Let's go for a 10-mile swim, er, run

Well, no new major incidents of family drama to report in the past 24 hours.

Maybe I am setting the bar too low in terms of expectations, but I’ll take it.

Had a great run today. So many people in the group were away on summer vacation this morning that I found myself in an unusual position: pace group leader.

The half dozen or so folks training at a 10-minute-per-mile pace took off with me in the lead. I kept glancing at my Garmin to make sure I wasn’t taking the group out too fast until we warmed up. I was aiming for as much as an 11-minute pace over the first mile. We clocked it at 10:24. Second mile was a bit under 10. Sorry about that. Then we steadily logged a few 10-minute miles, nearly right on the dot.

The humidity was intense. At times it felt as if we were swimming, rather than just running.

Still, it felt good. On the way back, I even kicked it into a higher gear a little. The group largely had dwindled away by that point. A few were running longer than 10. Two others took a side trip to use the facilities nearby. Another slowed down quite a bit, saying he was tired. I took off on my own, posting several sub-9-minute miles.

I am feeling strong. A few twinges in my feet, now and then, but so far nothing too serious. A heck of a lot better than this time last summer, that's for sure. It intrigues me to think how I might perform in a race. I did go ahead and get signed up for the Komen Race for the Cure run in a few weeks.

Should be fun.