M'kay

6 miles in 47:51, 7:58/mi, HR 168.  Sunny and hot (82F).  LM/LL warmup, easy run , 1 mi+ walk w/ dogs cooldown, McM Core L2, & stretching.  More hot days ahead.

5 miles in 39:28, 7:53/mi, HR 167.  Sunny and hot (86F).  LM/LL warmup, easy run w/ 12 accelerations (6 uphill, 3 flat, 3 downhill) + fast finish, 1+ mi cooldown walk w/ dogs (slow), Myrtl routine & stretching.  Longing for cooler weather!

6 miles in 49:15, 8:12/mi, HR 163.  Sunny and very hot (89F).  Just tried to survive today.  LM/LL warmup, easy run, abbreviated walk (.75 mi) w/ dogs, McM Core L2 workout & stretching.  Left ITB feeling a bit tight, so I need to roll it out tonite.  

5 miles in 39:49, 7:58/mi, HR 164.  LM/LL warmup, 4 miles easy, 1 mile moderate (6:55/mi, downhill), .75 mi cooldown walk w/ dogs, Myrtl routine, 2 x LM, stretching.

Sunny and very hot again today (89F).  Easy miles were slower due to the heat, but I did manage a good moderate pace for the last mile.  Time to start looking at putting together a training plan and ease into some faster paced running....I believe I'll re-read Brad Hudson's book and put something together from it.  The big question......what goal race to aim for.  I don't think a fall marathon is in the cards, since I fell so far from the mileage train, but perhaps the Seattle Half in late November might be a good target.

LM/LL warmup.  6 miles in 47:54, 7:59/mi, HR 159.  3/4 mi cooldown walk w/ dogs.  McM Core L2 workout & stretching.

Sunny, warm (83F) and humid, but better than yesterday's scorcher.  My weather station hit 101.7 yesterday, although we caught a break when thunderstorms rolled through starting at about 4 pm and knocked about 25 degrees off the temps.  Tired today so I considered taking today off, but instead decided to keep the easy run easy, and felt good throughout.  Average HR below 160 for the run despite the above normal temps is a really good sign that fitness is returning fairly quickly now.

My problem with easy runs is this.....I've got an 8:00/mi mental barrier.  If it's slower, I feel like I'm slacking, when I full well know that's not true.  I also have a hard time knowing exactly what easy is supposed to fell like, because sometimes no pace feels truly easy.  Case in point.....yesterday's last mile at a "moderate" effort didn't feel much different from the easy effort, save for the breathing rate, which didn't increase all that substantially.  So was I sandbagging the moderate or pushing the easy?  Or neither?  Guess I'll just continue to swag it and do my best.

LM/LL warmup, 5 miles in 38:45, 7:45/mi, HR 160, w/ 12 accelerations (6 uphill, 3 flat, 3 downhill) and fast 1/4 mi finish.  1 mi cooldown walk w/ dogs, PU/Crunch ladder, Myrtl Routine, stretching.

Sunny and cool (73F)?  Since when is 73F cool?  Since it's preceded by 80/90+ degree weather!  Felt tired again this morning but once I got going felt fine.  12 x 12 sec accelerations throughout the run went well. 

First 6 day running week since pre-injury went well (also first 30+ mile week).  Next week, I'll commence on a program I'm going to put together for building to the Seattle Half Marathon in late November, which gives me 17 weeks of training time.  First race back should be the Northwest Trek 8K in Sept, which will be the 4th anniversary of my first road race.  For now, I'll enjoy tomorrow as an off/cross-training day before picking things up again next week.

20 mile bike ride (hilly & 4x4 roads) in 1:39:28, 4:58/mi, HR 135.  Sunny and hot (87F).  Rode up into state forest land, with some serious hills, logging one 11:03 minute mile.  My lowest gear on my 24 gear bike nearly wasn't low enough, so it was a sweat-fest on the way up, and something of a terror ride on the way back (hands started cramping from riding the brakes).  Survived unscathed and saw some nice meadows and forests.  Only marred by the two idiots drinking beer and shooting their rifle from the roadway about 6.5 miles in.