By the time I headed out this morning, it was in the mid seventies. Clear, blue, and beautiful. I started out by heading off for my neighborhood hill loop; about four and a quarter miles with plenty of good long hills. After that, I stopped in for a few glasses of PowerAde since I was sweating pretty well - lack of shade will do that for you.

When I got back to the house my pulse was up at 180, but that has more to do with the fact that I spent the last quarter mile at a 7:10 pace in the heat than anything else. After a couple of minutes and three glasses I headed out into the park to finish up. My only real goal today was to comfortably exceed 10k (my next race) and have fun doing it.

Once in the park I did two extended laps - each one almost a mile on asphalt and half a mile on some really fun singletrack with plenty of rocks and roots. Nothing too challenging, but I definately had to pay attention to my footing. I finished up with another mile on the road for a bit over eight miles total - the last quarter down close to a seven minute pace again.

My overall pace was a bit under 9:30, pretty much where I figured it was and should have been for an easy weekend run. I didn’t worry about my breathing, pacing, or much of anything else, just ran for fun. You know what? It felt pretty damn good.

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