The Future "Mrs. Peter Kim"

Exciting news for American long distance running that Kara Goucher has decided to run the World Marathon Championships in Berlin on August 23rd. This could set up a potential duel with Paula Radcliffe, assuming her recovery from foot surgery goes well. Berlin's World Championship course is apparently going to be close to its current marathon setup for the Berlin Marathon, which means it will be flat and fast. I am curious to see how Kara measures up on that type of course, as her only marathons have been on hilly venues (NYC and Boston). She will undoubtedly run faster, but race tactics are so much different on a flatter course. It should be noted that she is passing up on big money appearance fees on a fall marathon to run the World Championships, which will probably encourage some of the other top U.S. runners to follow suit. She will be one of the heavy favorites come August. Good luck, Kara!!!

Last night, headed over to Pat and Crystal's for another wonderful dinner (Turkey Meatloaf and Homemade Macaroni and Cheese), and got to experience some of the most ridiculous stomach fullness after eating two large platefoods of food. After an hour recovery, stumbled home and got ready for a quick run. The night was absolutely perfect - cool, light breeze, around 60 degrees, and I couldn't ask for anything more. Decided to do a different loop (relatively flat, small elevations) to enjoy the conditions, and found myself pretty much on cruise control the entire way. About 3 miles into it, made a quick pit stop to my friend Jared's house to say hi to him and his beautiful family, then headed home. Got a little carried away on distance and pace, but legs felt great and had to really keep myself from just busting out something ridiculous. Ended up with ~6.5 miles with warmup/cooldown: splits were 7:28, 7:09 (oops!), 7:25, 7:26, 7:17, 7:18. First run this training cycle that truly felt easy, and I am feeling that good progress is being made.

Tonight, 45 minute fartlek, might try to catch a few extra miles if I still have legs later since I skimped out Tuesday's run. Picking up Shane at the airport, looking forward to getting in some runs with him this weekend!