Plenty of miles and no days off makes Jack a dull boy. My obsession with mileage and my running streak was not as productive as I would have hoped. Too many junk miles, and while I did do some treadmill workouts they just didn't seem to be enough.
Maybe getting Covid was a good thing, as it forced me to recalibrate. I'm about a week removed from my Covid bout and it doesn't seem to have caused any lasting damage.
Saturday I went on a 4 mile tempo run in 26:56. After a solid 6:33 first mile, I crashed for the next 2 miles running 7:03 and 6:57... of course some of that had to do with hill and a 20 mile per hour wind. My last mile was downhill with the wind at my back and I hit that in 6:21. Averaged 6:44 pace for the run which was okay but not great. At least the effort was at the correct level.
Sunday was a beautiful day... sunny, no wind, temp in the 40s. I ran 15 miles which is the most I've ran this year. Was cruising at a 8:26 average pace. Started out faster but slowed down and settled into a rhythm. Again, effort was just where I wanted it.
Monday I took it real easy a jogged 5 miles at 8:34 pace.
Today I ran my first good steady state run in a long time. 7.01 miles in 49:04, averaging 7:00 pace exactly. Again, I was happy with my pacing and effort. First mile was 7:13 and second mile was 7:06. I attacked the hills in the 2nd mile and got my HR up to 158 which I held for miles 3-6. By the 2 mile mark I was hurting. I had a cramp in my back on the left side. It's been weird because my arms/neck/shoulders/back have been causing me more issues during hard efforts than my legs, lungs, or heart. I fought through the pain and by mile 3 (7:08 3rd mile) I felt better and started to hit a groove. I cruised the 4th mile in 7:01. Slowed down a bit on the 5th mile in 7:07 but kept cruising.
Mile 6 I stated to push a little bit. I figured the effort applied to mile 6 and 7 were the main stimulus for the whole workout. Pushing the pace after 5 already solid miles. Mile 6 was 6:58. Mile 7 I really started cranking it down. By 6.5 I was hurting... I looked down and saw my average pace had dropped to 7:03. No letting up now, I pushed harder. By 6.75 I was starting to hurt bad. At 6.85 I pushed harder yet. By 6.90 I was kicking, forcing myself to push through the pain. I counted the steps, waiting to feel that vibration on my wrist to know I hit the mile mark. I finished doubled over but quickly recovered and walked it off.
Really happy with today's run. I pushed through the back cramp and settled into a good form. By body adapted to the ~7 min pace and it got easier as the run progressed. I didn't go out too fast and kept the effort right where I wanted it to be. I finished strong and got the HR up and the legs turning over. And I finally had a day with decent temperature and not too much wind... running dead into the wind really screws with me mentally and overall just makes things miserable!
It's been a disappointing year so far as I try to build back into shape but I'm hoping I'm finally turning the corner.
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