Workout Journal ... Easy Like Sunday Morning

            Course:  Longview Lake to Lake Jacomo Out & Back
                Miles:  21            
                Time:  2:36:52
        Avg Pace:  7:28/mile
            Avg HR:  158
         Workout:   Long Run
               Temp:  36 Degrees, Humidity 70%, Wind 10ENE
Miles this week:  70

Workout Summary:
Long run from Longview Lake to Lake Jacomo and back.  Ran "The Jack" and the 3rd Street Hills during the route.  Cold headwind for the first 10, but really warmed up and picked up pace after I made the turn back South at about mile 10.5.  Elevation is posted below.

         
Notes:
Maybe my best training run ever!  Just a great day of running!  Started a little cold with 10mph headwind making the "feels like" temp about 22.  Plus, I was in shorts which didn't help.  But I had a pretty aggressive pace plan and actually ended up being about 10 seconds faster per mile than planned!  Here are the splits ...

1) 8:29                    6) 7:49                   11) 7:10                   16) 7:18
2) 8:07                    7) 7:30                   12) 7:08                   17) 7:02
3) 8:03                    8) 7:29                   13) 7:10                   18) 7:06
4) 7:54                    9) 7:35                   14) 7:09                   19) 7:12
5) 7:40                  10) 7:25                   15) 7:09                   20) 7:11
                                                                                                   21) 6:55

There were three things that I was most excited about after this run.  One, my energy level all day was great ... I felt like at a slower pace I could have ran 30 miles.  Two, my pace over the last 11 miles was 7:08 ... and I never really felt like I was pushing it very hard.  Three, I ran a pretty hilly course today for 21 miles. And I tried to place some "Boston Simulated" hills at miles 19-21 ...  and they really weren't an issue.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with where I am in my training right now.  I have a little pain in my left ankle just above that inside "knob".  It's been pretty constant all winter, but other than that, everything is good.  I've posted about this before, but I feel like I'm really reaping the benefits of slowing way down on my recovery days.  Also, during long runs, I have really tried to focus on starting slower.  It really seems to be paying off as my times are faster than ever at this point in training.

View the complete workout at Garmin Connect:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/72866151