AM. I ran solo this morning. It seemed very warm and humid - mid-60's and 83% humidity. Even though it rained on me the first part of the run, and there was a tiny bit of breeze occasionally, I never really felt much coolness. For the last week or so my right hip has been stiff and sore in the morning, as it was again this morning, but it loosens up and doesn't bother me much during my runs or during the day. Still, I decided to stick close to home this morning and just run 1/2 mile loops in my neighborhood. I decided to warm up a mile then try a 4 mile tempo run at marathon pace effort, followed by a mile of cool down. My mile splits for the tempo were 7:34, 7:32, 7:33, 7:23. This was a mostly level 1/2 mile loop, 1/2 slight uphill, 1/2 slight downhill. Given how hard it is to get my legs moving in the morning, I feel pretty good about my efforts. I ended up adding an extra 1.5 miles to the run. Most of it was at an easy 9:00-ish pace, but I threw in one fast 1/4 mile to see what my tired legs could do. I ran a 5:46/mi pace for that 1/4 mile stretch and it felt pretty good. I've enjoyed inserting some faster miles here and there into my runs lately. My ankle is feeling much better. Now I've just got to work through this hip thing. Still, overall I'd have to say the old Model T is sputtering along okay.
PM. I put in a little more distance this morning because I'm not sure what the weather or my work schedule is going to be like today. I still hope to get some more miles in at noon. | 