Less than two weeks

I race again on the 3rd of November. I haven't decided yet whether to run the half marathon or just do the 10k that goes along with it. Part of me wants to race the half, because the Golden Leaf didn't exactly give me the opportunity to get a decent time. As my friend and training partner just ran a 1:30:08 in the Denver Half to win her age group, I'd rather like to see what I can do. On the other hand, I don't want to wear myself out too much. My winter training program starts soon, and I want to run the Rock'n'Roll Phoenix in January. Plus, I think I could probably race a decent 10k and recover more quickly.

Meanwhile, I've continued my three run per weekend routine, running twice on Saturday and again on Sunday (in the snow!). I think the first snow of the year is always my favorite run, despite the fact that I always, always overheat. There's something peaceful about it, even when the wind is gusting at 45mph.

On another note, I've been working on my form a lot lately. My coach wants me to run up on my toes more, with almost no heel striking. I've been doing it, and I think it's actually working. Part of it is certainly my training increasing my fitness, but I've been completing my "normal" runs a lot faster than I used to, setting PRs on all of my normal loops. While this seems to be working, running further forward on my feet means that my calves are constantly tighter and more sore than they usually were before the switch. It's proven difficult to continue doing my normal biking commute and walking around town even. Hopefully this will go away fairly soon, or at least in the next month or so, but in the meantime, ouch.

Continuing with the "running forward" theme, I'm also considering trying out the Newtons, which are designed to force you to run further forward. I'm debating when to do this. My shoes are getting close to wearing out, but I don't want to switch to the Newtons right before a race. Add to that the fact that the Newtons are almost twice as much as my regular shoes, and you see the problem . . .

Lots to think about. Meanwhile, an hour overdistance today, followed by an interval workout tomorrow.