42F, raining, w/ wind at times. Tempo intervals: 4 x 1 mile moderately hard (9:00, 8:43, 8:46, 8:43) w/ brief recovery jog between miles. 20 minutes strength work. This was such a great workout. One of those perfectly balanced efforts: hard enough to feel effective (ie "when can I stop?!?!?") but still fun. I even added a mile to my original plan (3 miles) because I had more time and still felt pretty fresh. I feel especially pleased with the consistent splits, since I wasn't on a flat surface the whole time. For a warm up I ran 3 very easy miles and finished with a couple of 30 second hill sprints. This workout makes me feel a bit better about missing a run yesterday. But it also shows me something I've seen before: more sleep equals better running. On Tuesday night I had some difficulty sleeping, and then I had cat trouble in the wee hours to take care of. A little before 4 AM, after some anguish and exhaustion-induced weeping, I decided to turn off my alarm and let go of the Wednesday morning run. Just. Let. Go. So today I feel like it was a good decision, and I am even thinking of having a personal rule about no running unless I get at least 7 hours of sleep. I am also rethinking my speed work schedule to give myself only one speed day a week. I am supposed to run hill work and tempo on the same week and then VO2 intervals the next. I guess I'm feeling old today, in spite of my good workout. All this stuff is just rattling around in my brain while I decide what I want and the best way to get it. :) | 