Freethinker ~ Freerunner

15 mile MLR.  AP of 8:05.  74 degrees. 83% humidity.  I'll take it. 

I've been comparing equal distances and times over the past couple of years, and I'm pretty close to some of my spring and fall PR times.  I'm looking forward to the payoff this fall when things cool down a bit.  

General aerobic run.  7:57 AP, with 10x100 meter strides at the end.  74 degrees.  61% humidity.  

I think I need about 1 more hour of sleep at night and I will be good.  I felt like I was dragging a little bit this morning.  Fortunately the temperature has dropped to a tolerable level for the time being.

MLR.  81 degrees.  63% humidity.  AP 8:07. 

I felt a little too worn out after this one.  As soon as I got home and finished stretching I began chugging water and stuffing strawberries and blueberries in my mouth as if I'd just finished a race.  Looking forward to the recovery run tomorrow.    

Recovery run.  8:49 AP.  73 degrees. 83% humidity.

Kept the pace nice and easy this morning.  It felt good to work the soreness out of my legs.  I also got great sleep last night.  8 hours!  I can't remember the last time I got 8 hours of sleep.  

MLR.  70 degrees.  75% humidity.  Very nice conditions in the middle of August. 

I was sweating a lot in the beginning of this run, but I actually felt like I cooled down slightly towards the end.  There was a nice wind out of the north.   

I adjusted my MLR and Long run goal pacing to more accurately match the 10 to 20 percent slower than marathon goal pace for these runs.  I was running 10 to 20 percent slower than a 7:00 minute pace because that was the closest pace in the table in Advanced Marathoning.  I figured if I trained at the slightly faster pace I would end up banking a little extra endurance and make sure to hit my goal.  I'm not sure if it is just the heat or if I'm not quite ready for that pace yet, but I've been a little too worn out of MLR's at that pace, and sometime struggling to maintain that pace.  

So my new 10 to 20 percent 'slower than marathon goal  pace' for my 7:15 marathon goal pace is now 8:42 and 7:58 respectively.  I ended up running the final five miles this morning between 7:55 and 7:37.  I'm hoping that by leaving a little extra gas in the tank during the week I will be able to more effectively run my long run on Sunday, and especially make my marathon pace long runs on target. 

Amazing cool temperature. Only 61 degrees.  71% humidity. 

My legs and upper body felt a little sore from the MLR yesterday and the core and strength training on Thursday night.  

18 solo tomorrow for my long run.  It should be a nice workout both physically and mentally since I will have no company for any portion of it.  Kevin's duathlon is tomorrow.  I am a little bummed I will miss the Olympic marathon coverage tomorrow.  Hopefully Ryan, Meb, and Abdi will rock out and maybe one of them will score a medal.  

This morning Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate.  Having been a follower and a fan of Paul Ryan's work in Congress for the past couple of years I am very excited by this choice.