Step by step, mile by mile

10 in the morning, threw in some one minute pickups after 3 miles. Started at 5:01 pace and worked down to 4:36 pace for the last one. Average HR was 124, not bad for having a couple of 5 minute miles in there.

5 after my shift, avg HR 118, not going to put these every day but just an indicator that I'm in really good running shape, not fast-running shape yet though. 112 miles from Monday-Sunday. Legs have started to stop feeling wrecked - I don't even need ibuprofen anymore - so I think this whole high mileage + classes + hospital work is going to be doable. It's going to get harder - that long run still has a few miles to increase to, I'm going from 18 hours on my feet to 30 at the hospital once I get on payroll, and normal weights and workouts - but if I can handle this I bet I can handle that too.

In other news, over the weekend I was called and compared to a lot of things, the better ones being Thor pre-getting fat, Hermione from Harry Potter(twice, one comparing my hair and one comparing my face to hers), and "my future ex-baby daddy". They all came from different people, and only one(the hair one) was said by a patient and not one of the nurses. Love working at this hospital.

10 easy in the morning. avg HR 119, maybe that's a sign I should speed up the easy running pace soon. My RHR is usually low 30's though so who knows.

5 on the track in the afternoon in the form of 4 miles easy with a push the last 400m + 4x200m strides. Did the same thing last Friday, the push was an 85 then and a 78 today. Strides went 29.4, 29.6, 28.4 and an untimed light-hearted 4th one. Based on the effort I put into the strides I'd say sub-60 400m speed is in my wheelhouse, doesn't correlate to any times I'm gonna run but it's always a good trick to have up your sleeve in a race, plus I've never had sub-60 fitness before starting up workouts.

5k in the am. Got to bed before 9PM so I set an alarm for 5:45 instead of 6:45 so I could start my run earlier. Ended up somehow sleeping through that for an hour and waking up at 6:45 anyway. Started running at the turf fields, but there were already two fellas there throwing a frisbee. While I commend them for having the dedication to practice such a thing so early, my morning 10 mainly serves as a sort of meditation for me before I start my day, and I couldn't relax hearing them yell and swear and worrying about getting hit by a frisbee the entire time, or dodging them. So after a couple of miles I decided to run around the law school instead, got maybe half a lap and a bird started trying to divebomb me, swatted it with a branch and it went away but I was so supremely pissed at this point I bagged the run there, I'll get the rest of mileage after class. Gonna start using a louder alarm

Couldn't get over the morning run so at a bit past 11 I headed out and got the rest of my normal AM 10, even managed to finish before noon. Guess today's gonna be a 3-run day, wasn't planning on trying those until 2020.

5 in the evening with some good strides and stretching included. Now to shower, eat dinner, and get a good night's rest before the long run tomorrow.

Long run complete - 24 miles, my longest run ever - and I can once again breathe a sigh of relief and relax for another week until Wednesday comes around again. Ran 8 miles out on Sandy and 8 back, then 8 running back and forth from the start of Sandy to the base of the first real hills and back, with my car in the middle. Ate a Roctane Gu at 8 and 16 miles, took a couple of short breaks after 16 and 21 miles to get some water and Gatorade in me, sitting in my car with the AC on blast, just a couple of minutes; long enough to get my core temp and HR down, short enough to keep the legs loose. No bonk, felt like I timed taking in the Gu and fluid perfectly, maybe a little too much fluid though, nothing major however. Even without a bonk 24 miles alone is damn hard mentally. physically though it's a piece of cake hahahahaha I am in pain

10 very easy in the morning. Earlier than usual because I have an interview at the hospital later this morning.

5 a little quicker in the afternoon w/ strides.

Got an offer to work full-time! Gonna be very busy in a couple months being a full-time engineering student/getting ready for med school/working 36 hours a week. Hopefully I'll find a way to fit in running there too.

3 miles warmup, 2x1200m w/ 200m rec, CD for 10. Tried working down to tempo during the warmup and that was embarrasingly slow based on effort so I thought about bailing on the 1200's altogether, but decided just to try. Ran 3:49 and 3:40. Both felt controlled, first one I dropped a couple of seconds every lap and the second one was even 73's. I knew all this mileage had to apply somewhere in my running, and I finally figured it out; my recovery time is way better than it's ever been. After a mile or two after the second 1200 I felt like I hadn't even done any hard running, honestly wanted to throw more 1200's in but decided the smart thing would be to wait. I'm excited for when I have higher volume workouts, but increasing that is more listening day by day to the body than planning something out, and it's a finer line with mileage this high, at least right now. Not a crazy workout but a good starting point.

5 very easy in the afternoon. Went home because I forgot my student ID, but about to head to the gym for weights. Hopefully I recover faster this time.

Easy 10 in the morning. Legs were hurting a bit from weights yesterday, felt better as the run went on.

Easy 5 after my shift. Quicker than normal. Weekends are gonna be tough when I start working 6am-7pm, I'll probably have to start my runs at 4 in the morning.

And the 100+ mile week streak goes from 4 to 5! 526 miles over the past 5 weeks.