A Lean and Hungry Look

It was raining lightly this morning, so of course Maja refused to join me.  I ran out to the park, then continued on 13th to Parkway, up to Chadwick, up Stratford (like last week), but then continued on 17th East to 17th South, then down to 16th and through the neighborhood back home.  It was close enough to an even 7 that I just had to run one street over and back when I got close to home in order to complete the mileage.  It's a decent 7-mile loop to use in the future.

First speed day since last October, and I felt it.  I did four half-miles at Sugar House Park and felt every one of the hills along the way.  I warmed up for just under 1.5, including some form drills, then did the reps with 3 min rest between each.  I was going to do 6, but I was running short on time and even shorter on stamina, so I called it after 4.  Pace was 5:35 for the best and 5:56 for the worst (last) one.  Given that this is my first time turning the legs over in months and that every rep included a long hill, I'm pleased with the results.  The speed and stamina obviously need improvement, but that's the point of training, right?  I feel like I spent 3 months of my training last year trying to hit unrealistic splits on my reps instead of letting myself train into the condition necessary to hit those splits.  I'm trying not to make that mistake this time, instead focusing on consistent effort and improvement. Cooled down for about 1.25 and headed home to get Jacob off to an early morning rehearsal for a school program.

Tempo day.  I headed up Emigration, with the first 2 miles at an easy pace.  I stopped and stretched for a minute, then picked up the pace to what felt like LT effort or thereabouts for 1.5 to my turnaround point.  At the turnaround, I stopped briefly, then headed down with a goal of maintaining LT effort.  Here's what the splits looked like:

Mile 3: 7:20 (all uphill), AHR 168 (effort was a little low--should have been in low to mid-170s)

Mile 4: 6:21 (half up, half down), AHR 176 (effort good)

Mile 5: 5:48 (down), AHR 180 (still good)

Mile 6: 5:25 (down), AHR 183 (maybe a little high but okay--I probably would have lost some speed if I'd continued for another mile, but could have maintained in the 5:30-5:40 range)

Cooldown mile was 6:54 (downhill), with AHR down to 167 (I didn't stop at the end of the tempo section; otherwise the AHR would have been much lower).  Felt good about the effort and not bad about the turnover.  A few months of similar effort should bring the pace down to where it needs to be.

H-rock loop with Maja.  No walking up the hill today, but my pace wasn't exactly impressive, either.  Temperature and weather couldn't have been better.  Left calf is a little knotted up, so I need to remember to give it The Stick.  Left AT was also tight when I woke up, though it didn't give me any pain on the run.  I need to be better about stretching it and doing my exercises as I start to increase my mileage.

Missed my early run because I headed up early to watch some friends and family run Ogden.  It was a gorgeous day up there and made me wish I'd been able to get trained for the marathon in time.  I headed out when I got home around noon.  First warm run of the year.  It always kills me to transition to warm-weather running, but it's probably good to get a few midday runs under my belt before Ragnar, where the heat always destroys me on my first leg.