This week I ran my two fastest 5-mile runs. Coming from a old, slow guy, the numbers aren't very impressive, but everything is relative. Also, today was my first run with my new metatarsal lifts. I'm still tweaking their placement on my insole, but the nerve on the ball of my foot between my second and third toe did not seem as sore today. Once I get the lifts in the right position I think they will barely be noticeable on my runs. They definitely didn't interfere with my speed.

In the past, my 5-mile runs have averaged between 10:30 and 11:30/mile, with many winter runs over 12 minutes/mile. This week has been a completely different story. I've been running with Duane Gentlemen, a former competitive runner with a best marathon time of 2:43. He won the  Nashville Marathon "back in the day." I need to find out when that was. He stopped running years ago due to issues with his knees.

Duane decided to start running again and now we run together twice a week. He's been coaxing me to get my pace up. Last week didn't go well because of the heat. We were supposed to run a 5-mile run a week ago, but I had to stop after 4-miles because I was so hot.

This week is much cooler, in the sixties, and I was determined to improve my time. Tuesday we ran a flat 5-mile route on the Indian Creek trail. I didn't have to battle the heat and I settled into a good rhythm. I knew we were making good time, but I was surprised to see that we had covered 5.02 miles in 49:26, or 9:50/mile.

Today, we did our hill workout with a loop in Stump Park where the elevation gain is about 100 feet. I really tried to push it, knowing we couldn't beat our time the day before on the flat course. Nope, I was wrong. We covered 5.02 miles again, but this time we did it in 49:11, or a 9:48/mile pace.

Can you keep a secret? I would love to push my pace down to 9:06, that magic number needed to finish a marathon in 4 hours. That may take a couple years to accomplish in a marathon, but I certainly could shoot for a 9 minute pace on training runs.  My realistic goal is to finish the Kansas City Marathon in between five and five and a half hours, but my stretch goal is to break five hours.  Only time will tell.