Lots of fun today. The day was hot, 91 degrees and humid, so another opportunity for my body to adapt to hot weather training. I was feeling energetic, and in the mood for a challenging workout, so I decided to test my ability to run long with a bit of hard running in the middle of the session. I ran to the arboretum in my Nike Waffles, then ran 3 grass loops barefoot. After soaking myself at the laundromat, I did some strength exercises and stretching. I then ran to the track and met up with the 2nd Winders and did 4 x 1200m. I went much easier than when I was training for a 5k last year. First 1200m was 60% effort, 2nd 70%, 3rd 75%, and 4th 80%. Times were 5:15, 5:02, 4:58, and 4:45. I never felt overextended or tired, so I knew I was hitting the right effort levels. All of those levels were sub 7:00 pace, so faster than what I will be running in the ultras. One advantage of running a track session at a moderate level is I still had a lot left in the tank, so I decided to do a South Farms loop minus the Busey Woods segment. I recovered nicely after leaving the track, and found a nice rhythm as the sun was going down. The heat dropped a few degrees, but I never felt too hot during the whole session, so my body has already adapted to this type of heat/humidity. My cruising pace was faster than normal, so the few speed sessions I have done are already paying off. A peculiar effect I experienced today was the majority of the run had the illusion of being on a slight downhill, which must have been an effect of running almost 3 hours of hills on Monday. With the continuous ups, the flats now seem like constant downs. Unlike last year when a track session left me feeling beat up, as I type this I feel a pleasant sense of fatigue, as if I could go back out and run another 10 miles - a good place to be!
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