Hitting the pavement

The last two days have found me pounding the pavement instead of the treadmill belt. The weather has been too good to miss a chance to get outdoors. Yesterday I got out with the gang, including Ethan, Jim and Tom for a run in the cooler but still seasonably warm weather for the usual 6+ tour of South Freeport. The pace was comfortable and conversational at 7:35/mile.

Today's run found me alone with Ethan running a slightly faster pace. Ethan and I ran along together for the first 3.5 miles until he kicked it up a notch to get some speed work in. The first few miles with Ethan were negative starting at 7:36 to 7:16 when he sped away and then I maintained a pace at just below a 7:00 pace for the next three miles to the finish. Today's average pace was a 7:08 with a average HR of 163 and max of 181 which I hit the last mile while running a 6:30 pace. This is a pretty high HR for me to hit at this pace but just shows how much I need to catch up on my sleep.

I finally got around to updating my 2007 running log to wrap it up for the year. I ran a total of just under 1,800 for the year. What was most interesting is that my first run of 2007 was in Kelly's hometown of Franklin, VA, as was my last run of 2007. Gotta love symmetry.

I'll probably take tomorrow off and plan on hitting Bradbury Mountain Saturday morning for my first run of 2008 with the Trail Monsters. Jamie is looking for a long run partner so I might see if I can break away from home for a little while and join him. Given the weather and the rain that's coming, looks like skiing is out of the picture.