Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 34:59
Pace: 8:44 min/mi

Comments: I wanted to get this run in this morning but I didn't sleep well and lost that extra hour before heading to work. I was concerned the rain would make it impossible to get out the door after work but the skies cooperated for once.

I was still a bit sore at the start. I took more of a beating with the weekend long run that I initially believed. I warmed up OK but the extra temps made this a challenging effort. I slowed down ever mile of the run but still kept them all under the nine-minute mark. So that's a little win.

Recovery Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 40:00 min (est)
Pace: 10 min/mi (est)

Comments: This was a pretty awful effort. I actually pondered a run yesterday afternoon but decided against it due to the wind factor. "Hey," I thought, "I'll be that much more rested and recovered for tomorrow morning." Not even quite.

My quads and calves were sore starting out but that eased off quickly enough. Things felt decent up to the two mile point and then it became a full on slog. I haven't struggled with a run like that since last summer.

It got to that unpleasant point where I have to fight the urge to walk it in. Luckily my GPS device died so I didn't have that to add to the temptation. I just sucked it up and stumbled through the four miles. At the very least, since daylight savings time has arrived my public humiliation was in the dark.

Long Run

Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:43:42
Pace: 10:21 min/mi

Comments: This was not a powerful performance by any means. This was a case study in just holding my shit together to finish. My running wasn't really consistent prior to the half-marathon and didn't get much better afterward. So a horrible long run was my prescription to get my shit together.

Starting out I gave myself the option of eight or ten miles. When I hit the decision point I was miserable enough I figured two more miles couldn't make it any worse. Might as well suffer a bit more now than in the weeks to come.

My splits told the story. The first four miles were in the ten minute range. Except for a slight rally on mile six I just kept getting slower and slower and slower. Final mile: 11:26. Yeesh.