Week 11 ended on a bit of a rough note with the long run, but overall it went pretty well.  I was happy with the week and felt I made the most out of it.  I’m looking forward to the lower mileage week this week and the Charles St. 12 on Saturday.

Monday:  4 Miles (Pace 8:21)

Last week it was rather cool for the last week of August, in Baltimore the heat can return in an instant!  The heat and humidity came back today.  It was in the low 90’s with 70% humidity, so I waited until later in the evening to run.  I hydrated throughout the day and was feeling better after yesterday’s long run.  I started my run feeling good and then just like yesterday around mile 2, I felt like a ton of bricks hit me.  I felt wiped out.  I pushed through and finished my run.  I chalked it up to not having enough water throughout the day, even though I thought I had.  Glad to get this one behind me.

Tuesday:  2.25 Miles (Pace 7:58)

It is looking like the heat will not subside until the weekend, which will be better nice since I have a race this weekend.  I was suppose to go 6 miles today, but I waited till later and didn’t have the time.  I was meeting a friend to move lacrosse goals which turned out to be harder than one might think.  Anyway, I digress.  I figured since I wasn’t running 6 miles I would run a bit of a faster pace.  I got my miles in around the neighborhood and felt pretty good today.  I think I am rehydrated!

Wednesday:  5 Miles (Pace 8:00)

This evening I ran with my friend Cat and her brother.  She wanted to do a tempo run and I was fine with that, I’m suppose to do speed work tomorrow but I figured I could just swap days.  We ran around Canton and Fells Point, we started out pretty slow around a 8:30 pace, we chatted and caught up on what everyone had been up to, then John (Cat’s brother) really picked it up.  We quickly dropped to a 7 min mile and averaged 7:30 for the next 3.  The conversation dropped to a minimum during those 3 miles, the last mile we slowed down and cooled down.  It was still muggy but it felt good to get a tempo/speed work in.  I decided at the end of the run I wasn’t going to do intervals tomorrow.

Thursday:  3.3 Miles (Pace 8:14)

Since I wasn’t doing intervals I figured I would still do the mileage I would have running intervals.  I looped around my neighborhood and had a strong run.  It was negative splits which I am always happy with.

Friday: 1 Mile (Pace 8:24)

Tomorrow is race day!  I made sure on my short run tonight to deliberately run a bit slower.  After my run I made some pasta for dinner, which I had also had for lunch and dinner on Thursday.  Carbo-loading!

Saturday:  12 Miles (Pace 8:09)

See Charles St. 12

Sunday:  3.1 Miles (Pace 8:09)

This morning I was little sore from the race, my feet and quads mostly.  I hobbled around a bit and then got ready for the day.  I was meeting a friend from high school; we were going scuba diving in in a quarry in Westminster.  We drove up spent about an hour maybe a little more in the water, had lunch and then came back.  I showered and sat on the couch for a little while to rest and I started to dose off, I texted some friends and asked if the wanted to go see a movie, they said yes.  That gave me the motivation to get up and run before going out.  My first mile was pretty slow, I think swimming loosened my legs up some but I was still tight.  Close to the end of the first mile it felt like my legs released and my stride was back to normal.  I didn’t want to push it to much I wanted to use this run to stretch out.  My next mile was smooth and 40 seconds faster, my 3rd mile felt just as good and was 20 seconds faster.  I didn’t mean to run negative splits today but I was really happy that I did and even more surprised I was able to do it at my race pace just a day later.  In my mind I’m hoping that means the training is paying off!

Total Miles:  30.65

-Veggie Fueled Runner