Fri (8 miles)

Easy 8 today. Very humid. Drenched when I was done.

Work up feeling good and not exhausted like a sort of expected. I am right where I was hoping I would be two weeks ago. Knees didn't bother me at all.

Next week will be lower mileage and higher intensity.

Thurs (19 miles)

Ran this same route Feb. 18th. Took me 2:41 at an 8:35 pace. I was banged up and it was muddy.

My goal this time was to hit an 8:00 pace. I chose that speed because it's about 1 minute faster than my (slowest) goal pace, and because of the challenges in this particular route.

I actually hit 7:51 pace and 2:26 total time...in spite of the 80 degree temp and high humidity.

There are a lot of hills on this route so finishing this fast without feeling totally spent is a good sign. My right leg felt close to 100% and my left knee surprisingly hardly tightened at all. Between the strength training and rolling the huge knots out of both quads I feel much more limber, loose, and strong.

Tues (8 miles)

80 degrees, breezy and hills.

Legs felt shot on hills but better on flat stretches. Taking tomorrow off for sure.

Right shin feels a tiny bit worse but doesn't scare me too much yet.

Sun (12 miles) Mon (8 miles)

Fast training run Sunday. One of my best runs in months. Left knee did get tight at points but nothing at all on the right calf.

Monday...not great sleep. Body was tired early but felt a little better late. Still, a slower than normal run at about 7:40 pace. It was very hot and dry for March and I was light-headed and thirsty by the end.

Thurs (5 miles) Fri (12 miles)

Sick of the wind.

Slogged through Friday. No sleep. Legs were like lead.

Left knee continues to tighten intermittently. Need to get that figured out.

That's 60 miles for the week with a couple of days of rest in there.

If I can do this again next week without injury I'll be in a good spot.

Wed. (10 miles)

No sleep. Horrible stomach. 30MPH wind. Fun.

Left knee tightened up after a couple of 7:00 miles. It did loosen a lot. No other significant problems other than hating life. So sick of the wind already.

Need to start running in the mornings to avoid the gusts.

Tues (strength and rest)

Yesterday I ran 12 miles at training pace (7:30). Today I feel pretty spry and not wiped out. That's good stuff considering 32 miles of challenging running.

Reminder that as soon as possible I need to be doing a 12-mile run at near marathon pace every two weeks. Hopefully next week I can give this a shot.

This is a volume and interval week.