For Whom the Dogs Bark

57F, 100% and calm.  Ran 7.5 in the neighborhood and to the gym, did a quick leg and core circuit, adding a little weight over last week, then another 3 back to the house.  Pretty uneventful but felt good.  First 7.5 was LLHR, about a 12:30 pace as close as I could tell, then based on Saturday's effort it felt like about a 9:00 pace on the way home.

66F, 94%, N 3-10 mph.  Starting to get blustery during the run, but no rain materialized.  Ran for the first time in forever with my Garmin, at LLHR, was pleasantly surprised.  Either because of the cooler weather or better conditioning, I ran at a faster pace than I have been:  10.00 miles in 1:55:58, 11:36/mile.  52 bpm resting HR.  Average HR 119, max 125.  This heart rate sits right at 50% of my heart rate reserve, i.e., halfway between 50 bpm and 190 bpm, which are conservative numbers for min and max (have actually clocked 44 on the low end and 193 on the high end but not consistently).  That is where I measure higher than 80% fat-burning as compared to glycogen, so it is an efficient rate to do base miles at, if I can stand the monotony.  Also, based on perceived effort, prior to today I have been running slow miles without my watch too slow, probably in the 110-114 range, which is not necessary, but better than running it too hard,  Legs are fatigued from running this slow but they should recover quickly.

50F, 100%, calm and clear.  Pretty much perfect weather and I took full advantage.  Warmed up for three:  9:16 (133), 9:00 (140) and 8:50 (142); then 7 at GMP:  7:51 (154), 8:05 (154), 8:12 (155), 7:52 (159), 8:04 (161), 7:55 (163) and 7:52 (164), total time on these miles was 55:52, 7:59/mile; then 0.51 cool-down at 9:26 pace, overall 1:27:45, 8:21 per mile.  I was happy overall because I didn't know how hard 8:00 pace would feel.  But I would like to see the heart rate drift a little flatter, it started out nicely but would have been nicer if it had stayed under 160 through the entire 7 miles.  I had to increase the effort level somewhat in order to reach the target cumulative pace.  Bottom line, though, 8:00 pace at marathon-length effort at least felt approachable this morning, which is good news.

53F, 96%, calm and clear.  Another beautiful day, ran 8.0 at LLHR, 11:00 per mile, exactly, 119 bpm, 128 max.  Average heart rate on last mile was 122.  Then a weight circuit at the gym and back home at a comfortable pace, 9:00 to 9:10 per mile, heart rate between 138 and 145.  Today was the best LLHR time I have achieved, though looking back at my summer entries I was surprised to see some mid-11s toward the end of July.  So adjusting for temperature today's run may not have been that much better.  But in September I had nothing under 12 and one LLHR run in the 13s, yet I ran a 3:34 at SGM.  Nothing makes sense, but I feel like I am getting stronger, sticking with the strategy for now, probably all the way through New Years Day then reassess.

53F, 100%, NNW 1 mph, clear. Ran 15.09 miles at LLHR, 2:57:15, 121 bpm, average pace 11:45/mile.  Held steady at 11:20 per mile average through 8 including an initial 11:53, then significant pace drift for the remainder in order to maintain the low heart rate:  11:35, 11:51, 11:57, 12:14, 12:23, 12:15 and 12:30.  Interesting that I was slower on the first 8 today than yesterday.  Yesterday followed a GMP 7-mile run from Wednesday.  Today followed a "recovery" run from yesterday, but I also did a weight circuit, so that could be the difference.  I was going to do this again for 20 tomorrow, but I'm having second thoughts, I would be over 13:00 and maybe even 14:00 by the time I got to 20 miles, not sure I have the bandwidth in my brain to take that on.  There is definitely conditioning that needs to occur even at the low end of the spectrum.  I'll probably either do this one again or switch to a faster pace to get in the 20, not sure which.  My legs are trashed this afternoon, which surprises me.

54F, 100% and calm.  Ran to Wade's house, ran 13 or 14 with him and returned home.  Did not feel good at all for the entire run, my heart rate was running 20 bpm higher than Wade's; usually it is 10 and sometimes even less.  If Wade ran 50 miles per week he would be faster than me, but he doesn't really have the time to do it consistently.  Despite the bumpy start and a PoP stop, we gradually increased our pace throughout the run, mainly me keeping up with Wade.  He slowed down a bit toward the end to accommodate me, but after leaving him I actually sped up the last two, hitting sub-8.  Overall pace was 8:44 per mile, which I was happy with under the circumstances.  Heart rate topped out at 173.  I think the most likely culprit is Thursday's gym workout; weights take a lot out of my legs, as they should.  Took two naps during the day and saw Gravity, pretty good but not primo -- too much bad science.