M'kay

6.25 miles in 52:14, 8:21/mi, HR 144.

Clouds gave way to sun to turn warm to hot and humid (79F).  Mark this as a recovery day....felt like garbage after yesterday's long run and still feel like it today.  Headache, day 2, plus just all around blah.  Left calf started cramping badly in the middle of the night waking me from a sound sleep.  Woke up early at 6am and knew more sleep was impossible (sore back).  Guess I really need to keep it easy again tomorrow to get out of this funk.

Adrenaline 8 - 460.18 miles.

7.5 miles in 55:30, 7:24/mi, HR 155.

Feeling much better today.  Big weather shift brought clouds, rain, thunderstorms and cooler temps (60F).  I'll take it over the hot and sunny days for running.  Still a bit humid.  Body just felt like pushing the pace a bit, so even though I might pay for it tomorrow, I let myself go.  Figured I'd be worn out by the top of the hill but still felt good so the return was pretty quick too....right around MP but on a downhill so the average pace was about right....35 seconds or so off MP.  I really need to get better at just recognizing bad days (like Saturday) for what they are...aberrations.  Got some new shoes yesterday too (a pair of trainers - Asics 2130s and my very first pair of racing shoes - Brooks ST3 Racers).  My feet and knees thanked me today.

Asics 2130 Blue - 7.5 miles.

4 miles in 32:45, 8:11/mi, HR 139.

Took it nice and easy in the mist and light rain.  62F.

Asics 2130 Blue - 11.5 miles.

12.5 miles in 1:40:24, 8:02/mi, HR 158.  30 min warmup, 3.5 mi, 8:33/mi, HR 144.  Fartleks: 20 x 1 min on, 1 min off.  30:24 cooldown, 4.05 mi, 7:30/mi, HR 157.

Hard repeats today.  After crunching the numbers, I think I probably pushed them a bit hard....average pace was 5:28/mi over rolling terrain that wound up gaining some elevation overall.  No wonder it felt like a puke run.  Wound up walking a majority of the resting periods, which should've told me something but by that point I was only focused on getting ready for the next repeat, not thinking about why it was so tough. 

Adrenaline 8s (Blue) - 250.43 miles.

4 miles in 34:25, 8:36/mi, HR 141.

Recovery run....left adductor sore and stiff for first couple of miles..even after things got looser still a labor just to jog.

Adrenaline 8s (Blue) - 254.43 miles.

7.5 miles in 59:37, 7:57/mi, HR 144.

Cool and rainy (60F).  A bit of stiffness to start but warmed into the run and felt nice and easy the whole way.  

Adrenaline 8 - 467.68 miles.

12.76 miles in 1:40:29, 7:52/mi, HR 148.  29:03 warmup, 3.4 miles, 8:45/mi, HR 141.  Hill Repeats:  12 x 90 second up, downhill recovery.  26:02 min cooldown, 3.37 mi, 7:44/mi, HR 142.

Repeat	Distance	Pace	HR (avg)	HR (max)
1	.25	6:04	158	175
2	.25	5:54	165	176
3	.25	5:59	164	176
4	.25	6:05	162	176
5	.24	6:22	162	176
6*	.24	6:11	157	175
7*	.24	6:18	156	171
8	.23	6:14	164	177
9	.23	6:23	163	176
10	.23	6:29	161	177
11	.24	6:15	162	177
12	.23	6:23	160	177

Hill repeats.  Cool (59F) and overcast today.  Longer warmup and cooldown than scheduled because the hill I wanted to use is a bit farther away than I can get to in 25 minutes at an easy pace.  Today's hill is more substantial than the hill used the last two weeks.....we Washingtonians know the meaning of the word "hill".  Also brought some water along with me which I was glad for halfway thru.

Interruped on #5 & 6 cooldowns by some folks seeking directions and then wanting to talk.  Unfortunately, I'm way too polite to just blow them off and since they're my elders, I have trouble bowing out gracefully quickly.  So #6 and #7 were on fresher legs, so I tried to hammer a bit harder to make up for that.  The hill took it out of my legs early and they felt like anchors before long....#9 and #10 were especially hard.  Felt like I recouped a bit for the last 2.  All in all, a good hard effort.  When I got home, I found my lightweight trainers had arrived!

Asics 2130 Blue - 24.26 miles.

4 miles in 30:34, 7:38/mi, HR 148. 

Felt pretty good considering the tough workout a few hours earlier.  Stretched out the stride while trying to keep the effort easy and it seemed to work tonight.  Right calf muscle cramp while doing some core work afterwards; caught it quickly and massaged it out.

Asics 2130 Blue - 28.26 miles.

6.5 miles in 48:43, 7:29/mi, HR 150.

Cool in the clouds, warm in the sun (67F).  Legs felt dead but focused on form....today was taking full strides and not shuffling/half-stepping.  Results reflected in pace with a decent HR, so I need to do this more often.

Adrenaline 8s (Blue) - 260.93 miles.

22 miles in 3:01:42, 8:15/mi, HR 152.

Inspired by Ian's recent destination runs, decided on a long exploration run up Scott Turner into the State Forest lands farther than I've been before. Loaded up with two hand-held gatorade bottles in case the predicted warm temps arrived early (departing temp was 50F), I headed out.  Outbound was a climb from 1250' to a max of 3000' at around the 9 mile mark, followed by an 750' descent to the turnaround, then back again. Great scenery and some wonderful views of Mt. Rainier out in the middle of the foothills.  Plenty of hills; many steep enough to require a quick walk break that I didn't feel bad about taking. Started getting really tired at about the 17.5 mile point but managed to keep the pace decent on the last stretch. Temps in the shade climbted to 69F at the finish and the sunny parts were definitely warmer than that, so the tiring was probably somewhat weather related. I feel much better my long run fitness after this workout and believe I can chalk last week's less-than-stellar run to just a bad run.  Despite the fact that my overall pace for the run was over 8 min miles, I feel like the effort was probably worth somewhere in the 7:30-7:45 range, given the hills.

Adrenaline 8 - 489.68 miles.

2 hr nap in the afternoon.....wiped from the run.