Running in Life's Slow Lane

Thank the gods, the incredible heat wave has given way to the standard hot temperatures. We are predicted to reach a tolerable 98*F today and everyone is glad to see anything below 105*F. To celebrate, Teresa and I crawled from bed at 0630 this morning, donned running gear and took to the track. While our goal continues to be 10.0 mi we knew we could be happy with anything over 6.0.

8.0 mi in 1:46:12 @ 13:16/mi burning 723 calories with 122 bpm HRavg

Markers --
1.00 mi in 13:20 110 bpm HRavg
1.00 mi in 13:26 114 bpm HRavg
1.00 mi in 13:28 118 bpm HRavg
1.00 mi in 13:24 119 bpm HRavg
1.00 mi in 13:05 125 bpm HRavg
1.00 mi in 12:28 133 bpm HRavg
1.00 mi in 13:14 133 bpm HRavg
1.00 mi in 13:44 129 bpm HRavg

Glad to have another solid run in the books. My goal is to get about 25-28 miles in this week and plan for the week of 26 Jul - 02 Aug to be very low mileage as the family will be in Eureka Springs, Arkansas at vocal camp.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

When the alarm went off at 0615 it was accompanied by the crack of lightning and roll of thunder. As a result I had to delay today's run until 1000 when there seemed to be a big enough break in the isolated storms to allow for some distance. While the humidity was obviously very high -- there was storm cell located about 5 miles southeast dumping heavy rain -- the temperatures were in a pleasant range.

4.00 mi in 50:03 at 12:30/mi burning 440 calories

Markers ---
1.00 mi in 12:27
1.00 mi in 12:43
1.00 mi in 13:17
1.00 mi in 11:31

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

Weighing in at 169.6 today means I have shed the pounds gained during vacation. Now I need to focus on getting it down to 165!

Teresa's foot/leg is bothering her again so we kept it slow. I'm beginning to get a bit worried and wish she would go to see a doctor.

3.53 mi in 45:15 at 12:48/mi burning 335 calories.

Weather --
Fair, 73*F, 84% RH, Winds SW 6

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

It was quite a bit cooler this morning so I decided to see what kind of pace I could run in some 0.5 mi intervals. I focused on trying to feel the motion across most of my sole including a bit of a push on the toe. As I was doing this I could certainly tell that my upper leg muscles were being engaged a bit more than usual. I will probably be feeling the effects of this workout later today.

4.00 mi in 44:12 at 11:03/mi burning 489 calories with 137 bpm HRavg

Markers --
1.00 mi in 12:26 117 bpm HRavg - warm up
0.50 mi in 04:30 148 bpm HRavg - 09:00/mi pace not bad
0.50 mi in 06:00 132 bpm HRavg - trying to recover
0.50 mi in 04:31 153 bpm HRavg - 09:02/mi pace
0.50 mi in 05:39 144 bpm HRavg - another recovery
0.50 mi in 04:31 154 bpm HRavg - 09:02/mi pace
0.50 mi in 06:19 150 bpm HRavg - cool down

Alright, I am fairly happy with the effort of my faster intervals but my pace was probably a bit too fast during the recovery intervals as it doesn't look as though my heart rate decreased much in those time slots.

Weather --
Fair, high clouds, 68*F, 82% RH, winds N 7 mph (and it felt great!)

Legs were a bit stiff after yesterday's hard effort but with such wonderful temperatures I could not hold Teresa back and was forced to run at a quicker-than-recovery pace this morning. It's all good though.

4.00 mi in 48:42 at 12:13/mi burning 494 calories

Markers --
0.25 mi in 03:15 *I have no idea why I hit the lap button at 0.25 mi
1.00 mi in 12:10
1.00 mi in 11:17
0.75 mi in 09:32 *Hit the lap button to get on even 1.0 mi marks
1.00 mi in 12:23

Weather --
Beautiful clear blue skies, 65*F, dewpoint 60*F (~86% RH), winds E 5 mph

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma