Wow. What a difference temperature (and humidity) makes. This morning I busted out a long run after a hiatus this week. I did 12.31 miles in 1:32:20, which means I averaged 7:29s. The weather started out a cool 64 and heated to a 66 with slight humidity.
Compare this morning’s performance to a couple other performances. Last Saturday in 87-degree weather I did 8:26s. A couple weeks earlier I did this distance in 7:51s in comparable weather to today. Between the two weeks I did 14.02 miles in 8:07s in humid 72ish-degree weather.
I also wonder what the introduction of fish oil into my supplementation means. I heard that it was good for endurance athletes. I wonder if it made my heart pump better in this run. I doubt that fish oil is the main reason I did so well today, but I wonder how much of a reason it may have been.
Whatever contributed to today, there’s little doubt that the cooler weather played a factor. After last week’s heat, it was nice to find out that I wasn’t going down in performance but instead going down in the weather, which meant I was conditioning for better conditions. What’s even better about today’s results is that I was pretty steady throughout the run. Don’t look at the laps for miles because I inadvertently hit a button on my Garmin and triggered an early lap. My first mile was fast (7:05) yet comfortable, and while my speed decreased a bit from there, I didn’t lose too much speed. For most of the run I was running sub-7:30s. Of course, that’s not all that impressive, but for now, I think that’s making me feel a little better about myself.
For this run, I had just a PowerGel before the run. I carbo-loaded with Oglio & Aglio with Chicken last night. And a Ben & Jerry’s. Damn the Cinnamon Buns flavor!
As for injuries, my right lower leg medially again felt sensitive, but consistent with other runs, it was fine after I got into my run. For about the first couple miles, though, it felt a little unstable, the kind of unstable that made me wonder if my leg was going to “fail” on me. But it didn’t. While there weren’t a lot of people in the park this morning, no one passed me. That’s great.
I feel a bit better about my fitness right now. 🙂
P.S. After the run, I hit the gym for abs, arms, shoulders, pecs, quads, and calves. Also of note: New photos from my Japan Day race are on the Photos page.