Boston Strong

8 pm   78 deg   78% hum

8 miles @ 7:42 AP - moderate to strenuous effort - no real plan, lots of random varying of pace/effort.  Kind of wanted to go slower, but wanted to get home & take a cool shower more!  

7 pm   90 deg   40% hum   elevation gain/drop:   600'/600'

Nothing more than a 60 minute trail recovery run, which ended up being 65 minutes, because I wanted to complete the 6 miles of the 3 mile out & back course I did, and I did not want to go any faster than a recovery pace!  AP was 10:53.  Just so you know I was actually running, my PR on this trail running the 4 mile loop is a 8:26 pace, and that was an all out effort in the morning in April ... not in 90 degree heat!  I run this trail alot, and have only avg under 9 minutes twice, the other time was a PR effort last September @ 8:56 pace, about 10 days before I BQ'd.

I actually got up early to run this morning before it got hot, but my legs were tight & sore from my run last night, so I bailed ... glad I got a recovery run in tonight ... but I really need to transition to morning runs!

79 deg   75% hum

What can I learn from a totally crappy run?!

1)  I suck in the heat, & no I do not think I will ever acclimate!

2)  I need to drink lots more water throughout the day & night!

3)  It is seriously time to consider moving, 15 years of this crap is enough!

4)  I need to accept the fact most of my summer miles are going to be slow, except hopefully on my planned race days!

Ok ... for the run ... wore my heart rate monitor for first time this year, figured I would shoot for 9-10 miles & try to keep it between 14 & 150.  Realized at the first hill in Mile 2, keeping it under 150 was going to be tough, no matter how slow I went!

Had to stop at Mile 3 & 3.5 for walk breaks because I got a side stitch.  From here on out it was slow, cuz I am pretty certain anything faster would have brought the side stitch back.  Mile 5 was on a relatively flat shaded trail by the lake.  Stopped at Mile 6 to refill water bottle at gas station.  Stopped at Mile 7 because there was a small section of shade, and I wanted to!  Probably walked half a dozen times the next mile thru small sections of shade.  Made myself run last mile to get home!

I stopped my watch for all walk breaks - total elapsed time 139:29

Why did I sign up for a 10k of July 4 with a goal of breaking 40 minutes?  On a hilly course!

Ok ... my pity party is officially over!  At least I am not in Texas!  :-)

8 pm   75 deg   78%  850 Vert

Alas, a run this week I felt good about!  I don't worry about pace too much on this trail, I know it is a hard effort that pays dividends, regardless of pace.  6.5 miles on trail, 2 half mile downhill speed intervals on service road down to the base of the dam.  Of course, what goes down on the road, goes back up on the trail.  After hitting 91 midday, a little cool front moved in which cooled things down a little!  Yea!!!

Followed run with a refreshing swim in the lake.

17 mile trail run ... not lots of relevant running data ... lots of uphill hiking & downhill agility course!  Ran from top of falls to Springer Mtn - Appalachian trailhead in Georgia  Prayed for rain on drive up to cool things down ... torrential downpours started at Mile 7 ... next mile was like running through a rocky creekbed ... took cover in shelter at AT trailhead for about 2 hours ... soaked & cold, but good company.  Finally let up, headed pack, took a headfirst slide thru muddy section of trail at Mile 10 ... actually a non-technical section ... where I started daydreaming ... I think about the single girl I met at the shelter & her German sheperd!  lol  Luckily this was one of the only sections of trail not covered in rocks ... just mud ... much softer!  At Mile 11, came around a corner to stare a large black bear & 4 cubs frolicking in middle of trail ... luckily they scampered about 20 yards into woods & I hightailed it past them!  Soaked in creek at top of waterfall after run ... 3,900' vertical.  A good day!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91713763