Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

40F, SW 14 mph.  6:51 AP.  Today was 17 @ steady-state pace.  This is the only run of this type in the specific phase.  I didn't bother to stick to any pace in particular, just kept a nice moderate aerobic effort and let the wind and hills dictate the pace.  It was downhill going out with a headwind, then uphill coming back home with a tailwind.

Splits were 7:09, 7:05, 6:58, 6:53, 6:54, 6:49, 6:50, 7:03, 6:52, 6:59, 6:54, 6:56, 6:48, 6:47, 6:43, 6:32, 6:22.

I got bored with the pace and picked it up a little on the last 3 or 4 miles going uphill back home and finished with a nice progressive effort on some of the tougher hills.

I like the steady state run and will pick it up again after Boston.  It's enjoyable because you're not working too hard, but it feels like you're actually running.  For now I need to concentrate on GMP though.

AM:  35F, NNE 15 mph.  4 @ 8:49 AP.  I was going to do 6 in the AM and 4 in the PM, but I forgot to set my alarm. I ended up hitting the road just 7 minutes after getting out of bed, which is a minor miracle, but still only had time for 4 miles.  Will have to do 6 this evening.  At least this didn't happen on a 15-mile morning.

PM:  46F.  Did the other 6 @ 8:38 AP.

AM:  38F, NE 13 mph, pouring rain.  My favorite hypothermia-inducing conditions.  10 @ 7:51 AP.  As an added bonus penalty, it was the sharp, stinging kind of rain.

PM:  33F, N 15 mph, light snow.  4 @ 8:30 AP.  The snow was coming down a lot harder a few hours ago, but it didn't stick.

AM:  29F, a little fog.  10 @ 7:57 AP.  Hopefully ready to go for some LT work tomorrow.  Can't decide what to do though - 6 x 1, 30 min tempo, 4 x 1.5, 2 x 5k....so many choices....

PM:  47F.  4 @ 8:40 AP.  Still burping up Long John Silvers that I had 6 hours prior for lunch.  Happens every time.  The real question is why do I keep going there?  Because it's greasy and delicious, that's why.

30F.  7:13 AP.  Ran down to the track today for a 6 x 1600 @ LT, with 400m recoveries.  My idea was to start a little slower and finish a little faster.  Successful workout again. 

Average rep was 6:11.4.  Splits were 6:18, 6:14, 6:13, 6:12, 6:08, 6:03.  Average recovery lap was ~2:03.

Educated guess of my current vLT is 6:10-6:15, so this workout bookended that range pretty well.  I think I'm starting to get the right effort level with these workouts.  You want to finish feeling like you could do another rep or two if you absolutely had to, but you're still glad it's over.  Any slower and you're somewhat wasting your time, but any faster and you're not meeting the intent of the workout, plus adding significantly to your recovery time.  This morning was a good representation of that.  I avoided the temptation to go to the well, and just finished steady but strong.  Added a little extra cooldown to get to 15, and notch a MLR.  One more MP workout on Sunday, then a recovery week (ahhh).

AM:  33F, NNE 17-24 mph.  6 @ 8:37 AP.

PM:  42F, NNE 12 mph.  4 @ 7:57 AP.

That is all.

AM:  36F.  6 @ 8:10 AP.  Last bit of recovery before 10-11 @ MP tomorrow.  Goal is to go slower than last time and not race against the old workout.  I have a little tougher course picked out as well.

PM:  46F.  5.3 @ 8:54 AP.  Wasn't originally going to do a second run today, but my neighbor called and we've been trying to hook up for awhile so I joined him for a few during his long run.  Turns out we do the same routes a lot and use the same tricks to avoid some of the hills and wind around here.