a trio of 8 mile training runs

it's been an unusual week of running. monday is my typical off day, but not only didn't i run on monday, but skipped tuesday as well, and logged only 4 miles on wednesday. i just couldn't get into a running groove, so to speak. part of it was general fatigue from the run around manhattan on sunday, but i also was tired of my general running routes.

so, to mix it up a bit i resurrected an old running route - one that i haven't run in a few years. it's a hilly 8 mile loop that i abandoned not because of the hills, but because the 2 mile stretch along weaver street (route 125) was a traffic nightmare. actually, i expanded the route by a mile to avoid weaver street entirely and the 9 mile loop became part of my weekend long runs.

mindful of the traffic hassles, enough time had passed that running it was like revisiting an old friend (albeit a cranky one - ha). well it didn't take long for me to re-familiarize myself with the hills. in fact, my plan to run 8 minute miles was way off. finishing the loop in 1:09:23, an 8:40 pace, was a bit humbling. generally i run my 8 mile training runs on the post road in 1:04 or 05, so this was an unpleasant surprise!

not to shy away from this sort thing, i tried it again on friday. this time around i shaved a full minute off the first go around. but the modest improvement, 1:08:22, an 8:32 pace, was still way off the 1:05 that i had hoped for the second time. while the first 4 miles were actually slower on friday, i picked up the pace over the last 3 to make up the difference. given these two back to back performances, can't wait to see what running this loop will bring next week!

since tomorrow is the boston build-up 20k, i didn't run long today. instead, as a check on my sanity, i ran my "regular" 8 miler on the post road and was pleasantly surprised with the 1:02:31, 7:48 pace. after the thursday and friday runs, it was a relief to bring this one in under 1:04! phew! even with the 20k tomorrow, this will work out to a low mileage week, in the low 40's. a big drop off from the 70+ miles last week.

here are the splits for those 8 milers.

thursday, february 4:

8:16
8:29 16:45
9:05 25:51
8:48 34:39
8:24 43:04
9:14 52:19
8:35 1:00:54
8:28 1:09:23

8:40 pace

friday, february 5:

8:16
8:35 16:51
9:06 25:58
8:49 34:47
8:27 43:15
9:05 52:21
8:00 1:00:21
8:01 1:08:22

8:32 pace

saturday, february 6:

8:17
8:18 16;36
7:35 24:11
7:29 31:41
7:40 39:21
7:34 45:56
7:56 54:52
7:38 1:02:31

7:48 pace