Bret

PM - back home after the soccer final in Fort Myers this morning.  Delaney's team won the Region Cup - this game also went past regular time and ended up in penalty kicks after they were deadlocked at 1-1.  Once again they prevailed and Delaney had a brilliant penalty - and it was also the deciding goal.  She was completely exhausted after two days of very physical games each over 110 mins long.  

Anyway - I headed out the door for a run just before 5 pm - with a plan to run to feel - and as it turns out, I felt reasonably well, so I covered a little over 12 miles.  

Nice weekend. 

AM - easy 4 miles very early before flying up to Atlanta for work.  

PM - another 8 miles in Atlanta. Headed out after work to the Greenway - and on the way the weather took a turn for the worst - starting with hail and then these really loud sirens started blaring which I figured out were for a tornado warning. As I neared 4 miles I took a turn on the trail because it was turning dark and the rain was getting harder. I ended up at a shelter for restrooms which was fortunate as the lightning was pretty severe. I waited there for about 10-15 minutes and then headed back in a much lighter rain. Bit scary. The run back to the hotel left my shoes completely soaked - which was good news because it meant that I had to head over to the Big Peach running store to replace the long overdue Gel Nimbuses so that I would have dry shoes in the morning.

AM - on the treadmill - 3 x 2 miles at HM pace with an 800 rest.  2 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down.  This went very well.  Started off the first rep at 6:31 pace - and then did the second rep at 6:27 pace with the last one at 6:24 pace.  It was strange that I did not feel that great in the warm up and even the first 3/4 of a mile on each rep felt a little tough, but I was definitely strong enough and was not over the limit even on the last one - So a good confidence builder.

AM - some really slow and easy miles this morning.  I was not sore or fatigued from yesterday's workout, but it was cold out and I did not want to force anything - so I just let it slowly increase over the miles - got in about 11.5.  Quite an enjoyable run on some new roads to me in Alpharetta.  

AM - quite cold and windy morning in Washington DC.  Did a good progression run - 2 mile warm up then 6 miles with a plan to start at 7:30 pace and increase the speed by 10 seconds each mile.  First mile was uphill around the Capitol Building - so it was 7:45, then 7:28, 7:15, 6:58, 6:48 and 6:33.  Finished up with a 2.5 mile cool down.  Did loops around the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Capitol for miles 3-6 - which is packed dirt/stone and relatively flat almost like running on an old cinder track.  Pleased with the effort considering the cold and the 20 mph winds.

AM - 6 easy miles this morning back at home.  Very tired and not too motivated to run today.

PM - 8 more at lunch.  Felt really slow and fatigued today. 

PM - steady state run of 18 miles on the treadmill today as it was quite warm and humid by the time I started to head out for this workout. Did one mile warm up then kept every mile right at 6:55 pace more or less for 17 miles. Bit tough mentally in the last 4 miles or so. Actually very pleased that this went as well as it did.