Pace Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 34:26
Pace: 8:36 min/mi

Comments: Finally a sunny morning. I probably should have gotten out earlier because the humidity was still brutally oppressive, but it wasn't unendurable for once. It was enough that I decided to trim the planned six miler to the regular four out of an abundance of caution.

Pretty much just focused on cadence today. Short steps. Quick turnover. Wasn't obsessed with forcing the pace, just consistency of effort. The splits reflected that pretty well. The relatively measured heart rate was also a good sign.

Pace Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 33:16
Pace: 8:18 min/mi

Comments: The rain arrived last night and, since then, it's been pretty constant. I missed the early morning window and had to wait until late in the afternoon to get another chance. The rain made it cooler so it worked out to be pretty much exactly the same temperature as my regular runs.

This was a pace effort and I basically concentrated on cadence the whole way. I really could tell how the effort would lag when I lost concentration. That lead to a slower third mile and faster fourth. Need to really work on that this month.

Pace Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 33:16
Pace: 8:19 min/mi

Comments: Out a little earlier but still not at the usual time. So it was a little cooler but not a lot. Wanted to push the pace the whole way but didn't look at the Garmin except at the end of each mile. Did the first one faster than I thought but then seemed to lock into that pace range the rest of the way.

This probably was a little closer to 10K race pace than HM or marathon. I could really tell on the third mile when my breathing got substantially more labored. Still, it was my first faster effort in a week or so. The key was holding the effort all the way through.

Pace Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 34:21
Pace: 8:34 min/mi

Comments: Day five of a six-day workout streak. I'm definitely running on tired legs but I've got to get used to that at some point. The long run tomorrow is intimidating though.

The start was expectedly uncomfortable but I got warmed up much faster than I expected. The target pace was somewhere between 8:30 and 8:45 which I cheated on the fast side the last mile to make up for the warmup.

I really focused on associative running, keeping focused on the effort. At the end I felt pretty good, not worn out or burnt. All good signs.

Pace Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 33:51
Pace: 8:27 min/mi

Comments: My "rest" day yesterday was, instead, a tough travel day. I didn't feel really rested when I got up but I didn't feel particularly bad either. I got out a little late which worked out OK since it was a little cooler.

My initial target was a sub-36 minute four miler which would put me south of 9 min/mi pace. This came out quite a bit quicker than that partially because I pushed it a little hard on the first mile to makeup for the "warm up" slowness.

But it looks like I'm pretty comfortable in the 8:30 to 8:45 range. My heart rate never crept into Zone 5 and hung pretty steady in Zone 4 for most of the last two miles. I'll play around with holding this pace for the end of the long run tomorrow.

Pace Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 35:17
Pace: 8:48 min/mi

Comments: I've been pushing the miles this week but really focusing on complete efforts rather than just burning it as hard as I can. The target today was to hit race pace after the warm up of the first mile. Not only did I nail it, I probably had the most control over a run since I've restarted training this year.

The first half mile was nothing but warmup but, by the half-mile mark, I was getting into the groove of the thing. From that point on I was dialed into at 8:45 pace, with all of my splits within five seconds of that. More importantly, I was keeping on pace by effort more than by checking the GPS. That's a key improvement I'll need to have as I get deeper into race training.

Pace Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 33:24
Pace: 8:20 min/mi

Comments: Yesterday was a good rest day. I was a little tired but not exhausted and worn down. I got my steps goal without adding to the fatigue significantly. Slept hard.

Today I wanted to get a trial run of the race next week. Not as fast (hopefully) but pushing the effort consistently the whole way without going overboard. I'm not exactly sure what my actual race pace is yet, but this will suffice for now.

Looking at the heart rate I seem to have hit my goal. Most of it was in Zone 4 and only 1% creeped into Zone 5. My splits, after the first 'warm up' mile, were all within three seconds of 8:16 pace so the consistency was strong as well.

Pace Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 34:49
Pace: 8:41 min/mi

Comments: Again had a tough time getting up and going. The plan was for a "race pace" which is a goal marathon pace. I really won't be able to dial in on that exactly until after the 10K but, for now, I'm wanting 30 seconds faster than my regular pace.

I started out slow but warmed up pretty quickly and got into the rhythm well enough. Felt a bit drained most of the run but never enough to impact my control of the run or effort to maintain pace. I did have to keep an eye on the GPS to keep from going over fast.

Got the goal pace and felt pretty good afterward. The real test is turning around and tackling the long run tomorrow.

Pace Run

Distance: 7 miles
Time: 54:53

Comments: This one didn't suck. Which was nice.

I went out in the evening rather than in the morning to afford myself a bit more recovery time and to acclimate for the track effort tomorrow. It's finally halfway decent running weather - not a sweltering mess to slog through.

The first warmup mile went OK and I got into a decent pace on the first goal mile and tried to keep it reasonable effort. At the two-mile mark I started seriously considering adding an extra goal pace mile. As I turned the corner for the fourth I felt good enough to tack it on.

So, rather than struggling against that horrible feeling of exhaustion and the unrelenting desire to end the run I just battled the fatigue of the effort. Which is a massive improvement. Not easy, by any means, but the battle I need to be fighting.

The conclusion has to be that the diet was a big part of the problem. So now I need to concentrate harder on keeping the nutrition at the optimum levels. Another task easier said than actually accomplished.