The Next Step

It was really warm today for this time of year.  It started raining soon after I started and got harder as I went along.  I felt sluggish starting out and after around 3 miles I did some around 1 min surges to try to get my legs moving. That seemed to help and I felt better as I went along. It seems like I have been in a slump training wise.  It just doesn't seem like the body is responding.  Hopefully I will snap out of it before Boston.

54:48 (7:50 avg)

It was really warm and very windy today.  Today I planned to do 3 x 8:00 at tempo pace with 3:00 recovery.  I started out easy with a 2 mile warmup.  I felt ok but a little tired.  I stayed up late last night watching Butler almost knock off Duke so didn't get normal sleep.  During the warmup I almost stepped on a snake that was laying in the road.  I am not a big fan of snakes but stopped and scared it out of the road so it wouldn't get run over.  About another 1/2 mile up the road I saw another snake that was as luckily.  It had been smashed by a car.  Must be the nice weather bringing out the snakes.  

After the warmup I started the tempo.  During the first one I felt pretty good and was running around 6:20 pace.  Toward the end my legs were feeling flat and tired.  I did the 3:00 recovery then started the second one.  I felt bad on this one from the beginning.  I kept the pace around 6:20 but was having to push it pretty hard.  I cut this one short at 5:00.  I did another recovery and tired another.  Still didn't feel good and cut that one short at 4:00.  I am not sure what is up but I have nothing in my legs.  I am not even breathing hard when I run these but I feel like I can't get my legs moving.  I'm not sure what it is but is making running not much fun right now. 

59:50 (7:29 avg)

Another warm (66) and very windy morning.  Because I haven't been feeling the best running the last couple of weeks thought I would try something different today and do a super easy recovery run.  The goal was to run in the 8:15 to 8:30 pace range.  I haven't done many super easy runs in awhile and thought that maybe I am not letting myself recover and it has built up to make me feel run down all the time.  Again I felt sluggish starting out but kept is slow and easy and seemed to feel better as I went along.  I guess I will not know how it worked until the next few days.

49:51 (8:21 avg)

It was cooler today (46) and super windy (30 mph). I just did an easy run because the wind made it impossible to do much else. I felt a lot better today and did several 1:00 pickup to around 5k pace to test the legs.  Those felt good too but I didn't want to push it too much.  I hope as I taper I continue to get more bounce back in my legs.  Maybe the trend will continue.  I have been getter more rest and trying to watch what I eat.

38:08 (7:38 avg)

It was a pretty nice day (around 50) but still windy.  I am getting tired of the wind but I guess that is to be expected this time of year.  I felt better today and thought I would try to get some MP miles in.  I did a 2 mile warm up and then did the next 5 miles at a little faster than MP.  The first couple of miles didn't feel the best but after that I kind of got into a groove and felt pretty good.  It was a good confidence builder for me because it has been a while since I had a good run.  Here are the MP splits: 6:50, 6:54, 6:47, 6:47, 7:10 (slowed down the last 1/4 mile to warm down a little).

 50:07 (7:09 avg)

Another nice day in Indiana.  It was around 58 but still windy.  Today's plan was a med-long run just easy after yesterday's faster run.  I felt pretty good today and everything seems to be heading in the right direction.  I just ran by feel and tired to stay relaxed and keep it easy.  It felt good to keep it in the 7:40 pace range which is good because last week it was a struggle at that pass.  It seems like the body is starting to respond to the taper.

Today was the first day I could see the advanced forecast for Boston and it looked good (mid 50's).  I just hope it is not windy.  I am tired to the wind already.

1:31:58 (7:40 avg)