Weekly Totals

Here are my totals for last week (August 6 - 12)

Sunday - 18.5
Monday - 7.5
Tuesday - 16 Total (5.5 at lunch and 10.5 after work)
Wednesday - 15 Easy miles
Thursday - 11 Slow miles, legs were tired
Friday - Dental Surgery, no running
Saturday - 5.5 Easy Miles, mostly to see if running would hurt. It didn't.
TOTAL - 73.5 miles

My schedule called for 81 miles, but I missed a 12 miler on Friday and cut Saturday's run short, so I didn't quite reach my target. Running an unscheduled run at lunch on Tuesday got me closer than I otherwise would have been.

Today I ran 15 miles. I ran the first five miles at an easy 8:10 pace, the next five miles at a 7:30 pace, and the last five miles at a 6:50 pace. Except for the first mile and the first 7:30 mile, which was into a pretty stiff wind, I was at or under my target pace for each mile. Overall, I finished almost 50 seconds ahead of my overall time goal. This is basically my first shot at a faster pace in a months, and I'm pleased with the result. I did run the first half of the final five miles with the wind at my back, which of course made it easier. However, the next 1.5 miles were with the wind at my side or blocked by bushes, so there was no real advantage or disadvantage, and I ran the final mile with the wind in my face. I was able to finish strong with no real trouble maintaining the pace. Of course, a day off followed by a very easy day helped with this run.

I have a couple of more faster runs on the schedule for this week. I hope they all go as well as today's run did. A key will be my willingness go slow on recovery days.