Weekend of Performance

Last weeks Saturday tempo run, a 5K in 20:16 (6:29 pace).

This weeks Saturday tempo run, 4 miles in 25:02 (6:15 pace)… big improvement with the major factor being that last week I came into the run after already being active all day (including a previous run and mowing the lawn), while this weeks was relatively fresh.  The other factor was just some mental adaptation to the harder pace... the adaptation continued with this run.

The run was in the rain.   I almost backed out but it was just sprinkling and the temp was in the upper 50s so I decided to give it a go.  I went out hard, hitting the first uphill mile in 6:14.  The hardest mile was the second as I got into the steep hills and I slowed down to 6:29.  At this point I was struggling but now that I was out of the hills things started to feel easier and I was able to maintain the effort and started to feel better and more relaxed as I started to get "used" to the harder pace.  I hit mile 3 in 6:16 and the 5K mark at about 19:40.  From there I picked up the pace a bit and finished with a 6:02 last mile, feeling relatively good.

Sunday I headed out for a 15 mile long run.  Another great run.  One of the best times of year with perfect temperature, little wind, and shining sun.  I kept the first 8 miles in the 7:50s more or less, then started picking it up running miles 9, 10, 11, and 12 at around 7:45... then 7:25, 7:00, 6:29 for the last 3 miles, relaxed the whole time and never hurting...  and what's even better is that I can pump out a solid long run these days and then feel good enough in the afternoon to play basketball with the kids and go on hikes without feeling worn out.

Monday I took the day off (I'm kind of working on a 13 day on 1 day off cycle right now).

Then today an easy 8 miles at 8:19 pace.   Didn't feel great today but nothing wrong exactly.  Just not as comfortable as I'd like and my right IT band and hip was a bit flared.  Only disappointing because I took yesterday off but sometimes the off day makes me "rusty" so hopefully I'll feel revived tomorrow. 

2021 GOALS PROGRESS UPDATE:

1. 10,000 pushups:  5013 on pace for 15639.  Halfway to 10000 probably not going to make 20000 hope to stick with it all year and keep building strength.

2. 7500 10,000 pulls ups: 3403 on pace for 10616... Always squeezing these in as I rush out the door.  If I could do a few after work it might help the whole process.

3. 26 Hours on the Bike:  I'm at 18:16 and not planning on much biking for a while... shouldn't be a big deal getting to my goal anyway.

4. 2021 miles:  822.37 miles for the year and now on pace for 2565.  I've been killing the mileage lately hitting a all time high of 63.72 miles last week while also running a couple of my best sessions in a while.  I've average 57 miles per week over the last 5 weeks, have a record streak of 5 straight weeks over 50 miles, and I'm actually finally adapting to the mileage, not being so tired and achy all the time.