The past few weeks have afforded me little rest running wise. I've run 235kms in the month so far.. or 100k per week! It's by far a good solid chunk of training and I'm feeling a lot better in form. It does feel tiring though. Do you ever get to the point where you need to run a few miles just to loosen up? That's about how I feel these days.
With last night's speed session no exception, it started as a 4.5k jog around a 4:45-5:00/k pace, followed by drills, then 5 x 1mi (1600m) w 300m jog recoveries and a 2min break in between sets 2 and 3, and an easy few km home. Not that complicated. It still took me the first 2 sets of repeats to really feel my legs though, at 6:26, 6:26, it's nothing 'fast' but it isn't all that slow either. After the break I was stiff so 6:27, but then found my rhythm a bit and nailed a 6:19, and 6:22. Again, not my best by far, but as a measure of how I felt, this came across strong.
It's tough to do this many miles yet reflect back to Feb when I could nail 5 x mile w 30s rest @ 5:50-5:52 pace. I was golden then. It was also a LOT cooler. For those who forgot, we had the best winter ever. This summer is still too humid for great running so I'll take what I can get.
Today was what I needed. My watch couldn't get a signal so I just left it at home. I decided on a 10k route and just ran. The weather was nice, no humidity in the air, so I was able to relax and really enjoy it. I waved to all the runners I passed as I like to do when I'm relaxed and got some waves back. I'm surprised that I feel like I'm the only one who does this anymore. If I didn't initiate, people would ignore. This was one of the things that really got me onto running back in the day - how friendly total strangers were. Not to say running in a club you don't get the same camaraderie, but it's the chance encounters with your neighbours that bring it all back. PS I rarely run with headphones.
So with that, it's time to grind it out some more. Only about 7 weeks left til Chicago. Will have some great company for that - very much looking forward to it!
I always wave! You don't wave back! Oh wait, I never see you! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI've been running alone a lot lately and I actually wave or say good morning a lot. But I can't remember if it's me or them that initiate. Also, morning runners are a lot more friendlier than evening runners.