Some days you feel deceptively good...

[Day 74]

But it turns out that's probably just because you didn't do much moving all day. No overt discomfort all day so I went into my run feeling pretty confident, was gonna go for 2 easy/4 fast/1 easy for 7 miles but it became pretty clear about a half mile into the fast segment that it really wasn't meant to be today. I was actually hitting a pretty solid pace and probably could have pushed that through, but I was doing it on not the best form and over-striding had me worried a bit about my knees. My legs just had no kick to them today, it felt like it took all the concentration I had just to keep the turnover reasonable (and actually the average cadence was quicker than it felt so that was a pleasant surprise) and I could really feel the fatigue from yesterday's ride even though I really hadn't noticed that all day. Just goes to show sometimes you really don't know where your body is at until you're in the middle of the workout.

In any case, I adjusted and just decided that it would be better to try and focus on running well instead of running fast. In a race situation I'll be feeling those heavy legs anyways and it's always good to program good form in while you're fatigued so it's more natural in race situations when your brain isn't always there to take the reins. In the end the pace ended up looking much better than I thought it would, given that I really wasn't focusing on that, so I was happy about it. Also the pace definitely built as I went on, so my body was easing itself into the workout which was promising. Surprised by how trashed my legs feel from yesterday, but then again maybe I shouldn't be. 3 hours is really not a joke for someone as relatively new to riding as I am. Here's the update.

Today's Workout: PM base run
Summary: 7.05 mi, 1:04:36, 9:10 average pace, 173 spm
Pace splits by mile: 9:32, 9:25, 8:56, 9:13, 9:09, 8:56, 9:06
Hit Rate: 78/86 (90.6%)

Swim practice in the morning tomorrow and what will likely be a long day I'll split between lab and studying for finals. Honestly not being too aggressive this week or next because school is the priority and I would like to keep my wits about me as best as possible. That said, Wednesday will still be a big day, but we'll talk about that when we get there. Happy Monday everyone!

Much love,
Jess