A.M. I did 20 miles mostly alone. Kids ran by themselves with Benjamin in charge. Benjamin did 8, Jenny 4, Julia 1, Joseph 3, Jacob 2, William 1.
I did 2x3 miles down the Provo Canyon. The first one from about 5.3 to 8.3 and the second from 11.3 to 14.3. Both on the same stretch from Nunn's park to the mouth of the canyon. The first one was 16:13.2 (5:20, 5:31, 5:22), second 16:25.9 (5:31, 5:30, 5:24). I felt there was some new strength but at the same time some remaining weakness. After my 11:04 uphill tempo on Thursday I was not expecting a such a plop off 5:20 pace in the first one. In the second, I adjusted the pace according to the knowledge of the weakness, and was able to negative split it in spite of accumulating fatigue.
Not sure where the plop is coming from. One explanation is that because I have reduced the amount of mileage at 7:30 pace and faster I might be experiencing a minor dip in aerobic fitness that is nevertheless sufficient to show at faster speeds. Another explanation is that because I have not run in that zone very much in recent months I may be reluctant to stay in it for a significant amount of time. Regardless, I will try to attack the problem from both angles before the TOU and see if I can make a dent with this micro-assault.
P.M. We had an adventure with the rain. Our neighbor's basement got flooded and we along with other members of our ward helped clean up.
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