Every Run is a Great Run!

Wow what an absolutely beautiful day today! I guess it's "In like a lamb" for March this year. This was my first official non-St. George short-sleeve shirt day for 2010. Weather and the rest day yesterday had me feeling perky for the run and I probably ran a little faster than I should have.

Plan was for a fartlek run - 4 x 5 minute segments throughout the run at a "comfortably hard" pace, around 10K pace or a little quicker. I pretty much worked it so at the beginning of every even mile I'd take off for 5 minutes. So plenty of rest time in between fast segments, I think I ran mostly 8-8:15 pace during the "rests".

Overall AP/AHR: 7:29/162

AP/AHR for each 5-min burst: 6:20/175, 6:23/179(uphill to finish out this one so it was harder than the 6:23 would indicate), 6:16/183, 6:17/183.

Felt great during the run and still feeling the love afterward. Sunshine and endorphins are great!

Another nice day although a bit cloudy. But I'll save the complaining for the next couple of days when it's raining/snowing. Did a recovery mini-long run. Had a hard time finding any kind of comfortable running rhythm today.

With 3 miles to go I ran into Nate and ran with him and finally seemed to get into a better flow. Interestingly the 3 miles with Nate that felt better were in the 7:30-7:45 range where the other 9 clumsy miles were around 8:15-8:30.

AP/AHR: 8:14/146

Mother Nature was a trickster today. Sunny and high 40's when I left in shorts and short sleeves but when I got to the mid-point of the run, which also just happened to be the farthest point away from the finish point, she decided to throw some wind and rain my way. This lasted most the rest of the way except at the end of the run the sun came out again for a brief appearance. I'm sure about this time Ma Nature was having a good giggle. The hands and arms were a bit chilled and it took me a good long time to get myself out of the hot shower.

Ran 7 peaks hill route. Decided to do the steep hill sprints early in the run instead of later. This seemed to work better for me and I think I'll always do it this way now. Ran 10 x 10s sprints and felt pretty good.

AP/HR: 8:27/148

Warm day again today but a bit blustery. Plan was for 2 mile warmup, then 2 x 15 min. @ HMP with 1 min active recovery. Not sure what my HMP is but I figure 6:45-7:00 is in the ballpark. The wind was bothersome on the 1st interval and helpful on the 2nd.

Looking at my HR it's a bit high for HMP for me so I probably did these a little too fast considering the wind. On the 2nd one out of habit I think I pushed a bit just so I could be done. The logic seemed good at the time but now it occurs to me that DUH! - on a timed interval vs. distance it does no good whatsoever to speed up when your running 15 min regardless of pace. Just made me work that much harder than I needed to. Guess I'm not used to doing timed intervals.

Overall AP/AHR: 7:36/164

Interval 1: AP/AHR/Distance: 6:54/175/2.18

Interval 2: 6:42/185/2.24

Busy day at work today so I wasn't able to get out until afternoon. But that did mean I was able to get the better side of the weather and even see a little sun. Did 30-min XT warmup (S/B/E) then 5 miles real easy outside.

8:30/141

Didn't have alot of zip today so I took it pretty easy. Kim and I met up with the SF group at 6 then ran the usual route to bishops and Osbournes. At around 8 miles most folks turned around and I went a bit with Bob and Dave then solo for a few. Then it worked out I hit the water stop the same time as Tyler and the great Clay RamboJr Simmons. Tyler was headed home but I got to run  with Clay for 4 or 5 miles. I was grateful for the company during that stretch since I was a bit sluggish and it helped to chat with Clay and be distracted away from my slug running. After parting ways with Clay I met up with another guy whose name I don't remember and ran with him back to the stake center then headed home. 

Even though I felt a bit sluggish today I enjoyed the run and with the slower pace it's nice to feel not too worn out as I write this a few hours later.

AP/AHR: 8:50/144