40 degrees and steady, light to moderate rain tonight at 6pm. This was a killer run today that had me wimpering like a baby immediately afterwards. Did an 11.1 (might have been a touch less than this, so between 11 and 11.1) mile loop twice. This loop is definitely rolling hills with some good ups and downs. On the first lap I felt very good early on, my goal was to hit the downhills hard and recover during the rest (only on the 1st lap). Well, I did just this, but my recovery pace was probably close to marathon race pace as the first lap went down in 1:13:10 (6:34s for 11.1 or 6:39s for 11). At this point I came in the house, got a Gu (took one at mile 4 too), a drink of water, and changed my shirt. Lap 2 was intended to be mainly easy base miles, working on fat burning. And I think as a result of glycogen burn-up in lap 1 it was a definite switch-over to fat burning. This lap was in 1:23:57 (7:38s for 11 or 7:34s for 11.1). My calves and hams were singing a song of their own when I was done. After I finished I got some quick juice in me and followed that up with a cup of chicken bouillon to replace the sodium loss. Then I hit an ice bath. All these things significantly helped my calves and hams. I've never felt such soreness in those areas after a run as today. Total run was 2:37:07 (7:09s for 22 or 7:05s for 22.2).
Well, that's it. I now officially begin taper mode as I move into the last 3 weeks before Boston. | 