Week 12: 5 miles/8 miles/5 miles/16 miles

Was pretty sore after Saturday's 16 mile run -- even after the usual ibuprofen fix. Mostly right IT band issues at the knee. Amazingly, my left leg was fine. But I was definitely hobbling up and down steps! Sunday was a little better but I was somewhat anxious about heading into Monday's run and wondering if leg issues were going to crop up. Went to bed really early on Sunday evening (I think the time change was also affecting my fatigue) and slept about 9-10 hours. Felt okay Monday morning but still was curious to see how my legs would be on the run. Well, they were fine -- much better than a week ago after my return from Florida. Finished a 5.8 mile run at a 11.36 pace with a net altitude gain of 322 feet.

TUESDAY'S AWESOME RUN: Recovered fine from Monday's short run. Continued with the ibuprofen during the day Monday but none Monday night. Was tired Tuesday morning and had a little difficulty motivating myself to get out and run. The day was beautiful -- about 50 degrees with a blue sky and sun. Finally got out the door and what started in my mind as a slow run turned into my fastest paced run since I began this training program. Tuesday's 8.1 mile run was absolutely awesome. My legs were strong, in fact everything felt great. I was able to power up the hills and still had good stability and strength on the downhills. Although I could track my step by step pace while running I don't because it takes too much of my focus away from the running. Instead I do rough calculations in my head. So I knew at miles 3 and 4 that I was running faster than an 11:00 pace but not until I finished and uploaded the info did I realize my pace for the run was an amazing 10:07! And this over hills with a net altitude gain of 640 feet. My heartrate for the run was almost all in the hard intensity range but I felt good. Total run time was around 1:21 and I was definitely feeling the need for some nutrition by the end. Didn't have any on the run. Finished the run, did some stretching, angel hair marinara and a shower. Continued to feel good for the rest of the afternoon -- although I did pop a couple of Advil.

THURSDAY'S SO-SO RUN: Well, I didn't expect Thursday's run to measure up to Tuesday's Awesome Run. And it didn't. It was tough! The first 2.75 miles (yes, nearly half of the 5.8 miles that I did) were difficult. And my overall pace was about a minute slower than my pace on Tuesday -- something a little over 11:00. It wasn't anything in particular that made the run difficult -- little minor aches and pains here and there. The aches and pains came and went but made the run less than ideal. Oh well, every run can't be perfect. Sometimes it's just about getting the miles in!