I'm back

The last week+ has brought some unexpected challenges which have kept me from blogging my training progress. Time to catch up.

Week 9 (Step-back)

Spent the week in Wisconsin. Got some good trail runs in and found a very steep long hill with an 11% incline that I tackled several times. Times were slow and I was hurting. Temperature picked up which could have contributed to the slowdown. Also my Grandmother got ill during my visit which extended my trip and brought some extra stress which could also have hurt my training. Also, I only packed an old pair of shoes which I seldom use anymore. Anyhow, enough excuses... here's the training log.

Day 57: (August 4th, 2009)

Distance: 5.08 miles
Duration: 44:22
Pace: 8:44
HR Avg/Max: 146/173

Day 58: (August 5th, 2009)

Distance: 4.24 miles
Duration: 37:12
Pace: 8:46
HR Avg/Max: 144/166

Day 59: (August 6th, 2009) Rest
Day 60: (August 7th, 2009) Rest

Day 61: (August 8th, 2009)

Distance: 11.02 miles
Duration: 1:42:37
Pace: 9:19
HR Avg/Max: 148/167

Day 62: (August 9th, 2009) Rest

Day 63: (August 10th, 2009)

Distance: 2.34 miles
Duration: 21:39
Pace: 9:15
HR Avg/Max: 139/167

Week 10

Back in Peoria for a few days before heading down to Carbondale for the weekend. Time to focus on training and get some hard runs in. The heat and humidity is killer, but it could be worse.

Day 64: (August 11th, 2009)

Distance: 4.0 miles
Duration: 29:22
Pace: 7:20
HR Avg/Max: 160/173
notes:
didn't expect to run this so hard but it turned out to be my third fastest training run yet! Went out hard but relaxed and didn't start hurting till the third mile. At this point there was not slowing down so I pushed on and finished strong.

Day 65: (August 12th, 2009)

Distance: 8.0 miles
Duration: 1:02:27
Pace: 7:48
HR Avg/Max: 159/174
notes:
hit the first 4 miles at 7:30 pace. Way too hard for the afternoon heat! Slowed way down on my 5th mile as I tackled a killer hill (9:00 min pace). Then picked it back up on the last 3 miles as I got back to flatter ground (7:57 pace).