Kind of looking down the backstretch of this training session. Now that the weather has cooled down a bit, I can get a run in now and then that feels good while I'm actually doing it. That's a bonus to the "I feel good that I've done it" situation that you have when the weather is oppressive in some way. That "way" this summer has been heat and humidity.
On Monday I did 10 tempo miles on a relatively cool day and enjoyed every step of it. Tempo means I try to keep a planned steady pace all the way. In Monday's case, I was shooting for an 8:53 pace. I wound up with an overall pace of 8:44, even after factoring in warm up and cool down miles in the 9:30 to 10 range. That means the middle 8 miles were quite a bit better than 8:44. I couldn't have done that on a hot, humid day.
Wednesday I did speed work and, while it wasn't hot, it was humid. Still, having to contend with just one of the two factors is a big plus. My workout consisted of 6 1200-meter intervals, and I was supposed to run each at about an 8 min. mile pace.
I decided at the last minute not to run on the track, because on the track I usually run intervals too fast, then really struggle later in the workout. I thought running on the trail in the park might help keep the pace down a little.
Well, "little" is about how it worked out. I ran all but one of my intervals at about a 7:28 pace. And yes, I worried from about the second one on that I couldn't hold that pace for the whole session. I managed it, though, running the last one in 7:41. I'm sure if heat had been a factor, I couldn't have maintained the pace.
The sweat poured out, but I never got overheated. Thank you to the weather gods.
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