I had a 9 mile group run in beautiful weather this morning with minimal wind. We had 7 show up for the run, which is pretty good turnout (our most has been 8). For the CARA group runs, we start at Montrose Harbor on the lake and run south for half of the distance, then turn around (a classic "out and back"). Today, the group was doing a great job keeping pace until the 5th mile, when we slowed to about 9 minutes. At that point, another guy and I decided to pick it up and we went pretty hard for the rest of the race. Overall, I averaged 8:31/mile, which is pretty darn good. If I stay on this schedule, my time goal of 1:50:59 or better in the half marathon will be a piece of cake!

Mile 1: 8:32
Mile 2: 8:26
Mile 3: 8:33
Mile 4: 8:35
Mile 5: 8:59
Mile 6: 8:42
Mile 7: 8:18
Mile 8: 8:19
Mile 9: 8:16

Today: 9 miles (8:31/mile pace)
2009: 360.4 miles

I actually snuck in a run yesterday after I blogged - a really easy 4-miler - so tomorrow is definitely an off day, giving me two this week.