A good first step...

Did it.

Last time I was in here, I mentioned that I needed to up my pace for yesterday's 10K so that I would be on pace to eventually hit the mark needed to qualify for the '10 Ascent. Wasn't sure I was ready to do it for that kind of distance just yet, but went out and gave it a shot. Felt a bit anxious right up until we started, not because I was worried about the distance (really, at this point 6 miles is a very nice distance), but because I had a definite time I wanted to hit which was much faster than any 6 mile run I'd done before. As with most races/racers (like I did in the half two weeks ago), I went out too fast in for the first mile and had to repeatedly tell myself to slow down. I was able to settle into a fairly even pace for the last 5 miles and ended up bettering my goal by just shy of 4 1/2 minutes.

Next step is the Turkey Day 5K. Not quite sure what specific numbers I want to hit in that run yet. Clearly I want to do at least as well as yesterday, and I'm thinking I'd like to shave about 15-20 seconds per mile off my average, but I'll figure it out as the event gets closer.

In the meantime, gotta keep the work up. Be back tomorrow for the weigh-in.