For Whom the Dogs Bark

58F, 90%, NNE 4 mph, partly cloudy, sliver of a moon left in the eastern sky.  Rain is predicted for quite a bit of this week.  Out the door at 5:10 a.m., 2 wu (8:56, 8:22), then 8 @ GMP:  7:58 (152), 8:00 (154), 7:53 (157), 7:54 (157), 8:05 (156), 7:52 (156), 7:56 (158) and 7:57 (159), overall 1:20:52, 8:05/mile, 152 bpm average, 161 max.  Heart rate was good, but legs didn't really like this run, not surprising, really, after Saturday's slobberfest.  I have a metric marathon scheduled this week, 7:45/mile goal pace, not feeling too sure of it right now.

Weights and stretching at the gym.

5.0 hills on TM.  Busy this morning, didn't get this done until noon.  It was just as well, feeling quite fatigued today, was wondering if I am getting overtrained but too early to tell.

66F, 93%, WSW 7 mph.  Got out early and got this done before the rain moved in.  It may be raining most of the rest of the week, but this is a down week so I don't care too much.

I originally scheduled a metric marathon for this morning, but after feeling so tired yesterday I decided it wouldn't be a good idea.  Wade is back in town and he was sick the whole time he was in Wyoming.  This was his first run longer than 3 or 4 miles since his half marathon PR at The Woodlands 2-1/2 weeks ago.  He met me for 5 or 6 miles this morning, was running low heart rate and he was happy with that.  For the first time ever, his heart rate was higher than mine.  We have different tickers and he is usually 10 lower than me, and 5 lower on LLHR runs.  But he was running 10 high this morning and actually got a 167 bpm for an 8:25 mile on the way back to his house after leaving me.  Our conditioning is a fragile thing.

For me, on the other hand, it was a good morning.  I ran 10 at 10:58/mile, everything under 11 after the first mile, 120 bpm average heart rate.  I have only broken 11 one other time and I think it was more than a year ago and not for 10 miles.  I was kind of expecting 11:30 to 11:45 after the way I felt yesterday, so I was obviously happy to see this.  Based on this morning's results I'm going to go ahead and do the metric marathon at some point this week, weather permitting.

68F, 90%, SSE 2 mph, cloudy but dry.  Weather is starting to look pretty sketchy for the next couple of days, so it was now or never for this one, my second metric marathon of this training cycle, goal 7:45/mile.  I was a little bit afraid of the heat, but it all worked out.  Did a hard warmup, was up to speed after 1 mile and turned on my watch.  First mile came in at 7:32 (156), second one ballooned to 7:48 (158) and it yoyo-ed like that for the whole run.  Pretty beat by 5 miles but decided to just try for 10.  Wade met me at mile 9.  He is recovering from a bad cold and was realy struggling in the heat, but he stayed with me for 3, which was a huge help; I actually started speeding up and was at 12 miles by the time he left.  12 is very different than 9, it was like one of those board games where you jump ahead several spaces if you land on the right spot.  After Wade left I finished it off without too much trouble.  Last 5 were 7:32 (173), 7:37 (173), 7:34 (173), 7:30 (175) and 7:37 (176).  Overall pace was 7:38, maximum heart rate was 177, average 167.  I was thinking just yesterday that I needed to do a lot more miles over 170 bpm, so there you go.

68F, 96%, SSE 3 mph down to calm, and foggy.  Another warm morning, we probably won't be under 55F again until late this year, anything below 60F and we move on in our SE Regional bracket.  My legs responded well this morning, LLHR run, 10 in 1:19:18, 10:56/mile, a new LLHR PR and better than two days ago, which surprised me but I'll take it.  The canary is still healthy.

64F, 95%, NW 2 mph swinging to N 7 mph, starting to rain but never got there.  Wanted at least 14 and quit when I got there, 8:42/mile, 142 bpm average, 151 max.  Still dark when I quit, a strange feeling.

So sitting at the computer entering my run, looked at my watch and it was only 6:45.  Law Week fun run starts at 8:00 and I am already entered.  Had decided not to go because of rain and because I needed to get some miles today.  But I already had my miles, and was planning another 5 hills on the TM later on.  Ephiphany -- changed clothes, packed up and headed downtown to run the 8K, which is on a somewhat hilly route anyway.  Thought it would be a success if I could get a couple under 7.  Got to the start line 2 minutes before the gun, couldn't see anyboy I knew but did recognize lots of competing law firm teams with cute matching shirts.  Just made it that much easier to pick them off, one by one, never saw any cute law firm shirts after 2 miles, wish it was that easy to get their clients.  I, on the other hand, after much deliberation in the dark before leaving the house, decided on my race-day shirt -- only time I have ever done that, and today I was the only runner I could find wearing the 2015 Law Week Fun Run official sort-sleeved t-shirt, light gray, modest logo on left shoulder, 50% cotton, 50% polyester.  Splits were 7:09 (164), 7:00 (176), 6:59 (181), 7:11 (182), and 7:25 (182).  In my defense, the second half was generally uphill, got to the point where I was playing mind games with my legs and only objective was to maintain heart rate.  Might have warmed up a tad too long.  Overall 5.05 miles in 36:03, 7:08/mile, heart rate 177/185 max.