The Weather!

Great little run around horse-country-ville where I'm spending the day off from work.  Had to remind myself that it's an easy day a couple times.  Nice hills out here.  And the weather!  5 miles, 38:52.  I was in a band once called The Weather.  Or was it The Whether?

That Damn Zeal

This morning began in a blur, and it lasted well into my run.  Somehow I missed the turnoff for the Roosevelt track at Crittenden St and didn't realize it for a good mile or so.  Back tracked for what turned out to be 15 minutes out of my way and loosened up with some strides on the grass. While I had intended to do 4x1600, I was already 40 minutes deep and the kids were showing up already so I settled for 3.

90 seconds.  That was my mental benchmark as I had done this workout a couple weeks ago and averaged 92-93 seconds per lap.  Figured if these miles were worth anything that I would have at least improved by a couple seconds.  If I could average 6-minute repeats, I'd be happy.

With the typical zeal I bring into these workouts, the first lap blew by in 82 seconds.  I focused on relaxing and the remaining laps came in around 90 seconds, first repeat 5:51.  Three weeks ago I hit a 5:50 in the first mile of a 3 x mile workout and the rest of the run was a disaster.  I knew it would be tough to bring things under control today.

Surprisingly, I still had pep on the first lap of the second repeat, and I relaxed a bit but the first lap still passed in 85 seconds.  Second repeat, 5:56.  OK, this is a downhill slide now for sure.

I started the last repeat tired, and with heavy legs I knew it would be hard to hit sub-6.  3rd lap time was 4:34 or so and I thought for sure there was no way I'd come close to the first two laps.  With 200m to go, I mentally let go of the oxygen debt and cruised in as fast as I could while still under control.  5:58.  84-second last lap?  Not bad.

Probably not the smartest workout, but I realized my mistake and dug myself out of a hole without incurring too much damage in terms of lost time.  Pretty thrilled at my ability to bounce back today.  I would aim to hit 5:56-57 laps next time I do this, which is probably the fastest I've ever done these things.  Awesome.  Calling it 10 miles, 1:14ish door-to-door.

Highways

A little hungry, a little cranky.  Wanted to go to the gym afterward but I ran out of time and bargained my way out of it.  5 miles, 40:30 along the CCT in Bethesda.

Been driving these highways
Been doing things my way
It's been making me lonesome, on'ry and mean
-Steve Young, as performed by Waylon

Hillyer

Double run commute day, and I knew I wanted to work a tempo into the mix somewhere.  Originally thought I would do it on the way home, but decided it made more sense to go hard in the AM and relax on the run home.  Worked out for the better in retrospect.

Figured I had a chance to cover the 3.5 miles between Piney Branch and Western Ave in 24 minutes.  Gave myself some leeway because of the net uphill course, and I honestly thought I was being even a little conservative.  Felt good from the chute and took off on the tempo segment smoothly.  Pace varied with the terrain and I slowed down as expected once Broad Branch turned upward.  What came as a surprise, though, was how steep 27th street is leading up to Military Rd.  I don't think I've ever seen that road other than on a map, so I had no idea how steep it would be going into the run.  Turns out it was hillier than expected.  That hill broke my heart this morning as I huffed and puffed and tried my best to maintain momentum.  Got stopped at the Military Rd traffic light and I immediately thought 'alright if I'm gonna sit here for 30 seconds waiting for the light to change there's no reason I can't still come in under my goal of 24 min.'

I regrouped and focused on cruising over the rolling terrain (which is much easier for me than long, steep hills) and found myself within sight of the 3.5-mile split with 40 seconds to go.  I tried not to sprint but lost control a bit and even felt a tiny twinge in my left hammy as I made it to the turn off in 24:04.  So close!  Given that I'd never run the course before and had no idea what to expect, I'm pretty satisfied that I came within seconds of hitting what was almost a wild guess.  But I now have a benchmark, we'll see if I can work up enough courage to try that again next week.  7 miles total, 52:24.

Got my days mixed up, so I unexpectedly found myself in Arlington for a work function until after 6 this evening.  Didn't show up without my pack though, and as soon as I had the chance I stuffed my clothes and fancy shoes into the tiny compartments and headed off along the Custis Trail back north and east.  Tired, and hot, but not a bad commute.  Nice to revisit a trail I haven't seen in a while.  6.7 miles, 52:00.  The sign for Hillyer St down in Dupont caught my attention just as I was reminiscing on this morning.

Back Roads

Glad I resisted the urge to sleep in this morning.  By the time I got down to Broad Branch Rd I was cruising, having to hold myself back a bit.  Just about every time I attempt to explore the back roads of Chevy Chase and Martin's Addition I get lost.  It doesn't matter how much I think I know the route.  Today was no different.

33rd Street headed north is a rolling course, and I found myself chugging right up the rises and drifting down the dips.  Took a wrong turn somewhere, and I got a nice lesson in the (lack of) thruway planning in this small part of the world.  It's likely intentional, a means of traffic control.  Doctor and lawyer version of Port Richmond or Fishtown, back in Philadelphia.

In the end I wound up with a few extra hills, covered some new ground, and exceeded the day's goal by a mere 528 feet.  9.1 miles, 1:12:14.  Almost the same time I ran yesterday, but today was more fun.

Consistency

Drawing a blank here today so I'll just stick to the basics.  Yesterday morning was the typical scenario of late where I drove down to the Military Rd parking lot in Rock Creek Park.  Mixed it up by heading clockwise around a loop I've done a few times before, augmenting the 15 miles slightly with a few spurs for water fountains and sights.  I was feeling a little heavy, and it turned out Rob was too.  We jokingly mentioned the stars and wondered if there was an astrological significance behind our lack of oomph.  He dropped way off our mid-7s pace with about 5 miles to go.  I was more interested in slowing down to cruise the final stretch easily than leaving Rob in the dust, and it was very refreshing to finish off at an easy pace.  While I fear the worst when I start a long run tired, I finished feeling stronger and was glad to have another one in the books.  15.9 miles, 2:09:21.

This morning I was looking for an easy hour-and-change on the trails.  Stuck to the flats, again running with Rob, along the Valley Trail.  Went past the frog conservation area along this particular trail, which was completely bogged out after the recent rain.  Rock Creek was flowing heavily, and one could easily take a canoe from upstream all the way down into the Potomac (it's not usually deep enough).  Not easily mapped, but I'll call it 8.5 miles, 1:12:42.  Followed up with a barefoot mile.  Heels (right especially) feeling a little beat up after this week.

Today capped off a pretty heavy stretch with about 66 miles in the bank for the week.  The increase in volume came at a planned reduction in intensity (no track or tempo work) and that was probably more a mental relief than anything.  It seems volume beats me up more than intensity lately, something to pay attention to as I move forward.  Looking to keep mileage more or less steady for a couple weeks as I bring the intensity back up.  Feeling good about the consistency I've had lately despite having somewhat of a mediocre week in terms of the way I feel.

Friday Short

Trying to keep up with this daily, although it feels futile at times like now when all I'm looking to do is update before moving on to the next thing.  In this case the next thing is hitting the sack, where I expect to fall into a deep slumber and maybe make up for less restful nights earlier this week.

After work, 4ish miles with 6x20 second pickups on minute cycles toward the end.  Really dig the shorter run on Fridays.