Of Mice and Marathons

PM: Treadmill - 16.5 miles in 2 hours.

I didn't feel like running in circles at 9:00 pace for two hours in the snow so I settled on something almost as mindless. I turned 31 today. Still young I guess but already plenty cynical and world-weary.

I ended up going very easy to start but finished decently. The last 10 minutes were definitely faster than aerobic threshold. About half marathon effort.

First hour

20 minutes each @ 7, 7.5, 8

Second hour

20 minutes each @ 8.5, 9

10 minutes each @ 9.5, 10

PM: Treadmill - 10.2 miles easy in 90 minutes. Did some strides in the last 10 minutes.

AM: 6.5 easy. Ran out of time. Treadmill at 9:30 tonight? Maybe.

PM: Treadmill - 5 miles. Did 5 x 1 minute pickups. Set of weights and stretching after.

PM: Treadmill - 65 minutes. 7-mile steady state tempo. HR 162. 15 minute warmup, about ~41 minutes very steady, cool down

The 41 minutes equated to 7 treadmill miles starting at 10.0 increasing .1 every mile until 10.6. Ended up with a heart rate not far off from some aerobic builders but the last 2-3 miles were 175-179, which is fairly solidly in the LT zone in my experience. Lower 180s tend to be 5k effort for me. It took some concentration but I was able to stay fairly relaxed. Hoping to get a fitness boost from this. I was working hard in the last 3-4 minutes. Definitely the fastest and longest I've run on this particular machine.

If nothing else, this worked as a good destresser. Anxiety and stress is at an all-time high.

My recommended reading for the day. From allie's blog.

PM: 10 miles nice and slow (9:30 pace). HR 136.

It got pretty dark and I dodged snowbanks and cars here and there.

PM: 11 miles moderate to uptempo on a hilly route - averaged 7:37. HR 155.

Did 10 x 10-15 second hill sprints after.

I felt good. Best I've felt all year I think.

PM: 10.25 miles. HR 139.