My hamstring was bothering me a little on Sunday afternoon. Although it felt much better on Monday afternoon, the pain was still "there". Plus, I was going to run again on Tuesday morning so there was no need to try and grind through a run just to get in the miles at the expense of tweaking my hammy again, so I decided to play it safe and I took the day off.
By Tuesday morning all systems were a go so I ran the Walter Reed Annex Loop. The color green is slowly returning to the landscape, but nothing has really "popped" yet, because it's simply been too cold. 11 for the day.
I ran an easy 5 miles on Wednesday morning and ventured to the track that evening. Sticking to my less is more approach to track workouts (only allowing myself to run 3-miles of fast oval), I opted to run with the "track/fast" group, which was running mile, 2 x 800, 8 x 400. I hit 4:59, 2:23, 2:19 then 4 x 65. Nothing to write home about, once again, but it was great to kiss this pace. 13 for the day.
On Thursday, I ran what's becoming a Red Fox morning run staple - a 9-mile loop through Cabin John.
On Friday, I ran a very easy 8 -- my Cabin John/Cell Phone Field loop.
On Saturday, I met Outlaw, Blur and Evan down on Hains Point for a workout. The plan was to run 2-3 x 2-mile around the point at Cherry Blossom pace and/or cutting down. However, as we were warming up, it was clear that we'd have to run by feel/effort, because it was blowing about 20 mph from the northwest. After a 2.5 mile warm-up, we changed shoes and shuffled over to the John Ericsson National Memorial (kudos if you know what this is without looking it up -- I didn't). After a few strides we took off down Ohio Drive. We agreed to try and run the first 2-mile in 10:15-10:20. The first half mile was the toughest for me, but once I got my legs under me, I felt pretty darn good, wind withstanding. I hit the first mile in 5:05 and Outlaw was already at least 5-seconds ahead of me. Without trying to exert too much effort, I slowly began to reel the Outlaw in. I closed in 5:00, just a few strides behind feeling good about the effort. We shuffled a half mile into the wind, then began, again, with the wind at our back. I hit the first mile in 4:59, but then turned the point into the wind. Outlaw and I yo-yo-ed back and forth during the next mile and finished in 10:14. My stomach was reeling so I planned to run just a mile during the 3rd set. I went out hard, thinking I'd stop after 4:50 or so, but realized my stomach wasn't hurting so I had no good excuse to stop. Outlaw and I hit the mile in 4:58, then turned into the wind, which was even worse on the Potomac side of the point. The going was tough and although we ran 5:15 or so, it was by far a solid effort (10:13). I think this is one of the best workouts in recent memory and it definitely was a confidence booster 15 days out from Cherry Blossom. 13 miles for the day.
On Sunday, I ran a fairly easy 14 miles from Old Angler's Inn -- 7 miles north then flipped it. Admittedly, I didn't do a good job of looking at the forecast and started the run with shorts. The first 2 miles were rough, as it was about 25 degrees. Luckily the sun was out, but even by the end of the run it was only about 30.
68 for the week, which included a day off.
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