Training Log: August 5-August 11

Sunday - PM: 6 miles, 50:00. Hopedale. Double loop of the pond after work with Rich on what turned out to be an absolutely fantastic evening for a leisurely stroll. Other than the red remnants of a nasty sunburn on my stomach, no ill effects to speak of from yesterday's fun.
Monday - AM: 12 miles, 1:29:00. Hopedale. 4 loops of the pond with Marky Mark, yes, the same pond I ran around twice just 15 hours before. We had the pleasure of KGwyth's company on the run for the first 2 miles and again on the bike the last 6. Finished up with 6 x 18 second strides on the road. Great run, as it usually is with these two. Sad to see them go :(
Tuesday - AM: 3 miles, 22:00. AHS track. Warmed up 11:30 on the turf/track, right into one run-through of the drill set/dynamic stretching routine I've been tweaking, then cooled down for 10:30. My karaoking needs a lot of work. PM: 11 miles, 1:13:00. Rail Trail. 28:20 warmup, 10 x 45-second hill repeats with Greg on the dirt mound across from Manning Street, easy mile in 7:40, 3 miles steady on the trail in 16:48 (5:39, 5:32, 5:37), 3:32 cooldown. The steady stretch felt more like a glorified jog; the hills beforehand, however, were an expectedly rude re-introduction to lactic acid buildup. Welcome back to Anaerobia.
Wednesday - AM: 8 miles, 57:00. Rockland 7. Just boppin' along on my standard 7-mile loop with a detour through the high school to hit the day's desired mileage quota. Started slow in 7:38 but finished up in 6:57, 6:31. If you guessed that last mile was downhill, you guessed correctly.
Thursday - AM: 10 miles, 1:08:45. West Hill. Two extended main loops at the dam followed by 6 strides on the dirt. Feeling a little saucy toward the end of the run and threw in two random pickups of about 3 minutes each to top things off. Held the mustard though.
Friday - AM: 10 miles, 1:06:55. Bike Path. Licked a few farts this morning, one every 10 minutes in fact, so 6 total pickups of a minute each. Also charged the 7 small hills I encountered along the way to get some mechanical work in. Short-circuited a bit toward the end but found one last surge of energy going up the final hill.
Saturday - AM: 7 miles, 47:00. Rockland 7. Reversed the normal direction of this loop to mix things up a little bit. Picturesque New England fall morning, only it's August. Such a tease.

Totals: 67 miles, 8 runs. Solid week. Pleased with Tuesday's workout and the happy kind of soreness that lingered for a few days afterward. Hills and tempo runs are the bread and butter of my training diet, so much like an inmate who's locked up for life, I'll rely on those two workouts as my main source of nourishment for the rest of the summer and throughout the fall.

Quote of the day:

"It takes a lot of time, thought and effort to get to the place where you can run for a time without thought and effort. Yes, it is a funny thing that you have to be sane, very sane, to go to the crazy place."
- Tom Derderian, The Crazy Place