Getting back to Boston

Ran a half-marathon inside today at MAFC. That wasn't the plan when I left; I'd intended to do 5 or 6. But the legs felt pretty good, and I wasn't puring out the sweat TOO badly, so at first I planned to stretch it out just a little over 10 miles, to get to 60 for the week. Then by the 6-mile mark I was cruising along well and decided to do a full 13.1, which is 174 laps. I ran the first 87 laps in 59 minutes and change and the last 87 in about 57 minutes. Overall average was 8:54. Considering the first mile took 9:36, that's a pretty good progression.

I still haven't done the long runs like I probably need for this cycle with 11 weeks to go. But today's a start, anyway, a two-hour run and a 62.87-mile week.

Ten laps at Creekmore Park after work, since MAFC was closed for the holiday. Temp: 95. Sweating: profuse. Distance I actually wanted to run: one lap. Pace: 9:20. Relative pace: too damn fast. Kept trying to slow down. I need people to run with to keep me slowed down.

Hope to be back at Creekmore tomorrow night to attend WAR meeting, but that will depend on what the ER looks like.

I'm gonna try to keep track of my outdoor miles for a while until I get better acclimated or it cools down. July total: 14.63.

104 today in the Fort. No outside running for me. Instead I struggled through 93 laps at MAFC. I was STARVING. And nauseated. And had to take a potty break. But I got it done. Tomorrow might be a rest day.

Bagged the RD. Did lifting and core after work, followed by 4 easy, followed by 1 at MP. Went pretty well. Legs feel better now than before I started. And the streak goes on; now at 10.

Eight on the mill at MAFC: one mile warmup, six miles at MP, one mile cooldown. Wasn't sure I could maintain 6 at MP, but it really got easier as I went along. Forgot water bottle, though, which wasn't a good move. Although it didn't seem like I lost quite as much fluid as I have on some other TM runs.

Tomorrow marks four years of running, since that start-and-stop loop around McCain Park Drive. Nearly 7400 miles have passed under the old feet since then. Almost three coast-to-coast runs across the U.S. I never woulda thunk it.

Over four years of running, I've averaged just a scoche (sp?) over 5 miles per day, every day. Thus, I figured a 5-miler today would be appropriate to mark the four-year anniversary, and that's what I did. Finished seeing my patients early and went down to the gym for a run. Pager interrupted me three times, but nothing urgent and I finished the run and went up to deal with the minor issues (which mainly were discharging two people after they had procedures). I was still a little stiff from last night's MP run, but it went OK. Also saw Khristian down there and I think we'll finally start to get acquainted next week. :)

Still planning to get up early tomorrow and do 5-6 before work, but we'll see how that goes. Still need a rest day at some point, although I'm thinking that will be Sunday. Unless it's tomorrow. I think I'll just run to SHS and back tomorrow from the Casa instead of driving to Chaffee for the WAR run, since I have to finish before the rest of them start and get to work.

Did the Free Ferry/Old Greenwood/SHS/Valley Road loop at dawn. It felt like I was trying to breathe molasses, and I'd be lying if I said I ran every step of the way, but I maintained a 10:00 average. Well, that's not true either; I ran the last 2.5 considerably faster to get DOWN to a sub-10 average. But I got it done. Now off to work. I'm definitely awake now, but focus may be another issue. And I got in 50 miles since Sunday, including most of a work week.

Late morning addendum: With all the indoor running I've been doing, my hill fitness apparently has gone away, because those hills today kicked me hard. Guess I need to start playing with the incline button on the 'mill some.

Probably take that RD tomorrow in preparation for a massive indoor LR on Monday, maybe 16. Doing 212 laps does not sound appealing, but getting up at 5:30 to run for 2.5 hours in this soup doesn't sound good either. At least I can put water/Gatorade bottles by the track and grab them as I go by. Might be a good time to incorporate the cooler into my LR regimen.