M'kay

6.5 miles in 51:02, 7:51/mi, HR 150.  Cold (33F) and very icy.  Footing very slippery today, so the pace doesn't really reflect the effort.  Hopefully tomorrow will bring warmer weather.

8 miles in 1:00:22, 7:32/mi, HR 155.  Slushy late afternoon run today after a long day of driving, waiting, and medical stuff.  Amazing the traction difference between a little bit of slush and wet pavement.  It looks like enough of my hill is clear for me to do hill sprints outdoors tomorrow, as long as we don't get more snow and the temps don't plummet.  Fingers crossed.

11.05 miles in 1:24:24, 7:38/mi, HR 151.  3.4 mi warmup, 28:27, 8:22/mi, HR 145.  8 x 90 sec hill repeats.  3.53 mi cooldown, 25 min, 7:04/mi, HR 150.

Warmer temps (44F) & some rain washed away most of the slush and ice.  Some headwind gusts, especially on the later repeats.  Second hill repeat workout of this buildup....better this time around.  Average repeat pace of 6:04/mi, 30 sec/mi better than two weeks ago.  Still felt like I was in a bit of slo-mo, but happy with the way this workout went.

4 treadmill miles in 31:52, 7:58/mi, HR 152.  I finally convinced myself that the footpod mileage just isn't correct for my treadmill effort and fixed the digital display after the run....the little magnet thingie had slipped out of it's spot.

9 miles in 1:09:26, 7:43/mi, HR 148.  Rainy and warm (49F) with some streams running over the road in a few places.  Legs were pretty beat from yesterday, so it was tough going for the first couple of miles, and even then only got marginally better.  Still, it felt good to be tired and still running, so now that the weather is "nicer", I think my body is turning itself around.

12 miles in 1:22:50, 6:54/mi, HR 163.  2 mile warmup in 16:00, 8:00/mi, HR 146.  8 miles Steady State in 6:46 (up), 6:59 (up), 7:03 (up), 6:59 (up), 5:56 (down), 6:00 (down), 6:00 (down), 6:00 (down).  2 mile cooldown in 15:08, 7:34/mi, HR 152.

Didn't get as much sleep last night as I wanted to so I was afraid today would be tough.  Rainy and warm (42F) but the roads were a bit clearer today.  Kept the warmup very easy.  When I found myself sub-7 for the first mile, I thought I'd gone out too hard, but I kept focusing on positive thoughts, good form/running tall, and deep belly breathing.  When the second mile passed in around 7 min, I knew I was having a good run and just wanted to keep the effort even so I didn't die the last couple of miles.  When the first downhill mile went by sub-6, I knew this was my best Steady State run ever.  The last couple of miles were a bit tough and I started to feel like I was fading on the homestretch, but I'm very happy about this run.

Unfortunately, the cooldown was another story.  1/2 mile from the end, I started getting "need a bathroom" cramps, and instead of the usual 2-3 mile grace period, today was an emergency with nowhere to go.  No idea why....none of the food I ate this morning should've caused this problem (i.e. no lactate).  No need more any more details here...

6.5 miles in 49:35, 7:37/mi, HR 156. Beautiful day outside: 39F, some sun and dry.  Body definitely feeling yesterday's effort with some general soreness in the legs, but nothing specific or extreme.  May try to do 4 more tonight.

4 treadmill miles in 30:20, 7:35/mi, HR 154.  Turns out the footpod says I got further faster when compared to the newly repaired treadmill display.  I'll stick with the footpod....guess I just really hate treadmill running.  Something about the heat and all the sweat.  Otherwise, fine.

90 minute Progression Run, 12.22 miles, 7:22/mi, HR 151. First 30 min, 3.62 mi, 8:17/mi, HR 137, some uphill.  Middle 30 min, 3.86, 7:46/mi, HR 151, mostly uphill.  Last 30 min, 4.74 mi, 6:19/mi, HR 166, mostly downhill.  Good steadily increasing effort run.  May have doled out a bit much a bit early in the last third as the last 10 minutes were pretty tough, but overall managed to steadily increase the effort throughout the run to end in the Steady State range (maybe a bit too far into that range towards the end though).  Good end to the week.