Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Sunny, humid, high 60sF in the shade, Sahara Desert in the sun (felt like it to me).   Endurance run with lots of hills and some MP (9:00-9:15) at end. 

I was assigned to run 2 MP miles before my cool down today, and I had every intention of doing so.  You might even say I did. Sort of. In a mathematical way.  At around mile 15.5 I found myself in the central area of the neighborhood, where there are a few more flat stretches than everywhere else.  As planned, I started the MP part of the run. I wasn't quite through the first mile when I overheated pretty badly (face flushed with heat, head dizzy, and stomach getting ready to be sick).  So I ended up doing cool off breaks all through the rest of the MP run, going as far as I could stand to go, then walk/jogging for about a minute to cool off.  Splits:  .84 @ 9:06, .33 @ 9:15,  .45 @ 9:02, and .34 @ 9:13.  

Somehow I have my doubts that this sort of off-n-on MP running will contribute anything to my fitness, but I can honestly say I did the best I could.

 Weekly summary:
Mon-Sun total miles: 60.4

Mon 8.19 E
Tues  9.7 E
Weds 8.56 E
Thu 7.77 w/ V:   4 x 1000, 2:30 recov b/t: 4:57, 4:53, 4:52, 5:05
Fri 7.1 recov
Sat off
Sun 19.08 w/ 1.96 @ MP in "pieces"

59F, cloudy.  (ah...) Recovery run.  (20 min strength after.)  Just a short jog to get the blood flowing.  Legs not too happy today.  Saw and chatted with a woman from my running club, Sean's sister.  She is a very fast runner, so it was really nice of her to slow down (and even stop when we reached my house) to talk about marathons, speed work, being tired from training.... all the things that are on my mind right now.  

57F, mostly clear.  Hill repeats, 5 x 1.5 min up, 3 min recov., on 15+% grade hill

After a long warm up, my legs felt pretty good, but no proof in today's pudding. Very slow.  I may try for a few more miles tonight.

PM- 2.73

60F (with pockets of hotter and cooler air in neighborhood), mostly clear. Easy run.  15 min. core and upper body.

55F, mostly cloudy, w/ some stars showing, pretty sunrise.  Tempo run: 3 x 15 min w/ 1.5 minute recovery b/t.   Target pace 8:30,  distances/paces: 1.64 @ 9:10, 1.66 @ 9:02, 1.7 @ 8:50 (slightly different terrain on last rep).  (Fun coincidence that it added up to exactly 5 miles at tempo, though it should have been more.)  Finished with a 2.39 miles run/walk w/ SnoFlake.  10 min. core work.

Hard, hard, hard.  (One moan for each rep.)  Last night I was so tired and could not even imagine doing this workout, so I am fairly pleased.  The disappointing pace is what it is, and there is no way it could have been faster.  What could have happened is me blowing off the workout and just having another easy day, or even sleeping in and blowing off the run altogether.  So. Mental check mark.  :)

Upper 50s F, and raining. Windy at times. Objectives: endurance w/ hills, club run, and Spirit Crusher Hill (miles 11-13), which I am hereby renaming Leg Builder Hill.  (More positive, but I'm not sure I can ever stop thinking of it as "Spirit Crusher.") 

Ran this in 4:25, including warmup and cooldown.  Totally soaked most of the time, but not uncomfortable until the second half. (Finished up over an hour ago and the skin on my toes is still all wrinkled.)  But I will still take this over heat any day.  

Ran down the Parkway (Leg Builder) to the club meeting and ran about 5 miles on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail with one other woman.  Back up the hill and around some of the neighborhoods, where I met two sisters who are in the club but did not make it to the run.  So I ran with them for a while, which was great fun and a nice distraction. They were going on the Silent Creek Trail, which I never run alone (cougars, bears and bad guys), so I had a little treat there.  

The last 4 miles were not fun, as the rain got harder and my feet and legs were starting to ache.  The rest of the day will be blissful sitting, knitting, and Mexican food with friends for dinner.