Saturday morning was fun. I got to sleep in, and we met at 8:00 am for a little warmup run of 4.5 miles before the usual Saturday Gazelles stretching session. Liliana, Frank, Alex and I headed out, with their promise that they wouldn't put the hammer down. Each mile was slightly faster than the one before, but we never really busted one down. Started with a 10:00 mile, then 9:17, then 9:02, then 8:31, and a half mile finish at 8:05 pace. All in all, a relaxed 4.5 miles at something like 9:10 pace overall. The weather was dreary, with 100% humidity and occasional drizzle and mist, but for some reason, that didn't bother us at all. We cruised around the loop, and finished back at RunTex totally wet, but warm and ready to stretch.

Stretching was a good thing, and I enjoyed the IT stretches the most, since I could really feel them. I also finally got my official Gazelles racing singlet, so now I have to run hard enough in races to earn it, I suppose.

Rest of the day is all about hydration and refueling for tomorrow's IBM 10K. Goal is still a fairly modest sub 8:00/mile pacing, or 49:42. Gilbert prescribed a 7:00 am arrival, and an easy warmup from the finish line backwards on the course to the 5 mile marker, then turn around and jog back to the finish, so that we know the homestretch intimately. After that, drills and such, and then start the race. I'll try to time it so that my heart is pumping along when the gun goes off. I'm excited and nervous about tomorrow, but I'll try to relax early in the race, and hit the first mile marker at something like 8:15. My other race goal is to have my last mile be my best.