Training in Montana

Morning: 4 miles from home in fairly cold temps for May 11th, 30F. A bit of a wind but not bad. Wore my good gloves, tights, hat, and a nice 1/2 zip top with fuzzy insides. Ah. I thought my legs would be fresh but apparently not. I kept thinking the GPS was off again as it showed an 8:56 pace on the 2nd mile. It's a steady climb but with fresh legs I'm normally in the 8:15-8:30 range. The return miles were better but definitely not fresh legs. No biggie.

Lunch: It's my step back week, so time to add some weight training. Did 25 minutes of Boot Camp and that got a good workout, then did 20 lunges with 35 lb dumbbells, curls and triceps with 20 lb dumbbells, and 25 situps with gravity.

8 miles from home this morning. Legs and butt felt worked out from yesterday but I felt like pushing the pace. Had decent paces on the up, then kept pushing all the way from mile 3-8. Felt good to run "fast" but not actually fast. Fast for me.

AP: 7:54

6 miles from home this morning. Got out 5-10 minutes later than planned so the fight in my head during the run was whether I'd run 5 miles or 6 miles as I like to be back by 7 am. I'd decided on 5 but when I got the 2.5 mile turnaround spot I stopped, thought about it, turned around towards home, then circled back and finished the 3 miles. The first mile this morning was a bit creaky with the sore muscles, but the 2nd I pushed a bit as I knew I needed to get back to the house. By the time I hit mile 3 I was in a good stride and pushing myself, and when mile 4 hit I now had downhill and I started moving. The last 3 were uncomfortably hard. I'm so not used to running in that space so I don't know how far I can go like that. I know that's what the best athletes do and while I've improved quite a bit in distance and pace I bet there's so much further I could go with the right coaching. Not sure I'll ever do it, but it was interesting this morning. Mile 4 was a 7:03, mile 5 6:52, and finished mile 6 with a 6:36. It was definitely uncomfortable and my breathing was very labored. Fun to know I still have some speed in me though.

AP: 7:45