I knew this would be a tough run today and I was correct. I wanted to get up early and get going, but my calves were very tight from the last two days. I opted to head out later in the day.
Of course it was very humid when I started mid afternoon. When isn't it humid. This seems like the worst summer ever when it comes to that. Again, the actual temperature wasn't bad.
The plan was to do mile repeats. After successfully completing 3 of them under a 7 minute pace last week, I was hoping to do 4 this week. Of course it was much cooler then.
My legs seemed okay when I started off with my mile warmup. They weren't great, but no worse than usual. I began at the D&L Trail in Cementon. After that first mile, I picked up the pace. I didn't feel like I was working too hard. I got through half a mile under goal pace and was thrilled. The back half of this first hard segment was certainly tough. My pace slipped a bit and I came in just under goal with a 6:57.
The legs weren't feeling strong, but I was hoping they would come around. Last week, I took a third of a mile rest in between repeats, this week it was only a quarter of a mile. The extra rest probably would've helped.
Before I knew it, I was going hard again. I hoped that I could ease into this repeat and pick it up at the end. Instead, the opposite happened. I was over pace early and the pace kept dipping. I had thought before this repeat that if I could make it through this one, I could will my way through the final two. I also figured those two would be downhill. I did complete this second mile repeat, but complete it was about all I did. I didn't fight through the fatigued legs. Instead, I just kind of quit. It still was a decent pace, but it was a much slower 7:30 mile.
I'm kind of disappointed that I quit so easy. Sometimes you have to battle. Realistically this probably wasn't one of those days. I over did it with my hard running on Monday. It didn't seem like it at the time, but I definitely felt it after that run. I just wasn't recovered by today's run. I need to go hard on Mondays, but with a little more control. Ideally, I'd run hard on Mondays and Thursdays, but Thursday is my group run day. I need to be solid on Monday or I'll have nothing left for Wednesday.
Since I was about as far out as I had originally planned, I opted to just run easy the rest of the way. I wasn't recovered so there was just no point in killing myself. The final 2 miles were pretty tough anyway, even at this slower pace. I actually developed a side sticker. That is odd because it usually only happens when I'm going fast.
I'm sure eating an Oreo doughnut and candy bar as my only food for the day didn't help. Having my blood drawn beforehand might not have been good either. That said, I think my performance was affected mainly by the lack of recovery from Monday. The second factor was the humidity. I think a training partner might've helped some, but it wouldn't have made enough of a difference to successfully complete the workout.
It is good to listen to your body. When you don't have it, you don't have it. I haven't had trouble with these repeats too often. It is good to have a setback every now and then, as long as it doesn't become a pattern. I just need to learn from this and bounce back stronger. You don't learn anything from good days. It is the bad ones that teach a lesson.
Walking back from the end of the run was brutal. First, I was sweating into my eyes and it was burning. Then, I felt like I was getting bitten on my back. I noticed it again on my compression sock and I saw some type of fly. It was annoying as it kept going after me. Rather than stretch, I jumped right into the car and took off.
Tomorrow will be the LVRR Group Run in the Parkway. I'm going to add a mile to the run to get to 6 miles. Not sure if I'll go easy again on Friday. I might opt to try a couple mile repeats. I should be recovered enough by then. It is just a matter of whether or not that will compromise my Saturday long run. We'll have to see how things play out.
7 miles - 47:00 (7:50 pace)
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