For the second week in a row I met Raymond at the entrance to Wissahickon park for 8.5 miles on Forbidden Drive. This time I ran to and from the entrance which added on about 2.5 miles.

The weather was quite warm, about as warm as it has been so far this year, and I had a good sweat worked up in the 10 minutes it took me to run over there. However, once we got into the park the shade really cooled things off and it was a nice comfortable run. Both Raymond and I had memories of Broad street in our heads and in our legs. We discussed the race and kept the pace easy, right around 8:00.

Due to Raymond's very analytical approach to running and my somewhat analytical approach to running we often talk about training plans and what has or hasn't worked for us in training. Raymond has a goal of a low 2:50's marathon in the fall and was discussing his training plan to reach that goal. The conversation really got me thinking about my own marathon plans for the fall. Why shouldn't I be shooting for the same times that he is? My shorter races definitely indicate that it is within the realm of possibilty. Instead of "just" trying for sub 3:00 why not shoot for a 2:53.

It's a decision I am going to need to make fairly soon. If I want this to work I need to lay some groundwork for more intense traning in the late summer and fall by logging a bunch of easy miles now. If yesterday was any indication those easy miles shouldn't be to much a of a problem.

A little over 11 miles in 90 minutes. My legs feel much better today.