Catching up

I had a little breakthrough the last couple of days. Nothing spectacular pace-wise or anything, but just being able to get a long LT in yesterday and follow it up without GI issues today was big. Plus the path is clear again!

Thursday - 60-75 Minute LT: 9 miles at LT, 14 total
Felt good for the first few, running in the 5:50-6:00 range. Then somewhere around mile 6 I seemed to really slow. I didn't have mile markers to help me keep pace. As soon as I got back to mile markers, I got the pace down again only to shock myself with a terribly slow 9:19 first half of the Cricket Hill Loop. How demoralizing and I was not able to recover from that, so I jogged home.

I was a little down about the workout, yes, but it is what it is. I kept the heart rate at 82-83% the entire time after the first couple of miles. I still have no idea how you are supposed to manage a workout to % of max heart rate in this cold.

I also spent a lot of the time gradually shifting in and out of gear. I would concentrate on those little changes that seem to make a big efficiency difference, mostly getting the foot to strike near the forefoot and keeping the glutes engaged (mildly contracted) through the entire gait cycle. I was able to hold that form for several minutes at a time, but would inevitably find myself falling out of that. So, I guess it was good progress. But I really hope this gets better quickly.

Friday - Mid-Long with Hills: 4.5 miles on the hill, 14.5 total
It was sunny today. What a change and actually wonderful to run in, despite the low teens temps. So, I headed down to the Chicago River bridge (I'm sure there's a name for that thing) and did the hill on the south end for 32 minutes. I had another aha moment as I ran back north. The underpass that connects the Michigan Ave & Oak St to the running path is nearly ideal for hill training.

Looking forward to the Ins & Outs tomorrow and the Cary course on Sunday!