What a difference the weather makes

This past week we finally had a cold front move through Houston and the weather has been so much more enjoyable and has definitely been better for running. It finally dropped below 65 degrees for the first time in over 4 months. Yesterday I ran 16 miles at a 6:50 average and I felt great. After the first mile I averaged 6:45 for the next 15. Andrew, Jena and Sam were there and we broke away from the pack after about a mile and started cruising. We ran down to Hermann Park and the zoo and a couple laps around Rice University and headed back to the base. We were doing low 6:40's around rice and sub-6:40 pace the last 4 miles. It felt really good to have a good long run. I didn't even feel like we were pushing the pace that hard, but I could definitely feel it in my hips from cruising that many miles at a fast clip. I guess that's a good thing since all my therapy seems to be doing good. I didn't ever feel anything in my hamstring or achilles on the run.

Earlier in the week I had done a hill workout on Monday and we ran five 1000m repeats on the cloverleafs with a couple of good uphills in each one. I was able to negative split each one and ran them in 3:29, 3:28, 3:28, 3:26, 3:24.

Wednesday I ran a progressive run in the evening after work. It was cooler than it had been and the humidity was down, but the temperature was still in the low 80's in the evening. I ran 7:25, 6:55, 6:38, 6:19, 5:58, 5:42, 5:35. I was hoping to hit 5:30 on the last mile, but I was pleased with the workout. Progressive runs by myself are pretty tough, it was a little warm out, and I was pretty tired heading into the workout. Olivia's been cutting into my sleep a little bit.

Today I ran an easy 6 miles at the park in just over 42 minutes. I'm planning on running one of the 10 mile races next weekend and I'll probably run the 10 for Texas up in the Woodlands. I haven't run any races since the Boston Marathon and I really don't know what kind of shape I'm in. I think I can run it in 58 minutes if the weather cooperates. It will be a good test of where my fitness is at. Olivia has been doing well and I'll try to post a few more pictures this week.