Homeward Bound

Thursday's run into work was the last run commute of the week. The legs felt somewhere between tired and okay. I took it easy until I got to Sandymount promenade when a runner got onto my tail. As much as I tried NOT to get into a silly little race, I could not help accelerating a bit. He stayed right there on my tail - I think he used me as a pacemaker for a mile or 2 of tempo effort. Mind, it still was only 7:40-ish pace, so neither of us was going as fast as we thought we were, I suppose. On the plus side, the legs felt all the better for it!

Since I'm driving to Kerry on Fridays, that day of the week I'm running early, before setting off to work. I did a slightly short run but ended it with a couple of hill sprints. That was just for testing out things - see how the legs would respond when suddenly being asked to work at full power (they seemed fine) and if that steep little rise near home was suitable (just about long enough for 8 seconds). This time round it was only 2 sprints - I'll do more next time, and certainly not after 6 miles of running. You want you legs to be somewhat fresh when sprinting.

I was back home on Saturday so I went out for a 10 mile run along Caragh Lake. According to strava this was my first 10 mile run on that road for almost 1 months! Seriously? It used to be my bread and butter run, several times a week before work! Anyway, I really enjoyed being back on that road, so familiar that I know all of the stone chippings by name. The legs seemed to enjoy it as well, they felt pretty good and didn't even mind the stiff headwind.

After complaining last week that my numbers had stagnated, this week has seen another massive jump in the numbers. I've been astounded by seeing the HR in the mid 140 already and the HR alarm, which used to go on incessantly even on easy efforts, has more or less remained silent. I haven't even been back running for 3 weeks yet; what's it going to be like in 10 months?

16 Aug

9.2 miles, 1:16:34, 8:19 pace, HR 151

17 Aug

9.15 miles, 1:13:42, 8:03 pace, HR 150

18 Aug

6.5 miles, 53:21, 8:12 pace, HR 146

   2 hill sprints

19 Aug

10 miles, 1:21:35, 8:09 pace, HR 145