Objective: 5-6-7 progression, endurance: 5 miles @ MP + 2 min, 6 mi @ MP + 1 min, 7 mi @ MP -- all + or - for hills and wind. 2 weeks until CIM.
Weather: Sunny with some cirrus clouds & a sliver of moon. During course of run it went from 38F to 42F, and from calm to breezy to very windy (Beaufort 7). It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... and it's beginning to look like a PR. Dare I say it? I had so many awesome runs in August and September and then Portland was a disaster. So maybe I'm foolish to count on anything right now. But today's run was fabulous. This is essentially the same workout I tried to do on 11/8. I couldn't quite hold my pace through the last segment on that day. Today I couldn't quite hold it -- when going uphill and into the 20 mph wind! [Insert crazy happy dance here.] It was pretty tough at times, but it was doable, enjoyable, and I had LOTS of energy left when I came inside. As a harpist, I know of a little saying: "bad dress rehearsal, good concert -- and vice versa." I've often seen that come true. In light of my unexpectedly horrible Portland race in October, I'm sticking with my CIM goals of 1) having a good time, 2) getting a negative split, and 3) going for a PR only if I feel good by the half way point. But after the good runs of the past month, I have this tiny little hope for much more that won't go away. I'll have to gag it; I really don't want to be disappointed again. This week I will start to taper my volume and run some MP miles every other day or so. Next week will be more of a cut back but still do some faster running and hopefully keep what I've got. I am so glad I did not taper much this week. Everything feels great.
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