Fitness Run

Distance: 2.56 miles
Time: 25:07
Pace: 9:48 min/mi

Comments: Well, I haven't run in more than a week, I ate terribly yesterday, got no sleep and was pissed as you could possibly imagine. So it's no real surprise this run completely sucked.

And let's not forget that it's scorchingly hot and I got out well after the sun came up.

I was hoping for four miles. I got just more than two-and-a-half. The 25 minutes of cardio after the layoff probably was the one upside to this debacle. I'd like to try and get the routine going again this week but I can't say I'm optimistic.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 37:50
Pace: 9:27 min/mi

Comments: The good news here was this was a completely workmanlike effort. I got up when I intended, I got out the door when I intended, I got the kind of run I intended.

My quads were a little sore after the effort on Monday and started a little stiff on this one but I warmed up pretty quick. Temperatures weren't brutal. Humidity was bearable. Barely.

I had a bit of a headwind at the turnaround but, overall, conditions were as good as one can expect in Texas during the summer. My splits were all over the place but all within a 20 second range so I can live with it.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 35:58
Pace: 8:59 min/mi

Comments: Best run in three-and-a-half months. A lot of things came together just right to make it happen. I ate well, slept well and got an enormous break from the weather.

Woke up to pretty rough thunderstorms but these had mostly pushed through by 7:30 a.m. I waited until the rain stopped and then got out to take advantage of the unexpectedly cool temperature. The trick was to beat the clouds passing through and the sun coming out because today is expected to be the hottest of the year.

As a result, I found myself pushing the pace and, surprisingly, not suffering overmuch from it. At the turnaround I realized I had a chance at a sub-9 minute pace run so I tried to dial in and focus on the second half. Got it with two seconds to spare.

Fitness Run

Distance: 3 miles
Time: 30:29
Pace: 10:09

Comments: Back into the "slog" range of performance again. It was overhot and windy. The cloud cover kept the sun away for the first mile but it got the broil on after that.

I wasn't expecting a hell of a lot from this run and I got pretty much what I expected. After three miles I was done and walked the rest of the way in. The splits started slow and were closing in on 11 min/mi at the end.

Still, this is a good effort if I get off my ass and follow up with another tomorrow.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 39:09
Pace: 9:47 min/mi

Comments: Whoof. This one was rough.

I started off a bit achy and in conditions best describe as "sauna-esque." I warmed up well enough on the first mile and had a nice little stretch early in the second mile where I was feeling pretty strong.

After that it was nightmarish.

It was the usual culprits; heat, humidity and lack of conditioning. When the sun came out on mile three I was basically in a battle to finish without walking. Which I accomplished. So there's that.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 40:32
Pace: 10:08 min/mi

Comments: This run went a hell of a lot better than I would expect following a weeklong layoff. That doesn't mean this run was very much fun.

The mornings are officially torpid and I made a rather large mistake waiting to get out until after the sun was up. With temps in the 80s the only blessing was the humidity was just at 'brutal' rather than 'hellish."

So, yes, I was slow but my last two miles were exactly the same pace so consistency is nice. Moreover, I didn't really get that walk-it-in impulse which is a very good sign.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 39:43
Pace: 9:55 min/mi

Comments: Not as awful as the last run but that's only a matter of degree. This run was rough from the start and got downright sadistic over the last mile when the sun came out in earnest.

My goal, other than finishing the damn thing, of course, was to keep it under 40 minutes. With a decent first mile and a second that was less so, that meant keeping the final two miles under that 10 min/mi pace mark.

It wasn't easy. My inclination was to disassociate my way through the thing but keeping the pace down took concentration. It worked but it wasn't a lot of fun.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 42:05
Pace: 10:31 min/mi

Comments: A symphony of discomfort from the very first step.

While I slept well and have eaten well, this felt like there was nothing in the tank the whole way. Not a slog, exactly, more like lacking the energy to complete the thing.

On the upside, as slow as my splits were, they were also consistent. I hit 10:27 min/mi on three miles and just ten seconds slower on the other (the third). If possible I'd like another run tomorrow.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 39:12
Pace: 9:47 min/mi

Comments: I've come to the conclusion that Weather Underground's humidity measurements are 100% bullshit. I've done runs they've claimed were 95%-plus humidity that were a breeze and there is no way today's swealter-fest was just 86%. I feel like I just ran four miles in a sauna.

This said, the performance was about as good as I could have hoped given the conditions.

I slowed down almost a full minute between the first mile and the last but, although it was a slog, it wasn't one of those runs I'm just looking for a reason to walk it in. I feel significantly stronger and definitely strong enough to finish these runs. As usual, it'll be awhile before conditioning and stamina catch up.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 40:29
Pace: 10:07 min/mi

Comments: This was unpleasant and a heap of not-fun.

My asshole neighbors didn't wake me in the middle of the night so I was able to get up and get this one in. Of course it was humid as hell and just warm enough to make me completely miserable.

No speed records today. This was a good old-fashioned slog. I started slow and got slower. Only one lap, the first, was appreciably under the ten-minute mark and the third mile was a full minute slower than that one.

And I got rained on. Delightful.