50 minute run (MM) - 7/3

I was actually supposed to do a 40 minute run yesterday, but life schedules got in the way, and I had to put it off until today. Normally I'd prefer to do my runs in the evening, but I'm doing a 5 mile race with a friend tomorrow morning, so I opted to get this run in during the morning to maximize recovery time before the race tomorrow.

In looking at the running plan, this weekend was to be a 6 mile run with a Magic Mile. Since I'm going to be doing a lot of speedwork in tomorrow's 5 mile run, I didn't want to be doing a magic mile when recovering from a 5 mile race. So I opted to switch the two - I'd do a magic mile today (but only 5 miles total). It might impact my race tomorrow a bit because I'll have done several minutes at a high HR today - but I'm ok with that, because it has been a while since I've done a magic mile, and I wanted to see how my pace may have changed with the higher cadence.

Nearly right away, I could tell it was going to be a little tough. First, the sun was out - which has not been common this year at all. Sounds minor, but when you're body is used to cooler weather and then the sun is out, I start to sweat instantly. Second, this was only about 45 minutes after waking up - and it didn't dawn on my until after I started that I did a poor job of rehydrating after a good long sleep the night before - let alone have a whole days worth of meals to stock up on energy stores like I normally do before most of my training runs.

Total Distance: 5.25 miles
First 2 miles time: 16:52
First 2 miles avg HR: 151
Magic Mile time: 7:25
Magic Mile avg HR: 176
Last 2.25 miles time: 26:45
Last 2.25 miles avg HR: 152

Compared to the last magic mile on April 4:
- The first two miles were slightly faster for the same HR.
- The magic mile itself was essentially exactly the same, which is a little bit of a disappoint when just looking at the straight numbers comparison, because it indicates no improvement has been made. However, I think the fact that I started off dehydrated and low on energy is a major factor. The reason I am able to believe this is because for the Webster Lake Tri - I was able to maintain basically the same pace (7.5 min/miles) for just about 3 miles. The magic miles are supposed to be an all out effort - so either I didn't go all out (even though my HR got as high as 181 or so), or I did go all out and there just didn't happen to be much gas in the tank.
- The last portion was significantly slower than before - but this time I was pretty liberal with walk breaks and trying to keep my HR in the low 150's so that I wouldn't be fatigued for tomorrow's race. Even running slowly would get my HR into the mid 150's - as once I spend significant time in the anaerobic HR zones (160's and higher), it takes a long time for my body to switch back to aerobic.