morning that happened to have a race, but I'm ok with that.  Base building is what I need now anyway.

Tomorrow, I'll rest as this was my 4th day in a row.  Next comes 5 days in a row, then 6, and I'll be back to running 6 days a week.  Feeling pretty good about my plan and feeling good physically, so I will definitely be entering the lotto for Houston when it opens.

My day off must have helped me because I felt good running today.  Like, ridiculously good.  I intended to just do 6 easy miles but it was feeling so aerobically easy by mile 4 that I didn't want to waste it.  So I did 4@8:41, .5@8:00, 1@7:30 and .5@6:58.  AP 8:18.  Just felt smooth and easy the whole time (even at the end), nothing like when I did a 2-mile tempo earlier this week.  In fact I felt like I could have kept going for a couple more miles at 6:58 today (decided now was not the time to be a hero).  Anyway, I'm pretty sure the magic goes away the next day as I've had these weird anomalistic Superman days before.  Easy run tomorrow for sure.

6 ez @ 8:38 AP.  I should have thought about my shoes more - I'm alternating between a somewhat new pair and one that already has 500+ miles.  Once I start running outside I probably shouldn't run on the old ones, so I don't think I'll last until January with these 2 pair.  Guess Danielle will be shoe shopping for me later!  She loves sending me all the stuff I forget to bring every deployment.