I took two rest days knowing this long one was planned. Didn't want to ramp the miles back up too quickly, especially with the knee pain, while subsiding, still kind of an unknown. The talk this week with Mike was that we had to stick to a 7:30 pace, we even came up with a bet to try and give us a goal. Didn't happen. Already somewhat warm (50) when we started (Henry joined also) just before dawn at Annapolis, and we were hitting 6:58s the first few miles. We fit one 7:11 or something in, but didn't get a 7:30 until mile 8, which is the hill at Manchester. We all kvetched, but didn't really do anything about it. So the rhythm took over and, although my quads were just hammered for some reason, we stuck with a pace right about 7:00/mile and ran pretty hard as the rain started for the return route (mixed in at least three 6:35s, so this might as well have been a tempo). Other than the quads I felt good, had two mini Clifs and two salt tablets, which helped. Mostly I'm glad I haven't lost much fitness during those three weeks of low mileage, and that'll give me some confidence with Bloomsday coming quickly. The knee tickled a little here and there, but never materialized into much. So I'll say I'm back.
2:10:31 supernova glide -- 42
| 