Short runs, Long run, short run

It's been a few days since I've updated this blog -- as you might expect, I've been a little distracted by Science-Based Running. In addition, I've got another (non-running-related) project in the pipeline that is also eating into my blogging time.

So here's the update:

Thursday: Trail run with DART, 6 miles. HOT afternoon, but the run went fairly well; took things easy, 8:37 average pace.

Friday: 5.5 mile recovery run; another easy one on a warm morning. 9:05 pace.

Saturday: Had a recovery run on the schedule, but ended up meeting up with Sarah, a DARTer who has never run with the group, so I had to introduce her to the DART loop. Ended up taking it fairly quick, an 8:10 pace.

Sunday: Long-ish run with DART. I wanted to get back up to 13 miles, but it was another warm, humid morning. Started off well with the group, around an 8:35 pace, which was probably a little optimistic given the conditions and the fact that I was hand-carrying a water-bottle, which is something I still haven't quite gotten used to. We maintained that pace for the first 8 or 9 miles, then started to slow: 8:57, 8:54, 9:20. Then because of an earlier Garmin problem, I had a .42-mile split at Mile 11, a lethargic 10:06 pace. I did manage to pick things up for the finish, 9:10 -- but it was a new route that was just 12 miles, and I didn't have anything left in the tank for another mile.

Overall, an 8:50 pace. Honestly I probably should have started with 9:00 miles, but as usual, running with a group it's hard to maintain that kind of discipline.

For the week I did 42.68 miles, which is my best week since mid-May. I'd like to get closer to 50 miles a week for most of the summer. This will probably entail one longer midweek run and going a bit longer on Sundays as well. We'll see how I'm feeling this week.

Today: Did the DART loop with Chad and Todd at a fairly aggressive pace, 7:53. Perhaps I'm actually through marathon-recovery mode and can start building up for Richmond. We'll see how I feel tomorrow....

I'm not going to embed all the Garmin plots, but the record of Sunday's long run is below.