A busy running week!

This week : 

M : 5.6 / 7:51 / 276 ft

W : 6.6 / 7:37 / 436 ft 

R : track workout 5.2 

group run 3.7 / 7:38 / 128 ft

Sa : Growler Relay 5.1 /8:01 / 853 ft

Growler Relay 5.6 / 7:05 / 0 ft

Su : 3.1 / 7:59 / 72 ft

total miles : 34.9

I made myself work pretty hard this week!  Trying to get back to where running below an 8 min/mile pace doesn't feel to hard!  I want 7:30 to be my jogging pace, not my workout pace.  I started another new pair of shoes on Monday.  I found a pair of Wave Enigmas on Amazon for only $40!  The Enigmas were the best shoes for my feet when I was recovering from tendonitis, but they were slightly more expensive than my other models, and they didn't last nearly as long.  The mesh on top of my toes ended up ripping in the same spot on both pairs of shoes that I went through, so I ended up not buying a third pair at the time.  But I think those were 3s, and the ones I just found were 5s.  It looks like they've fixed that weak mesh problem, and hopefully these ones will hold up better.  Since my feet have been grumbling a bit lately, I figured it would be a good idea to switch back to the more supportive shoes for a bit.  

On Wednesday, I was running later in the day because it was faculty meeting day, and I wasn't sure I was going to get my 6 miles for the day.  I very nearly ended the run around 5.5 miles, but talked myself into adding one more loop, and talked myself into pushing harder for that last mile.  I ended up being really pleased with the run. 

On Thursday I decided to check out my school's track for the first time and do a track workout.  The track is asphalt, with 8 lanes.  I ran a 4 lap warmup in lane 8, then switched direction, moved to lane 5, and did 200, 400, 800, 800, 400, 200.  I did a 200 jog after the 200s, and a 400 jog after the 400s and 800s.  I switched direction again halfway through.  Then I finished off with a 2 lap jog in lane 8, after switching direction again.  I had hoped for a good sprint workout for my legs, but unfortunately the inner field was being mowed during my workout, and my lungs struggled pretty badly.  I did not let myself use my inhaler during the workout, but I definitely was a lot slower than I wanted to be. I ran as fast as my lungs would allow, but my legs were really struggling from lack of sufficient oxygen.  

Post-workout stretching.  Gorgeous clouds. 

After my track workout I headed home and had about 20 minutes before I headed back out for the Thursday group run.  I was hoping to just do an easy short jog with the group, but Amanda was there so when the rest of the group headed for the Creeper Trail which neither of us can stand, we went out on our own.  We were joined by Corey, who I hadn't met before, but who might be my new running partner...if we can arrange schedules.  He is faster than me, so I'm hoping we will be able to work something out!  I was struggling to keep up with him and Amanda on our short run, since I was tired from my workout, but I managed not to get dropped.  We were supposedly "taking it easy." 

Saturday was the  Growler Relay in Salem, VA, which was lots of fun.  

Here's a profile of my first leg.  (The second one was dead flat and not worth a profile)

The HRM claims my HR was at 247 at the very beginning.  Since I'm still alive (I think) I'm going to go ahead and assume it made a mistake. 

Today was just a shakeout jog.  One of my legs is bothering me from the stretch of Rt 311 I had to run at the end of the day yesterday that was pretty heavily slanted.  I'm hoping it recovers quickly with stretching.