After speed intervals and tempo runs, I was really looking forward to today’s 9 miler.  Yesterday, I did 4.5 miles on the treadmill before hitting the core training class at the gym, then following that up with some weight training on the legs.  I did 2 sets of the leg press with 230 lbs, then did 2 sets of seated calf raises with 90 lbs.  That all went well.

Today, the weather rocked.  It was 67 when I left the house.  It was sunny with not a cloud in the sky.  The wind was a nice calm 4 MPH.  I started off at a slow easy pace, but picked things up outrunning a weirdo on a bike about a half mile in.  That kind of set the tone for the rest of the run.  I frequently found myself just below 8 minutes per mile and had to keep telling myself to slow down.  For some reason, 8 minutes per mile just felt more comfortable than 8:30 or 9:00 (my current “Easy” pace is 8:58).  So, I went with it.  I will definately say that over the last 2 miles, I was looking forward to being done.  The best part was that the knee didn’t act up at all.

So, the week in review:

Monday: 5 miles Easy + upper body weight training

Tuesday: Solid 7 mile tempo run

Wednesday: 5 miles Easy + uper body and core training

Thursday: Very mediocre speed intervals (total 7.5 miles)

Friday: 4.5 miles Easy + core class and lower body weight training

Saturday: 9 miles Easy

Total distance: 36 miles.