6.2mi (10km), 48:02

Cruiserweight, "To Be Quite Honest"
Cruiserweight, "Goodbye Daily Sadness"

WX at 2200: 68.0 (20.0), DP 66.9 (19.4), BP 29.97 (1014), WNW 5 heavy rain; mist, RH 96%

Odometer 2: 406.5mi

Z3 mid.
Resting heart rate before start = 69 (139/93)

Damn, this was therapeutic! I don't know if it's because I have a clean high-and-tight for the first time in about a month, or if it's because it's the first run in driving rain that I've done in a long, long time. There's a feral intensity to running in the rain that I used to indulge in my younger years. Maybe it's time to get hungry again when that happens, but it rains so little relative to those runs that those opportunities are few and far between. When they happen, the runs are always good.

I noticed a distinct shift to something more approximating race pace about midway through the second 5k lap. My second 5k lap was markedly faster as I settled into a faster tempo

I had been intent on running 15k, but I figured two days after running 10.2, maybe I should wait, so discretion prevailed over deliberate fury.

I guess if I'm training for a 10-miler, this isn't so bad. Unfortunately, I'm torn between training for two separate events, diametrically opposite in training foci. I need to start working on training for the Disney Marathon, scheduled for January 2006. Using the Hal Higdon training plan, I have 18 weeks to start ramping up. This might actually mesh with what the plan is going to be, depending on when my class takes its physical fitness test, which we think will be sometime in late August or early September. Not sure when. This means I have latitude to start speedwork in preparation for that event, and with a cinder track less than 500m away from my quarters, it's too good an opportunity not to take, as much as I loathe interval work.

Two last notes.

1. Big props to Team Discovery Channel for putting the hammer down and winning the team time trial. It's always good to see American kicking ass in the cycling world. If only they got more coverage in their own damn home country...

2. My heart goes out to David Zabriskie, who crashed his bike with 1.5km to the finish of the team time trial in Stage 4 of today's Tour de France. He looked like he got some bad road rash, but I think he's much more crushed that he lost the maillot jaune after leading the General Classification for the last three days. That man's got some heart - and he's still in the top ten of the GC.

Splits
24:20 first 5km, 7:50/mi pace
23:42 first 5km, 7:38/mi pace