Unintended Double

AM: 10.5 miles
PM: 3 miles

Normally, when I don't skip class and/or request my professor to meet me early so I can attend a track meet duel, doubling on Tuesday is not an option. As such, Jordan and I parted ways after one Freedom Park loop this morning, he to run home and me to continue onward for a Long Freedom Park Loop. I've only done this loop once or twice and never solo, but this morning the time passed surprisingly quickly. I vowed to be super conservative after our uptempo run yesterday morning, even going so far as running in the grassy median on the Booty Loop (a practice I despise) to keep the pace in check.

My plans for the evening changed mid-afternoon when I received an email from my professor that class was canceled. I still wasn't sold on the idea of doubling, but Jordan had a track workout on tap for the evening and I knew I'd feel pretty lazy if I stayed planted on the couch at home while he ran. Instead I accompanied him to AG, where I had a chance meeting with both Emily Barrett (the new social chair for CRC) and Dr. Greenapple. Chatting with them and calling out Jordan's splits kept me from being too bored and also prevented me from being tempted to run farther. I've got an early AM workout with Caitlin and the gang, and I need the leggies to be as fresh as possible 12 hours from now.

Oh, and apparently Tuesday is $1 taco night at Qdoba. You know, if you're into that sort of thing.

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Speedy Medium Loop

AM: 60 mins.
8.6 miles

Okay so I know this is a handful of minutes slower than Jordan normally runs this loop solo, but I was still pretty pleased with the effort out there this morning. Especially since we hadn't hit the ground with the intention of pushing the pace. Had I known we were so close to cracking the monumental 60-minute barrier, I wouldn't have allowed Jordan to dilly-dally around to an 8+ first mile like he always does. Next time it's on.

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Week in Review

61 miles
12.5 laps at the MPHS track
.2 seconds away from victory
4 AFDs

Oops. So yeah, when I added up the weekly mileage in my head on Sunday morning, I was convinced I'd only reached 55. That's about where I expected and wanted to be. 61, while only a few miles more, is still probably a bit much for my final "down" week. Oh well, I'm feeling good (blistered feet and bruised ego notwithstanding) and I'm enjoying the time on my feet. As far as I'm concerned, that means I should keep doing what I'm doing.

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4th of July Shenanigans

AM: 80 mins. (11 miles)
15 mins. core

To start the holiday off right, Jordan and I slept in to the delicious hour of 9am. I'm sure it's just what our hard-working and industrious founding fathers would've liked to see. Fortunately we made up for our laziness by strapping on the boots and heading to Boyce for a hot and sunny romp through McAlpine. After a few weeks of down time my head is full of all sorts of grandiose plans for the fall and winter racing seasons, and our animated conversation meant the miles fell away quickly.

We spent the rest of the day as any red-blooded American should: lounging by the pool, eating meat products and ingesting plenty of domestic beers. (That last part was mostly Jordan.) Neither of us have to work tomorrow, and we were content to spend the evening relaxing with friends and watching the fireworks reflecting off the waters of Lake Norman. Nice work, America.

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Solo Medium Loop

AM: 8.5 miles

Sometimes working on Saturday ruins everything. Instead of enjoying a fun group long run followed by a post-workout brunch at Zada Jane's, I was stuck selling shoes to the likes of Allen Strickland all day. Them's the breaks sometimes. I dragged myself out of bed and headed out for a solo medium loop, which was surprisingly enjoyable despite the early hour. There's certainly something to be said for these cooler temperatures.

In the end, work wasn't too bad. We watched the World Cup and Wimbledon, then closed early so everyone could get a jump on their holiday plans. A cookout and an evening on the deck with friends was the perfect way to cap off this Saturday.

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Running With the Boys

AM: 5+ miles
PM: 5.5-6 miles

Jordan and I both felt less than stellar on our short morning loop, but fortunately the evening jaunt was much better. It also helps that the temps have cooled down drastically in the past few hours and the humidity is virtually nonexistent. It's almost unfathomably nice for early July, although I can't help being a bit peeved that the front didn't roll in prior to that horrendous 5k on Tuesday. Oh well.

We also had my (former) teammate Mike Crouch along for the evening run. He's staying with us for a few days before traveling to Atlanta to run the Peachtree 10k (which he is doing as a workout), then heading to Florida to compete in the NACAC Under-23 track meet. It's a big honor to be chosen for the team and I know he's excited to wear a USA jersey for the first time. In the meantime he is gracious enough to run with us slowpokes and not push the pace too much.

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Way Too Early Morning Workout

AM: 2+ mile w/u
13x1 min on; 1:15 off
2+ mile c/d
Total: 8-8.5 miles

Wow, was this early. I woke up at 5:00 on the dot and struggled to pull myself together before leaving for McAlpine just before 5:30. I would be meeting Thomas Eggar and Stephen Spada at the Old Bell entrance and running with them to meet Caitlin and Justin Breland, who had parked at the main entrance. The sky was still dark as we parked our cars and silently started off down the trail. My legs didn't feel too banged up from the 5k I'd raced a mere 36 hours prior, but I also had doubts about how fast I could actually run at an hour when I'm rarely awake.

Fortunately for me, the workout started at a very manageable clip. The first few minute intervals served as a gradual prelude of what was to come, as we began increasingly the pace and intensity incrementally with each one. This type of workout goes by very quickly and with little thinking; Caitlin plugged in the pre-determined time intervals into her Garmin and we just waited for the series of beeps to signal the beginning and end of each segment. Casual conversation in the rest periods also helped pass the time, although by the time we approached five to go I was struggling to breathe and decided to keep my witty banter to myself. I'm sure everyone else was disappointed.

The final few hard segments were a struggle, but for the most part I was pleasantly surprised with how this went. Honestly it was about as good as could be expected for 6am in trainers less than two days after a track race, so I'll take it. Plus, the knowledge that I would soon be home and back in my bed (I had the day off, thank goodness) served as motivation. But the best part was simply having everyone there working together and encouraging each other. While at Queens I rarely worked out with a group this size, but the one time I did it was one of the most positive workout experiences ever. Hopefully I'll have more chances to put in some miles with the CRC crew in the near future.

Oh and p.s., upon arriving home and checking her Garmin Caitlin realized that we only did 13x1 min. instead of the 14x1 min. that her schedule dictated. During the workout we were all convinced we'd made it to 14. I guess counting isn't anyone's strong suit at the crack of dawn.

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