Coming Back

I flew back to Maryland and got right back into training. 

But, that was two weeks ago.

I struggled through my first Wednesday's workout (3 x 2k: 6:15, 6:07, 6:09...then a mile in 5:07), but at this point, I'm not really interested in hitting specific times, rather just getting in *some* speed work. 

My workout on Saturday, at Cell Phone Field, went a little better, but I still struggled to find a rhythm after a few weeks without running any intervals. Still, it was good to get in something fast...and this time, over grass.

The next day, on tired legs, I went out to Duel Ferries to get in 20. As per usual, the pace seemed to quicken after the first 5 miles. We hit 10 in about 65:30. Sam and Karl turned around at 12.5 (to get in 15) while I continued to White's Ferry. Once I hit mil 13, I was under 6:00 pace and stayed that way for the duration of the run. I tried to "find" my goal marathon pace without much effort over the last 5 miles and cut down from 5:50 to 5:29 (2:04 for 20). I jogged another mile on the towpath and got in 21 for the day and 82 for the week. I felt quite good. The 21 was a much needed confidence booster going forward.

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The next day I shuffled an easy 7 before driving to Cape Cod for a week back home. 

On Tuesday I doubled on the Cape (8 and 4) rediscovering a number of choice trails I ran on during summers between college. 

On Wednesday I ran 10, again covering trails in/around the home.

On Thursday I rolled down to the local Turkey Trot with Emily and my sister. I gave my $20 to the local food bank then hit the roads. I took the lead after a quarter mile and then time trialed the rest of the race: 5:02, 5:09, 4:56 finishing up in about 15:26. It was a good effort. I got in another few miles before calling it a day.

On Friday I got in a respectable 12 miles running some new (to me) trails I discovered in my home town. Amazing how I hadn't ever encountered these before.

On Saturday I ran my high school alumni race and broke my "meet record" of 15:30 by running 15:18 for a technical 2.9 miler. In high school I ran 16:01 and have always equated the time turn here to a fast road 5k. 

On Sunday I ran a steady 16 with Sam Luff along the Lehigh River in Allentown. The first few miles of the run were pretty depressing: running along a windswept river on one side and railroad tracks on the other, but soon things looked up. Sam swore that PA "was nicer than this", at which point we passed a shut down steel mill...then a dead body (well, not really). We turned around at 8 and drove back into the wind towards our waiting cars. Then we ate greasy eggies at a local diner. 

77 miles for the week.