97°. Feels Like 104°

A current heat wave in D.C. frustrated my ambition yesterday to break my 20:00 goal nine months earlier than planned. The temperature at least cooled down four degrees from a high of 101° (38 °C) by the time the race started. Still, I managed to finish my time trial in 21:20 (unofficial), with 6:34, 6:41 and 7:20 mile splits. By the second mile mark, I was pretty much spent, and really just slogged through a quick jog to make it to the finish line. Like any traumatic event, I continue to reflect on that brutal race last night, wondering what I could have done differently to have improved my time: train more? more speedwork? command the weather to not be so hot? And the answer is always the same: nothing, although I have to figure out a way to navigate the crowds of fellow runners - 1,700 people ran this race last year - that slowed things down as well. Despite yesterday's less-than-ideal weather conditions, I still managed to chop over three minutes from my 5K time three months ago.

Since starting this training program this past April, I've run an average of just 8.25 miles a week. Given my goal, that really isn't a lot, and will probably rise a bit by my next time trial in October. Still, if yesterday taught me anything, it's that my goal is definitely within reach, perhaps sooner than I originally expected.