Aug 26-Sep 7 : Labor Day Lollygagging

Aug 26, Monday: 1 hr strength session, for the first time in nearly 2 weeks, due to the Shanghai trip.  Strength not affected (I normally detrain a bit after 2 full weeks)

Aug 28, Wednesday: 6.0 @ 7:50 pace.  I did 5/6 of a planned 3x 2 miles.  I did a 0.5 mi warmup, followed by 2x[2 mi @ 7.8 mph, then 1/4 mi @ 7mph], followed by 1 mi in 7:27.  It was better than expected, so I was happy.

Aug 30, Friday: 5.0 @ 8:05, a marathon pace "tempo" run... a bit progressive, though. Splits> 8:17, 08, 7:59, 51.

Went to my parents' house for Labor Day weekend.  Meant to do an 18 miler over the weekend.  Didn't happen.  It's tough to get big runs in, when you're in a different environment with a different tempo. 

I did, however, try my hand at acrylic painting, which has recently become a hobby for my mom.  She taught me how to do clouds and trees.  I really like the cities that I've visited, so I wanted to paint Amsterdam.

 

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My boat was too small.  I was going to put in the bigger one, but the angle, and getting the proportions right, was proving to be difficult.  I would've liked to have added people and bikes, but that's tricky, too.

Sep 1, Sunday: Got in a 4.4 miler @ 8:45 pace as the sun set.  It was hotter than I was used to.

Sep 2, Monday: The following morning, I did another 6.6 @ 9:15 pace.  I went slow, to accommodate the possibility that I'd somehow pull off the 18er, but that didn't happen, since it was going to be a full-on sunny day, and I prefer to run in the shade.  Drove back home afterwards, with my mom visiting again.

Sep 5, Thursday:  I didn't run the past 2 days, on day 1 because I was still tired from back-to-back run days and due to a meeting at night.  I didn't run yesterday because of a dinner meeting for work.  I got in a marathon pace 6.0 today @ 8:03 pace, though.  I felt like it was hard to get enough air, and that might've been because it was too soon after dinner, and bloodflow and oxygen was being diverted for digestion.  It felt good to run again, though... my body had craved it.

Sep 6, Friday: 1 hr strength session.

Sep 7, Saturday: A successful 17.7 miler on the Swamp Rabbit spongy trail, at 9:11 pace.  Properly fueled with 1 granola bar and a sweet & salty-style nut bar during the run.  I do gels during races, but I like solids on training runs.  It's an excuse to eat sugary foods.