Switching the Step Back Week

This week was supposed to be a "step back" week.  My weekend long run on the schedule is a 9 miler, while next week is 14 miler.

However, when I bump the running schedule against everything else that's going on in my life, next week would be a much better "step back" week.  So, I'm going to swap the two long runs.

In order to do that, I really should run a minimum of 14 miles during the week (your long run should not account for more than 50% of your weekly mileage, right?).  So tomorrow's easy 3 is now an easy 5.  No problema.

Yesterday morning I was true to my word and did some speedwork - an interval session on the treadmill.  My body took to it nicely - recovery HRs got back into the 140s before the end of the quarter mile recovery was finished, and my interval HR did not get into the 170s until the last two (and longer) intervals.

I started with a 1 mile warm-up and then intervals of .25, .5, .75, 1.0, 1.0 and .25 miles all separated by a .25 mile recovery.  Intervals were all done at 7.4 mph (and 8:09/mile pace) and recoveries at 5.4 mph (11:09/mile pace).  I slightly bumped up the pace for the last two intervals (OK the last .25 was at 8.0 mph or a 7:30/mile pace).  The final stats were: 6.0 miles in 55:32 - a 9:16/mile average pace;  153 avg HR with a 176 max HR.

The big decision about tomorrow - run in the morning, or sneak out at lunch and run at the gym while watching some NCAA action????  There's a big gap on my work calendar between 1pm and 3pm...hmm.....