Every Run is a Great Run!

Happy Independence Day! Got out around 6am and noticed it was plenty warm, windy, cloudy and muggy! Probably around 75 degrees. This week is a reduced miles week for me but I wanted to get a mini-long run in early in the week. Since today is a holiday it seemed like a good day for a 12 miler with a few MP miles in the middle.

The warm muggy weather had me feeling sluggish from the start. Ran from my house to Canyon View park via the river trial, got a drink then started the MP tempo run.  5 miles of MP would have been nice but the warm/windy/muggy conditions had me not feeling the love and I could never get into any kind of groove.  Decided to stop at 4 miles feeling a lot more worn out than the 7:15 ave pace should have left me. 

Met up with Kim for the last few miles of the run as we both death-marched/jogged back home looking forward to being done and getting a big drink!  I suppose this warmer runs are good for you but I much prefer the 45-55 degree range.

MP splits were  7:09 (slight downhill), 7:14, 7:18 (slight uphill), 7:15

8:14/159 max HR 187

Ran 6 with Kim on a warm and muggy morning. Felt pretty sluggish I think the humidity factor makes it feel 10 degrees warmer. Later went to the gym for 30 min XT.

9:04/137

Kim and I had fun with hills today.  Decided to do an up/down Payson Canyon run.  Started at Beercan then up 4 miles just past the water hole then back down.  With 2 miles left Kim's knee was doing some weird stuff so I raced to get to the van while she worked out the kinks.  Luckily she ended up doing fine (we think/hope) and I was surprised to find her not far behind me. Always gotta be careful on the steep stretches of Payson.

8:45/148 

Easy 5 in the morning then later 30 min XT and core at the gym.

8:23/150

Easy 3 miler with a few strides along the way.  Excited for the 5K tomorrow although I wish it could be a bit cooler and less humid than it appears it will be.  I'm a 50 degrees and dry kind a guy.

8:15

Ouch!!  It's been nearly a year and a half since I've raced a 5K and I had forgotten how much they hurt!  Not the result I wanted today but sometimes that's how it goes.  This was not a PR type course, lots of hills including bonus of canyon headwind with the uphill the first mile.  Also pretty warm temps probably around 70 at the start. It didn't help that the race started 15 minutes late.

I had hoped I could come in around 20:something, and if the stars aligned even sneak in under 20.  No stars aligning today.  I thought I would squeak in under 21 but either the race was a tad long or garmin was off (I measured 3.14 miles).

Mile 1 - 6:47  Lots of uphill.  Course tool said I need to be around 6:40 or less for sub-20. Since it was hard enough to get the 6:47 I could sense that sub-20 wasn't going to happen.  Just trying to run by feel and not crash and burn too early.  Passed a couple guys this mile.

Mile 2 - 6:25 Downhill comes during this mile.  I was hoping to be closer to 6-6:05 but by the end of this mile the wheels are already wobbling and my motivation is going down the toilet.

Mile 3- 7:00 Ugh, can't even get under 7.  Steady uphill most of this mile but not as steep as mile 1 but feels worse because it's mile 3.  I'm too far behind to catch the next guy in front and nobody is threatening from behind so I'm really have a hard time finding a good reason to try very hard.  The best I can do is think of Terry old-Bean being disappointed in me wimping out this mile but that doesn't seem to help much.

Last .1 (.14?) I manage to speed up a bit to finish (52s, 6:15 pace) and it's great to hear Kim cheering me in.  

Felt pretty hammered at the finish and actually feel like I worked pretty hard. Just not reflected in my time. Just need  a bit more focused training, a friendlier course and cooler temps and I think I can get down into the 19's again. Looking forward to doing some more racing over the summer.  Not a lot of Master's competition in this race but I'm happy for the 1st place Masters and 7th place overall.