Getting the Fast Back

Saturday

Distance: 12 miles
Time: 1:30:41
Pace: 7:34

This run was awesome and tough and the same time. It started out very hilly. Like quad killing hills that I haven't ran in a few years. I hadn't planned on running them but when I ran near them, I decided to see if I still had it. Oh, did I mention this was a few miles into the 15k "tune-up race" portion of the run? Needless to say, these few miles were not that fast, maybe 7:40's. The last four miles of the 15k were 7:02, 6:47, 6:35 and 6:26. It felt really good to run that fast. In all I averaged 7:15's for the tune-up.

If you ever need some good running music, check out this track from the Rap Pack (Kanye, Jay Z, Lil Wayne, T.I.).



My favorite line (during Lil Wayne's part): "Run up in your shit, just me no mas. Running this shit like I got four thighs. No one has swagga like these four guys". If that can't get you up a hill ...

Sunday

Distance: 17 miles
Time: 2:26:55
Pace: 8:39

This run went well but I have my issues with it. Well, with my prep for it. I didn't eat anything during the run and didn't hydrate well (i.e. at all) before the run. Still, it was very evenly paced (1:13:45/1:13:10) and gave me a little more confidence towards going sub-3:30 in October.

I'm still on the fence about how to run my half marathon in two weeks. I feel like its far enough out for an all out effort but a part of me is still afraid I won't recover quick enough for the marathon. We'll see how the next two weeks plays out.

As for the rest of my life, I'm still slowly plugging away at studying/research. Though lately its been dominated by studying. Yesterday I brought my car in for an oil/filter change, tire rotation and brake check. Everything went ok. I guess there was no pressure on my rear brakes but they were able to fix that. Downside is I need to replace my timing belt before it explodes. The manufacturer recommends replacing the belt on my model at 60k miles. My car might be 20k miles north of that...and it might be unhappy driving at freeway speeds...so I'll probably be doing that before I head back to Portland. On the positive side...only 5 days until I get to be with my fiance!