Aug 22

FIT:
Putting in miles. With just a 4.4 at the beginning of the work-filled week and the 3.1 race yesterday, I had to round out the week, in order to stay on track mileage-wise, keep up my buildup, and avoid injuries that come from having an off week that's too low and then immediately bumping back up the next week.

7.1 in exactly 1:00:00, 8:27 ave. Not great, compared to my past two months of similar distance runs, but it matched the gym temp record of 85 degrees, and I did have a fantastic race yesterday. I wore new Under Armour compression socks, which are very thin and feel like it may provide less compression... but maybe that has more to do with the weaving or material. It is cool (temp-wise), though. It's also harder to put on, maybe due to the thinness? or maybe it is just as tight or even tighter than other brands? On my feet, n3's w/ stability insoles. Since the socks were so thin, the shoes were roomier, and sinced UA stuff is made of very fine technical threads, it was a bit slippery too, which probably wastes a bit of energy. So maybe this should be reserved for post-run recovery or airplane rides (where swelling occurs due to low air pressure, I've heard). I'll stick with Oxysox for races, though.

I drank about a bottle of water, from a wider mouthed rigid Cytomax bottle... it went okay, with the pouring-into-my-mouth method. I also had a Gu Chomp before the run and a second in the middle of the run. The first gave a much-needed boost after my much-needed nap, and the second helped moderately, I think. I just felt like I was getting a bit tired, so I wanted the Chomp to just give the boost. Probably worked.

I think I was clawing just a little bit with my stride as I was going 6.9-7.0mph, so I had to do high-ish knees to keep things (maybe my TA's... don't remember) from starting to give me trouble, and it worked. I think if I'm going at a slower speed, I have still have to mimic the full range of motion of higher speeds in order to maintain a form and avoid injuries. I adjusted the pace a lot, up and down, whenever something started nagging. Even 0.1 made a difference. Maybe it wasn't so much the pace change but knowing that I needed a bit of a form tweak.

Splits> 8:43, 8:38, 8:36, (26:49 5k), 8:34, 8:42, 8:05 (big diff... things hurt less when I go faster, and you cover ground more quickly, although theoretically, your run will be less distance overall the faster your pace is if you want to try to max out distance-wise), (52:58 10k), 7:52, 0:46 for 0.1.