Saturday's To-Do List:

14 mile run - check. One of the things I have to do to solidify a time goal for NYC is to see if I can actually sustain faster paces for longer periods of time. This was the first time I tried this in the group environment. Last season, I trained with the 11:20 minute mile group and had a BLAST. This season, in the interest of getting faster, I decided to jump up a few groups for the first run of the season, and attempt a run with the 10:30 minute mile group. According to conventional wisdom, for a 4:15 marathon (9:30 minute mile pace - a VERY early, VERY tentative goal), this is right about where I should be for long runs. It was different - we didn't take walk breaks at the mile markers, and the aid station breaks were brief - but I enjoyed it, and I actually averaged a 10:07 pace for the entire run.

My friends turned back at the 12 mile turnaround, but I was committed to 14, so I kept going. The skies pretty much opened up on me at the farthest point from the start, but it made for a refreshing, unusually cool morning for late June in Kansas City. It was a nice confidence builder. I'm not sure that a 4:15 marathon is actually the end goal - people keep cautioning me that it might be too optimistic - but what they don't understand about me and running is that I have no ego. Every time I thought I might be getting faster, I've been knocked down by GI tract issues (the KC Marathon was basically a 26.2 mile toilet tour) or injuries (which, incidentally, also began with GI tract issues and an inopportune pit stop and culminated with a DNF at Illinois). I have absolutely no problem changing the goal to a slower time, or even just a "do it" goal.

Though, if I can, I'd really, REALLY like to come in under the 4:30 mark. Any time longer than that, and I won't make the deadline for the marathon edition of the New York Times...and that'd be a great memento for my trip to NYC.

Splits: 11:12, 10:26, 10:09, 10:01, 9:55, 10:15, 9:31, 9:36, 9:58, 10:18, 9:55, 9:47, 10:00, 10:04. I am not fast, but I am consistent. :)

For the uninitiated - in the future, if you'd like to read the daily details I write about my runs, click on the dailymile link on the left side of the page. I have about a year's worth of documentation on there, it's kind of fun to read back through.

Finish fundraising page and go live - check. Thanks to a couple of close friends who know both me AND my mother, and whose opinions I value beyond measure approving of the very nonconventional text for my fundraising page...I went ahead and posted it, along with a favorite photograph and an Elie Wiesel quote I thought was fitting. The only thing that concerns me is that Dad won't think it's appropriate. Guess we'll see. After playing around with some of the icons I found on the actionalz.org site, I switched the html code to refer to my fundraising page. Hope that's kosher.

Celebrate!!! - check. Usually I save the big meals for the 20+ mile training runs, but today I felt like I really achieved something. So Brian and I went to Oklahoma Joe's for dinner - I had the rib/pulled pork dinner and we split some of KC's best fries - and Glacé Artisan Ice Cream for dessert. The caramelized pineapple ice cream was fantastic, but I wasn't as crazy about the peach - I think it was the cinnamon.

I'd chase such a productive Saturday with a lazy, laying-in-the-sun Sunday, but there's still work to be done!