11 mile loop around the Charles again today. The last three days, I've been adding half a mile to my 10.5 mile loop by continuing down one bridge further which brings me to the Harvard boathouse. Now that construction is more or less done on the side of the bridge that I need to run on, I will probably start making this my standard loop.
Unlike the previous days, I threw in some pick ups after 6 miles. I took the first 6 miles a bit easy at 6:20 pace while trying to keep my heart rate below 150. After that, the plan was to get right into 30 seconds on/ 30 seconds off. With my track workouts focused on slower race pace stuff, I wanted to use this as a chance and work on my top speed. Need to get my kick back. Unfortunately, just before starting the pick ups, I realized that my Forerunner 620 isn't currently displaying overall time. I've got it set to Overall Distance, Heart Rate, and Pace. This meant I wouldn't be able to accurately track any pick ups based on time. My first thought was to run them based on feel, but I wasn't confident in my guestimation skills. Instead, I settled for quarter mile on / quarter mile off at goal race pace. 5:00 on / 6:00 off. The first 3 felt alright, but I started to fall off the pace a bit for the last two. Splits during the pick ups were 5:35 and 5:41.
I knew I was going a bit slow through the pick ups, but I still didn't really felt comfortable. I wasn't actually disappointed with the effort until I compared this run to a similar run I did 3 weeks ago. During a previous set of pick ups, I had run 4 x 2 min on/1 min off, and I had reported feeling better even though the on time was longer and the rest was shorter. However, it is important to remember that I was coming off a day with no running for that previous run. So, it may be an issue with the freshness of my legs. I've been able to beef up my training substantially since April and early May. It might be time for an off day soon.
80 degrees / threatening to rain but didn't / mild wind
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