Again, I had an abbreviated running week. On the bright side, one of the two runs I managed to squeeze in raised my personal best by two miles. The breakdown:

• Tuesday, July 15, 5 miles
• Thursday, July 17, 11 miles

Total: 16 miles.

The 11-miler just kind of happened. I hadn’t planned it; I just started out that morning, and kept feeling more into it the farther I ran. To get to 11, I began with one of my standard laps around the neighborhood (a hair over 2 miles). After that, I cruised east into downtown Royal Oak, headed north on Main to Crooks, turned west on 12 Mile, and then headed south along Coolidge back to my ‘hood (a 6.75-mile course). Once in the ‘hood again, I did a little victory lap (an addition just-over 2 miles). Bingo.

Afterward, my calves burned. I stretched a bit, but the tenderness lasted into Friday. That’s it. Just Friday. I blasted past my previous best of 9 miles, and it didn’t tear me up. I’m so close to that half marathon, I can amost see the finish line.