With all the hurricane hubbub, I had decided on Friday that Sunday would be a rare day off (my last rest day was June 23rd) so I packed in the mileage as best I could, hitting 85mi yesterday.  But this morning, it doesn’t look bad out and by the afternoon will be even better, leading me to go back and forth with “run or don’t run?”  The river is set to reach historical flood levels not seen since the 1800s, so that’s worth a view but on the other hand, if it’s between going 5mi to reach my magic 90 for the week or taking a day off, what’s better for me?

The answer is glaringly obvious…day off it is.

Thursday & Friday
Thursday was a swell run, the calf tweak was totally gone and thanks to another early voiceover job, I again started in the dark which is pretty cool if you can forget about the Philly crime element: 15 miles@8:11 with the first half at 8:19, second half at 8:02.  Felt light and efficient with no fatigue from the previous day’s tempo.

Friday was the fartlek session that, thanks to the upcoming rest day and not wanting to lose much mileage, I stuck within a 13-miler beginning at the 6.5 mile mark.  One thing that has been bugging me are my delayed starts for faster paces, so I made a point to run hard from the first one which made it a very different workout from my previous fartlek sessions.  I went too fast on a couple, lost steam at the end, even walked a few steps in a recovery portion, but my pace was the best it’s been on these.

Saturday: a 20 miler!
The last time I ran 20 miles was the Boston Marathon 2010 – almost 1½ years ago.  I wasn’t even planning to go 20, I headed out for 17, but an impending rest day coupled with feeling good plus the novelty factor of hitting 20 made it a fun mid-run decision.  It was pre-hurricane crappy out with dewpoint 73 though thankfully overcast.  I lost a lot of fluid, 5lbs despite lots of fountain glugging but felt strong to the end, the last 4 miles averaging 7:55/mi.  Once home, I stuffed my pie hole with an inordinate amount of French toast and took a nap.  Successful Saturday.

What’s funny is comparing how I used to be when I had 20 on the schedule.  I’d get a little nervous and be all anal about how many gels to shove into my handheld bottle pocket and if it was a grossly humid day like yesterday, I’d have brought electrolyte capsules wrapped in saran wrap, carefully plotting when to take both.  It was always A Thing.

Here’s what I brought yesterday: nothing.  Even if I’d known beforehand that I was going for 20 I wouldn’t have brought anything since I never bring gels or a handheld on long runs anymore and 3 more miles wouldn’t warrant a change in procedure.  Granted, if I was marathon training, there would be a point where I’d bring gels as rehearsal for the race, but otherwise, I’ve learned that I’m fine without.  This is one of the benefits of consistent higher mileage – what used to be a big deal to me is not anymore.

Hurricane Irene Week In Review
No drills or strides this week.  After the calf thing was over, there really wasn’t an open slot for them.

On a completely delayed note, I wanted to explain the point of Wednesday’s tempo run for those who might not have picked up on it.  The hour of easy running before the tempo miles introduces fatigue to the workout so by the time you get to the tempo portion, it mimics the end of the race.  Thought that worth mentioning.  This week’s tempo will be a sandwich within a 17 miler: wu-3tempo-7easy-3tempo-cd.

Lastly but most importantly, I don’t want to jinx anything, but I felt like this was a turning point of a week.  I was able to accomplish a lot in a short span of time with strong paces and great energy throughout.  I envision myself standing near the top of the triangle that is Peaking and have to admit, I like the view from here.

Monday: 15@8:34
Tuesday: 9@8:56 (calf recovery)
Wednesday: 13@7:48 (7.25mi easy, 4.75mi@7:00/mi, cd)
Thursday: 15@8:11
Friday: 13.2@7:55 (6.5 easy, 9x(3min on/1min off), cd)
Saturday: 20@8:21
Sunday: Rest
Total:  85.2 mi

Other Stuff
Remember that older Asian woman I mentioned a few weeks back?  Well, now I see her every day on her bike, milk crate attached to the back, and she’s friggin’ hilarious.  If she’s coming towards me, no matter how far away, the second I’m in her line of site, her arm shoots up and she waves like mad, then when she’s near says something like “you late today” or “how far you go today?” along with some other stuff I can’t understand.  If she’s behind me, I’ll hear a bing, bing, bing of a bike bell and there she is, again saying something funny I can’t decipher.  But I don’t need to, her enthusiasm makes me laugh every time and I’m driven to blow her the occasional kiss; I can’t help it, she’s so cute.

Aside from that and completely unrelated, my head is currently consumed by the fact that I’m moving into my new apartment on Friday.  I am not a good mover.  Anxiety about getting the key from some old man I don’t know (new landlords are on holiday in Greece), how clean will the apartment be?  how well do I have to clean this one? how many boxes do I need to get?  I need to get boxes now! will the movers be jerks? address changes, utility changes, etc. are a low-level but constant hum.  On the good note, I don’t have a lot of stuff anyway and today is purge day where I will throw away all the crap I don’t need.  On an even better note is that I’m just days away from leaving the Blue Hovel forever.  Cannot Wait.

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