Fly on the Wall

I was not very motivated so I ran trails, which are slower, steeper, and more inspiring.  Legs heavy but I did find a bit of second wind toward the end of my run.  

Planed- 3x1.5miles @ 6:30 pace with .25 mile recovery.

Actual- .5 mile "warm up". 

1.5 miles, I couldn't keep it anywhere near pace. I was at 6:53-163bpm. It was snowing hard enough that I couldn't see very well.  The snow was sticking well enough that the trail was slick and snow packed.  My legs felt heavy.  I was unmotivated.  I felt tired all day. 

.25 recovery

1.5 miles even worse than the first.

.25 recovery

1.75 miles.  I started running it as an interval but it sucked.  My heart rate monitor fell off and I threw in the towel when I hit a red light with traffic at a street crossing.

I'm not sure what I achieved with this run.  In retrospect I'd have been better off doing my speed work the next day.  As it is I will either run very easy tomorrow or just take the day off to regain my composure and hopefully motivation and speed. 

As a side note, a colleague was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about one month ago.  This is a wicked disease with an average prognosis of 3 to 6 months.  He started experimental Chemo Tuesday and died on Thursday.  A dark reminder to be thankful for all that I've got.

After yesterday I decided to give myself a day off from running, with the plan of running stronger tomorrow.

Pull ups:8 sets of 1 w/ 90 sec recovery between "sets"

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=muscle.building&conitem=15625fb666e69010VgnVCM100000cfe793cd____&page=2 

Training plan called for 6 miles with alternating 2:00 to 3:00 minute long intervals at 6:30 pace w/ 1:00 min recovery.  I substituted a 4x4 work out because I had 2 running mates join me today- 4 @ 4 minutes fast, ~2 min recovery.

I felt great.  These are the days that keep me running.  I think yesterday's rest really rejuvenated me.  And it was a beautiful crisp day.  Only a bit of ice remaining on the trail.

1.4 mile warm up.

0.62 miles at 6:33 pace 169bpm max, ~0.2 mile/2 min recovery

0.63 miles at ~6:30 pace 176bpm max, ~0.2 mile/2 min recovery

0.64 miles at ~6:20 pace 177bpm max, ~0.2 mile/2 min recovery

0.62 miles at ~6:18 pace 181bpm max

1.2 mile cool down.

I've run this workout on the same loop many times with one of the these runners, but we haven't done it in a year or so.  He is quite a bit faster than me in 5 Ks.  Usually I just try to keep up with him on these work outs.  Today I was the rabbit and finished ahead of him every time.  I would have thought he was just making me feel good, but my heart rate was also about 5bpm slower than his for the first time (we, at least used to, have about the same max heart rate).

Just 4 EZ recovery miles.  Felt fine.

6 miles up City Creek with 6x100 strides. 8:34 ave pace (up & down), 145 bpm.

Planned rest day.  Long run tomorrow morning.