Well, not much to report here.  It started off as an exciting morning.  It was all smiles for Alice and Raffi as we left the house for our 45 minute drive to the race:

We witnessed a beautfiul sunrise as we crossed the bay:

But, a few minutes later…

We got the spare on in time and headed back out for the race (although at a slower speed).  The spare was making a horrible noise, and we were worried it was wobbling on us.  Once we got off the bridge, we stopped again and reset the spare.  By the time we were finished, we didn’t have enough time to reach the race before the start.  So, we turned around and headed back home.

I’m definitely disappointed.  I planned the whole spring training around this race.  I actually felt like I might be able to break 19 minutes this morning.  On the other hand, it was just a benchmark of my end of spring fitness.  I’m relieved to have some time over the next few weeks just running at easy pace.  No waking up to scary speed workouts.  I’ve got family coming in town over the next 3 weekends.  Then, the kids are out of town for a while.  Essentially, the next 4 weekends will be devoid of running…and I’m kind of excited about that.

It will be difficult to increase my mileage without the weekends in play, so I’ll just be hanging out with 20-30 mile weeks.  I probably won’t really set a number.  I’ll just run how I feel.  If I wake up and don’t feel like running, I won’t.  After that, I’ll throw some speedwork back into the mix in preparation for Disney’s Race for the Taste in October.  I’ll also be working my mileage up to 100 miles per week by that date, which is why I won’t feel guilty at all about skipping a few workouts in the next few weeks.

The spring’s speedwork has paid off, though.  I lowered my 5K PR from 22:30 to 19:34 (and would have likely lowered it more today).  Sub 18 is certainly possible by the fall.  I’ll probably trey to schedule a 5K in the summer for my own peace of mind and to get Alice one more race before cross country season starts.