9/21 - Some days you have it...

... And some days you don't.

The plan was to do an 8 miler today, and I originally thought about doing it in the morning due to afternoon plans that were already scheduled. However, when I woke up, my back was still stiff from sealcoating the driveway yesterday, and I was still a bit sore all over from the swimming last night. So, the morning was out.

So once I had some time in the afternoon, I finally set off. Having just finished pushing a mower around the yard for about an hour and fifteen minutes, I was already a little bit tired, but figured I'd plod through it. However, I was still quite stiff and things just didn't feel as smooth and loose. I figured I'd give it a mile or two to see what happens, but started re-evaluating whether I would actually do all 8 miles. I also started doubting the wisdom of doing the 8 miles right after a 7 miler - the original plan had a rest day in between, and well timed rest can be a very important part of any training program.

After a couple miles, things did start to loosen up, but it still wasn't quite right. It was very strange - the level of effort seemed similar to a normal run, but my HR was in the 130's a lot - significantly lower than my normal long run rate. However, I could tell that my pace was also quite a bit slower as well.

After about 4 miles, I felt a little twinge near my hip, and decided that was enough. Between not feeling right in the first place, it taking a long time to loosen up (to whatever degree I could), and the doubt as to weather I should do the full 8 or not - any incident of a potential real physical problem was just too much. What I felt was similar to what I had felt during the 7 mile run back on 9/1 - and since that had not flared up during longer runs like the 9 miler or the 10 miler - I'm not too overly concerned. But perhaps rest is the proper prescription in this case.

So here are todays unimpressive results:

Total Time: 45:47
Total Distance: 4.25 Miles
Avg HR: 137

It is strange - the 10:46 pace of today is in line with many of the other long runs I've done in the pace, which were generally around 10:30 per mile. Yet the HR is so much lower. Perhaps the pace during longer runs is not nearly as steady as I thought, and I end up slowing down quite a bit towards to end to keep the HR in the 150 zone. On the other hand, today was a much shorter run.

Whatever - it is what it is.