Three Runs, Three Days

After resting the remainder of Sunday, I decided to go out for an easy 3 miles Monday after work. The weather was amazing and I didn't want to miss a chance to enjoy it. I ended up with 3.1 miles, a 5K, in 23:34. That's the kind of time I was looking for, but it sure felt like I was running much harder than that. I'm going to chalk that up to still being tired from the weekend.

Tuesday was speed night so it was off to the track I went. Charles and Marsha were already in the throes of their 10 X 800 meter set, but Chuck was jogging around so I joined him for a warm-up. He wasn't going to be doing any speed work on account of a nerve issue in his leg, so it was just Rachel and I. I forgot it was my turn to pick the workout and came up with a ladder: 200, 400, 800, 1600, 800, 400, 200. She agreed but suggested we turn the 1600 into a 1200. That was fine by me! Our splits: 200m - :42 / 400m - 1:31 / 800m - 3:07 / 1200m - 4:57 / 800m - 3:11 / 400m - 1:33 / 200m - :43. Some of those were a little on the fast side for where we are in training, but we felt good finishing each one. The weather was windy and chilly, so can't complain.

Wednesday I was able to run from Stimie's house as the women were preparing food for a party tonight. They live on the south side of Medina, in the hills. I hit one of the bigger ones within the first mile. After that it was a net downhill to my turnaround point. I felt good with the wind at my back, but started getting a little warm. On the way back though, I was starting to feel the cold. The wind and chill had not left from Tuesday. I maintained my pace better than I could have expected coming back the last 4 miles with the headwind and the hills. I even went up the big one, Mt. Crumpet as I like to call it, one last time before returning to their house. 8.2 miles in 1:05:12, which is a 7:50-something pace. Very good, all things considered. A stop at Panera on the way home to pick up dinner and I was pretty much done for the evening.

I'm taking rest days from running today and tomorrow. I have to keep reminding myself that I need to be tapering right now. I need to be fresh and ready to go in 10 days. Maybe some cross-training is in order?