The World Is Flat

Those four words used to be the slogan of the Columbus (OH) Marathon.  Obviously a play on dear explorer, Christopher Columbus, after which the city is named probably because it was the edge of western expansion in the early 1800s and all the grass made it look mighty flat.  The marathon is fairly flat although not Chicago flat and it well organized and well liked even by non-Ohioans.  I had never been to Columbus other than on the highway(s) (both I71 and I75 border on the east and western sides accordingly) and I was pleasantly surprised last October when I went down to run the half marathon that is held the same day as the marathon.  it is a young city still as compared to Cleveland and Cincinnati and although listed as the 3rd largest, it really is the same size as the other two large Ohio cities.  My daughter also has an interest in re-locating to C-Bus after she graduates as it still has growing suburbs, a large young(ish 20-30 something) population, an excellent graduate school of Education at OSU, and most importantly, and NHL team with affordable tickets.  Any way, most of my local running group gears off and runs either the C-Bus full or half as Akron is a little too early in the fall and C-Bus is strategically placed in the middle of October.  History has indicated good weather, if not too cold, and lots of BQ times.  I would love to be as fit as I was last fall and have a good course on which I might just be able to run sub 3:45 at least one more time.  We will see.

That goal being said, I am working with a coach here in the Cleveland area and his first task is to slow me down on those long runs and recovery days. When I was coming back from injury and surgery back in 2012 and 2013, I did just that, but as I got more fit, I started to run faster paces for those long and recovery runs, and I know that I paid for it by crashing and burning earlier this year.   I read a recent article in Running Times that so nailed the Masters runner that I am in that it identified those of us who have been running (longer than Mike M or Nick M have been alive) tend to train too fast and with all runs at the same speed except identified fast pace runs which of course, we run faster.  I guess it just goes way back to my running everything in training at a 7 min pace back when I was in my 20s and 30s.  I mean that is what we did mimicking the likes of our running heroes in the Bill Rodgers era.  

I must say that slowing don my recovery runs have been the hardest and with the advent of summer (coming and going over the last few days), I have been able to run them around 10 min pace.  I also ran a successful long run this weekend where I averaged 9:24 pace.  Still maybe not slow enough, but it was a hilly course with uphill being around 10 and downhill around 9 allowing gravity to do its job.  With the slowing down and general lack of sleep these past few days (Stanley Cup Final and the Cavs), I was worried about yesterday's first LT run.  Thankfully the real hot weather had left and it was just a beautiful 75F with moderate humidity and I was able to run the 8 prescribed miles with the 4 LT miles at 7:57, 7:57, 7:58 and 7:29.  Oops on the 7:29, but this guy caught up to me that was also running harder miles and I was not about to let him pass if I could hold him off until my watch beeped for the 6th mile (lol).  After all , he was a lot younger and I'm sure did not appreciate getting chicked even in training.

Here is my schedule for the first four weeks which I can adjust for heat and humidity as it creeps in and out:

Start Date	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Weekly Mileage
June 1	REST (OR) CROSS TRAIN	GEN AER+ 8 MILES + 10 x 20/40 STRIDES	RECOVERY 4 MILES + ABS/CORE	GEN AER 6 MILES	REST (OR) CORE	RECOVERY 4 MILES	HALF MAR PACER 13 MI 2:10-9:55	35
June 8	REST (OR) CROSS TRAIN	GEN AER+ 6 MILES + 10 x 20/40 STRIDES	RECOVERY 4 MILES + ABS/CORE	GEN AER 8 MILES	REST (OR) CORE	MED LONG 12 MI 10:00/9:10	RECOVERY 4 MILES	34
June 15 *18 WKS 2 CBUS*	REST (OR) CROSS TRAIN	LT 4 MI 8 TOTAL LT 7:45-8:00	RECOVERY 4 MILES + ABS/CORE	GEN AER 8 MILES	REST (OR) CORE	MED LONG 14 MILES 10:00/9:10	RECOVERY 4 MILES	38
June 22	REST (OR) CROSS TRAIN	GEN AER+ 8 MILES + 10 x 20/40 STRIDES	RECOVERY 4 MILES + ABS/CORE	GEN AER 10 MILES	REST (OR) CORE	LONG (MP) 13 MI 5 LR – 8 MP MP = 8:25	RECOVERY 4 MILES	39

I guess I'll try to keep this blog posted as it goes along.

Must be Fall marathon new blog season around here.  Good luck with your training, 1L.  But one question on the lingo, so I can try to keep up with you younger runners.  If he had beaten you to mile 6, would he have 'duded' you? 

I must admit that I still enjoy aggravating my son when I agree with him by saying, "I'm jiggy with that."

ounce wrote:Must be Fall marathon new blog season around here.  Good luck with your training, 1L.  But one question on the lingo, so I can try to keep up with you younger runners.  If he had beaten you to mile 6, would he have 'duded' you? 

I must admit that I still enjoy aggravating my son when I agree with him by saying, "I'm jiggy with that."

I think the proper term for that would be "Punked" - as in, passed by a young punk.

Great plan, intimidating schedule and good luck reining yourself in on those runs that are supposed to be slower. I'm impressed with all your planned core work. I bet you'll like the results.

Y'all are old.  

As a relatively young runner, I'd be thoroughly impressed if I was chicked by you, Mom.  Hell, you pretty much wrecked me and Aileen when we were in Chautauqua.  

Hope to keep seeing the weekly plans, as I'm always a plan junkie.  Assuming your coach is okay with that, and all.

Appreciate the shout out.

Yeah, he is cool with it. We worked on it together and as you can see we took lots of basic ideas from the RRCA course as well as Pfitzinger.  Calculating the paces was the most fun, and we came up with the following:

**June workouts / 5 days week – off Mon-Fri**

MEDIUM /LONG PACE – Start 10:00 – Finish 9:10 - :50 per 10% of 8:25
**Avg for Long Runs – NO FASTER THAN 9:10 PACE**
GENERAL AEROBIC PACE 9:00-9:15 PACE
RECOVERY RUN AT 10:00 PACE

1 x MP (marathon pace) runs – Avg Goal pace of 8:25 for MP 
1 x LACTATE THRESHOLD / TEMPO RUN 7:45 TO 8:00 (15K to Half Marathon pace)

**July pacing will include MP and LT workouts**

MP (marathon pace) runs – Avg Goal pace of 8:25 for MP – MP every 3 weeks
LACTATE THRESHOLD / TEMPO RUN 7:45 TO 8:00 (15K to Half Marathon pace) – LT every 2-3 weeks
*based off of your 2015 Half Marathons 1:43 avg (7:50/mi)

**August pacing will include VO MAX workouts**

VO MAX PACE 7:00 (5K PACE)

I can adjust based on heat/humidity and terrain as need be.  I'm used to adjusting for such especially as I get to CHQ since it is hilly there and pretty flat here in NEOh.  

After two days of running in relatively low humidity (for summer here as it was only 60% the last couple of days) to this morning when it was up over 85% and 75F, I misjudged it and really bonked around mile 5.5 of 8 miles.  I finished the 8 miles and I know bonks happen, but they still suck.

I am glad that I could inspire a new blog out of you.  I'll keep you posted on "C-Bus".

Love your plan! Although I just read a book to J about The Librarian who Measured the Earth and it said that people have known the Earth was round since I think 500 BC (shadows, etc) anyway, very interesting.  Anyway, I know you train smart and I am eager for your summer training. Bring on the low humidity nice cool weather, right? 

I'd love to be able to work with a coach.  I did have someone look at my plan and help me tweak it when I was training for my BQ.  She also helped me put together a strength/core workout based on what she thought were my weaknesses.  I liked her but she was very busy and it was hard to find time to get together with her when she wasn't distracted with kids.  I only met with her a couple times but I did find it very helpful. 

If I am able to get back into serious training it would be nice to have someone help me set up an appropriate plan and then guide me through it.  I'm not sure how to locate a coach that has experience working with older athletes and/or cardiac athletes.  I'll have to ask for suggestions at rehab and/or at the running store.  There isn't anyone local.  I think I'd have to travel at least to Redmond (40 minutes) or more likely Bend (an hour).

I did find a link to a group of cardiac athletes.  I found some good information but the forum wasn't real active.

Happy training.  Tell Joe I said "hi".

Finished last week ok but did have issues with heat and humidity.  It might not be as hot temperature-wise as Atlanta, but Cleveland can sure be humid especially after bouts with severe weather like we had this past weekend and into Tuesday.  My Saturday 12 miles was done in 90% humidity for the first hour, then it actually lessened but not until I was a drowned rat anyway.  My shorts were soaked after 12 miles and I literally wrung a cup of water out of them!  Sunday was nicer but still humid.

Tuesday morning was the toughest run I have had to date, but at least this time I was prepared and carried water.  We have significant rain over night which caused a lot of flooding in the city in which I live.  I90 was closed at the exit by my house since it was flooded (we got 3" of rain in a few hrs overnight) and a tractor trailer subsequently jackknifed - oh joy!  I had to run in the early morning and the humidity was 94% with temps in the low 70s - yuk, yuk, yuk!  The severe weather did bring a cold front in so by the time I arrived in Chautauqua later in the afternoon, temperatures were only in the high 70s and the humidity was down to 80%  - it felt wonderful.  The good news is that the cooler weather and lower humidity has stuck around and this morning I ran my 10 miles in 52F with 80% humidity and it was beautiful.  It is amazing what the temps will due to make that feel great in the summer. It isn't supposed to last that long, so I'll take advantage while I can.

Runs are going ok, but I feel a bit stressed running the longish runs during the week as it isn't something that I've done in the past.  Dry weather isn't supposed to last so it will be interesting to see if I can get in my first MP run this weekend especially with the forecast for 100% rain on Saturday and Sunday and the hilly terrain!

Boy, you know you've been in rough conditions when the high 70s with 80% humidity feels refreshing...

Thanks for sharing some of your training guidelines. I don't recall seeing workouts planned out in such detail before. I'm guessing that's what having a coach will do for you.

If you can manage to complete anything close to that training plan in those conditions you'll be golden once you get to run in normal conditions.  Stay safe.

Not real good about updating, but I've been so very busy here.  Along with running, yoga, softball, theatre, and lectures, I also am a member of a non-profit Board that only operates during the nine week season that we have here in the summer.  It's week 2 and I already need a vacation. I've been trying to sort through and update the membership database that was left in quite a disarray when the former Registrar just decided she didn't want the job.  Of course, she left a years worth of data un-entered, so our records were ridiculously out of date.  What joy that has been, but I think that I have finally finished.  We are now looking as part of the Board to buy a property and move a business that we run into a new better located space, but the work it involves to present it to the membership is a bit daunting since we have to act fast.

Our weather has been very strange so far this summer in that we have had a lot of very humid (888%+) but cool mornings.  It is still taxing and it will certainly make for interesting adaptations when the summer heat eventually arrives.  It has also been so wet with flash flood warnings most days - so wet that I feel like I'm in Portland or Seattle not western NY state. Most of my runs have been done in these conditions so I'm either soaked from rain or sweat from the humidity.  But I have been getting in the miles!  Finished last week with a 16 miler which is way ahead of where I was last year at this time and my race is only 3 wks earlier.  This weekend brings the annual Presque Isle Half Marathon in Erie and it will be a game day call as to how I approach the race.  That call will be influenced by the weather and working with my coach to see where we are at.  This morning my legs felt like lead as I did 5 x 3 mins (with 2 min rest) repeats.  I did get down to 7:15 pace for the repeats for all 5, but it was a kilelr in the humidity and then light rain.  I also finished it off with a cool down that takes me up two pretty substantial hills.  Below is what I'v got on the schedule for this week.  Yesterday, i spent an hour in the gym and I hope to go to a Yoga class again on Friday.

July 13 *14 WKS 2 CBUS*

REST (OR) CROSS TRAIN

VO MAX 8 MILES 5 X 600 (OR 3:00) 2:00 REST

MED-LONG 10 MILES

RECOVERY 6 MILES + 6 X 10 STRIDES

REST (OR) CORE

RECOVERY 4 MILES

RACE ERIE HALF – “B” RACE 15 TOTAL LT/MP WO

43

Next week is a bit of a recovery week followed by another tough week where I'll actually be running up to 18 miles!  

July 20 RECOVERY WEEK	REST (OR) CROSS TRAIN	RECOVERY 6 MILES	RECOVERY 4 MILES + ABS/CORE	GEN AER 10 MILES	REST (OR) CORE	LONG RUN 15 MI 10:00/9:10 RECOVERY WEEK	RECOVERY 4 MILES	39
July 27 *12 WKS 2 CBUS*	REST (OR) CROSS TRAIN	LT 5 MI 10 TOTAL LT 7:45-8:00	RECOVERY 4 MILES + ABS/CORE	MED-LONG 10 MILES	REST (OR) CORE	2.7 MILE RACE - 6 TOTAL	LONG RUN 18 MI 10:00/9:10	48

So far so good.  I've been lucky in the training for the most part has been going well.  No real niggles or issues. My right calf had a knot that my great massage therapist here worked out, and I hope to stay in this mode until I leave at the end of August.  Been getting to the gym at least 2x per week along with stretching and rolling in my spare time.  I'd say my biggest downfall in these first two weeks has been the consumption of a bit too much wine and cocktails as it seems like every night is a meet up or party as people come back for the summer.  That too will calm down.

There's a lot to be said for getting in the miles, no matter the weather.  And luckily, I won't go into it.

I believe your measured humidity of 888%+ is probably understated.  I don't think Corpus has hit a gazillion, yet, but we're hanging in there at 535%.  Maybe by Labor Day, you'll be cooler and drier, plus done with theatre.

Nice going, Miche1e.

And I thought I was busy...you're schedule looks like it's packed full.

Those are some tough workouts in those conditions...

I don't think I'm exaggerating on the humidity at all as I'm soaked to the bone after most runs.  Thank God it has been strangely cool and wet so far this summer - I mean it was in the low 50s this morning! but 95% humidity.  We did look ahead to the weekend and it appears as if Sunday's forecast for Presque Isle State park is 68F and humid.  Oh joy, but we knew it was coming and it was/is only a matter of time!  I'm approaching the race as a "B" race, so again it will be a last minute call as to how I approach the actual run.  Last year the conditions were eerily similar, but it felt kind of cool since it had been very hot up until then - this year may be just the opposite.  One year it was actually so hot and humid and many people were in the DNF category and the Sag wagon (pick up actually) was rescuing runners on the course.  That is why they moved the start time from 7:30 to 6:45 am.  Of course, I'm supposed to (along with MP and our friend Chris who I ran NY with) go to a (keg) party for a friend's son on Saturday evening.  He is a budding musician and will be playing for us with the idea that we the adults can kick in a few bucks in his guitar case and he can continue to cut his next EP.  He actually attends Berklee College of Music in Boston and both my daughter and I have heard him and his band playing on the Common.  He will be alone this time and it is a nice excuse to get together.

Humid but cool. Boy, that sounds familiar. I know it's nothing compared to when it gets hot-n-awful, but it really does flush out the pores, doesn't it? Here's hoping the cooler weather holds out until after your race this weekend.

It's similar here. Cooler than average and incredibly humid. Our dehumidifier is filling up quickly!

Well, the cooler weather left over the weekend, came back this week, and is gone again just in time for the weekend and another long run! Because of the heat last weekend, I dialed it back for my race and ran 12 miles at MP,  I had hoped to bring down the last 3 miles to LT pace, but my HR was already at LT levels due to the (by then) 83F temperature, so I wisely kept it steady.  The race stats are telling as I moved up from 7th (AG) and 275th overall at the half way chip mat (it was actually at mile 6) to 4th (AG) and 204th overall at the finish - and I dropped off some in the last two miles with the heat to watch my HR.  It took a bit out of me, but by Tuesday morning I was fine and ran easy both T and W.  It was also back to the low 60s for morning temps again.  Rode today for the first time in a long while and forgot how much I do enjoy it, but boy was I slow especially with the hilly country.  Beautiful ride though where at the top of one hill, you can see Lake Erie to the north and Lake Chautauqua to the west.  Beautiful trek through Amish country.

Hopefully it will not be too warm in the morning as I've got 15 planned.

Nicely done, Miche1e.  You're pretty good at this running thing, ain't cha?

How'd the 15 go and how did the theater end up?

Thanks Doug for paying attention.  My 15 miler went very well as did my 10 miler on Tuesday (with 5 @ LT).  More later.

I don't believe that I have run (almost) 200 miles in one month since I was in my late 20s, and this lat month, well, I ran 198.  198 - and I can't really believe it.  Not only that, I finished the month with a day off.  Of course, it followed a solo 18 miler over hills, hills, hills, so I'm thankful that the temps were only in the low 60s when I started and low 70s at the finish, even if the humidity was in the 84% range.  I still did it, and I was very happy to finish in 2 hrs and 53 min since that was so on pace. Like I said, my goal was to slow down those long runs, and I definitely have accomplished that this summer.  I was not super happy with my running of the Presque Isle Half on the 18th, but I did maintain 12 miles at marathon pace which was really what that was to be all about.  I finished 4th in my AG after a series of placings, but it was ridiculously hot that morning (73F at the start) and 90% humidity, so I kept echoing in my head that it is a "B" race and not my goal, my goal race is in October!  

The final week in July started with a bang too (and ended with that 18 miler) in that I successfully completed a 10 miler with 5 @ LT pace (7:45-8 min per mile).  Now I have not had a bad time with these LT runs, but my last two had my pace fall off in the last mile - not going over 7:55, but still falling off, so since it was a relatively cool morning, I made it my goal to stay as fresh as I could and keep it in control for the first couple of LT miles hopefully reaching my fastest mile in the last one - and I did it!  What a great confidence booster to see 7:37 for that last mile of the 5!  Of course, I then barely made it up the hill for the last couple of miles of my cool down - lol. I never thought I would make it through those miles and I didn't even have the luxury of Chris or MP to help me through.

Running a good LT run and a good 18 miler though, I felt I was hardly ready for Saturday's Old First Night Run. They changed the course just a it this year - no, they did not remove the nasty uphill first mile, but they did add a brick path in the end to make the course 2.73 miles instead of 2.7!  On Friday after my 18 miler on Thursday, my legs felt pretty trashed.  I made it to yoga which felt much needed, but I decided to skip my weight session with Annie as my legs already felt like lead weights. Smartly, the race start time was moved up to 8 am this year partly to avoid he heat and to avoid the congestion at the gates as Saturday is a big turnover day here in CHQ especially between weeks 5 & 6.  In fact, my daughter asked why we have t-shirts from races that I never ran in the late 90s and early 00s, and it was because we usually drove here from Atlanta (then) and left on that Saturday.  Because of the 9 am start, I could never run as we had to get on the road.  Of course, the last few years I have run when I was injured ans she has done the "closet to the pin" walk with her friends all those years too.  

Last year, I ran 20:04 on the course and felt like I was in really good shape coming off a 1:44 at Presque Isle.  It was a hot and humid day like it always is, and I was happy that it was a successful run.  I also figured that my sub-20 days on the course were over.  The OFN run is a deceptively hard 2.7(3) miles with the first tough hill occurring at 0.5 miles and then the uphill basically continues until 1.7 miles where you get a bit of a reprieve, but of course, nothing like the steep uphill you just crested.  The finish is basically flat but tricky since you make a hairpin left turn and run over bricks for 0.3 miles of the last 0.5 miles.  This year has been cooler and I was happy to wake up to temps in the mid 60s with lower humidity, sunshine, and an hour earlier race start.  

Since I'm really not a terrific short distance road runner, I warmed up with an easy 2.2 miles followed by some striders hoping to get it going.  I was very happy when we lined up that the RD made those with walker numbers move behind the runners so that we wouldn't mow them down in the first half mile.  There are a number of young stud college and high school XC runners who get primed for this run as it is right up their alley and perfect timing to see if they are ready for those fall seasons, and it isn't fair to them (or to us oldsters) to have to trip over walking 10 and 80 yr olds (the oldest runners in the race were both 90! and they did it in 30 min). 

After a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem (after all there are voice students here), we were off and I round myself running next to this woman whom I figured was in my AG and we were going strong.  We hit the first mile in 7:19 and I was like, "alright that wasn't so bad", and then she surged ahead and I just tried to stay with her.  Our second mile was 7:10 and then we hit the final downhill and the finishing stretch.  I stayed right behind her until we got off the bricks and then I pulled next to her only to be out kicked at the finish.  Our chips were identical, but officially, she won by 1 sec. And of course, she is 51 (so in my AG, but I'm, 53.5!)  Our time - drum roll please - was 19:30.  19:30! I had not run the course that fast since 2004, and all the women in front of us (we were 6th and 7th respectively) were pretty much teens (one 24 yr old).  Woe, that was some serious kick butt performances by two old ladies!  I'm guessing the Tim Warren adage of "run slow to race fast" might be paying off thanks to the wisdom of Coach Bob.

Synopsis of my week then looks like this:


Mon -Day off, weights and core
Tues - 10 miles with 5 @ LT pace - last LT mile was the fastest
Wed - Easy 5 recovery miles; Yoga
Thurs - 18 hilly, humid miles @ 9:37 pace
Fri - Day off, Yoga
Sat - Old First Night Run (2.73 miles) 19:30 - fastest time since 2004, 2nd AG (lost by 1 sec), 7th woman overall - warm up and cool down miles to total 11.26 miles
Sun - 4.35 recovery miles


WTD: 48.6   YTD:1143


Now on to August and my first 20 miler of the cycle.  I need to get excited as I can do this - after all, the 18 wasn't so bad.  I am waiting for that bad run, but so far, I've held it together, and maybe I can say that Presque Isle was my bad run for the cycle.  That would make me nothing but happy.


And coming up for the week - my last LT too.  The XC race is really a run to support a friend and local scholarships here in the area.

Aug 3

REST (OR) CROSS TRAIN

LT 5 MI 10 TOTAL LT 7:45-8:00

RECOVERY 5 MILES + ABS/CORE

MED-LONG 10 MILES

REST (OR) CORE

LONG RUN 20 MI 10:00/9:10

RACE – XC RACE IN NEW YORK POSSIBLY

Great work, Michele! I asked this in FB, but I'll repost here: How much of your success do you attribute to the "keep the long runs slow and the fast runs fast" and how much to the "hills, hills, hills" aspect of your training? (I suspect the answer is, "All of the above.")

Yes, Mark - I do think it is "all of the above" and just learning over time.  Last year I was lazy here, so I didn't really take advantage of the terrain because my fall marathon wasn't until November and it was a lot warmer than this year.  (Of course, I did run very well at HTC, so there is still something to be said for the hills no matter what).  This year I am as focused as I was back in 2008 which is the last time I ran an October marathon (or an earlier October marathon since I ran one on 10/31 in 2010), and I am not injured or even have the slight bit of niggles (knock on wood); therefore, I'm using the hills, slowing it down on the long runs and basically just going with the flow on easy days.  Where I might have been using to run an 8:50 or 9 min pace last summer (or even in the Spring), I'm just letting those shorter runs flow it a 9:20 or 9:30 or 9:40 pace while watching the HR.  Then when I have to hit the faster miles, I have been so far.  

Now tomorrow is my last LT run and I'm not sure where I'll be with somewhat tired legs and high humidity although the temps are mild for summer.  Last week we had highs in the 90s, but the humidity dropped into the 50-60% range during the day.  Currently, it is only 76F, but the humidity is still 74% - that makes it feel really warm.  I still amaze myself when I realize that those were often the conditions that I ran in daily in the early morning (before the sun) in Atlanta for all those years.  Maybe that is why I haven't really been too idled by it this year.  it will only be 61-62F in the morning, but with 89-90% humidity.  And as we all know, it's not the heat, but the humidity!

The real test will be for me to survive August and September without major niggles and peaking at the right time.  I have never done a 20 miler so early in the cycle, but hey, 18 was fine - so why not as long as I keep it controlled.

You certainly are firing on all cylinders, Miche1e.  I am very happy for you.  And it is the humidity.  Down here, if the dewpoint is in the 60's, we are in heaven.  One of the new weather dudes down here (he came from Oregon) had a graphic that said if the dewpoint was below 70 degrees, then it's dry.  I know it's not dry, but instead of the 'sultry' 70's, it's only the 'sticky' 60's. 

On a different subject, this past Sunday, CBS Sunday Morning ran a story on camps and CHQ was a feature of the story.  I know the story was a repeat, but I didn't know if you knew about the story.

Keep up the good work.

Didn't know about the story on CBS - I'll have to look for it.  Here in western NY is the original Chautauqua and it evolved out of a tent camp in the 1890s. Unlike the one in Boulder and a couple of others that remain, it is a full fledged gated (mostly) Victorian community that still has many of the original buildings and outdoor amphitheater (which is a source of consternation right now as it needs major repairs and may have to be torn down with a replica built rather than restored much to the chagrin of many long term Chautauquans).

As for this week, well, my crash and burn run came on Tuesday.  It was supposed to be my last LT run for a while and I knew that I was tired after last weeks 18 followed by the good race.  As it was, my HR was higher than I wanted at the start and my legs felt like they had been put through the meat grinder, but I thought I'd see how it went.  I did the 2.5 mile warm up and into the 4th mile of the LT, I just shut it down and dialed it back to marathon pace for the remainder of the miles.  I still ran a full 10 as on the schedule, but realized that my body still needed more rest.  I ran real easy on Wednesday because of this (followed by yoga) and it worked as yesterday, I ran a solid 20 (20.4) miler - the first of the season.  I averaged 9:39 for the distance which is a bit over 1 min slower than MP, but I also take it easy on those hills.  It was very cool (54F) at the start but very, very humid (94%) and since I'm an efficient sweater, I was soaked after the first 11 miles which I ran with Mary Pat.  I then ran the 2nd 9 mile loop by myself and watched my HR.  When it got a bit high, I backed off again not wanting to feel overly fatigued.  All went well and I feel very good today which is an off day from running, but I did go to my yoga class and I think I'll got to the gym for a little weight and core work this afternoon.

First 20 and really only a little over 10 wks left......