Freethinker ~ Freerunner

Long Run.  75 degrees. 78% humidity.  8:10 AP. 

I'm glad I started at 5:00 this morning.  The temperature has warmed up again these past few days.  I had the breeze at my back for the first half of this run.  That kind of light breeze where you don't know that there is a breeze until you get to the point in your run where you change directions to come back.  Once I got to that point where I could actually feel the breeze I felt pretty good.

This past week and including this morning I have felt like I needed a recharge.  If I had to run a pace run this morning I'm not sure that I could have made it.   I'm just glad that I was able to average 7:56 per mile for my final ten miles.  It has been a while since I've run anything over 18 miles.  I was reminded and humbled this morning about the mental toughness that is required to maintain even pacing and to finish with a negative split.

I almost forgot to mention that I saw a really awesome shooting start this morning just after dawn.  It was the brightest I have ever seen.  It looked like a firework shot across the sky.  It sort of gave me a rush and I felt my pace quicken just a little bit. 

AP: 8:10

First 11 AP: 8:20

Last 10 AP: 7:56

Today I'm going to run a double.  It is a recovery day with 6 in the morning and 4 in the evening.  

AM: 6.04 miles.  78 degrees.  8:57 AP.  

My legs still felt really sore from the 21 mile run on Sunday morning, but they felt so much better by the time I got back from this run.  I will run 4 miles this evening to complete the day.  I'm pretty sure I've never run twice in one day before now.  I'm looking forward to completing it. 

PM: 4.07 miles.  100 degrees!  8:18 AP. 

I haven't run in the heat like this in a long time.  I told myself it would be no big deal because it was only 4 miles.  It sucked!  Anything more than 4 and I might have quit before the finish.  I was supposed to run slow and easy, but the heat just made me want to hurry up and finish.  I'm still feeling pretty sore from Sunday.  I'm not sure how my 14 mile MLR will go tomorrow.  At least it won't be 100 degrees at 5:30. 

MLR.  14 miles.  8:30 AP.  79 degrees. 78% humidity.

This run completes 45 miles in 72 hours.  I'm felt totally drained this morning.  I woke up feeling like my legs had recovered a little better from the 21 mile run on Sunday, but I still felt less than 100%.  By the last half of this run I was struggling to keep my pace below 8:30. 

I wish I had another day off work so I could take a long nap today.  I'm going to try to get as much sleep tonight as I can.  

76 degrees.  7:35 AP.  Tempo run of 11 miles with 6 at a goal of 7:00 mile pace.  I fell just short by a few seconds per mile.  

I wore myself out so much on Wednesday that I skipped my recovery run yesterday.  I considered skipping out today as well, but I went ahead and shoved ahead.  I plan on running my 6 tomorrow at as easy a pace as possible.  I noticed my right ankle felt a little tight when I got to the cool down portion of my run today.  I'm going to ice it some more before I head off to work.  

3 miles warm up: 7:59 AP

6 miles at tempo pace: 7:04 AP

2 miles cool down: 8:31 AP

Update on the ankle.  I went off to work and felt pretty good, but throughout the day it started to really worsen.  I was walking really slowly to my car after work to prevent myself from limping.  I will ice it more tonight, and definitely skip my next few runs until I heal up.  I don't think I've ever had shin splints before, but I think this might be it.