Every Run is a Great Run!

Nice to be pleasantly surprised every now and then.  Since the 5K a couple weeks ago and recent tempo runs have been lackluster I didn't have great expectations for this race.  Figured I'd be lucky to dip under 42 minutes.  

Ended up not looking at my watch much but just running by feel and glancing at my watch at the mile markers.  Sure was nice to see after the first couple miles that I was coming in 5-15 seconds ahead of goal pace and it was feeling much easier than during training runs. The good vibes continued the entire race and although the last mile was plenty painful I still felt like I left a little on the table and could have pushed a little harder.  Would have at least been nice to sneak in under 41 but for now I'll be content with the 41:08.  Thanks Kim for all the cheers coming into the finish line, it gave me a big boost and helped me sneak under 6 min pace the last .2!

Splits were 7:16, 6:32, 6:37, 6:35, 6:40, 6:35, :53 (5:51 pace)

Sure is just plain fun to run when things click and nice to finally see that the training and mileage base benefits are starting to kick in.   Looking forward to Hobble Creek and SGM.

Easy 5 mile recover run in the morning. Sure glad we didn't have this morning's weather yesterday morning. Warmer and very muggy today. Later went to the gym for 30 min XT + core workout.

8:27/143

Easy 7 miles in the morning. Later did 30 min XT at the gym at work.  My legs feel about best they've ever felt after a race.  Even better than what I typically feel like after a hard tempo run or speed workout. Not sure why that is but I'm not complaining!

8:27/147

Had planned on doing a Payson canyon up/down run with the boys but yesterday Darin told me nobody was likely to show up.  I didn't want to run the canyon by my lonesome so I decided to do a few loops around the Harry's hill route by my lonesome instead.  

No gas in the tank at all today.  I guess the post-race fatigue decided to wait until today to kick in.  Even ended up walking part of Harry's the last time up. Hope I get some energy back for the Saturday 22 miler. I'm thinking the pace is going to be very nice and easy.

8:55/160

Easy 3 miles with a few strides mixed in.

Today was one of my worst long runs of all time. No gas in the tank at all, very similar to Thursday despite running a slower pace most the time. Guess sometimes you have to endure these "running blues" runs to enjoy a "runners high" run like the Monday race.

Like Thursday my heart rate was through the roof as well.  Looking forward to a reduced mileage rest week next week.

8:47/159 

The heart rate certainly tells an interesting story. Looking at my last few "enjoyable" long runs of 18, 21, and 20 miles, my pace & ave HR were 8:29/150, 8:14/161, and 8:33/153.   Interesting to compare that to todays HR clear up almost to 160 for 8:47 pace. Ugh.  Hope I don't have many more of these kind runs and especially on race day.