Running is a means and never merely an end

Warmed up around Cullowhee Valley, then did a 5 mile tempo at the rec center. There is a .6 mile loop and a .4 mile loop so I just did 5x(the .6 + .4). I've never done more than 4 miles for a tempo, usually around 7:05-10, so I was hoping for around 7:15-20 for these. Splits were 7:16/7:12/7:23/7:18/7:05, so 7:14.8 average, which I was satisfied with. I was really happy with my mindset during this workout, because usually I hate tempos with a passion and grow to temporarily hate this sport by mile 2 or 3 of them, but I somewhat enjoyed myself today. 

Cool down afterwards, followed by some upper body weight lifting and then stretching.

7 miles around Webster, almost in pitch black because it was so late. For this week I have two 6 milers, three 7 milers, one 9 miler, and a hill day, so I was only going to do one of my 6 mile days today. I was feeling pretty good after about 5 miles though, so I decided to go ahead and just make it a 7 day. 7:50ish average pace.

This is off topic but I am so not ready to leave my family. I feel like I miss them already and I haven't even left. I've never loved and cherished the time I get to spend with them as much as I have this summer, having realized that I'm never truly going to live with them again. Just been spending a lot of time during my runs thinking & praying about that.

Not exactly sure of the distance because it was a hill workout. Went over to the big hill on Ashe Loop after my 2 mile warm up. 12x60sec hill sprint with 2 minutes jog in between each, all continuous. So maybe 4 miles or so for the hill part. I did not enjoy this at all....the last 3 reps were straight hell to be honest - it was the heat of the day and I hadn't drank any water all day; I didn't even have saliva left in my mouth, I was definitely dehydrated. Going to work on making sure that doesn't happen again. But I'm happy now with the way I pushed through it and thankful for the strength God provided me with. 1 mile cool down afterwards. 

Easy 6 mile recovery run. Maybe I'm being overly dramatic but I'm honestly unsure if there has ever been a more beautiful day than today! Such a happy run. Plus I finally hit my 1000th mile of the year today!

Core circuit, heavy on the abs, and then stretching afterwards.

7(ish) mile out-and-back negative split run through Cullowhee. Started at the Ramsey Center at WCU, then ran through speedwell road past the Rec Center, about a mile an a half up Tilly Creek, and then turned around and tried to get back faster than I came. Turned around at 28:15, and then it took me 24:37 to get back. So about an 8 minute avg mile pace there, and 7:15 avg on the way back. I feel pretty good about that. 

Morning run around campus with Joseph. 7:50ish pace. The students are moving in this week so campus is pretty alive right now, which is keeping things interesting. Lots of traffic though.

Nice and easy 9 miles throughout Cullowhee, a pretty relaxed 8:10 avg pace or so. But there was a lot of variation in pace depending on hills because I did most of it on the trails near the airport, which was super fun. And of course that means I got a pretty substantial hill workout in the mix as well. But its always nice to get off of the pavement/sidewalks for a while. Threw in six 20/40's (20 sec hard, 40 sec easy) torwards the end to wake my legs up.