Back-to-back

Yesterday was day one of my third week of back-to-back workouts. 9 miles with 6 at 7:10 pace. It was great running weather.. 33 degrees, no wind and a light mist.

I started with my two mile warm-up and then hit the first faster mile at 7:09 (175). I felt really relaxed and could tell again this week that I was going to have to hold back some to keep the pace from getting too fast. The next 4 miles felt really comfortable: 7:06 (173), 7:11 (174), 7:07 (175), 7:08 (174). I finished with a 7:16 (173).. I could feel that I was slowing down over the last 100 meters or so... not from being tired but for some reason I just decided I was ready to be done. I recovered to 130 in :48 and 120 in :54.

Today's conditions were similar to yesterday only a little better.. 43 degrees instead of 33. Warm enough for shorts! I planned to run 14 miles with the last 5 at 7:10 pace. I wanted to keep the first 9 around 7:40 pace or 162 heart rate. I averaged about 7:32 pace and stayed right around 162-163 until mile 9 when I hit 167. I could tell at that point that the effort was changing a little too.. not in my legs so much but my breathing changed some. I started the 5 miles at 7:10 pace still feeling pretty good. This is how they came out: 7:08 (173), 7:08 (174), 7:11 (177), 7:06 (178), 7:06 (174). Things changed again a little around mile 3... my heart rate started going up and I started to feel it in my legs a little this time. Something happened again though right before mile 5... my heart rate went back down and my legs felt incredible. I had to really try to keep the pace from dropping. A couple of times when I checked the GPS I was running 6:55 and it felt better than any other point during the run. My average heart rate was lower than miles 3 and 4 too. I am not sure how that works.. this is the second time that this has happened during one of these efforts where my last mile feels really good and the heart rate drops a few beats too. I recovered to 130 in :58 and 120 in 1:15. I finished with another slower mile to get 15 for the day. It was just too nice outside to stop at only 14 miles. Good run.

Last week ended with 65 miles.