Rarity tonight -- an outdoor run in midweek. But the weather was just so perfect -- high 40s, no wind, clear sky -- that I couldn't do another TM run in a heated fitness room. So I drove six miles to run on the old familiar river trail, where at least my chances of getting flattened by an automobile are minimized. Getting flattened by a bicycle, that's another story -- and it easily could have happened a couple of times, especially since I forgot my blinky light. Fortunately, all the cyclists had their headlamps and could see me anyway, and a couple were even courteous enough to yell out a warning, although I heard all of them coming anyway (an advantage of not wearing an iPod). Wore the Garmin, but it was too dark to see it much anyway (started about 15 minutes before it became completely dark). So I just tried to keep a constant, comfortable pace. Turned out that pace was a smidge under 9:00. I used to think sub-9 was hauling-A, now it's comfortable. Total distance: 8.21 miles, which equals roundtrip from the boat house to the Burns Park boat ramp and back through Alligator Alley. Took 72 minutes. I guess I'll do the VO2 max tomorrow, but may wait until Thursday. We'll see how I feel. | 