Training in Montana

After my Saturday track workout I felt some soreness in the calves, which was awesome. It's nice to be sore. This morning I wanted to go 6 and push it a bit. I wore my HR monitor and after the first mile I started pushing a bit. It's nearly all uphill until the turnaround and I pushed it, especially the last .75 to the turn which I normally slow down on. My HR got up to 173 and stayed there, which is close to my 185 max. My pace was around a 7:30 with a slight uphill. I pushed it to the turn and when I headed back it was staying in the high 160s which was okay but higher than I wanted. I thought I would try and keep my pace between a 7:00-7:30 all the way home but my body wasn't having it. I'd just had a hard workout on Saturday and no need to burn myself out on day 1 of the week, so I stopped and walked for a bit until my HR came down. I still got an 8:05 mile even when walking for a stretch so that felt good. I tried to keep around an 8 the rest of the way but the legs got used to going faster the past few days and my last mile was a 7:35. A good workout. 

AP: 8:14, overall time 51:02. I'm shooting for a 44:00 10K on July 21st which I might be able to do, but not convinced of it. If I had more speed work under my belt I'd feel more confident that I could hold a 7:05 pace but I'll do my best.

At the end of both of my last races I tanked because it was too hot and I was undertrained in heat. I wilted. I normally wake up in the wee hours of the morning to get in my runs so I can avoid the heat. I'm now changing that philosophy and embracing the heat by trying to do at least one noon run once per week. I picked a doozy of a day to start this approach. It was 88 by 11 am and I left about 11:45 not knowing the true temp, but that it would be over 90. Went with a tank top today instead of my normal shirt and it was a good choice. Learned that a tank top is way better than shirtless as it keeps the sprinkler water in. I missed the sprinklers until mile 2 then didn't miss one, and they saved me. Drenched myself in some good rainbirds at mile 4 and that lasted for quite a while. My goal was to keep an 8 minute pace once I got going so that I could test myself in hot temps with a decent amount of mileage. 

Question to anyone who wants to answer: To get in some good heat training how long do I need to spend in the heat? How hot is good enough to get my body used to it? Anything above 70? Above 80? 

Paces: 8:45, 8:06, 8:09, 8:08, 8:02, 7:52, 7:51 (0.2). AP: 8:10. Temp: 95-99 degrees, 15% humidity. 

Traveled to Utah yesterday to celebrate the long weekend. Did a nice short run this morning before heading to Lagoon, then the rains came and we'll do Lagoon tomorrow.

AP: 8:18; paces in the low 7s on the way back. Felt great.  

Did a nice run on the JRP this morning before heading to Lagoon. Parked at 4800 South and headed South. Turned around just after hitting the golf course. 

AP: 8:29

Ran this morning with Kam and Matt (Twinkie) from near Kam's house, up to the BST, down to the backside of Lagoon, and through Farmington back to Centerville. A great run. Matt had to turn around after an hour so Kam and I continued on. It was nice running with other people especially as they're both faster than me so it pushed me quite a bit. My paces were faster than I would've run by myself on a long run but I wasn't sore at all that day, and only a bit sore the next day. And after getting done Kam made me chocolate milk and his wife made us Belgian Waffles that were to die for. Plus, got to meet all of their children - great kids. Thanks Kam & Tami!

AP: 9:15