Bring it.

Yep, September is rolling around. The long awaited month-before-the-marathon is approaching, and it is, in my esteemed coach's words, 'the toughest month of marathon training.'

Bring it on, kids.

This week has been strange. I had a 'short' 5k race this past Saturday in Sherman Hill. As the name indicates, the quaint neighborhood is full of intense hills. And although it was advertised as a 5k, it was really 2.86 miles. Lame. I finished first in my age group (again, bring it), but there was no time to celebrate, as I had to get in another seven miles immediately following my race. Who knew that seven miles could be more gruelling than a 14-miler? Seriously. It's crazy how mentally challenging it is to continue running after a race.

On Monday, my coach 'gave' me an easy day of six miles. And then I met with him on Wednesday. My face-to-face training sessions freak me out a bit. And they kinda pump me up. Oh, the paradox of running! Anywho, the plan was to run 3x10-minutes at tempo pace with a two minute jog between each. I was able to put in negative splits at my interval pace.

Yep, bring on September.

I'm ready.