Stormy weather

An ocean view this morning as the strong southeast winds announced the coming snowstorm. When the east wind blows here it invariably means nasty will follow very shortly. Forecast is for heavy wet snow overnight and into midday Sunday which will put the kibosh on my long run with the Boyden gang.

This mornings windswept run was a very easy 5 mile of recovery at 9:00+ minute pace after Friday's very tough run (more on that later). It took about 2 miles to just get loosened and warmed up as I felt aches and pains in new places today. Instead of the butt and hams, my hips were very tight, a feeling very similar to what I'd get after a hard race. A good sign that a decent effort was delivered the day before as the body was pushed and is now recovering. A nice bonus on todays run was the addition of my new Ipod Shuffle and the latest episode of the podcast Phedippidations. You should check out Steve Runner and his rambling diatribes for good company on your long runs. I'll be taking better care of this new ipod after ruining my last one in a rainy stormy long run last fall.

Yesterday, Friday was my key workout for the week with the scheduled 'Lactate Threshold: 12mi w/7mi @ 1/2 marathon race pace'. Just slightly harder than the 11 w/6mi @1/2 from 3 weeks ago and a chance to compare results. I ran this from work, leaving early after working through lunch. The 1st 2 miles were just a slow jog to gradually loosen my tight legs up. They've been exceptionally tight and sore lately and it was even bugging me to sit at my chair. It's now officially time to order my runner repair kit from Trigger Point. This comes highly recommended by my much faster (and slightly younger ;-) Tri-cousin, Garry from Alberta, who swears by it. He calls it a 'good hurt'.

Back to the run, not feeling too badly really, just a little tired and not too keen on doing the next 7 miles. 1st mile: slightly down and then up in 7:14 while feeling comfortable and in control. Next mile: mostly downhill/flat in 7:02 while trying to hold back and conserve energy for later. Mile 3: flat but into slight wind (-8C or 15F) working it a bit in 7:15. Next miles were more and more work just focusing on the effort with occasional glances at the watch in lap mode showing average lap pace for each mile. Splits of 7:18, 7:11, 7:16 and final one of 7:19 as I was able to count past 5 this time. Average pace of 7:13 and heartrate of 152 compares poorly with the last time of 7:10/148. I'd like to blame it on accumulated stress on sore/tired legs, continuous 7 miles, extra layers for the cold but it still was an acceptable effort. Finished off 3 miles at slow recovery pace to a warm home, toasty fireplace and a lovely glass of Castel del Papa homemade wine. Perfect!

Another good week completed with 65 miles logged. I'm trying to follow the schedule to the letter to get the desired benefit of both the hard and easy efforts and it seems to be working. Have a nice weekend and keep warm by the fire!