AM - 4 easy
PM - 6xcruise miles @ threshold pace (1:00 rests) + 2x30s sprints. Conditions were ~82 F w/ 66 dew point and cooling as the sun set. I had a ~10 mph breeze that was a direct headwind one direction.
Results: 5:24, 5:34, 5:23, 5:39, 5:28, 5:56.
I was surprised the wind affected me so much; I felt like I couldn't quite get into rhythm against it, and my form broke down. My left calf/Achilles has been bothering me and I seemed to favor it, but only into the wind. The reps with the wind felt relatively easy.
Also, on the first rep I felt like I was moving in slow motion. Maybe an effect of running in daylight after so many runs in the dark. My Garmin said I was on 5:00 pace through the first quarter and I was seriously doubting it. It felt like 6:00 pace. But not in an easy way, it was more like one of those dreams where you're running as hard as you can and not going anywhere.
I'm stoked to have a few miles in the 5:20s. It felt awesome. I was wiped out after #5, so #6 into the wind wasn't an honest effort, I just wanted to push through and hit sub-6. My fitness is coming around, but I obviously didn't have enough to keep up the effort for 6 miles.
I was planning to race a 1/2 at the end of the month, but I don't know that it's worth the $100 to run slow. I'm leaning heavily towards bagging it. The next 1/2 would be in December with a little prize money incentive.
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