Though this probably wouldn't surprise too many of my college friends (except for the fact that the word isn't spelled differently) but is actually a pretty big deal. I was recently selected to the 100 member inaugural Team Bear Naked endurance athlete team from out of 3,186 applicants. In fact, I even completed my first official race just yesterday as part of the Nike Human Race 10k in Boston as a Nike+ runner since the nearest official event was held in NYC. It was only my second 10k race (the first being the 2006 Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta) and the first race I finished in 1st place since high school.

In fact, I so completely owned the course that I even took home the Finish Line. (I am currently, as of the time of this posting, ranked 164 in the world for all of the "virtual racers" with my time of 39:33 - a time that I could have been even better if I would have thought of this run as more of a race and not an obstacle course while dodging the hundreds of college kids and their families who were moving in on Commonwealth Avenue)

I am going to take this as a sign that my training of late has been paying off and that people are recognizing my efforts and my greater potential. Hopefully this increased visability will also help improve my fundraising ability for RunningBull's Run to Honor America's Veterans and therefore can provide a greater benefit to the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans. For my next race event, in just 19 days, I will be leading the 3:40 (8:24/mile) pace group at the US Air Force Marathon. Come say hello if you find yourself in the Dayton, OH area on race weekend.

Welcome to October. Let the racing begin.

I decided to skip the track workout last night in favor of a long overdue Yoga session to help prepare myself for the next round of races. Probably not quite as effective as a good theraputic massage, but I don't have time or $ for that right now (I know, famous last words). My medium-long runs over the weekend felt much harder than they should have.

Even accounting for the temperature, rain, and terrain my Saturday morning run through the Middlesex Fells felt like more than 12 miles. And holding myself to an 8:00/mile pace for Sunday morning's 15 mile run in the rain was also harder than I expected...and not because I had to hold myself back from going too fast either. So I squeezed in a nap on Sunday afternoon before work at Karma, rested on Monday, and kept my pace slow and easy running from work to yoga and yoga to home last night. I just need to keep tonight's NikeTown run nice and easy, make sure that I sleep well tomorrow, and I should be good to go for Sunday's 10-miler. Besides, I still need to break in my new Nike Vomero 3+ shoes before the Chicago Marathon so I don't want to push things too hard on their maiden run.

My primary goal is to finish no further back than my bib number (#985), but I would also like to see if I can manage a steady 6:12 pace through the first 9 miles and then let the final mile determine how far under 62 minutes I can get. Thinking positive thoughts and dwelling on the fact that I have never raced 10 miles before. I know that I can do this.

Just like I know that I can manage running 3 marathons in 36 days, because I did that just this past spring. But unlike this time my hardest runs came early in that series while now I am almost "tapering" my way into the Marine Corps. Marathon.