LM warmup (10 reps), 14 miles in 1:42:22, 7:18/mi, HR 157, w/ last 6 miles moderate effort (~ MP terrain adjusted) in 6:26 (down), 6:30 (down), 6:30 (down), 6:32 (down), 6:30 (down), 6:55 (up), 1 mile walk w/ dogs & stretching. Warm & humid, then rainy and pleasant, then back to warm and humid. Lower right calf still a bit tight and sore...both calves a bit tight, but fine otherwise. A good run, one where everything felt doable and not overly hard. Love these runs....just hard enough to feel like you're working at it without completely zapping you. On another note, it's time for me to get over my hangup with sub-6 minute paces. Why is it that speeding up from 6:05 to 6:00 doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but speeding up from 6:00 to 5:59 seems like it's the hardest thing in the world? Answer? It's mental, you (meaning me) idiot. I fall apart trying to run a sub-6 pace, not because I can't but because my mind keeps telling me it's too hard and I can't do it, or at least not for long. Okay, so maybe the not for long part has a ring of truth to it, but the rest is pure bunk. Reflecting on my 5K PR, it's embarrassing. Oh, it's not too terribly slow for my other races and I don't focus on that distance and I don't train specifically for it blah blah blah blah. But I really should be a low 18s and probably an upper 17s 5K runner right now given my fitness, which means the reason I'm not is.....the dreaded 5:xx mental block. So here it is. I'm done with it. Not going to let something stupid like my own mind push me around like that. From now on, I *love* running sub-6 paces and it feels easy, sustainable. If it hurts, its because hurting feels good and I can keep hurting because I can run sub-6 paces just fine, thank you. So time to pencil in a 5K and bring my 5K PR down to a more respectable time and get past this hangup so I can keep improving. | 