A cool 68 degrees

 68 degrees felt absolutely perfect this morning.  I had to sneak in my run between the Olympic women's 5000m prelims and the men's 10000m final.  Tried to start off at decent pace but took a 1/2 mile to actually get going.  Hit the first mile in 7:52.  Kept my effort steady but the pace continued to pick up on each mile.  7:33 2nd mile, 7:15 for both the 3rd and 4th mile, 7:07 for the last 1.47 miles.  HR was in the mid 140s averaging 143 and hitting 147 by the end of the run.

Final stats:
5.47 miles

40:22
7:23 pace

My Garmin B.S. VO2 max "fitness score" went from 59 (from yesterdays hot and humid sufferfest) to 61... Wrist based HR instead of strap based but the wrist based one has seemed pretty close lately.

Really pleased with the pace and effort.  Tomorrow is supposed to be even cooler so I'm going to try to get a fast 4 miler in if I'm feeling okay.  I've been feeling good lately but my legs   

Hottest day of the year = more ear sweat

 76 degrees at 6am this morning and it was muggy as hell (I assume hell is muggy or is it more of a dry heat?!?).  

I remember when it first started heating up this summer it hit me particularly hard.  I think it was because I was coming off a really good training block and wasn't mentally repaired for the reduced speeds and increased efforts that come with the heat.  The good news is that I'm mostly acclimated now, but it's still not exactly enjoyable to be sweating your ass off.  

Also, for some reason I have been particularly mindful of my ear sweat.  I don't remember ever noticing this before but it's really been bothering me.  Forehead sweat is a close second in the annoyance category.  I used to kind of enjoy a deep purifying sweat so I'm not sure what's changed.  Maybe I need to shift my paradigm.

In spite of the heat (just about literarily in this case) I decided to run a 10 miler.; my 5th "mid-week" 10+ miler of the year.   My legs still didn't feel that peppy from my speedwork on Tuesday but I wasn't planning to run too hard in this heat anyway.  

Hovering around 8:20 pace for the first 5 miles...  at the 5.5 mark I got harassed by a dog and had to start walking to keep it from chasing me.  After that I picked it up for about a quarter mile and then I really started dogging with the pace dropping to 8:30 even though I was trying to maintain a decent effort.

I had talked myself into 9 miles but I had stopped my watch during the dog-walk portion of the run and subsequently my splits were a bit behind the usual points on my route.  Subsequently, when I got close to home I decided to do a short detour into the city park to make up the extra .05... I then continued into the park and soon convinced myself that the whole 10 was back on the docket.  I looped through the park, around the lake, then around the neighborhood and back home... as I entered my garage I heard the first roll of thunder in the distance... perfect timing.

Final Stats:
10.16 miles
1:25:10
8:23 pace

Good start to building back up the midweek mileage as I start to put a bit more focus on my potential upcoming marathon.  I still haven't signed up but with a good stack of 50 mile weeks starting to pile up and two 18 mile runs and one 16 mile run in July (included in four total 2+ hour runs) I'm setting up to be in at least a decent position to reasonably complete a marathon in October.  First focus is the 5K on August 14... once that's done, I'll start thinking Marathon.

Headline: Feeling good again (+Track workout 6)

Had to put this headline out there... mostly because in a few days when I'm inevitably feeling burnt out I can look back and remind myself of how training ebbs and flows.  Only have to look back at last Tuesday to see me complaining about being fatigued and delaying my track workout til Wednesday.  The catalyst for the fatigue was an extra hard 8 miler on the Saturday before which took several days to recover from.  I can see that looking back now, but in the moment of fatigue its pretty easy to start doubting your fitness and motivation.

This week I'm feeling good again though.  I followed up a pretty top quality weekend of work with a fairly solid track workout (on tired legs).

I either nailed the first set or went slightly too fast?  Does it matter that the second set got slower? .  I'm not going to harp on it and am happy with the workout overall.

The only rep I wasn't totally happy with was the first 400m of the second set at 86.2 which is still just about 18 minute 5K pace.  I wasn't too worried about the pace on that rep but I totally lost focus and zoned out... turning a negative into a positive, I guess I should be happy that I can "cruise" at this pace.  I followed up the 86.2 lap with a 2:51.5 which was 85.75 average for 2 laps (5:45 mile pace).

I definitely could  feel some residual tiredness in the legs from my 18 miler on Sunday.  Because of this I had trouble getting my HR up as high as I typically do during interval workouts.  Only getting into the 170s on the last 2 reps.

I've been alternating shorter faster speedwork sessions with longer more aerobic ones.  This was one of the shorter faster one (aka easy ones).  Next week will be my final "hard" track workout before my peak 5K.  

The thing I was most happy about was that after work yesterday I went with the kids to the park and played tag.  Last year it was a real struggle to be able to put forth that kind of effort on top of all the running.  I was always feeling too fatigued to handle the change of direction and sprint bursts required for that kind of play.  But last night I felt fine.

I was fatigued this morning, no doubt, but still got in 7 recovery miles at a 8:27 pace.  Plan to take it easy for the next day or two and then maybe hit a 4 mile tempo run on Saturday if I feel up to it.

Hope I feel this good in two weeks!

 

Picking up the pace

 Friday, Saturday, Sunday... 8.12 miles, 8.01 miles, 18.04 miles.. 7:47 pace, 7:40 pace, 7:47 pace.  Quite a few sub 8 minute work in a row for me as I continue to build fitness in my not quite official marathon cycle.  

It's been an interesting few months after my last race, starting with some downtime, running at altitude an a bunch of easy miles.  Followed that up with some extra track work in preparation for a 5K.  Plus the summer heat has been brutal on me this year.  All that combined has left me feeling a bit off but capping my 4th 50+ mile week in a row I'm finally starting to feel my body coming back around.  It's hard to explain really... I've had some good quality workouts, some solid long runs, and some to level endurance efforts as well, but I've never quite "felt" the fitness that my workouts indicate.  

These last few days it's starting to come together... Running 7:4X pace, in the heat, with not too much effort and no issues recovering.

The cherry on top was Sunday's long run:

18.04 miles
2:20:38
7:47 pace

I started out late on this run after sleeping in (around 9 am).  The temp was already at 75 degrees and climbed to 85 by the end of the run.  I decided to start off harder than usual, pushing the first 4.5 miles to my first stopping point.   My 2nd mile was my fastest of the day at 7:33 and my HR was close to 150 by mile 3.  There's a picnic table 4.5 miles into the trail, and I've been carrying a Gatoraid bottle that I drop off at the picnic table.  It's a good place to stop and get a quick drink.  This time I took my shirt off as well.

Running shirtless in the heat made a noticeable difference.  I slowed a bit after the 4.5 point running my slowest mile of 7:59 for mile 5.  By now I was cruising through.  I had originally been contemplating only running 14 miles because of the heat, but then decided to push it to 15.  At the 7.5 mile point I felt so good I kept going and by the 8 mile point I figured I might as well keep running until I got to the bathroom in Wyoming.  I made good use of the bathroom, cooling myself down in the sink with some water and drank a bunch more and took a goo.  Fueled and rehydrated, I jogged a 1/4 mile into Wyoming downtown to get to 9 miles and then turned around and started back to the start.  

Stopped one more time at the bathroom for one more splash of water and one more drink and then back on the trail.  I kept the pace going from Wyoming to the picnic table running 7:49, 7:41, 7:41, 7:42.  At the 13.5 mile point I stopped at the picnic table to grab my shirt and finish my Gatoraid.  Now only 4.5 miles left.  

I had put my shirt back on and immediately regretted it.  It was still soaked with sweat and the extra weight and temperature capture were doing a number on me.  After 2 more miles I stopped again to quickly discard my shirt at a point where a road intersects the trail.  The last 3 miles, the heat and fatigue started catching up to me.  I pretty much kept pace 7:42, 7:42, 7:48 but my HR took off towards the 160s averaging 164 by the last mile.

Overall, I'm very happy with this run.  I ran hard but never lost form and despite my HR creeping up at the end I never really slowed down or broke pace.  Not a single mile over 8 minute pace and I negative split the whole run, despite starting off strong and the heat... in fact it seemed that starting off strong helped.  

The only negative about the run was that I had about 10 minutes of breaks mixed in from 5 separate stops.  Probably at least 5 minutes was the one stop at the Wyoming bathroom and the other 4 stops were about 1 minute each.  Due to the heat, I think the stops were necessary to keep me fueled and hydrated and without the stops I probably would have at least slowed down or not have been able to run as far.  The last few days have been a confidence booster.  I think once the temperatures cool off and I hit a 50 degree day I'll be pleasantly surprised in what I can pull off.

Today (Monday) was my "off" day so I did an easy 4 miler.  First 2 miles were 8:26 pace then 8:07, 7:52 for the last 2 miles after I started loosening back up.  Kept the HR in the low 130s the whole time.

The daily grind

 8.12 miles at 7:47 pace.  Did my 7 mile course and then actually did 4 X Strides.  I always mean to do more strides... I'm so proud of myself.  Plus it wound up getting me an extra mile just from tooling around with the strides at the park.  First 6 miles averaged 7:55 pace, then 7:35 and 7:23 for the last two.  

Felt okay during the run but the haze and humidity are still killer.  The sweat on my ears was particularly annoying today... not something that typically bothers me but today it stood out for some reason.

Just trying to grind through the summer months...  

More than 5 miles

 The over/under on today's run was 5 miles.  Definitely, considered the 4 mile loop but went for the 5 miler.  Then tacked another loop around the lake for a total of 5.78.  Nice and easy recovery run at 8:21 pace.  Humidity seemed extra bad today but getting the easy miles in felt good on the legs.  Running less than 7 miles is a mental relief as well.

We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but planning on an easy 7.

Workout Wednesday (Track Workout 5)

Yesterday was supposed to by Track Tuesday #5, but I postponed track Tuesday to workout Wednesday due to fatigue.   Overall, I think I'm in good condition but my legs just don't have much pop in them and my hip flexors have been particularly stiff.  I think the combination of hard workouts, hot and humid weather conditions, plus 50+ mile weeks (which I'm better adapted to than last year but are still high mileage for me), is starting to wear me down a bit... a little more sleep could help too as I'm barely able to stay away as I write this... but I digress.

I didn't feel "great" heading out the door this morning either but I felt okay enough to be fairly confident that I could get a decent workout in.  

I started with my general warmup (2.63 miles) with 7:25, 7:05, splits for the first 2 miles and 7:08 pace on the last .63.  Takes a bit to get the legs going but once I do, low 7 pace feels pretty easy as a warm up.  

Today was a long interval day...  I never quite know what I'm going to do until I start running but I settled on 2000m, 1600m, 1200m. (considered an additional 800, 400 but felt a little tightness/knot in my right quad and figured I'd be better off leaving a little in the tank than doing too much).

The first 2000m was probably a bit too fast... I was hurting at 1600m and then really pushed the last 400m.  Strava gave me a new mile PR of 5:38.

The 1600m and 1200m were fairly evenly paced although a bit slower than I'd hope for.  I really just tried to keep it relaxed and get through them.  

I was sharing the track with another dude who was mostly walking.  He was polite and mostly tried to stay out of my way.  It was a little distracting which in some ways was a good thing and some ways was not.  During the last 1200, the grade school XC team showed up for training as well...  I was done before they took the track but generally I try to stay out of their way if I can.

Overall I got in 4800 meters at sub 6 minute pace....   biggest issue is that I wasn't 100% invested in the workout but I still got it done.  Being tired and the hot and humid weather got into my head... I think I could have bore down and focused a bit more.  I just keep telling myself that tot every workout is going to be the best workout ever and try to be content with the fact that I've been consistent and that all this work should hopefully keep adding up to improvements over time.

Plan to keep the rest of the week easy and hope to be feeling good enough to get a decent long run in on Sunday.