Where's the Donuts?

A few more miles than I planned, but when April shows up in February you don't hold back. Took an early ferry over to Seattle and met Krissy and a few other folks at Discovery Park. Three laps around the outer loop in 1:56. We stopped each lap, and ran a pretty easy pace so it wasn't too taxing on the legs. I actually felt fine energy-wise, but my back was pretty sore from a.) yoga yesterday or b.) mowing the lawn yesterday. Hammys were a little tight also, not noticable during the run but definitely when I went to stretch. But a real productive run otherwise, and on another gorgeous morning in the Pacific Northwest. Who cares that the Spring Olympics are getting screwed with this weather, move 'em to Siberia next time. 

The back-to-back high mileage days seems like a good sign for the coming 50k, just four weeks away now. I'm planning to add more hill repeats this week and next to get some of that into my training, and hopefully a few more 2+ hour runs. But I'm feeling confident about it, and downright springy in the legs most days.

1:56

brooks cascadia -- 139

Tracyton Beach Road to the four mile turnaround and back. Easy-to-medium pace, legs a little tired. Glad to take yesterday off. 1:01:37

supernova glide -- 317

Hill repeats on Jacobson. Two mile warmup along Shore Drive, then 8x the 275m (or so) hill on Jacobson. It's not a real steep incline, but a good grade to run hard. Most between 63 and 65 seconds, I lost my head on one in the middle and ran 68 seconds. Felt good to push for a while though. Mile cool down.

47:29

supernova glide -- 323

Didn't really intend for two rest days there, but it turned into one of those types of weeks. I chose to get a few more hours of sleep after some late nights. 

But back on Shore Drive this morning. Drove through a pretty good rain to get there before dawn, then received Henry's text that he wasn't coming. Oof. At least I was already here. I took off alone and did an easy first 1.5 (7:15 pace). 

After that I got into a little groove, working things out in my own head and relaxing my legs. But I wasn't minding pace, and I really got going. 7:03, then two sub-7, then three between 7:05 and 7:10. Decided to keep going to the 8-mile turnaround, the rain had stopped by then and I was enjoying the view of Rainier and downtown Seattle. So I climbed the hill out of Manchester in just under 8 for the mile, and took a quick break to gel up.

Turned around and started quick, definitely felt stronger at that point than a week ago on the same run. Did a 6:49 then a 6:59. Then Henry came along to meet me, wimp. We did another sub-7 mile, then a 7:08 and two more under 7 (one a 6:43, whew). Then another 7:02 to wrap up.

So a pretty quick 16 overall, three minutes faster than a week ago (1:53:08 overall). Not by design, but when those weeks come I guess I take them. I'll count it as a positive sign for my fitness and strength, because I really never broke down or felt winded. Actually finished with quite a bit of energy, probably should have done two more.

Legs and feet good otherwise, and my head is in it. Three weeks to Chuckanut, I'll try to pile some miles on tomorrow for a good back-to-back. Another good week though, 44 miles and had I not skipped yesterday could have had 50. Maybe next week.

supernova glide -- 339