Second Wind

Rest.

Going to slowly step up the mileage over the next several weeks and it starts today.  Woke up a little late this morning to do 8 miles so I had to hustle to fit them in along with the yoga and an early morning birthday party for my 11 year old daughter Jamie.  Felt pretty good this morning with no major complaints, no calf tightness, life is good.  I don't know what the temp was this morning but man it is really heating up lately.  I think summer is finally here and now it's two long months of super warm running.  I really need to start getting up a half an hour earlier to beat the sunrise and the heat.

Time:  1:06:00  8:15/mile

I think today was the hottest day of the year so far.  Since talking so much about the temperature here yesterday I decided to check this morning before my run to see what we were at.  The temp was 87 degrees and cloudy so there was also a bit of humidity in the air.  It was pretty icky today.  Everything felt good but it was just a bit too warm for my liking.  At least the sun wasn't beating down on me on top of the already warm temps.  I'm glad the birthdays are over for the rest of the training cycle, all always eat like a pig.  Now I just have to worry about the family reunion camping trip next week when I will have to run above 8,000 feet for a couple of days at Duck Creek.

162 miles for the month is below my average for the year but considering 3 sick days and tapering for a couple of races it's actaully better than expected.  If I stay healthy, it should climb above 200/month through September.

Time:  57:24  8:12/mile

Not a bad start to a new month.  Today called for intervals.  2 X 1600 with 800 meter recovery jog in between.  Did a two mile warm up and then loaded up the Garmin with the interval workout.  Goal was to run 6:34 intervals.  First mile came in at 6:27 and felt pretty good until right at the end when my breathing started to labor a bit.  The second was a little more in line with what I was shooting for at 6:33 and I also was laboring at the end.  I seem to do okay for the first three quarters of these intervals but then I seem to go into anerobic mode and have a hard time calming my breathing.  Hopefully this will improve as Wednesdays will either be tempos or 1600 intervals for the next several weeks.  Other than sucking air, everything else felt surprisingly good today, no real aches or pains to complain about.  I think faster running really gets the endorphins kicking in and helps to manage the pain a little better.  I will probably feel it later today or during tomorrows run.  The 800 meter recovery jogs were at about an 8:15 pace which seemed very slow in relation.  I then did a 1 mile cool down.  I don't know if I can call it a cool down as it was 86 degrees this morning.

Time:  0:46:09  7:41/mile

Recovery day today and I actually felt pretty good considering yesterdays small speed workout.  The part that didn't feel so good was the 89 degrees, high humidity and drizzling rain through most of the run.  Actually the rain was okay but the heat was a killer.  I always seem to forget each year just how hot it really does get during the summer runs but I remember now.  The plan that I am using as a guide for my training calls for rest or XT on Fridays so I think I will cut my Friday runs down to 5 miles and try to fit in some extra core work and weight training on that day, maybe I'll just get some extra sleep.

Time:  57:46  8:15/mile

Went to the YMCA today because I slept in due to the holliday.  Mixed it up a little on the treadmill with some incline and speed changes.  Overall the run went well and then I did a little lifting for legs afterward.  I'll probably pay for all the lifting during tomorrows long run.

40:43  8:09/mile

I think this is only my second run of this distance this year.  It is also my longest distance run/s of the year.  I got up extra early today to try and beat some of the heat and it was actually slightly cooler than it has been lately, 81 degrees at 4:30.  Ran a couple laps around my neighborhood and then ran a couple of my big 6 mile laps that include the freeway overpass hill.  Once the sun came up it really got warm and by the end of the run the wheels were starting to fall off.  The temp at the end was 93 degrees....nasty.  I added in a couple of marathon pace miles during the run and they were pretty hard.  I really need to build up some endurance over the next several weeks or I am going to fade bad at the end of SGM.

Time:  2:11:35  8:13/mile