Fly me to the moon...

I really tried to take it easy today.  I did fairly well until I turned around and hit the downhill mile.  Then my legs just wanted to keep going.  My total time was 44:16 for a pace of 7:22/mile.  Splits were 7:32, 7:30, 7:25, 7:17, 7:19, and 7:11.

Easy run along the trail.  Total time was 44:46 for the 6 miles for a 7:27/mile pace.  Splits were 7:46, 7:33, 7:23, 7:26, 7:20, and 7:16.  I felt good, and the foot felt fine.

I ran a 2 mile warm-up (7:55 and 7:43), and then did 4x800m along the trail with 3 minutes rest in between.  My times were 2:55, 2:52, 2:47, and 2:50.  I felt okay during the intervals but not great.  I was able to recover quickly though and felt like 2 minutes would have been sufficient.  That was encouraging.  I then finished with 2 miles cool-down.

Just 5 easy miles along the trail this evening in a total time of 36:25 for a pace 7:17/mile.  Splits were 7:30, 7:25, 7:13, 7:13, and 7:02.  I felt good and the legs were fine.  I just ran by feel and didn't look at my watch during the run.  I just hit the lap button at each mile.  I enjoyed not worrying about times.  I never used to run with a watch.

Nothing unfortunately.  It has been a busy, stressful couple of days.  I had meetings with my thesis advisors yesterday to discuss my project and graduation.  The general consensus was that it would be difficult to finish by August when I hope to begin my Ph.D at Arkansas.  We decided to meet together today as a committee to talk it over.  I spent the day trying to get a meeting together when everyone could be there.  It kept getting pushed back and finally started at 3:30pm.  My advisor and I decided we would call Arkansas again on Monday and see if they would defer my enrollment until January.  I had previously called today, and they weren't too enthusiastic or forthcoming about deferring or of my chances of getting in again should I choose to re-apply in the spring.  After the meeting I had to walk home (~2 miles) so I could be there to babysit at 5pm for a friend's baby.  Kathleen and I do it every Friday, and since she has her water aerobics class after work, I leave the car for her to drive home afterwards.  I didn't get a chance to run before the baby was dropped off, and it was 9:30pm before they came to pick him up.  I didn't feel like going for a run at 10pm at night, but I was bummed that I didn't get my run in.

Eight miles along the trail in the afternoon.  It was a warm, beautiful, sunny afternoon.  The wind was pretty strong, but it was nice to be able to run in shorts and t-shirt the entire time.  I think that was the first run of the year where I didn't at least start with a hat or long sleeved shirt.  I felt good and relaxed.  The legs were also fresh from not running the previous day.  I saw signs of the marathon from the morning with a few mile markers along the trail and even an aid station with water and Gatorade still out.  My total time was 56:45 for a 7:05/mile pace.  Around 5 miles I was feeling great and decided to beat the 7:10 guy so I picked it up a little.  My splits were 7:16, 7:13, 7:09, 7:10, 7:08, 6:58, 6:56, and 6:52.  The last three were probably a little fast, but it felt comfortable.