1/31/16 to 2/6/16: More Mileage & Great Quality

This week's long run was fantastic.  I did a few miles prior to the full group going out and once we hit the roads, we made our way towards Weston and ran on some great rolling hills.  I was content hanging back and chatting up whoever.  The group long runs are always an amazing way to make 2+ hours go by in a blink.

Around the 10 mile mark, I found myself listening to other conversations and I had made my way to the front of the group.  I was listening to Kevin ask Jon about his 10k PR, and when Jon mentioned his time, Terry said something along the lines of "that was at ____ race, right?"  And of course it was.  They bantered back and forth talking about the hill on this course, or the wind on another course on a specific day.  Jon mentioned that on the day he set his PR of just under 31 minutes, that he came in 31st place (or somewhere thereabouts).  31flat earned 3rd overall at the USATF Grand Prix 10k this year...back then though, you'd be in the 30s.  Still, listening to them go back and forth got me fired up.

I had inadvertantly picked up the pace a little bit, and once Terry, Kevin, Neil, and myself broke off to run a bit longer the pace stayed quicker.  I was feeling perfectly comfortable until we started to head up Chestnut Street, and then we decided to hammer up this never-ending hill.  I was certainly gassed, but once the road leveled out I was able to recover well and we continued back towards Neil's for the CSU post-run fun.  Those last 10 miles were run at about a 6:55/mile clip.

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UPDATE!

I completely forgot about another fantastic aspect of long runs, and, this run in particular.  As we were turning out of a loop in Weston, Kevin and I were having a conversation...about what, I couldn't tell you.  BUT, it was a very random conversation.  I felt like I had been rambling and came up with the topic out of nowhere with no real reason for bringing it up.  And I paused to think about the point of my story, but there was none.  No point, no punch line, nothing.

However, the abruptness of my ramblings brought up another topic - the fun and beauty of the nonsense-topic that comes about in the middle of a long run.  As we're musing on the subject, Jon blurts out, "homemade mayonnaise!"  He had been listening to our conversation and tried to come up with the most random subject he could think of.  We both looked at him, and guess what happened - we talked about homemade mayonnaise! In fact, we thoroughly discussed the topic! 

I'll tell ya, if you really want to explore the inner weirdness of someone, go on a long run with them.

Numbers!

31-Jan		Long Run		2:27:26		20		AM: 20 miler at the CSU long run.  Averaged 6:55/mile for the final 10 miles, with the last mile at 6:28.  These unplanned quicker long runs are great.
		Off		0:32:54		4.14		PM: Easy shakeout + stopped at TJs.
1-Feb		Easy		0:54:14		7.05		AM: Commute at 7:42/mile.  Not bad.
		Track		1:34:57		12		PM: 6+ over to Harvard then (400x4)x2.  Was supposed to cut down, but my pacing was way off.  Had to start outside due to an angry Harvard employee and the cold and wind made things haywire from the start.  12+ tot.
2-Feb		Easy		0:56:14		7.05		AM:  Easy run into work at 8/mile.  Shins tender, but didn't get worse.  No ibu.
		Easy		1:03:59		8.02		PM: Easy run again, shins are still tender, let's see how they feel tomorrow.
3-Feb		Easy		0:56:00		7.05		AM: 7+ easy. No ibu, shins weren't an issue, but I can feel points of tenderness.
		Easy		0:54:53		6.2		PM: Took an ibu at 1pm, and
4-Feb		Easy		0:57:16		7.15		AM: 7+ easy. No ibu, shins are worrisome…
		BU Track		1:57:16		15.3		PM: Took one ibu at 4pm.  6+home ok, ~4 to the track good, workout great.  600/800/1000/1200/(400/200)x3.  4min rest after the 1200, one minute rest in between all 4's and 2's.  ~5k pace for the longer stuff, mile pace for rest.  Felt fantastic.
5-Feb		Easy		0:43:05		5.2		AM: Snow/slush commute.  Took it easy.  I think the legs are good, but I do have some minor tendinitis.
		Easy		0:47:16		5.4		PM: 5+ at just under 9min per.  Trailblazing on the Charles.
6-Feb		Easy		0:43:57		5.51		AM: Very easy around Fresh Pond.  No ibu, right shin was a little tender at times.  Prior to the run, I thought it was fine - it is not quite there yet.
		Off		0:00:00		0		PM: Full session on the foam roller.

Monday Splits:

400-1:17.96

400-1:12.78

400-1:13.19

400-1:10.06

200-36.96

400-1:13.31

400-1:15.83

400-1:10.45

400-1:11.34

Thursday Splits:

600-1:58.45

800-2:37.51

1000-3:20.22

1200-4:09.4

400-1:09.4

200-36.2

400-1:09.61

200-34.58

400-1:08.58

200-30.12

Total: 110