Total time of 40:14 for 5.77 miles according to the course tool (average pace of 6:58).
I haven't blogged at all since October (I think), but I figured that I would start blogging again every once in a while, even though I don't plan on blogging daily like I used to.
I only ran sporadically from late October of last year until late May of this year, but I finally got back on the horse and started running more consistently. I started by running 20 minutes per day, 6 days per week (only 5 days the first week), pushing the running stroller (with a baby in it of course) an average of 4 days a week. After maybe 8 weeks or so (can't remember exactly) I started slowly increasing the time I was running and now I am running 40 minutes per day, with only a couple exceptions where I have run longer. Beginning in August I started running with the stroller less frequently (no more than once per week now) as school started and my wife and I stopped running at the same time.
During the past months I have time trialed 2 miles with Sasha pacing me, finishing in 11:22. That time will serve as a starting point for me to build off of over the next year or so. As my wife has gotten into shape for the first time (she never exercised consistently her entire life until May of this year at the age of 30) I have paced her to a 17:41 2 mile, with a 1 mile pr of 8:42 en route. She is not competitive, but I am, so I am trying to work within her expectations to see what I can coax out of her physically.
For today's run I used the course tool to measure things after I got back home so all distances are approximate, but likely to be more accurate than GPS devices that people frequently use :). For most days lately I don't even measure anything, I just run for time and it helps me to not worry about my pace during the run. I had a planned workout today of 2 x 6 minutes hard during the second half of the run, so I ran Southwest of the house turning around at 20:03 (2.73 miles according to the course tool). At 22:00 I started the first rep, running between 1.06 and 1.07 miles in 6:00. I lost approx 57' elevation during the first 2:00, and then gained 32' back during the last 4:00. I started the second rep at 32:00, losing 20' over the first 100m or so, and then gaining 84' thereafter until reaching the house in 37:36 (.91 total distance for the rep up until this point), accidentally slowing down and then realizing that I had more time left to run hard and speeding up to finish the second rep at 38:04 (added time to make up for the slow down). I timed the last half mile to the house in 3:08 while gaining 70' elevation. After finishing the second rep I ran a brief cooldown to finish off the run, making it back to the house in 40:14.
I averaged approx 6:25 pace from the turn around until I reached the house. I may have run too fast on the recovery as I still averaged 8:00 pace for that portion of the run. I also may have started the first rep too fast as running on the fairly steep downhill to start off the first rep I was averaging 5:10 pace before slowing down substantially once I started to head back uphill. I am not sure how much of the slowdown was simply due to elevation change and how much was due to fatigue, but I definitely felt like I was struggling some during the second rep, and even near the end of the first rep.
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