Making it about more than myself

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	1:34:06	8:25 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	1:34:01	8:25 pace
Distance (mi )	11.16
Moving Speed (mph)	7.1 avg.	13.7 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+238 / -238
Avg. Heart Rate	160 bpm	Zone 4.6
Temperature (°F)	21.2°F avg.	23°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	N 8.1 avg.	N 10.4 max.

Start Time: 09:52:17 AM
NS

Truly great run today. Averaged over a 1/2 minute per mile better this week than last---without intending to do so at all. On the long runs, I typically do not look at my watch until the turnaround point because it would be too easy to watch the clock on a 90+ minute run. So when I hit the turnaround and checked, it was clear that we were running a much faster pace than I would have expected (or thought safe...). Unlike last week, it was incredibly consistent across miles. Even the 'cool down' during the last mile was much faster than I would expect.

Lap (#)	Time (m:s)	Distance (mi )	A Spd (mph)	HR (bpm)		Energy (Cal)
				Avg	Max
1	9:04	1.00	6.6	137	158	142
2	8:07	1.00	7.4	161	164	142
3	7:59	1.00	7.5	166	172	144
4	8:20	1.00	7.2	162	166	143
5	8:12	1.00	7.3	166	170	143
6	8:13	1.00	7.3	166	168	143
7	8:04	1.00	7.4	166	168	144
8	8:10	1.00	7.3	163	166	143
9	8:18	1.00	7.2	163	167	143
10	8:08	1.00	7.4	164	167	144
11	9:43	1.00	6.2	155	164	132
12	1:44	0.13	4.4	127	131	15

Middle Miles Average: 7.33 MPH; 8:11 pace

It sure did not feel like a Tempo Run pace, but my HR was at 85% of max the whole time (compared with 77% last week) which by all accounts puts it clearly in the tempo threshold---except that who does an 11 mile/90 minute Tempo? Probably a really bad idea in terms of not getting injured, but I really never felt like I was pushing it---and I certainly was not trying to keep to a particular pace (OK, during mile 10, when I realized that I had been running this pace, I decided to finish strong). It was cold, bright, and clear with snow all around. The city did a good job of clearing the path which made it especially easy to run---although the 'side streets'---meaning the tributaries that get you to the path were a mess making we wonder how the city imagines that you are going to get to the path that they have so carefully cleared. Take what we can get anyway.

Spent a lot of time thinking about how to put together a team-in-training-like situation for Blue Gargoyle and I think I have the basic structure now. I had been thinking about rushing something out the door---including changing my own plans again to include the St. Louis---in part to try to offer the program to people who are pacing end-of-year giving. The truth is that while I think I could probably raise 2620 for Saint Louis, a more careful strategy could do 10x that amount. In particular, I would like to get some pacesetters in place AND see if we can find matching funds, ideally for the whole amount. I also want to take the Gallup into this program and I think we could add another series of goals that could bring the total up over 50k if we did it well. I have most of the plan together, but now I need to work on strategy and it convinces me more that we need to work on BG's website so that it presents the agency as well as possible to a pretty diverse audience. I also want to get my team together before launching it. With Chicago in October, we have exactly the right amount of time in front of us to put this whole program together.