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.