Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

66F, 88%, rain.  7:45 AP.  I wanted to run my old dirt roads since we were back in Abilene, but they would've been muddy today so I stayed close to the hotel (lightning nearby as well).  Legs were pretty flat until about 5 miles into the run.  I'm finishing off my highest mileage week in over a year though.

Track meet tomorrow night.  Kind of a weird dilemma though - I need a nice long warmup (today helped prove that) but the heat index is going to be in the upper 90s and I don't know how much sense it makes to run around for 30+ minutes out there, jacking up my core temp.  Maybe a couple segments of warmup, broken up by sitting in the car, blasting the a/c?  I'll have to think about that one...

AM:  76F, 85%.  6 @ 8:00 AP.  Couple of ~30 sec strides @ goal mile pace.

PM:  we had a line of thunderstorms come through at lunch and somehow that cancelled the 6pm meet.  At 6pm there was severe sunshine.  The school was worried about the infield being too sloppy.  When the guy in charge told me that, I jokingly said "ah, who cares about the field events!"  He was kinda old and I don't know if he knew I was kidding, so it was awkward for a few seconds.  Anyway, I was ready to run and so warmed up a mile then did a 400 at my planned race pace (77s).  It actually felt pretty bad.  Then a couple 200s that felt hard.  Meh, maybe the cancellation was a good idea after all.  Try again next week...

AM:  68F, 87%.  7 mi total.  I woke up and saw the arctic-like conditions, and got excited.  Not one to look a gifthorse in the mouth (and still rested from the cancelled track meet), I moved tomorrow's 3k workout to today.  Correct move.  I went back to the last time I did this workout and figured I should improve since the conditions were about the same.  Warmup felt great, which is unusual.  The first rep (usually the slowest) was already under my average for last time, and it felt like a joke, which is crazy.  5 x 800 @ 3k, 2 min rest.

I averaged 2:42.7.  Splits were 2:46.6, 2:43.9, 2:43.5, 2:43.0, 2:36.6.

After the second one, I was pretty sure I'd PR the workout (old avg PR was 2:46).  The next number on my mind was my actual McMillan 3k pace -- 2:43.  I knew I had to really go on the last rep to get it, but I managed a fast one which was enough to bring the average down.

Very encouraging.  I suspected my fitness level was good, but it's always so hard to tell in the summer months, since you can't push as hard.  Fortunately we had this random icy-cold morning.  This will help motivate me -- the work I'm doing is indeed helping, even if I don't hit these paces again for awhile.

PM:  4 on the TM.  Ate a huge lunch, so I was happy just doing 4 x 1/4 mile on/off (9.5/7.0) to lock in some muscle memory for Thursday's HMP workout.

I looked up the nutritional info for my Carl's Jr lunch: 2230 calories, including 121g of fat.  The fat is especially cool - equivalent to over a quarter pound of pure lard.  Yeah, Americaaaa!

AM:  67F, 82%.  6 @ 8:46 AP.  Another great morning to run.  Legs were kind of dead, but I thought about trying to pack in another workout.  Would've been a bad idea.

PM:  4 on the TM, same routine as yesterday.

AM:  77F, 85%.  11 @ 7:32 AP.  Today was LT day.  I'd planned 4-5 miles continuous at a reduced pace due to the heat/humidity, but could still only manage a 5k in 20:04.  A 20-min tempo is ok, I guess, though it's hard to get too excited about a 5k that's slower than HM pace.  So, I'll give myself a half-Workout Fail.  This was workout #10 of my 5k block of training and the other 9 were successful, so I've still got a good percentage rolling.  Anyway, this confirms what I said 3 weeks ago about the LT workout being the first to move to the TM.  So let it be written.

PM:  TM run (4.5 mi).  I was irritated about my morning run, had my best flats in the bag, and caffeine coursing through my veins...deadly combo - so the normal stride routine was out.  After a 2-mile w/u, I did 1 mile @ 10mph, .5 @ 7.5, .5 @ 11.0, .25 @ 7.5, .25 @ 12.0.  Not a real workout but I feel better now.

AM:  66F, 93%.  Whaa?  If I'd known it was going to be cold, I would've saved my tempo for today.  Weatherman Fail.  6 miles, recovery pace (forgot to look).

PM:  4 on the TM, with my hill sprint routine.  5% this time.  I think outside I'd probably run faster and shorter hill sprints but this probably works just fine.

74F, 90%.  7:29 AP.  Ran right through some race they were having on the Leon Creek trail today.  Not sure what it was, but it must have involved several out and backs.  Seemed like most participants were walking.  Very few returned my cheery "good morning" greetings, so I started ignoring them all.

Got enough miles for the week that I'll probably take tomorrow off - legs have been feeling old and creaky the last 2-3 days.  Then hopefully the 1600 on Monday evening.