I only run on days that end in a "y."

Have the day off so I took advantage and got a medium long run in.  I ran the hilly Scenic route for 12 miles - first 2 super easy and then 7:40's - 7:50's.  Could still feel Saturday's run a bit.  Tomorrow is 1000m repeats on a hilly course.  

Booked by hotel room for Boston - I think I need to take out a second mortgage to pay of it! LOL

warm - humid - something like 70 degrees this morning.  After today and yesterday it has dawned on me how luck all those Houston marathoners were - one more day and it would have been disaster.  Thankfully, the weather stayed cool.  Anyway, this does not bode well for the Austin marathon, but one never knows.

So today was a 3 mile warm up followed by 1000m intervals around a hilly neighborhood, and I mean hilly.  Wow - it was crazy. The last 100m was up a nice big hill. I have not done this workout in a couple of years and now I remember why - it hurts.  In fact, it was a big time crash and burn, I can't remember a worse workout. 

Could be the 12 mile run yesterday on the hills, the lingering effects of Saturday's hard run, the hot weather, or all three.  Not to mention that I probably ran these too fast to start with.  I wanted to do 5 but all I could manage was 4.  The fourth one I missed a turn and had to find my way back so I don't even know if that counts.  I had to sit on the curb after that one to let my heart rate come back down.  I was not a happy camper.

The only smart thing I did was wear my old Brooks shoes as I have been having bit of achilles/calf soreness - no problems today with the big heel.

1000m @ 6:10 pace

1000m @ 5:52 pace

1000m @ 6:15 pace (legs going away at this point)

1000m @ ?? pace

Finished with 3 mile run back to the annex.

Went out at lunchtime and without a watch.  Ran pretty relaxed and tried to stay on the trail or grass when I could for the first 2.5 miles or so and then hit the street.  Took a round about route and headed back.  I am guessing 8.5 miles for the time I was gone, probably a bit more.

I was a nice sunny day with a cool breeze which felt pretty good.

50 degree start but humid.  Tomorrow will be close to 80 degrees - this does bode well for the summer!  I still predict this area will be like Arizona in a few years.  I am thinking about creating an AZ type front yard, too.  I don't see how we will have the luxury of wasting water on keeping grass alive.  Oh well, back to running.

I did the Jollyville out and back and to be hard on myself I took the Morado Circle loop on the way back - this is a very steep down hill that circles around and then comes back up.  Doesn't matter which way you run this the result is the same.  Anyway, I thought it might be good to start doing some of this stuff for Boston.

Nice run overall - average pace for the run was 7:23.  I still felt the last couple miles were harder than they should have been.  Not quite at the level I was before CIM.  I am also getting burnt out a bit - so all of you out there please give me some encouraging words to keep this up.  I am definitely taking a break after Boston.

8:37, 7:43, 7:30, 7:29, 7:16, 7:30, 7:30, 7:16, 7:17, 7:15, 7:10, 7:10, 6:39, .25 @ 6:29.

5 easy recovery miles for the day - 8:38 AP.

Cool morning -44 degrees and a pretty strong wind.  The temp gauge at the house read 50 degrees so I am not sure what happened but it got colder.  I showed up in a singlet - I was a bit cool but I survived.

We ran the Austin marathon course so lots of hills.  Russ and I ran with Mike Woo - one of the most knowledgeable runners in the group.  The entire run was filled with tidbits and insights into running Boston. We ran the Expo hills hard as he wants to get us ready for the Newton hills.

Overall, this run was tough but I figure if I can keep hanging with him I will do OK.  He said we should get to a point where 6:50's seem easy - and he thinks we will get there in the next 2 months.

So, 18 miles with AP of 7:03 (that's a 3:04 marathon) and the first mile was 8:40.  So we ran 17 miles probably at an overall pace of under 7:00.  Next time I will run in my Kinvaras.  The Cortanas are nice but definitely take some pace off.

8:30, 7:39, 7:15, 7:10, 7:08, 7:06, 6:56, 6:55, 7:09, 7:05, 6:57, 7:07, 6:43, 6:37, 6:33, 6:40, 6:34, 6:38.