Back on the TM tonight as Minnesota visits Arkansas for a few days -- temps around 25 and wind chill in the teens. Started out planning a recovery run, but again it felt right to crank up the pace as the run went on. Ended up at 8:34 pace for the last two miles, which would be interim-GMP plus 10% until I decide finally what GMP is going to be. For now, I'm going to work toward a 7:45 pace. I know I could hold 7:45 for 13 miles two months ago, the trick will be to double that in five months. My shoot for the moon goal is probably a 3:15 (7:24 pace); my fallback goal is just a BQ. Wow -- BQ as a fallback goal. Anyway, run went well. Had a weird twinge in the left glutes as the run began which I have not felt before, but it went away in the first 400 and did not return. Those last two miles at 8:34 felt quite comfortable. I did not turn on the fan in the fitness center because I wasn't sure I needed it, as cold as it was outside. Turned out I worked up quite a sweat without it. That's OK too; my race is in May, when it will definitely NOT be in the 20s, so I might as well maintain some degree of acclimation to "heat" so that I'm not caught unprepared when it warms up in the spring. | 