Notes
7mi / ~42min @ M pace - 6:00 avg
M pace run redemption had. Great run today. Back at the MA loop so lots more hills. Started with a screaming downhill, 5:30, nice. Then kept saying to myself, "keep it sustainable". Felt good through the 2nd mile and on pace. Kept the same effort for the third and had a 5:41. Some downhill but still fast. Fourth mile I started to feel a little tired but not too bad. Pace +12sec but also almost +50 ft on the mile. Next mile felt a lot tougher, but went sub-6 for another net uphill mile. That made me feel better about things and even made the pace feel less tough. Tried to keep the same effort on the uphill to Boston Rd, then really focused on relaxing on the downhill. I knew I'd make up pace on the downhill no matter what, and I had the giant hill after. About 150 ft up in half a mile. Again, kept the same effort up. On the downhill, I coasted the steeper sections and worked the less steep sections, to be careful with impact on my legs. Last mile an easy downhill sub-6.
I would say this didn't feel quite as effortless as two weeks ago, but also not super strenuous. And comparing to the last time I did this loop 3.5 weeks ago, I was 10+ seconds per mile faster for every mile. And basically the same variation from mile to mile. I'd say this felt about as hard or a little less hard than that run. Cool to see the progress. Great start to the week.
Oh, almost forgot, the big difference from last week was nutrition. Since I felt hungry last week and failed, I made sure to pack my energy bars in case I needed them. And I did. I decided to have one after lift, to start recovering. When I was still hungry after breakfast, I had another. So I felt ready to go for the run. And then after the run, I had another to start the recovery for that. I think for now on, for all my hard days I will pack two bars per hard session. One for before and one for after. I don't need to use them but I have them if I need them.