Whew!

Busy, busy lately; I think I need another week of vacation but it won't happen for another week. Seems like all I've been doing is working, running and working some more. Wish I had more time to catch up on the blogs I read and the Tour is almost 3 days ahead of me on the video recorder.

At least Monday was a rest day and there were no ill effects from the nice 20 miler on Sunday. It's usually a good sign when you feel stong on a rest day and even think about doing a run. Instead I did some yard work and helped Jo with the cedar hedge. Now that the wasp nest has been eliminated it was safe for me to climb up and chop out the excess growth.

Tuesday was another semi-rest day with a double 4 & 6 miler planned. Up and at 'em by 7am for an easy jog around town with a thick heavy fog providing a wonderful air conditioned feel for the run. The 2nd 1/2 of the days run was an easy 6 miles at lunch during the heat of the day with temps around 25C.

Wednesday, the dreaded midweek medium long run once again but I had a secret plan to thwart the bonk and to break up this sometimes tedious run. The plan was to simply run a circuitous route to the garage to pick up the van (at the garage for some minor repairs) and then finish off with a few miles after dropping it back home. This worked out nicely with a refill of gatorade and extra water at the 1/2 way. Felt decent for most of the run except at the end as the pace slowed a bit. Overall 15 miles in 2:01 for 8:04/mi avg pace.

Thursday was another easy double day but this time the 1st 1/2 was run at lunch since we had arrived home so late the night before after visiting my Mom in Saint John. It started off as a very easy jog/run along the golf course until I was startled by a runner coming up behind me. It was P.R. a local tri-athelete in the middle of a 'brick' (bike & run) and after saying hello, he just took off ahead of me! Not one to get dropped on a training run, I quickly caught up but P was really flying along at about 7min pace. Maybe if I could start a conversation to slow him down?

• "So how far are you going? (puff)
  
• "Just a short run around the point..."
• "You're really looking strong, training alot lately?" (puff, puff)
• "Thanks, training every day for the upcoming NB championship"
  
• "I'm just going easy today, do you mind if I tag along?" (puff, puff, puff)

Eventually I got him slowed down a bit but the pace was still close to my 1/2 marathon pace. After looping around the Point I stopped off at the post office to get my mail (thankfully) and we agreed to get together again for some runs later on. Training with a faster runner would definitely help my speed and I'm looking forward to it again but hopefully not on rest days. Total of 6 miles at about 7:40 pace.

The days 2nd run of only 4 miles came later in the evening around 730pm and the weird part of this run was that I ran into P's wife in the middle of her 'brick'. What are the chances of that? At least I was able to keep up with J but she was still moving along pretty good. These tri-people are very impressive with the hours and effort the put into their training. Nice run and the slower pace felt nice once I got past the heavy feeling of just finishing supper.

Friday, thank God the week is finally over! Worked through lunch and then bugged out a bit early and headed for home. Then quickly out the door for a 12 mile run that started out with no plan except to try to get down the road and back in one piece. There was no spring in my step or enthusiasm until the turnaround at 6 miles. Then picked up the pace to about 7:50/mi for the return leg. Finished off the run with a nice dip in the pond and played with the fish for a bit. Gotta get some pics of the tame fish we have.

That was it for the week. Total of 67 miles in 5 days over 7 runs. Saturday was a bust with a scheduled/unscheduled non-running day but more about that later.