After the horrible and exhausting 10:40/mi run on Tuesday, I decided to skip Wednesday's run and just be sick. I worked from home on the computer, and took the garbage can out, but didn't do much else. My stomach was still gurgling a little this morning, but I decided to go out and try a few miles and see what kind of speed, if any, I had in my legs. I wanted some idea of what to expect at the Gruesome Grizzly 8K on Saturday. My mile splits for the uphill, downhill, and level miles of our neighborhood 5K route were 8:00, 7:46, and 8:43 (I was dying); avg. pace 8:10/mi. Even though this was only half the distance of Tuesday's run, it was 2:30/mi faster and that's encouraging. I felt an unusual sensation as I ran this morning. I think it's called "heat". My understanding is that it is generated by the sun. I haven't felt it much during my runs this year. I didn't run until about 8am this morning and the temperature was in the 70's. Sweat is still dripping off my forehead as I type. I'll need some heat training, but I still think I'll try to do most of my runs at 5:45am. | 