M'kay

7.04 miles in 58:23, 8:17/mi, HR 159.

Sunny and hot (84F).  Two miles on some completely overgrown logging roads that slowed the pace to a crawl, put several thorns into my legs, and make me long to get back to the roads.  Still feeling like total crap running.  Completely forgot the lunge warmup and ran short on time for the cooldown.  Can't wait for the fence and gate contractors to be done. 

LM warmup (10 reps), 10.67 miles in 1:24:39, 7:56/mi, HR 161, w/ 3 mile warmup, 2 x Drills, 8 x 90 sec Hill Repeats with jog back recoveries, 3+ mile cooldown, 6 Strides & stretching.

Finally.  Sunny and pleasant (70F).  Managed to get out for a mid-day run despite the fence work ongoing.  Combined with the cooler weather, I decided it was high time to get a harder workout in.  Could tell during the warmup that I was finally feeling a bit better.  Hot sun is to me as Kryptonite is to Superman.  First couple of repeats could easily have been discouraging, knowing I wasn't covering as much of the hill as I typically do, but I knew my fitness has taken a hit lately and it is what it is.  Surprisingly, starting with repeat 5, I found myself covering more distance, much closer to how far I normally get.  Strange, since this was about the time my legs really started feeling heavy and I didn't feel like I was expending too much additional effort.  I'll take it.  The cooldown back home didn't become a death march (bonus) and the strides after I got back even went pretty well (moved from the normal portion of the workout because I had to get back to supervise fence construction while Dianna headed for the barn).  Haven't felt this good about a workout in a long time.

LM warmup (10 reps), 8.02 miles in 1:03:21, 7:53/mi, HR 153, & stretching.

Sunny and pleasant (66F).   Legs felt pretty decent today.  Probably pushed a tad harder on this easy run than I should've, but it was a really nice day, the legs wanted to go after taking yesterday off (again), and I was weak.  Will be glad when this fence is done and I can get back to my normal running routine.

LM warmup (10 reps), 16 miles in 2:13:24, 8:20/mi, HR 156, 1500' elevation gain & stretching.

Mid afternoon run after a lazy morning followed by a nap.  Considering I rarely nap, I think I was pretty worn out from the past week.  Considering I haven't been running much, it must be life wearing me down a bit.  Good to catch up on the sleep.  

Run was decent.  Same climb up the forest roads, but took the left fork 7 miles in to tackle the steep climbs/descents there.  Ran the whole thing, which is saying something considering my (lack of) mileage and the steepness of the terrain, but I paid for that on the return when I barely managed sub-8 miles on the gentle downhill.   Pleasantly tired.