Monday, March 7, 2022

63 days and counting... (9 weeks)

Running streak is now at 63 and I ended last week with my longest run of the year (14.30 miles @ 7:57 pace).  

I thought I needed 14.25 to get to 50 for the week so I pushed the distance long run a bit more than I might have otherwise. I started out feeling a little rough but 8 miles in everything clicked and I started feeling a whole lot better.  I was averaging about 8:05 for the first 8 miles but then dropped to ~8:00 for miles 9, 10, & 11.  Then finished with 7:39, 7:29, 7:42 without much additional effort.  
 
When I added up all my miles today I found that I had run 55 last week!  I used to count my week starting on Sunday and ending on Saturday.  I switched that up going into 2022 to better align with the apps I use to track mileage.  When I made the switch I was worried about having my long run at the end of the week because I didn't want to push my long run farther than I felt comfortable for the day just to meet an arbitrary mileage number... and then I wind up doing it! 

In this case it worked okay.  I needed to start getting those long runs back in anyway and forcing myself to get some more road miles in seemed to result in a breakthrough.  

The extra miles didn't seems to result in any added fatigue as I ran 7.25 miles today on the treadmill (at a easy 8:29 pace).  I ran the first 4 at a 2.5% incline so got 700+ feet of elevation in for the run to boot.  If anything I feel even more fit...  I don't think that I should gain fitness the day after a long run but I sure feel like it.  

I'm really settled into running everyday and I think it's going to pay dividends.  It's like running 9-10 extra runs over the streak.  Of course the intensity has been relatively low so we'll see how things go as I start picking it up.  In that respect, my legs have felt a little flat and I think maybe a day off could help with that.  For now the goal is 100 days.

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