After what felt like a death-march 18 mile run on Saturday I decided to take it easier this week. I've still got 4 weeks before the marathon, including this one, so if I back it off a bit this week I will still have 3 solid weeks of decent mileage before taper time. So, instead of the 10 I planned on doing this morning, but couldn't talk myself into getting out of bed for, I ran an easy 8 tonight. I took a route I haven't run yet just because I was bored with the one I had been running. My regular route is nice because there is a lot of flat straight sections (easy on the ankle) and no traffic because it's all city trails. Tonight incorporated a bit of the road but it didn't bother me as much as I thought it might. There was one place where a farmer cultivating his hay and causing quite a bit of dust, but other than that it was fine. In the spirit of keeping it easy this week I decided not to look at my watch. Old habits die hard and I peaked twice. Regardless, I managed to keep the pace comfortable and sustainable. Avg 9:53. According to the McMillan calculator I'm supposed to be between 9:09 and 9:50 per mile for recovery jogs (for what that's worth). I was at 9:44 until I finished my jog by running up State Street back to my house. That slowed me down quite a bit. I may do a Yasso 800 workout in the next couple of weeks and just see where my actual predicted time is at, but that will have to wait a week or two. | 